[BillBlueEyes]

So I've found myself eating from a bowl of tree nuts some three times in the past month. Just reached down and took a handful or so. Ouch.

I wasn't hungry. It wasn't snack time. They were part of potlucks, which don't trigger my FREE compulsion. I don't have any excuse.

Looking for strategies that people have used to steer themselves away from nibbling off-plan.

.

[charlottekelsey]

writing everything down often helps. if you either plan out your meals or write as you go, you will think twice (or three or FOUR) times about putting those calories in your mouth. if you do write it and still choose to eat it, write down why you are eating it and what is making you reach for them. when you figure out the emotions under your nibbling that are not due to hunger (such as boredom, stress, etc) you may find that you can cope by doing something else. i find it hard a lot if im not full and not hungry that food is comforting but it is something that we all are working on. good luck to you!!

[evilwomaniamshe]

Maybe next time you spy a nut bowl, just think who had their hands in the nut bowl prior to me, and did they wash their hands? That outta keep you at a distance, no? Just a thought for ya...

[Mahalia]

I'm curious. What was the thought you had before you reach in and grabbed the nuts? Did you think "those look good" or "healthy fats, I need more of those!".

Identifying the thought you have before you reach might help to figure out how to answer that thought.

[JulieJ08]

I've become fond of fresh, raw almonds, and I find I'm not quite so inclined to eat them endlessly. Somehow they're more filling. It makes canned nuts not so attractive. Might or might not be helpful for you!

[giselley]

Actually, I think nut oils are very good for you. I eat lots of nuts, but I am on a low carb diet and can eat all the nuts I want. What I can't eat are chips, cookies, and muffins or other combinations of carbohydrates.

[silverbirch]

Good point about healthy fats, Mahalia and giselley.

Are you getting a wide enough variety of healthy fats, Bill? I eat more nuts when my oily fish consumption is low. When I'm at 3-4 cans a week (plus salad and a multigrain biscuit - this is an emergency lunch) I hardly eat any. No or little oily fish and nut consumption goes up. (And I always have a few for breakfast.)

[Nuxmaga]

I remember reading about something called Habit Reversal Training, where you practice a counter-move with your arms to counteract the reaching motion.

[Ruthxxx]

I should be eating more healthy nuts. My strategy when I do eat them is to do the cracking myself. A South Beach serving of 30 pistachios or 15 almonds is much bigger if you have to shell them yourself. It sure takes longer too - especially if you spend time searching for the darned nutcracker!

[Mahalia]

Silverbirch,

That's very interesting about the oily fish. Sometimes I just CRAVE nuts, and I assume it's because I'm not getting enough calories. I never thought it might be resolved by eating a bit more fish.

I'll have to try that!

[midlifecrisis57]

Bill, I'm not clear on what you've been doing. You are at a potluck meal (at work? at a friends?) and you pass by the nuts in a bowl? Tree nuts? ie not peanuts? Rather: Walnuts/pecans/pistachios/almonds--these are tree nuts? were they all the same kind of tree nuts or a mix? My question burning question is: WERE THEY SALTED? And does saltiness constitute a craving issue for you? Are nuts in your allowed foods? Are you monitoring fats or salts on your plan? Protein? What was the cost/benefit for you in terms of the nutrition and/or salt intake?
I don't visit the table at potluck. I bring a substitute of something I can eat in my purse (I bet you don't carry one--they are so handy for diet substitutes!) and I stick to eating that instead. I still get the fellowship, but as a chronic dieter, I allow myself the freedom to select my food while everyone else scavenges. I think of all the High Fructose Corn Syrup everyone else must be sucking down and I am okay with not dumping that stuff in my liver!

[gardenerjoy]

How about this as a strategy: make a rule for yourself that nothing goes in your mouth until it goes on your plate first. I think that rule might help me with some of our family dinners.

[BillBlueEyes]

Interesting notions here; thanks for them all. It's striking how un-imaginative I am when the problem is me.

The desire to grab the nuts is unlikely to be a nut shortage in my diet; I have some tree nuts every morning with my granola, or with my fruit beside my oatmeal, and I have peanut butter every weekend.

The bowls have always contained salted nuts - hadn't thought of that. I am drawn to salt, particularly since I tend to cut back as far as I can believing that's it's not good for my cardio-vascular system even when all my numbers are good.

Think I'll try to work harder on the old, "nothing goes in your mouth until it goes on your plate first" - I'm already committed to that and am violating my plans when I just scoop into my hand. At potlucks, when there are nuts in a bowl at the food table, I scoop or don't scoop a few onto my plate as part of my meal; that's not a problem for me. It's these bowls that I reach into that aren't part of a planned meal or snack so I don't have a notion of how many to eat, so as many as I can grub up into my paws seems to happen.

Will keep pondering these responses. This is helping.

[silverbirch]

Originally Posted by BillBlueEyes

I don't have a notion of how many to eat, so as many as I can grub up into my paws seems to happen.

Hold on to that thought, Bill. It's pretty uncivilised behaviour.

Glad this is helping.

[onebyone]

Originally Posted by BillBlueEyes

It's these bowls that I reach into that aren't part of a planned meal or snack so I don't have a notion of how many to eat, so as many as I can grub up into my paws seems to happen.

I think this is the crux of it BBE. If they aren't a part of a planned meal or a snack Dr. Beck says we tell ourselves NO CHOICE, then flash the tempting food your strong resistance muscle and walk on by. This, for me, would be the ideal behaviour.

NEXT BEST: If you think you'll encounter tree nuts memorize the serving sizes and count them out. That'll take the thrill out of dipping your mitts into the bowl. Mix a little math into the illicit act and presto instant reality check. At least for me. When I do stuff like that I want to be secretive and I want to be quick about it. Stopping to count takes the thrill away.