Personally, I love counting calories indirectly, by way of an exchange plan.
I use a high-protein (lower-carb) exchange plan I originially found on the hillbillyhousewife website.
But that site no longer has the information, but I found the same information in a pdf on the frugalabundance.com website (link to pdf below).
http://frugalabundance.com/exchange-plan-diet.pdf
I like exchange plans because they're so intuitive, and it's far easier to memorize exchange counts than specific calorie counts.
As an example, for most non-starchy veggies, 1 cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked
comes to 1 veggie exchange. I don't have to memorize or look up most veggies, because most follow this pattern. There are a few exceptions, but so few that it's easy to memorize the exceptions.
For each exchange, all the foods within each exchange have about the same amount of calories, carbs, protein, and fat.
Most exchanges run very close to the average, but there is about a 10 to 20 calorie "spread" for each exchange (meaning, for example that fruit exchanges average about 70 calories, but any given exchange may contain 60 - 80 calories).
As a result, exchange plans are "estimation calorie counting," but I find it much easier and more intuitive to "check off boxes" rather than calorie count.
I make my own checklist, and then just check off each exchange as I use it. There are checklist food logs available online (such as at tops.org under the tools section), with space to write what you eat and boxes to check off for each exchange.
Tops.org also has deal-a-meal style cards that can be printed out. I've used those before too. Each card has the exchange printed on one size (each exchange a different color) and on the back of each card, a list of all the foods/serving sizes that = 1 of that exchange. I used an old checkbook. In the morning I'd put all the cards I would need in the left hand pocket, and as I ate throughout the day, I'd move the appropriate cards to the right side of the wallet.
When I count calories down to the individual calorie, I tend to get ridiculously obsessive. On a 1500 calorie plan, I'll feel great if I come in under budget, say 1490, but I'll feel like a horrible failure if my total for the day is 1510.
I also tend to go on food jags, ignoring some food groups (especially dairy) and overindulging in others (breads and fruits, especially).