I hear ya! I always knew they where high in calories but had good fats in them. And I always used them as one of my many sources of protein (vegetarian). But I didn't know exactly how high in calories they where until I decided to box a thing of them and than I looked at the back. Holy wowzers Batman! So I decided like you not to eat them. But for peanut butter. I'll have a peanut butter sandwich here and there (use to eat them once or twice a day but cut back on them as well).
I saw some article that said you could have as many nuts as you want (ridiculous, because I'd want a lot!) and still lose weight, just avoid carbs. My SIL eats pretty much nothing but peanuts (and wine - I love 'er, but she's a little nuts - pun semi-intended ) and she is gaining weight and can't figure out why. She refuses to weigh them or count calories because of that moronic article.
I don't count calories so that's a non-issue for me, but I looove the Blue Diamond Habanero bbq almonds and I have to measure out a serving size (28 almonds), because I could eat half the bag and that would mess up my daily sugar intake, which I am tracking I've been eating one serving a day with a hard boiled egg as my afternoon snack. I think nuts are a great way to get in healthy fat, but serving sizes must be followed
I put a half cup of pistachios into my lunch box every weekday. 100 calories, my healthy fats, and a tasty mid-lecture snack. I find it has to be a measured out portion and ONLY as a school/work snack. Cause I could eat the whole bag if I ate them at home.
I thought 1/2 cup had about 170 calories (with shells) or about double that without?
I bought almonds the other day as a source of protein/healthy fats (I'm currently doing a vegan diet) and I think I ate about 400-500 calories worth of them just today! I just grabbed a handful for breakfast and lunch and snacked on them -- so yummy but definitely need to measure them out tomorrow!
I like nuts, especially macadamias. However, what constitutes a serving size makes me want to cry. I've never been satisfied with just the 8-10 macadamias at 200 calories. I could almost have cereal AND a boiled egg or a pretty stuffed omelet for that amount.
I realize nuts are healthy but I find them kind of expensive calorie-wise and a bit of a trigger to eat more than I have a calorie budget for.
Hubby and I used to get roasted almonds dusted with dark cocoa from Sam's Club.
We had to stop buying them, because they were a trigger food for hubby. I'm usully the one with problem foods, but the cocoa powder was so dark on them that I was satisfied with only a few (milk chocolate is a trigger for me, but dark chocolate isn't. Something about the bitter edge satisfies me with very little).
I found them very helpful around PMS/TOM when I crave chocolate. They also helped satisfy my occasional "brownie" craving. I don't eat wheat (it causes an itchy skin rash) so most brownies are out. Gluten free brownies and brownie mixes are insanely expensive and they're usually higher in calorie than regular brownies, so the almonds were a nice treat.
Now I satisfy my occasional brownie craving with wheat-free brownie and/or fudge flavored protein bars. There are a couple wheat-free brands that don't taste too horrible.
Except for PMS/TOM though I don't crave chocolate at all.
As for nuts, I can control myself with some, and can't control myself with others. And nuts are one of my hubby's few binge trigger foods, so we mostly just buy nuts in single serve bags (and even then often split them, because some of the single serve bags can contain 300 calories or more).
Avocado is another "healthy fat" that I don't budget in very often, but once in a while it's worth the splurge.
My dentist really helped me with my nut addiction. A crown on one of my back teeth is reaching the end of its natural life and will either need replacing this year, if I keep eating almonds or in a couple of years, if I quit. An almond has not crossed my lips since.
I'm sticking with salmon and avocado for my 'good fats', no matter how hard I try, I can't sit down and eat 1000 calories worth of salmon in a sitting.
Well, I eat nuts almost daily... they are healthy and a great source of protein, especially almonds. One of the great benefits of not eating meat (which I hardly ever do any more) is that you can eat stuff like nuts and avocados, etc., and still lose weight. For lunch I will sometime mix nuts with brown rice and add Chipotle hot sauce! Yum. And since I eat plenty of fruits and veggies at other times, I can do this.
But then I DO care that they contain healthy fats! I am also 100% convinced that our bodies process natural foods far better than all the processed foods containing all kinds of chemicals, sugar and salt that are on the market disguising themselves as foods today.
Last edited by Misti in Seattle; 10-25-2012 at 08:15 AM.
I tend to favor nut butters more than whole nuts. In either case I add them to things rather than eating them alone so that I get the flavor from them with the bulk of the rest of the meal to satisfy me.
Trying to eat nuts on their own isn't much fun for me and I usually end up overdoing it, ESPECIALLY if they are flavored with anything. Case in point; last week I ate an entire container of Blue Diamond Pumpkin Spice Almonds in one sitting... in about 5 minutes! :O
I was thinking about this thread last night. After my strength-training class I did not feel like making a protein shake so I grabbed a serving size of unsalted cashews to get some extra protein. I was under my calories for the day and I worked out 3 times yesterday so I did go to bed a little hungry. I really wanted to eat another handful but I didn't!
I know who people who gorge themselves on nuts and wonder why they can't lose weight. Like, they literally eat canisters of them.
I buy raw almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds but I am amazingly good at limiting them. I enjoy almonds in my 0% fage yogurt, so I will have 6 almonds per day.
) and she is gaining weight and can't figure out why. She refuses to weigh them or count calories because of that moronic article.
I've been eating one serving a day with a hard boiled egg as my afternoon snack. I think nuts are a great way to get in healthy fat, but serving sizes must be followed 
