I have to admit- I say I count calories but truthfully, I mentally estimate how many calories I've had. Strangely, this could be why I'm not losing weight...

So I have a really busy lifestyle- getting on dailyplate.com or any other website to check in after I eat anything just isn't realistic and I'm also not that organized, nor will I ever be. I'm just not that personality type or I'm a defunct human or something. ANYWAY I am interested to see what your methods are for counting your calories- do you meal plan ahead of time and strictly adhere to that plan? Do you carry around a mini-notepad to write each thing down? Do you make a mental note and add 'em up at the end of the day?

I need to know what works for you, so I can see if it'll work for me! HELP haha

I have a "memo" application on my phone and I put my food in there as I eat it throughout the day. Everyone says planning your food out is the key but I don't really do that unless I know I'm going to be in a tempting situation. I use dailyplate to figure out calories in stuff that I ate that I'm not sure about, usually at the end of the day.

I'd say the only thing that sucks about how I do it is that I delete it every morning so when I eat foods that I've calculated the calories in already I don't have those amounts saved anywhere, so I have to recalculate.

That could work for me, I'll try it. I'm willing to try anything at this point. My blackberry is pretty much attached to me all the time- which makes my "not able to get onto dailyplate.com" comment pretty ridiculous sounding, lol- I wonder why I didn't think of that sooner.

Keep 'em coming!

I have a notebook where I write everything down. I use the internet to look up some calorie amounts if it's not packaged.

Often I forget my notebook at home when I'm at work and I write it on a scrap piece of paper. Then sometimes I remember to bring the paper home and write it in my notebook and sometimes my coworker comes in the next day and know what I ate the night before. I recently read that even people who just jot what they ate on a post it note tend to eat less throughout the day.

If I make a mental note I usually forget something...

I used to use daily plate and really liked it but I like seeing it in writing better now.

I have a notebook that I use everyday. I wrote EVERYTHING down. I usually think I've had fewer calories than I really have, so I know that it is the best thing for me to have my notebook. I try to ALWAYS find out if we are going out to eat so that I can look up something I can have & then check it with how many calories I have left for the day. It has saved me.

Hope that helps!

I draw on myself. That's the short answer. The longer version is thus:

I do a mental count, rounded into hundreds. Like, I am keeping to 1600 calories per day right now. So I go by "dots", where each dot = 100 calories. 16 dots per day, then. It takes some estimation, but my habit is to estimate high and/or round up to minimize the possibility of underestimating significantly enough to affect my weightloss.

Anyway, the point of doing it this way is firstly, that it's easier to mentally track - I don't have to remember "I'm at 845 calories"...I just remember to count 9 dots. Secondly, and the reason I originally started doing this, is because I would carry a miniature sharpie in my pocket and make dots on my hand to keep track. That way I wouldn't forget my count for the day - all I had to do was look down at my hand.

At this point I don't dot myself anymore; I've got a fairly set routine of foods which I *know* the dot count for and can keep mental track, and I've gotten pretty good at estimating and rounding on the fly for foods I don't often eat.

I plan my meals ahead for the week. I have used calorie king for the past few months to check the caloric content of the foods I eat and pretty much have memorized them, I add them up and record them in a word document. To check my accuracy I also use the daily plate when I change what I eat or randomly to make sure I'm on track and have found there is a less than 5 calorie difference. Using the online tools is slower at first but if you take the time to plan ahead and look up and add those foods on the daily plate or the site of your choice it makes it a lot easier for future use.

I plan all meals ahead of time. I plan my meals for the day staying within my calorie count. The point is to plan before you eat. I use calorie king and a notebook, this works for me.

I count calories in my head :d

i know it's hard but i write mine down with pen and paper. i dont get in the habit of entering things online when i try and OK im not perfect at writing them down either but i'm better at that and it gives me a visual check every day too.

I have a spiral notebook and pen. I don't carry it with me though. I just tally as I can throughout the day. I measure when I am able and look up calories on daily plate, etc.

I count actual calories. Being a college student, I'm in and out of my apartment enough to get back to my calorie journal often. If I'm out for a long time, I write a note on a napkin or my phone or whatever. I get the most accurate calorie counts available, from the restaurant (I rarely eat a restaurants that don't have calorie counts), or from the box/can, or from my calorie counting book....or with particularly hard to find info, I search online. I don't find it very hard to do.

I have a white board hung up INSIDE one of my cabinetes that has most of my food. It's divided into each day of the week. I write down what I eat and how many calories - and then keep track as I go throughout the day!

When I'm gone, I keep track in my head, and write it down when I get back home. Or if I know what I'm going to eat, I write it down before I leave the house. It's nice, doesn't waste paper, and u just wipe it off for the next week, and you have a whole weeks of progress or... non progress in front of you.

I plan out my week of food and then print out a copy that I use as a checklist!