For me I think calorie counting is a complete lifestyle choice. It is something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life, and it has taught me how my body reacts to all different food types.
I use myfitnesspal.com and so do alot of other ccers on here. You enter your stats and it works out how many calories you should be eating per day in order to loose weight. You simply use the food diary to enter all your food for the day, which helps you keep track of everything. You can change the settings to suit you, so it will also count sodium, sat fat, carbs etc too.
Also you can enter your exercise and MFP calculates how many cals you have burned.
It is completley up to you how you choose to eat your calories. That is why I love ccing, and also why I think so many people have so much success doing it. You are in complete control, and NOTHING is out of bounds. If you are having a really stressfull couple of days and need to be a little bit naughty, you can. You don't have to tell yourself that you CAN'T have something, which I find great, because the minute I deny myself something, I just crave it more and more, until I give in then feel utterly guilty!!!
I have been doing this for nearly 2 months now and have learned so much about how my body works, it's fantastic.
I know that I am happier and have more energy if I eat my 5 a day.
I know that it's sometimes hard to eat all your calories (trust me on that one), so fruit juice and nuts are a great boost.
I know that you can make your own delicious pizza for under 400 calories.
I know that if I'm having a bad day, I come on minimins and get the most amazing support from my ccing buddies. I know that cadburys mousses (light) are only 60 cals and taste AMAZING!!!!
And, I know that if I want a kebab on a Saturday night, then I can have one, as long as I count it and am completley honest.