Today's Tip: Hidden Calories Add Up

So, you've been trying to lose weight but it seems you're going wrong somewhere. Hidden calories could be to blame. Wonder where all those extra calories are lurking? They're where you least suspect them, but they can do major damage to your weight-loss efforts. Consider how those "invisible" calories add up throughout a typical day:

• You try some cubes of cheese at the supermarket and you "sample" 100 calories.
• You eat the last chocolate sandwich cookie in the package so you won't have to save it and you tack on 45 calories to your day.
• Your server refills your soda at the diner at lunch and you sip 100 extra calories.
• You taste a few forkfuls of mac and cheese when preparing it for your kids you sneak in 54 calories.
• You eat a leftover chicken nugget from your kid's dinner plate and you polish off 50 calories.
• You finish off the apple juice from your kid's juice box and 30 calories slip through the straw.
• You eat a handful of jelly beans from your coworker's desk while discussing a meeting and you enjoy 60 calories during a quick chat.

Ready for a solution? I have found the single most important tool in keeping tabs on these types of "sneaky" calories is to keep a food diary. That means accounting for everything that passes your lips, no matter how small or "accidental" it is. Doing this is really the only way to get a clear picture of your eating habits.

About.com's Calorie Count makes keeping up with all those bites and nibbles -- and everything in between -- a breeze. By signing up for a free account, you can log everything you eat and drink into your very own online food diary and watch a running tab of your calories "burned" and remaining for the day. Almost any food you can think of is in the huge database of nutrition data, which you can search for by specific food or restaurant or browse by category. Give it a try today!