Addicted to almonds

They are basically my only snack, so I love them. The problem is, I can't stop eating them, and since a normal serving is like 160cal for 1/4 cup of the roasted kind, and contains like 15~16 grams of fat, I think it may have contributed to my apparent 3lb gain.

I use a 1/4 measuring cup when I eat them , and log every serving. I know a small amount isn't bad for you, but it seems that I can't stop at just one serving.

And I thought I conquered my food weaknesses, lol. For me, it isn't sugary sweets, fried foods, candy or ice cream, but these. They are high in fat, so could that be why I gained 3lbs even though i'm working out hard for 3~4 days a week for an hour and i'm at 1,500?

LOL!  If it weren't for the marvellous group of foods they call 'nuts' I would probably be 20lbs lighter....   Almonds are healthy but they are horrifically calorific.  (Excess calories rather than excess fat makes people fat BTW)  If you want to eat fewer of them, buy them in the shell and invest in a nutcracker..... you need a lot of strength to conquer an almond.  Can't just guzzle them down.

Otherwise, leave them on the shelf and as Dionne Warwick might have said.... 'walk on by'....

I, too, love eating almost all nuts.  Almonds are my favorites.  And most nuts are healthy for us in moderation.  I buy shelled almonds quite often, along with shelled English walnuts, Brazil nuts, and hazel nuts when I can find them.  I have to work diligently at only eating 1/4th cup a day.  In the olden times, when I rode a horse barefooted (most horses were in those days) in winter uphill to school in both directions, I could easily eat a pound of almonds.  Behind me in the computer room I have a canister of dark chocolate dusted almonds, 3 packages of honey-glazed almonds, two packages of shelled Brazil nuts, and two packages of English walnut pieces. 

How do I keep from scarfing them down?   Will power.  I just flat out refuse to overeat them.  But when I was counting calories (I am taking 2 weeks off), if I decided to eat a whole cup of one of the nuts, I just ate less of something else.

But when I ate them, I was always within my calorie target =[

I logged and measured every serving.

they do have the 100 calorie packs, though.

I have the whole canister, and it's hard for me to control the portions from it sometimes.

So, 100 cal packs for me I guess >_<

Please don't.  100-calorie packs for things like nuts are incredibly wasteful and excessively expensive.  Make your own "100-calorie packs" by packaging up weighed-out amounts of nuts into small reusable plastic containers sometime when you're not hungry. 

hmm ... good idea!

Are the almonds salted? that could make a difference also.

yea, the almonds have 230mg of sodium per 1/4 cup serving o.o

I am taking this from some almonds I bought at Wally World.  I normally don't buy salted nuts, if I remember to check the label:

• 1 oz--28.35 g. = 180 calories
• fat calories = 120
• sodium 115 mg   8%
• cholesterol = 0%
• protein = 6 g.

Overall, even with the sodium, I think these almonds are in the category of "healthy" foods!

What follows is from the label of my Emerald Dark Chocolate dusted almonds:

• 1 oz--1/4th cup = 150 calories
• fat calories = 120
• sodium = 25 mg  1%
• protein = 6 g.

So those Emerald almonds are really "healthy," in my opinion.

What you could do, and I have done this, is buy bulk almonds, unsalted such as online, where you can get a really good deal on large amounts.  What I did and do is divide them into small snack bags and store the majority in the freezer.  You can keep almonds in the freezer for a long time and just take out a few bags at a time.

Thanks pilgrimdude for the advice. And those do Emerald almonds do sound healthy. The ones in front of me now:

Emerald  Dry Roasted Almonds  - 11 oz canister

serving size: 1/4 cup

calories per serving: 150

Calories from fat: 120

total fat = 13g

satfat 1g

cholest. = 0

sodium 230mg - 10%

carbs: 7g

Fiber: 3g

sugars: 1

protein: 4g

those don't sound too bad, do they?

but since I ate alot ... like, ALOT, possibly two canisters in 1 week and a half, could that be the source of the fat gain? nothing else in my diet is high in fat. I don't eat white bread or hardly any red meats.

wow u sound just like me! i looooove almonds...its come to a point where i cant even have them around cuz i will eat them all!they r soooo good. do you eat the kind w/ salt? cuz that plus the protein they hav can b whats causing the added weight gain--even w/ cardio... something to think about.. i could b wrong by a long shot... try to limit them...or just not have them around at all.. that and PEANUT BUTTER is def. my weakness....i put peaunut butter on everything i love it! but i knw that it has a lot of protein so in large amounts it just isnt good for weight loss..

The sodium might be a bit high.  Maybe sodium is making you retain water weight?  I think if you could find a way to cut down on almonds, but keep the flavor around--such as making some homemade whole wheat bread with almond pieces in it?  Otherwise, slowly cut back, a couple of tablespoons at a time.  If you could limit yourself to 1/2 cup a day, that might not be bad.  I can't really offer much advice, since the other night I ate 1/4th cup of Brazil nuts, but then I ended up eating a bunch of honeycoated  almonds, too.  If you buy bulk almonds, you can get them without all the sodium. 

This is what I am snacking on right now:  Good Sense Honey-Glazed Almonds:

• 1/4th cup = 170 calories
• total fat = 11g.  17%
• Cholesterol = 0%
• sodium = 3%
• protein = 5 g.
• Here is the bad one:  sugars = 12g

ok I may sound like a total freak but if anyone will get this, you nutty people out there will. I have acquired a nut allergy over the years, never had one my entire life until I was about 18. I started eating pistachios all the time b/c they were recommended in the P90X diet plan, and I loveddddd them. Ok so I started breaking out into a rash, didn't know why, long story short I think its from nuts. But does that stop me?....NO. haha I still eat nuts. I am getting soo much better though, I went through a time in my teens of eating really low fat foods (I thought fat made you fat..ha stupid) so I think my body felt deprived and I would eat tons of nuts/PB sometimes. I got sick of the rash but I literally couldn't not eat nutty things. I still eat them. I'm finding as long as I don't overindulge I'm fine, its when I eat alot that the rash comes. So I'm working on that.......last Sat. I ate so many peanut m&ms I still have a bit of a rash...whoops haha. This is probably not healthy but I really do try! Someday someday.

Original Post by missmoonlight:

but since I ate alot ... like, ALOT, possibly two canisters in 1 week and a half, could that be the source of the fat gain? nothing else in my diet is high in fat. I don't eat white bread or hardly any red meats.

 

I think you've simply miscounted the calories that you're getting in total.  It's not fat that makes people fat, it's excess calories.  The most common reasons for gaining weight are that you're either overestimating how active you are or you're underestimating how much you eat.

Same here....addicted to almonds and peanut butter. Peanut butter has been bansihed from the house!! For the almonds, I now buy the 100 calorie packs. Can not have the entire can/package around. I eat two 100 calorie packs a day and then I am DONE, no more. This has been working well for me :) Certainly more expensive but, o well, it's working.