Do you try to keep track of how many calories you eat each day to make sure you're maintaining a healthy diet? If so, it just got a lot easier if you live in New York City, thanks to a new law that forces all chain restaurants to prominently list the calorie count of their menu items.

For many New Yorkers, the new law may not exactly seem like a great thing. Take it from Nora Cara, who had to think twice about picking up her daily muffin from Dunkin' Donuts, once she saw its actual calorie count: 630 calories. "I'm not a no-carb type of person, and I usually don't even think about it," she told MSNBC. "But you pick up a little muffin with your coffee, and it has 630 calories in it? That's a bit extreme!"

Incidentally, most restaurants aren't thrilled with the law, which forces Outback Steakhouse to ‘fess up about the 2,000+ calories in their Bloomin' Onion (merely an appetizer, mind you), and T.G.I. Friday's to tell the truth about its "healthy" pecan-crusted chicken salad, which weighs in with 1,360 calories.

Though the calorie disclosure law is causing unrest among New York City's eaters and restaurateurs alike, in the long run, it could prove to be a very good thing. According to city officials, the number of obese New Yorkers could go down by 150,000 within the next five years, and the law could prevent 30,000 new cases of diabetes, thanks to residents' new awareness of how many calories their foods actually contain. The law has such potential, in fact, that cities including San Francisco are coming up with their own versions - so if you're craving a cream puff, better eat it up quick.

By Kathryn Hawkins