We all know that if we eat more calories than we use, the excess will be stored on our body. That being said, most of us who are trying to rid ourselves of the excess use a method or strategy to limit our total calorie intake.
I've adopted the "intuitive" style of eating. I've mentioned the book Intuitive Eating which I encourage everyone to read regardless of your weight loss method. I think you'll find it can assist most any diet plan. I'd been counting calories and was having difficulty on some days staying in my generous calorie range because, well, I love to eat. Having a daily average calorie intake was a target to shoot for, but in and of itself, was not limiting. And, I found on my "less hungry" days, I was eating up to my allowance, even though I wasn't really hungry. Enter IE. Learning how to recognize real hunger and stopping when my stomach was full made me less dependent on discipline and will power because I was getting back in touch with my physical needs and trusting my body to assist me in my effort. All those years of overeating set me up to habitually overeat.
So, while I am no longer counting calories, I still measure calorie dense foods when I'm at home. One of the principals of IE is to make choices that promote health. (Some might get the idea that IE is all about just eating all the junk you want without limits. It most assuredly is not.) But even healthy foods can make you fat if overeaten.
Because it's calorie dense I limit myself to two slices of bacon. I can thoroughly enjoy the delicious salty crisp smokiness of it and still lose weight. And peanut butter--I love it, and though it is high in fat, it is a good fat. But it too is calorie dense, so I measure my portion of it.
But, and here is the point of this post, measures must be accurate to be of any benefit. All too often I've found sizable discrepancies when switching form volume to weight measurements. That's why I'm referring you to this video: Eye Opening" Fat Loss Secret" Video . (Scroll down--the video is toward the end of the blog post.)
Several years ago I purchased a digital scale and have found it indispensable in the kitchen. Whether I'm baking or measuring a portion of potato chips, peanut butter, cereal and the like, it saves time, saves using multiple measuring utensils, and I can rest assured that the portion I've measured will be the number of calories I desire to intake of a particular food.
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I purchased my digital food scale at Wal-mart a couple years ago--it cost around $20.00. I've seen them at Bed, Bath and Beyond too. Be sure to get one that measures grams as well as ounces. One that can "subtract" is nice too, though mine doesn't have that feature.
The scale is especially handy when baking...you can measure your food right in the mixing bowl (you "zero it out" the previous amount, then add the next ingredient)--no measuring cups to wash up. I find it indispensable in the kitchen.