Some years ago I spent a lot of time calorie counting. I got pretty good at estimating but more importantly became keenly aware of where the calories are hidden

Some years ago I spent a lot of time calorie counting. I got pretty good at estimating but more importantly became keenly aware of where the calories are hidden. You start to develop simple rules of thumb: beware of the breads and sugars, fruits are full of vitamins but can pack a calorie punch (bananas and grapes on the higher side, strawberries and melons being in the low side), most raw vegetables, negligible. Lean meats, surprisingly low relative to their help in making you feel well fed. Be cautious with cheese; sauces and dressings can be killer. You don't have to be perfect (or honestly even that precise) but it's immensely helpful to do the exercise for a few weeks to dial your brain in. When you calorie reduce at the same time, you grow razor-sharp appreciation for foods that you can eat a massive amount of that provide few calories. When you're hungry, a choice between a muffin and a tray overloaded with vegetables and turkey slices becomes a lot more clear. I've often wondered if an app that has me take a picture of everything I eat in a day and then sends me a collage of all yesterday's consumption by email in the next morning would be a suitable replacement for calorie counting. I wonder if the process of taking my phone out to photograph things before I eat them would cause me to more carefully consider my choices, and the private shaming the morning after on days I don't do well would serve as a behavior modifier for the day.