ccording to my grandmother, people used to actually sit down at a table to eat and they ate three balanced meals a day. These meals might not have been the most nutritious (consider that beef was 27% fattier in 1978 than it is today and vegetables grew in a can), but portions were smaller and people didn't snack between meals. Today, we're a country of grazers. The reference to bovine eating habits is intentional since, like cows, we tend to eat little bits throughout the day (and, as a result, we begin to resemble them, too). Grazing works for many people who can't eat a lot of food at once or have problems controlling their blood sugar. For the vast majority, however, grazing replaces meals, adds extra calories, and displaces healthy foods in our diets.

By the way, depending on your lifestyle, your definition of "meal" may be different than mine. My grandma and I are on the same page here. Eating a meal means taking the time out of your day to eat a nutritionally balanced portion of food to satisfy your appetite. The current trend in "meals" is to eat a protein bar and drink a soda in the car on the way to your next engagement. This practice of eating on the fly is different from snacking because snacks are usually planned. Last year, Americans skipped an estimated 40 billion meals, but instead of losing weight, they gained it. Why? Because they more than made up for the missing calories by grazing and then eating more at the next meal.

Grazing is easy, spontaneous, and convenient in our time-pressed lives. You can graze virtually anywhere now: the mall, the airport, Starbucks, Jamba Juice, the gym, and even in the car with all the new car-friendly foods on the market now — there's just so much to choose from! And that's a large part of the problem.

Research has shown that the greater the variety of foods available, the more people will eat. For example, if people can choose two or three types of pasta, they will eat more at a sitting than if only one shape is available. Furthermore, when served larger portions (a universal practice in restaurants), people will eat more than if a smaller, but adequate, portion is served.

We all nosh between meals — it's almost unavoidable in our grab-n-go culture. I'll even admit that as I've been sitting here writing this article, I've eaten a half of a chocolate chip cookie and a nibble of a brownie from a sweet platter that was left in the break room. This wasn't the snack I had planned to eat (a tangerine and a handful of almonds), so what should I do now? From a calorie-conserving perspective, I should skip the snack and make up for the extra calories at lunch by eating a super-nutritious, low-calorie salad from Gelson's salad bar. When I think about all the extra bites that I could eat throughout the day, I can see how all the extra calories could add up without us making any noticeable changes in our diets. See if any of these bites ring a bell.

Bite 1:
Two extra tablespoons of Kashi cereal left in the box after I pour my 1-cup serving. Can't put that little bit back in the pantry and can't throw it away, so may as well eat it…25 calories

Bite 2:
We're out of oranges, but there is some orange juice left over from a cake recipe I made. What's 8 ounces of OJ over an orange?…70 calories

Bite 3:
Oops, forgot to order my latte with nonfat milk instead of whole milk…80 calories

Bite 4:
Just can't resist a little whipped cream to top off that latte…44 calories

Bite 5:
Who put those delicious-looking cookies and brownies in the break room?! I'll have just a nibble of each…108 calories

Bite 6:
That healthy burrito was so filling, but I can't leave those last 3 or 4 bites on my plate…129 calories

Bite 7:
Okay, this article is due in just 3 hours; better have a little piece of chocolate to help get me through this… 33 calories

Bite 8:
Yes! Finished the article. Gotta have a celebratory piece of chocolate…33 calories

Bite 9:
I just need to run into Gelson's to pick up some milk…and taste one of those little samples of cheese and crackers that nice woman is handing out…55 calories

Bite 10:
Dinnertime, and I'm starving! Pass the bread and olive oil please. I need some sustenance while I wait for my minestrone soup…138 calories

Bite 11:
Just a little Parmesan cheese for my soup, please…35 calories

Bite 12:
Who ordered wine? Just pour me a little glass…100 calories

Bite 13:
Dinner was salty and now I'm so thirsty! Is there any of that OJ left?…30 calories

Total calories from extra bites: 880

All those extra (hypothetical) calories and I wouldn't even bat an eyelash! Would you? Would you miss them if you cut them out of your diet? By leaving a few bites of food on your plate when you're satisfied, sticking to your planned snacks, steering clear of the free food you're offered, and eliminating caloric beverages, you could lose between 1 and 2 pounds a week. You don't even have to cut all of these grazed bites out if it makes you feel too deprived. Cutting just 100 calories a day could, at the very least, prevent weight gain and potentially add up to a 10-pound weight loss over the course of a year.

Whether you shave 100 or 800 calories off a day like the one described above, I can almost guarantee you that you won't go hungry, because your hunger wasn't driving you to take those 13 extra bites in the first place. Focus on your hunger and satiety and the next time you go out to pasture, ask yourself if you're eating out of hunger or out of habit. And then change.

ave you stuck to your New Year's resolution and lost the fat you vowed to obliterate in January? Come see me at your favorite Gelson's or Mayfair to find out. This month I'll be traveling to each of our store locations to offer complimentary body fat testing. I'll also be answering questions about weight loss and handing out food journals. Check my June Nutrition Event Calendar to see when I'll be at your store.