I'm too impatient to count and weigh anything. I've learned that I can maintain without being hungry on butter, eggs, meat, fish, poultry, non-starchy veg, a little fruit and a very little cheese. Whenever the scale has gone up it's because of extra fruit and cheese plus often the addition of wine, nuts, and too much 90% chocolate. Oh, and yes, the occasional dive into the crappola that exists in my workplace. One time I gained back 6lbs and forced myself to do a calorie and carb count. That was an eye-opener - way too many carbs and calories - due to constant snacking on cheese, grapes and, to my shame, my co-workers Hersey's kisses and M&Ms. I didn't need to continue counting, just quit snacking and cut out the crap.

If, like me, you are the sort of person who is happy with plain, simple low carb meals (e.g. steak and salad) it probably isn't necessary to count calories. But if you love to cook and experiment with complex recipes then counting might be more necessary, if only to keep track of multiple ingredients.

I would highly recommend keeping a food diary, though. It's wonderful for accountability and, whenever you gain back a few pounds, it's a great resource to flip back through the pages and remind yourself what you were eating when you were at your happiest and lowest weight.