It is helpful for losing weight, however, it made me obsessive about eating. It really sucked all the enjoyment out of eating. When counting everything and trying to have a daily deficit to lose a few pounds, I logged everything. The log showed me just how deficient I was in almost all nutrients. I attribute that to constantly trying to eat less calories. Excluding vegetables, low calorie foods tend to be pretty worthless, nutritionally speaking. Calories are only one part of a healthy diet. It made me constantly tired, irritable, running was slow and my legs were tired all the time. Really not enjoyable at all. So I stopped counting, it was no longer worth it.
Now I just eat whatever I want really, within reason. I focus on making good decisions on what I eat. i.e. eat fruit instead of cookies, choose lean meats and whole grains. I don't get concerned about calories anymore, I get concerned when the quality of the food I'm eating drops off.
I doubt I lost those 5 pounds, but who cares, at this point in my life, I'm trying to be healthy, not set any world records. I stopped weighing myself too, another obsessive measurement that I really don't need to concern myself with.