A little bite here and a little bite there...
 

Wow...I'm realizing what a habit I have a taking just a "little" bite of "whatever"...and not thinking of it as "real food". I noticed it at breakfast when setting it out for my girls. They are little and don't make a fuss about a bite of their toast gone, and don't notice a spoonful of their cereal gone. And again at lunch I ate a whole serving of hummus while getting it out for my daughter! It wasn't on my plan for the day. So I'm talking about 120 calories maybe, but that adds up over time. I'm glad to be counting calories again, but FitDay doesn't work so well for little bites here and there! I'm glad to be conscious of it now and will stop immediately!

Ah, the dreaded "BLT" - bites, licks, and tastes. Unfortunately, they all count. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid doing this! And you've made the first step in realizing you do it.

I tend to chew gum while cooking or baking, simply so I don't mindlessly stick anything in my mouth. I keep water nearby, too, so I can take a swig. Both of these help prevent attacks of the BLT monster, but the biggest part is just being aware.

Good for you on realizing that you do this and making steps to stop it!

chewing gum is a great idea! thanks!

I have a huge problem with this! I have trouble with calorie counting because it's hard to keep track of how many calories a bite here and a bite there is worth. I am realizing what a bad habit this has become for me.

This is a problem for me as well, but I made a rule that what is on my kid's plates belongs to my kids, what is on hubby's plate belongs to hubby, etc. What I do is plan a snack for time that I am cooking and/or setting out snacks...I put mine on a small plate before I begin and that is what I nibble one. This way I don't dip into their plates and I stay on plan.

About a year ago someone told me on these boards that the leftovers on a plate would normally be trash, so why would you eat trash? I think of it that way now when I clean off the table.

Good line of thinking!

I got an idea from 3fc that I use for such situations. I created a food in nutridiary called "Just a Bite" or JAB for short. I made it 25 calories. When I have a little bite, lick or taste, I "jab" myself. If I think it might have been more than 25 calories, I jab myself twice. Not perfectly accurate, but keeps me accountable....

OMG, I wasn't quite sure if I should even post my "problem", but these are all such great ideas...as she skedaddles off to FitDay to create a JAB!

I sometimes wonder if BLT's are mostly responsible for plateaus. It's so easy to do very well with your "big" food of the day and let the little things go unaccounted for and all of a sudden you're not losing.

I've got a JAB on fitday as well but because I have no imagination whatsoever, I named it Misc.