Sunflower Seeds Are The Devil...

quarterhorseygirl

...but I love them. Not just the kernels, that doesn't do much for me. It's the salted/seasoned, in-shell variety I prefer. When it comes to the warm months I find myself frequently with sunflower seeds. I use them when I'm feeling 'snacky' and know I am not really hungry or it's not time for a meal (in my head, before looking at nutrition, this made sense...after some education, it does not), and they slow down my smoking (yeah I have multiple issues I'm working on, I know already how horrible it is for me). After some confusion and mistakes in figuring out how to track my seed consumption, I've discovered a few things.

1. There are way more calories and fat in my sunflower seeds than I ever imagined.
2. While I knew there was obviously a lot of salt...I didn't realize just how much.
3. Paying attention to the details of what I pick from the database is IMPORTANT...what I saw as David Sunflower Seeds at a glance was actually Davis Sunflower seeds and those are entirely different and my tracking got jacked up as a result.
4. I may as well just eat a meal at the rate I eat sunflower seeds evidently.
5. I am going to have to give up my sunflower seeds or else I'm going to constantly blow my calorie goals for the day as well as continue being like a sponge swelling up water weight for all the sodium I'm taking in. I would say I'd limit my intake of them but...well I use them as an alternative to smoking/eating when not hungry so it's not about eating them for fun or whatever, it gives me something to do and that just won't do anymore

I don't necessarily need advice here. I know what I need to do and I know some alternatives that are non-food related, considering what my motives were for having the seeds. Does anyone relate to this? It could either be with seeds or some similar what-you-thought-was-harmless 'staple' you had that you realized was going to have to go?

NewLIFEstyle4ME

I LOVE sunflower seeds so much, especially David's in shell. I smile when you say you might as well have a steak, because they are super high cals and fat, so I totally relate to what you're saying here for sure--but ya know what? I'm STILL going to have my cup of sunflower seeds, whenever I want to I'll have some...it's just my "want to's have changed so much. I drink bucket loads of filtered water daily (especially electrolyte water), so the high sodium isn't a problem for me. Your #4 is how I look at eating sunflower seeds, I see them as a "meal" so that way I enjoy them all I can and don't fret about it one bit...they're a meal--just a strange one and actually a pretty healthy one too. When I was skinny as a stick, my father used to be bewildered at my love for sunflower seeds and tell me I ate like a bird, which was why I was so skinny. So, we can call our sunflower seed "meals" our "bird-food" and eat them with joy--without an ounce of woe or fret. That's my take on it anyway.

{{{{ Hugs }}}} you're not alone in your LOVE for sunflower seeds!

Krisydee

I love sunflower seeds and I love that it is very keto friendly. Salt + fats equals me scoring perfect on my macros!

gallicinvasion

Can you measure out your day’s worth of sunflower seeds (however much you’d like to allot calories for), put them in a ziplock bag, and carry them with you? This way you can still have a reasonable amount and eat them as a smoking deterrent throughout your day, but you’ll just be aware that you only have a certain amount to work with. This might help keep you mindful.

psychod787

They are not the devil.... try an experiment... eat non flavor added sunflower seeds... see how many you want to eat... maybe just try it...

kimny72

I have to be super careful with nuts and seeds in general. I'm a sucker for the savory/salty/crunchy, and nuts and seeds have that "health food" aura but man, those calories add up fast! I have to weigh out a portion, close the container, put it away, and walk away. I could easily mindlessly eat one of those 6 oz canisters in one sitting

lemurcat2

kimny72 wrote: »

I have to be super careful with nuts and seeds in general. I'm a sucker for the savory/salty/crunchy, and nuts and seeds have that "health food" aura but man, those calories add up fast! I have to weigh out a portion, close the container, put it away, and walk away. I could easily mindlessly eat one of those 6 oz canisters in one sitting

Yeah, me too.

arlmx

I buy raw without shell and no salt, not only sunflower seeds but also pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. They're very healthy.

psychod787

arlmx wrote: »

I buy raw without shell and no salt, not only sunflower seeds but also pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. They're very healthy.

Same here... while no food is "healthy" or not "healthy"... for some of us that have a high reward value "trigger", unsalted nuts are just less palatable...

dmkoenig

You can roast your own raw unsalted sunflower seeds or pepitas and add really interesting spice combos that will knock your socks off. That way you can control salt intake and you can roast without any oil. All you need is a cookie sheet, imagination, your spice mix, an oven at about 400F and 5 minutes of your time. You do have to be careful with pounding them down so I tend to use them to sprinkle on salads for crunch, etc. Here is an example of a Smoky Chili Lime recipe, but you can experiment with whatever spice mix that you might prefer.
https://www.yourdailyvegan.com/2017/05/chili-lime-sunflower-seeds/

kimny72

arlmx wrote: »

I buy raw without shell and no salt, not only sunflower seeds but also pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. They're very healthy.

And that's why for some of us their calorie density was a rude awakening. Regardless of healthiness, I can easily eat several hundred calories of nuts, and I don't find them terribly filling until I've eaten an unconscionable amount Peanuts in the shell are a little better because it forces me to slow down, but I can still rip through far more than I have room for in my calorie budget.

lemurcat2

This is why I don't buy unshelled pistachios.

Just getting unsalted/raw doesn't work for me, if I don't measure out a serving, I could easily eat crazy calories worth of walnuts, almonds, or cashews, or even sesame seeds.

I find them reasonably filling if I measure out 14 g or 28 g or whatever, but if I'm just eating them I can overeat before I realize I've had plenty.

glassyo

kimny72 wrote: »

arlmx wrote: »

I buy raw without shell and no salt, not only sunflower seeds but also pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. They're very healthy.

And that's why for some of us their calorie density was a rude awakening. Regardless of healthiness, I can easily eat several hundred calories of nuts, and I don't find them terribly filling until I've eaten an unconscionable amount Peanuts in the shell are a little better because it forces me to slow down, but I can still rip through far more than I have room for in my calorie budget.

This is exactly why I like unshelled pistachios and peanuts. They make you work for it so they take a little bit longer to eat.

lalalacroix

Yeah I really like the unshelled sunflower seeds with all the special seasonings. I quit smoking once with them.

icemom011

gallicinvasion wrote: »

Can you measure out your day’s worth of sunflower seeds (however much you’d like to allot calories for), put them in a ziplock bag, and carry them with you? This way you can still have a reasonable amount and eat them as a smoking deterrent throughout your day, but you’ll just be aware that you only have a certain amount to work with. This might help keep you mindful.

I do that with unshelled peanuts. Weigh and bag them in snack size baggies, that helps me somewhat to be portion aware. And i love nuts and seeds of all kinds, sunflower included. I keep a sample size paper cup in my nut/seed jar, so when i fill it up, i am portion aware as well. Unfortunately, nothing stops me from reaching for a few more pieces over and over, sigh. I wish they weren't so calorie dense. That was an eye opener for me few years ago. Among other yummy things.

kshama2001

I can relate - it was a sad, sad day when I first weighed out peanut butter on a digital food scale.

I stopped eating peanut butter banana smoothies after that, and eat PB in general much less than I did before.

RelCanonical

I was never a big nut or seed eater and it's worked to my advantage. Pistachios, though. WHY must you be so calorie dense, my pistachios?

icemom011

Once i have added coffee beans to my nut/ dry fruit mix, for some extra crunch and caffeine and different texture, and just because i love coffee. And pretty soon I've realized that calories in coffee beans are same as nuts and seeds, haha. So i just will stick with drinking the brew and skip eating the actual beans.

dododididada

The salt on any kind of seeds is unresistable!
I have two devils carbs and salt.

Cahgetsfit

I feel ya! I no longer eat nuts (well, I do put 5g of sunflower seeds - unsalted - shelled) in my oats in the morning. it's a bit sad.

I mean other nuts. It's very sad counting out 5 nuts. HAzelnuts. YUM!

Before I knew about calories and things and thought nuts were a healthy snack - I could eat the entire bag of nuts in one go (and wonder why I wasn't losing weight... i was eating "healthy snacks"! A whole 1000+ calories of healthy snacks LOL!)