Does anyone/everyone include nuts in their diet? I have read good things about their health benefits but they seem to be really damaging for calories . I just read something in a cookbook that said 3 Macadamia nuts or cashews were the equivalent of one large pat of butter .

I also cannot eat them in the portions you're supposed to have - 6 almonds are not in my "control zone". I find that if we put them into a stir fry then we end up snacking on what's left !

How do the rest of you deal with nuts (the shelled, rather than the related kind)?

Dagmar

I don't eat them. They are a MAJOR trigger food for me. A single serving of nuts turns into 5-6 servings WAY too easily.

I don't eat them. I know they have healthy fats and all, but the risks for me outweigh the benefits. I love them - and would most likely overeat them. They are just too darn calorie dense for me - and I'm not taking any chances.

I do eat nuts. I have some sliced almonds in my muesli in the mornings, and I sometimes will have trail mix along with an apple or some carrot sticks for a snack. They don't work well for me as a snack by themselves, because they don't have much volume, but they can add some protein and fat when I need it. But while I like the taste of nuts, the texture isn't my favorite, so I don't tend to snack on them... As with everything else, you have to figure out what works for you. If nuts in nut form don't work for you, but you want some of the nutritional benefits, you could try a nut butter.

I do, but I measure them. I do a 1/4 cup of walnuts and a 1/4 dried apricots for a snack every so often when I need to feel like I'm splurging!

I put about 1/8 cup in the salad I take to work. I cannot just nibble on a few ... I'd empty the container.

In my morning oatmeal, salads... That kind of things. Although I admit I can nibble on just 2-3 and then leave the rest aside, but I still prefer to eat them with something else rather than just alone.

After what I refer to as "the cashew incident" earlier this year, I've decided that I cannot have nuts in the house at the moment. I used to get cinnamon almonds from Trader Joe's, but even those have proved to be a problem lately.

Nuts are an excellent source of good fats and I do have difficulty getting enough good fats (fat is usually 20% or less of my total calories) so I hope to one day be able to add them back to my diet. In fact, I suspect that part of the problem I have resisting nuts is due to the fact that I'm not getting enough fat in my diet. But for now it is just easier to not have them around than to try to deal with this problem. Also, they are so high in calories that one slip with them really does damage. There are other foods that I have around that I also have trouble resisting, but none of them do the kind of damage that nuts do.

In the last week or so I have added peanut butter back to my diet, however. It does take a lot of willpower, but so far I have been successful at portioning it out (I weigh it and then have just a little bit extra), putting the lid back on the jar, and then putting the jar back in the fridge and leaving it there. The Fiber One Muffins I make are devine with a tbsp of peanut butter on them (and make for a surprisingly filling snack).

I agree, as healthy as nuts are with their monounsaturated fats, Vit. E and omega-3s -- it's really hard to stop eating once you start (and an ounce serving has about 150-200 calories). So yea, when I do want to eat -- I have to portion it out and bring it to work, errand, etc. -- where I would be unable to get more even if I wanted to. And of course, by the time I get home hours later, the craving had subsided (esp. if I drank my aplenty of water for the day.)

DH and I buy the big containers of mixed nuts from Costco--Hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, Almonds, pecans and cashews. I'll allow myself 8 cashews twice a week. It is hard to stop! Once the cashews are gone, I'll do the same with the pecans and almonds. Neither of us likes the hazelnuts or Brazil nuts, so we usually give them to the dogs (who aren't as discerning as we are!).

I almost always have almonds and macadamias in the house. I only rarely have trigger issues with them, and thats only if I get the Sahale blends. I try to get 1/2-1 oz a day. Sometimes I measure out, sometimes I grab 2-3 nuts as I go about my day.

I also have almond butter frequently.

I can<t control cashews and peanuts... But I can have control with almonds and walnuts... I eat 4-5 almond halves almost daily sometimes with my glass of wine... Wine is a red light food more me just lately though

oh god, nuts are a huge problem for me. i love all kinds. i'll buy a planters salt free mixed nuts, and eat the whole tin in one sitting! i just avoid them. i stick to reduced fat peanut butter instead..except i'm in china now, so i can't really get my hands on peanut butter.

I include nuts in my diet . . . I don't have a problem with portion control at all, but I probably eat a slightly higher-fat diet than most of the ladies in this thread. If I'm eating them as a snack I count them out (about 15 almonds as a serving) and then put them away. I just make it a mental non-option to eat more. Sometimes I'll have them in my oatmeal or mix them with brown rice. Or I'll have up to 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter a day. Yes, nuts are high fat/calorie. But they're such QUALITY calories that I don't think it is a bad trade off.

If I couldn't make the portion control work I don't think I'd have them in my diet at all. As some have pointed out, they're so high calorie that the stakes are just too high if you're prone to eating too many.

Nuts were very problematic for me and one of the causes of weight gain. Over time I've learned to leave them alone. If I choose to eat them, I count them out. 22 almonds, 18 cashews, like that. I no longer have to lock them up or hide them.

Jay