One of the best ways to lose weight is to count calories. When you know how much to eat and how much you are eating it is easy to cut out foods and reduce your calories. 

• Keep a daily food journal of everything you eat. Nothing is too small to add. Don’t forget things like salad dressing, cream cheese, toppings, etc. These things can add up and you will soon see where exactly you are getting your calories. 
• In your kitchen keep measuring cups, spoons and even a scale so you know how many calories you are consuming. Portion control is another great way to lose weight. You glass of orange juice in the morning may be 12 z but a serving is only 8 oz. This means you are getting a lot more calories then you bargained for. 
• When you cook make sure you note all the nutritional information of the food you are eating. Write down these numbers and then divide up the portions. Some recipes include caloric information which makes your job easier. 
• Some foods do not come with labels (like produce) you can look up this information online or if you have an iPhone you can download an app to get this information. 
• Many restaurants can provide you with the nutritional information for their entries. You can also search for this information online before you choose a restaurant to go to. Some restaurants like fast food chains have the information posted in the store.
• You should also start to write down your activities. Logging how many calories you burn a day will help you to see the difference in calories consumed and calories burned. If you have a difference of 500 calories a day you will lose a pound per week. 
• Now every day you should but your daily log into an online calorie counter. You can probably find a simple calorie log online for free. many of these online sites also have food information so you can simply select the food you ate and it will fill in all sorts of nutritional information. 
• Now you need to also enter your activities to see the calories that you have burned. 
• Now you should have a better idea of how many calories you are eating and burning a day and soon you should be on your way to a lower weight.