I have another bad habit that I would like to share with you all.
I often grab handfuls of food here and there. Most often after I eat an unbalanced meal that leaves me craving something more, and most often I am pouring dry cereal into my hand and eating that.
Maybe it’s like a desert of sorts.
One night after I ate my dinner and was munching on cereal I found myself thinking on things. As I was stuffing my mouth full of unbolused for carbohydrates, I wondered just how many grams could it possibly be.
So I checked.
I pulled out my Eat Smart Nutrition Scale and punched in the figures for the Honey Nut Cheerios and placed a typical handful of them on the scale. For each “handful” of cheerios I was inhaling, I was eating about 8 grams of carbohydrates.
Stunned, I sat there and thought about how many handfuls I would mindlessly eat in one sitting. Four? Five? Eight? Holy crap batman!
Then I starting thinking about how long I have had this habit, and how often I would do this. Way too long and way too often.
It makes total sense if you think about it. I wouldn’t take me many handfuls to fill up a cereal bowl full of cheerios.
Here I thought (or tried to convince myself) that what I was eating didn’t really add up to much and wouldn’t matter. Now that I am aware of just how many carbs I am eating when I do this, it has been much easier to avoid the habitual behaviour.
Funny how the context of things can skew our perceptions sometimes.
Funny how the reality of things can help us adjust our actions.
[…] Looking at this etched glass and thinking about my milk drinking, it gives me one of those “wait…what?!” mind-blowing moments where I realize I’m consuming way more carbs than I thought (see also: Measuring Handfuls). […]
Hi Scott I must say that to me your a wealth of information and your Blogg rocks. I just checked out nutritional scale you said you used to calculate your “handfuls” and liked what I saw on their site so I ordered one. I am a gadget freak!!!! Then it dawns on me that it doesn’t save the food you enter from food labels which will mean I’ll have to enter nutritional info every time I weigh my favorite\boxed/packaged foods. Oh well…I am very impulsive. I still think it will help me when I impulsively eat my “handfuls” I always… Read more »
I just spilled pop on my laptop two days ago and quickly pulled power cordout of back then ran and got my hair blower to dry out between keys and imagine my face when I see my keys melting!!!! I decided I’d call and use my warranty thats till covering my laptop and told them 4 keys and one shift key wore out and came off. They are sending me new keyboard but I have to send in tjhe old one in 5 days. I guess I’ll send it in nd they’ll figure out I threw the missing keys away.… Read more »
Scott – arm is fine – I corrected what I wrote – I broke almost 4 years ago. sorry to alarm u!
Hey Scott,
I think we all go through this, I just can’t pass up grabbing a handfull or two rather than just put the box back in the cabinet-Cheerios I do love and the Honey nut I’m gonna have to grab a few or just go on and get a bowl and be sorry when the numbers go way up on the glucometer.
Seriously though I have less problem with this than I do with chips, going to have to measure a handful of chips now.
Have enjoyed reading your blog will be back soon.
Jimmy