There's even a tracker on this site that counts your calories for you; the food diary! Just type in your food and how much of it you ate each day, it's simple!
Yes, they've made it easy these days to track calories with online tools and books for it. Some weigh their food to be exact.
If you want to track your calories then you need to find a calorie counter book or u can find it as an app for smartphones/tablets. It lists foods and calories &/or fat grams for each. 1200 cal diet is strict and may not be right for your body type so check with ur doctor beforehand.