Anonymous wrote:1. As previous posters have said, track what you eat.
2. Buy a scale to weigh portions. When you weigh a serving of popcorn (that is supposed to be 3.5 cups), it's volume is actually a lot less than 3.5 cups.
3. Exercise. Just make it a non-negotiable. (Ugh, I know). Once you get in the habit, you will be happy that you can eat 250 or so more calories because you've worked out.
This is fine advice except for the last part. Any calorie expenditure estimator or counter should be ignored entirely if you are actively trying to lose weight and you aren’t already an experienced athlete. This is true because you simply aren’t capable of working hard enough for it to even matter.
By the time somebody can crank out a 2-4 hour effort that actually uses a realistic estimated expenditure (like with a bike power meter) they are looking at that information to make sure they are eating enough for recovery.