Those little, mindless bites add up.....

Check this out:

 Elana Zimelman, RD, LD, CDE at the Cooper Institute takes a look at how 7 "little nibbles" add up to unwanted pounds: (the comments in italics are mine....)

Taste 1: Cookie Bite You woke up early this morning to bake some holiday cookies for the office. There’s a very small broken piece that came off the baking sheet. You don’t want to throw it away so you have a bite. One broken piece of a cookie = 30 calories!

Taste 2: Gingerbread Latte Taste
On your way to work, you stop by your favorite coffee shop to get a boost of caffeine. You’re planning to order a medium cup of coffee, but at the counter, you can’t help but notice some enticing samples. You taste the tiny cup of gingerbread latte topped with a dollop of whipped cream. A 1 oz sample cup = 25 calories! (seriously -- 1 oz.?  That's a medicine cup)

Taste 3: Brownie Nibble
Next to the latte samples, the seasonal peppermint brownie sample is staring you in the face. You don’t plan to buy a whole brownie so why not take a little nibble! One nibble = 37 calories!

Taste 4: Handful of M&M’s
After you set down the cookies in the employee break room, you walk past your co-worker’s desk and there sits a glass bowl of holiday M&M’s. You try to resist, but you give in to the temptation and those 13 M&M’s = 56 calories! (I'm pretty sure I've never eating 13 M&M's and stopped....you?...I'd be back later that day for sure....very likely a couple times -- course, later in the afternoon, I'd have to wait until she when to the bathroom so she didn't know I was back)
Taste 5: Cashew Cluster
Later in the afternoon, you take a water break and pass by a dish of mixed nuts. You pick out your favorite, the cashews, and try to count out just six. Six cashew halves = 51 calories! (did you notice it said cashew HALVES?)
Taste 6: Cheese and Crackers
After work, you head over to the grocery store. You have just a few items to pick up. You need to buy some fresh vegetables and you pass the cheese counter on your way to the broccoli. There’s a table set out with gourmet cheese and crackers. That one bite cheese cube and cracker = 71 calories! (one BITE)

Taste 7: Pumpkin Ale
You have one more stop to go and pass by the beer and wine aisle. There is a tasting of several kinds of beer and ale. You want to try the pumpkin ale—just a little sip: 2 oz. = 30 calories!

By now, you have consumed an extra 300 calories that you didn’t plan on eating. You would have to walk briskly for about one hour and 15 minutes to burn that off!

And that, my friends, is why it pays to be mindful of what your sticking in your mouth -- not just during the holidays but as a lifestyle.  Keep working on it!  --KSW