Lose weight by finding the Cheat Calories and using a shortcut to count. UPDATE

3500 uncounted calories is a pound you gained.
Every time I go off counting, I get bigger.
Every time I go back to counting, I get smaller.
Counting is so picky, I hate it, but I found two helps.

1.  Use a shortcut list that lets me estimate without weighing every ingredient.
2.  Find the cheat calories and measure them.

First:
FIND THE CHEAT CALORIES.
Cheat 1:    I was eating less but I kept gaining.  Then I clued that I wasn't counting my coffee because it's just liquid, sort of like flavoured water.   WRONG.  I was putting 35% whipping cream and heaped up sugar into every cup about ten times a day while at work.   About 75 calories per cuppa.  This was good for a pound a week weight gain.   I forced myself to drink it black most of the time, found it wasn't so bad, and lost weight.  Even got accustomed to the taste after a while.    Hassle fix:  Eliminate the cheat calories so you don't have to count.

Cheat 2:  The next time my belly bulged, I was puzzled until I spotted the cheat.  I had taken to having little shots of Drambuie through the afternoon and evening, usually just a sip.  How could a little bit of liquid make me fat?   High alcohol drinks are the equivalent of drinking half water and half liquid fat.  I started measuring the booze and my weight went down again. I also sip a little less, now that I know a sip of the golden liqueur is like swallowing fat.  Hassle fix:  I weigh the entire bottle at day's end and count just once what I drank.

Check this newer post for a cheat sheet.