Flugel - I share your pain. For a long time I would count
calories and it was extremely difficult and didn't scale well - you can't know the total number of
calories of every food you eat.
My 'solution' was to learn how many of each food group I am supposed to eat and then counted food groups instead of
calories. It's far easier to remember how many fruits or grains you eat in a day than to count
calories.
The best part is that food groups are now a part of my life. When I make a grocery list I think to myself 'What grains do I need, what fruits, what veggies.' rather than, 'I feel like Dorritos'. Now I completely avoid the aisles in the grocery store that don't contain real food groups (junk food) or the frozen food section that contains pre-processed boxes of stuff.
When I pack my lunch in the morning I have five piles, one for each food group. A vegetable pile with 1-2 veggies, next it is a fruit pile with at least 1 fruit, then a dairy pile with 1-2 servings of cheese or yogurt, a meat pile (hummus, peanut butter, leftover chicken, etc.) and finally a grain pile with 3-5 grains (cheerios to triscuits).
A search for Food Pyramid or the USDA government website can provide more details about eating your food groups.
