It takes some time to learn (although it's not that hard if you have a food scale as homemade meals are the hardest things to track). Once you learn how to do it it is the easiest thing ever. Eat whatever you want but just stay within your calorie goal. Myfitnesspal works amazing and has any food you can think of.

I wasn't watching my weight closely and put on 10-12 pounds. Got back to daily calorie tracking and am back down to my goal weight in just a couple months all while eating whatever I want and limited exercise. People think to lose weight you have to eat salad for every meal and can never have ice cream which is why dieting is so hard for people.