I keep learning the same lesson over and over — that my food choices are NOT as healthy as I think they are.
I am not one to crave chocolate or ice cream. I have never eaten an entire half gallon of ice cream in a single setting. I don’t tend to have food cravings late at night, and I rarely eat chips.
This morning, I stepped onto my Wii Fit, and it declared that I had gained weight since yesterday. I couldn’t believe it! It asked me to identify a reason for my weight gain, and I selected “snacking.”
Frankly, when it comes to figuring out why I am gaining weight, I usually don’t have a clue. Or when I do have a clue, the option isn’t available on the Wii Fit.
Today, after I said “snacking,” the Wii Fit reminded me that sugary and SALTY snacks have a lot of calories.
Salty snacks?
Damn. It really was snacking this time.
Last night, I sat at the Little League game and chomped on sunflower seeds. I sucked the salt off the shells, cracked them open with my teeth, ate the seed and gathered a pile of discarded shells. I ate so many sunflower seeds that my tongue felt funny when I went to bed last night. Actually, it STILL feels a bit funny. Salt overload.
I don’t know how many sunflower seed I ate. It was a 4 ounce bag, and I did NOT eat the entire bag. I haven’t got up the nerve to look at the calories per serving, but if I ate enough to make my tongue feel funny, I definitely had more than my fair share of servings.
I think I have finally found my weakness in snacking. It is the salty snacks like sunflower seeds, pretzels and nuts. If I have a choice between a candy bar and a trail mix, I usually go with the trail mix. I prefer the trail mix. I like the kind with dried fruit especially dried apricots, and I don’t buy the ones with yogurt or chocolate.
But when I start looking at the calories per serving, I realize what seems to appear to be a healthy snack really isn’t that healthy after all.
Damn salty snacks.
