Sleuth Out the Snack Sabateurs

They probably do not even register on your food intake radar—they are so small and quick to be consumed—then completely forgotten. I am referring, of course, to all of those tiny nibbles and tastes that tend to “happen” throughout any given day. Though seemingly insignificant alone, when added together, these random bites can be harmful to your health. So if your weight continues its mysterious upward creep, it’s worth it to employ your detective skills. Use the following example to see just how easy it is to consume more calories than you need in just a few tiny tastes. Remember: it takes an excess of about 3,500 calories to gain a pound. Just one hundred extra calories a day can cause you to gain 10 pounds a year!

1st bite: ¼ cup of orange juice remains in the carton. You might as well finish it, right?

Extra calories: 25

2nd bite: About 2 tablespoons of cereal are left in the box—hardly enough to justify returning to the cupboard! You add it to your serving of cereal.

Extra calories: 50

3rd bite: The coffee is a bit strong-tasting today. You add two teaspoons powdered creamer into your coffee at work. Adding creamer is the only way you will be able to stand the taste, and you need your morning caffeine!

Extra calories: 20

4th bite: You take what must be the smallest sliver of the leftover birthday cake in the break room—probably the smallest piece in comparison to everyone else’s portions. That makes it better, doesn’t it?

Extra calories: 80

5th bite: Whoops! You forgot to ask Jimmy John’s to leave the mayo off your sub this noon.

Extra calories: 195

6th bite: Two mints, please. You also forgot to have them leave off the onion.

Extra calories: 20

7th bite: You take a small chocolate from your co-worker’s candy jar—hey, you need the energy to get your report done this afternoon.

Extra calories: 25 

8th bite: You take a second chocolate from your co-worker’s candy jar. You finished the report—a little celebrating is in order, no?

Extra calories: 25

9th bite: The office crew has gotten together after work. You just order a diet soda ... and help yourself now and then to a few of the peanuts your server brought to the table.

Extra calories: 105

10th bite: Free sample day at the grocery store! A tiny piece of marinated steak on a toothpick couldn’t possibly be the cause of the increasing numbers on the bathroom scale.

Extra calories: 55

11th bite: You’re trying out a new recipe. You have to taste as you cook to get the seasonings just right.

Extra calories: 60

12th bite: Your new pasta recipe tasted great, but there’s only about ¼ cup leftover. Hardly seems worth the effort to package it up and create another dirty dish to clean tomorrow. It was too good to just toss, so, you eat it.

Extra calories: 110

The grand total “extra bites” for the day: 770 calories.

That slow and insidious weight gain you have been noticing over the past year now starts to make sense. Time to start tracking your food intake, Sherlock.