Originally Posted by
genejockey
I'll let you in on a secret - it's not about how accurate the calorie counters are. It's about thinking about how many calories are actually in what you eat, and putting that in the context of how much you can eat and still expect to lose weight.
If you're trying to only consume a net of 2000 calories a day, that Coke you're thinking about is about 8% of that. That "Small" Whopper meal at Burger King? 2/3 of your calories for the day. Go for a walk around the block? Maybe you get back 100 calories, so it won't "make room for" the pie you want to eat. Sure, you can look at the nutritional info on anything you buy to eat. But mostly, people don't. When you have to enter everything you ate, and you see the total going up with every snack, you begin to understand how you gained weight and how much you can actually eat and still lose weight.
Man, it is so easy to lose track and get out of control. Like you said, it's not about a calorie counter. You just have to be cognizant of what you are eating. I used to work in an office where every birthday was celebrated with cake, people were randomly bringing in cookies, candy, and donuts almost every day. If you wanted a snack, all you had to so was walk around....all in good fun, but those little things add up over time. It's easy to forget about the 3 donuts and 5 cookies you had this week on top of your regular meals.