Have your cake … and stay slim, too.

Okay, I’ll admit that calorie counting isn’t the sexiest way to think about food. But study after study after study shows that when it comes down to it, it’s not what you eat–low carb vs. high fiber vs. Mediterranean, etc.–but how much that really counts.

Among the evidence: the largest controlled study of its sort, published earlier this year in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that overweight people who followed four different diet plans consisting of varying amounts of fat, carbohydrates and protein lost an average of 13 pounds (and were able to keep about nine of them off after two years), regardless of which diet they were on.

To me, that’s pretty darn liberating. It means that instead of subsisting on, say, grilled chicken breast and egg whites for the rest of my days, I can have bread and even the occasional slice of pizza and a cupcake, too–provided I know how said splurges fit into my daily calorie allotment. (The American Cancer Society has an excellent calculator that allows you to figure out how many calories you really need).

So how do you keep track? Tomorrow, I’ll outline some great tools that make it easier to figure out just how much you’re consuming–and when need be, how to cut back.

-Camille