I took part in a study quite some time ago, but I barely got on due to my then weight being almost or on the cut off, I done it as part as an experiment for someone in a local University.
Rather than counting calories, the students work was based around an app they developed, which was way better than the one I can reccomend as the app is no longer live.
SeeHowYouEat is a great way of a non caloric food logging, writing calorie intake down doesn't work for me but this does. You set your reminder for your food times and then take a picture to log your meal.
The student who gave 1/2 of their volunteers a calorie counting diet and were asked to write it down surprisingly didn't lose as much weight as the people with the app.
Maybe try it yourself, it is a great tool. Forgetting about that mars bar etc later in the day is easy... Unless you're shown all your food as the day progresses helping you make different choices.
