Do calories always count? Of course they do. It's an unfortunate, though entirely unassailable, truth -- every calorie always counts. Well, it's unfortunate when we're talking about consuming calories, anyway. As for burning them, I think we can all agree that every single damn calorie we burn better count!!

Since we're in agreement on caloric expenditure, let's turn our attention back to caloric consumption. For a second time I ask the question: Do calories always count? We decided before that they do. But what about extenuating circumstances, like birthdays and holidays? Do they still count then? Obviously they still do, but we tend to be far more lax in those types of situations, causing us to trick ourselves into thinking that they don't.

Women's Health explores this calorie counting situation of a different kind in their current issue. Citing a survey of over 1,000 women, here's a quick look at what they found:

• 55 percent of women said that calories don't count during celebrations
• 39 percent of women said that calories don't count when traveling
  
• 30 percent of women said that calories don't count when eating on the go
• 27 percent of women said that calories don't count when eating at a buffet

I'm quite sure the respondants of this survey were well aware that these calories do count. But, it's still interesting to see how certain events or situations can serve as a means of neutralization.