Do nuts trigger overeating for anybody else? Just me?

yesmikan
yesmikan Posts: 98 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I love almonds/walnuts/mixed nuts but on my last MFP diet I figured out that it's almost impossible to limit myself to one serving. I'll eat one serving and then binge on the rest of the container. There's something about that mixture of fat and salt that makes my brain go nuts.

After reading on MFP's blog that pistachios are lower in calorie by volume than other nuts, I decided to get a bag to try them out..... only to find that they trigger my madman-overeating just like any other nut does.

I have no problem limiting myself with other salty snacks, but I have no control with nuts. So I will have to cut them out of my diet while I am trying to lose weight.

I know that nuts are an extremely healthy fat, but I just can't eat a reasonably sized portion of them.

I'm not ready to give up peanut butter, though. HOWEVER, I did discover "Just Great Stuff" powdered peanut butter (just add water) in the organic section of my supermarket. It's about half the calories of standard peanut butter and tastes great to me. HIGHLY recommended to everybody.
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Replies

  • MomforNoah
    MomforNoah Posts: 76
    I have been using nuts as a snack but I had to premeasure them into 1 oz snack bags. Like a slap in the face! I would eat the whole bag if I could :)
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    I can't eat a single serving of nuts to save my life!

    I find I do better with pistachios because you have to shell them as you go, which slows down my consumption. As a rule, I don't eat shelled nuts on a regular basis because I can't control the portion.
  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
    Nuts may as well be potato chips or cookies for me. I can eat a ton. Especially cashews...
  • leahraskie
    leahraskie Posts: 260 Member
    If you don't have to crack them I'll eat a boat load of them lol. They probably have a similar profile to chips, relatively high fat content and lots of salt. You could always try unsalted? Tastes fine as almonds, but the only other nut I eat is hazelnuts which don't have salt on them...
  • GeekMeister
    GeekMeister Posts: 41 Member
    I just experienced this phenomenon last night! I started eating some almonds and I literally had to walk out of my house to stop myself from eating them all. Not sure what to do about that...hopefully it was just a moment of weakness. Very wary of the almond jar from here on out.

    -Geek
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Yup! I actually made myself physically ill eating peanuts in my teens. I was on a road trip and just kept mindlessly cracking them and popping them in and about an hour later - well, I'll spare you the details but it wasn't pretty. And the last time I had pistachios, I made my fingers raw from the shelling and salt residew.

    So anyway, these days I buy the 100 cal packs of cocoa roast almonds or natural almonds (I don't care for salted) because of my lack of portion control. It's the best way to make sure I'm only eating as many as I should.

    Also, salty nuts, giggity :blushing:
  • mygnsac
    mygnsac Posts: 13,413 Member
    It's definitely not just you! I love nuts (cashews, pistachios, pecans and brazil nuts are my favs), but I do have to portion them out, otherwise I'd eat the whole bag in one sitting. I often pair nuts with fruit and that seems to stop that trigger for me.
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
    No. Not really a fan of nuts. Actually, I don't like a lot of things other people seem to like. Guacamole (eew...green and mushy, no thanks) and Mayonnaise..I think of crushed white maggots. Yuck.
  • LianaG1115
    LianaG1115 Posts: 453 Member
    I have been using nuts as a snack but I had to premeasure them into 1 oz snack bags. Like a slap in the face! I would eat the whole bag if I could :)

    yep this is what I have to do too!!
  • AyaRowan
    AyaRowan Posts: 80 Member
    I'm the same, it's so easy to just keep eating them. Getting individually packed 100 calorie packs helps, though I still get the urge sometimes to just eat another pack. I miss having boiled peanuts, one of my favorites, can't have them because I'll end up eating the whole bag or can!

    Peanut butter, I love but I've limited to having very rarely because I can't really control myself. I guess the best thing to do is just know yourself, if you know you'll have problems showing restraint on a certain food and don't imagine yourself overcoming it then reduce the frequency you have it.
  • tectactoe
    tectactoe Posts: 73 Member
    I buy those tube shaped single packs of nuts, otherwise I would eat the whole container, too. And those 100 calorie packs are egregiously small. Depending on the brand, size, nut, etc., the tubes usually have around 230-400 calories which is fine by me.
  • ajlandon
    ajlandon Posts: 115 Member
    I can eat an entire tub of nut butter >___> Sometimes I can eat an entire bag of nuts, too. Actually I overate nuts so badly once I can't even eat most types unless I'm in the field. Seems like it's much worse when I'm trying to eat at too big of a deficit - they're nice and calorie dense, so my body is like "FEED ME ALL OF THIS!!!"
  • dward59
    dward59 Posts: 731 Member
    I can't stop if the nuts are roasted and salted. I've found, however that I can eat raw almonds and stop at a serving without too much trouble.

    But roasting and salting make them so very delicious.
  • amykhughes
    amykhughes Posts: 25 Member
    This is a total mind trick, but I now only buy nuts in the baking aisle (sliced almonds, diced walnuts, etc) because for some weird reason I don't overeat / binge on them if they're in tiny pieces. I use them in yogurt, oatmeal, etc. I can't snack on whole nuts though. I go nuts! :P
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    No but crazy people do....get it, get it? Nuts! HAHAHA
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I think if I took the whole container into my living room with me, or even to the table at mealtime, I might be tempted to keep eating more than a serving...especially with pecans or cashews. I know this may sound overly simple and was sorta suggested already...but how about measuring and/or weighing a serving (or 2 servings if you prefer) and putting that in a small bowl and then putting away the rest of the container, in a cabinet where you can't see it?
  • shutterbug282
    shutterbug282 Posts: 588 Member
    If I have salted ones I really do tend to over eat. Plain ones, not so much. :)
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    Yes, especially the salty ones.
  • healthnewlife
    healthnewlife Posts: 30
    i always binge on nuts! i've been getting better at it recently. i keep in mind how expensive they are and how i have to share it with my family
  • SrMaggalicious
    SrMaggalicious Posts: 495 Member
    As soon as I figured out nuts were one of my migraine triggers, I stopped indulging...haven't had a migraine in 3 months, and have had very limited amounts of almonds, walnuts, etc. during that time, as well. This keeps me from going hog-wild now. No food is worth a brain-bashing migraine.
  • SteampunkSongbird
    SteampunkSongbird Posts: 826 Member
    I hate all types of nuts (yet strangely, love peanut butter) but I know that can't-stop-once-you-start craving very well!

    You could limit your purchase of them, perhaps by only buying one small single-portion packet at a time, and eating it when you won't be able to go out and get more that day, like as a snack later at night when your local store is closed and you can't just get more from your cupboards. Making sure I don't have access to the things I know I will crave more of after eating works well for me. If you drive, you might feel too silly to get in the car to go all the way to a 24 hour shop just for a bag of nuts.
  • mahogony07
    mahogony07 Posts: 8
    I have the same issue. Nuts seem to send me into a frenzy due the crunchiness and salt. I have found that even when I buy the portioned ones, I still end up craving more of it. I've found that they are best for me when they are out of the house or I can have my husband ration a few for me and lock them up afterwards. It's funny because no other food does this to me. I guess we all have our vices.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
    I can't stop if the nuts are roasted and salted. I've found, however that I can eat raw almonds and stop at a serving without too much trouble.

    But roasting and salting make them so very delicious.

    This. If nuts are roasted and salted, I will binge. Not only that there is often soy or other unhealthy oils that are added to nuts that are processed.

    When I eat only raw and unsalted nuts I never over-eat them. I get a clear signal when I am full and then I'm satisfied. I eat a wide variety of raw nuts in small amounts and I see them as a healthy part of my diet.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Yes, especially the salty ones.

    How YOU doin?
  • sandsofarabia
    sandsofarabia Posts: 95 Member
    Yes. I know myself to be a salty over sweets snacker. So because of that I snack on sweeter stuff such as fruits/yogurt. I avoid nuts, although I will occasionally dash some seeds on my food but man my cravings skyrocket if I have nuts alone so I just avoid them and opt for the Dannon Light & Fit greek yogurt. Much more protein in that anyways for less calories.
  • oxers
    oxers Posts: 259 Member
    Depends on the nuts for me. I can portion out a half a cup of pistachios just fine, but cashews? No. Hell no. I can't have them in the house. I can't *pass them in the grocery store*. I can and will eat my weight in those things, and nothing on this earth can stop me.

    It's so weird, because I don't have binge impulses for anything else. Oreos, ice cream, french fries, potato chips. I can walk away when I'm done. It's really just ****ING CASHEWS.

    No idea what it is.
  • marissanik
    marissanik Posts: 344 Member
    Always premeasure! Otherwise I would go crazy on the cashews
  • TheSheepFollower
    TheSheepFollower Posts: 64 Member
    yep for me too
  • kjarvo
    kjarvo Posts: 236 Member
    Yes I tend to eat more than a serving - or I don't but really feel as though I've had a snack. You don't get enough for a snack amount of calories/serving. I also agree that the shelled nuts make it easier to eat less.
  • srslybritt
    srslybritt Posts: 1,618 Member
    Yes, especially the salty ones.

    This.

    But no, seriously.

    Pre-portion. Buy a bag/jar/can/whatever, weigh out servings in ziploc bags, and that should help. That's what I always do.

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