Can nuts make you gain weight?
(39 posts) (27 voices)-
maba
MemberWe've discussed plenty before about how nuts can stall weight. But can nuts actually make you gain weight, considering their carb count is relatively less. I've gained about 5 lbs since I started primal. I was in denial until my mom told me today that I look like I've gained weight. I've been pretty primal since August. As most people here on the forum already know, nuts are my nemesis. Can I lose weight if I give up nuts temporarily?
Posted 4 months ago # -
I have a horrible time with nut butter- probably because I can eat so many nuts worth so quickly. If I buy a jar of nut butter and don't control myself with it (which means dipping into it daily), my weight loss essentially stalls, or my weight goes up.
I guess what I'd say is, try it and see what happens. If after a month or two there's no difference, resume eating nuts.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Del Mar Mel
MemberNuts are a super concentrated source of energy so you need to be moderate with them. One thing to consider is that if you were eating them in nature and had to work to get into walnut shells and such, you would certainly eat a lot fewer than if they are just sitting in a bowl. I try to keep it to about 200 calories/ day with nuts.
Also, are you eating raw nuts and raw nut butters? I find I don't tend to over eat raw nuts. The roasted, salted stuff I could eat like popcorn. You will get more nutrients out of raw nuts so it's the better choice.
Posted 4 months ago # -
bobbylight
BlockedTo answer the question, of course you can gain weight eating nuts. They have calories (a lot of them actually) so the more calories you eat over maintenence, the more weight you will gain. Anyway, here is an interesting article on nuts and weight gain.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/nuts-and-bodyweight-qa.html
Posted 4 months ago # -
Iceskater
MemberId recommend you ease off the nuts a little bit-perhaps just eat raw like DMM said, or homemade nut butters (which is harder to overdose on). I've been primal for a few months now, but while staying low-carb Ive seemed to be overeating in fat calories and gained a few (my mom mentioned it to me too, whic hurts since Im trying to be a primal 'role model':( But limiting to a handful of nuts may be helpful. good luck!
Posted 4 months ago # -
I only eat raw nuts. I went for the nut butters and found them so lovely I knew I would have problems! Having said that though, I am not a massive eater anyway and I do eat nuts every day - just not very many at all!
I could try cutting them out and seeing if that does anything with my weight loss, but to be honest, I'm quite happy with my progress, so I'll keep them in for now.
@maba - have you gained weight in a 'fat' way or in a 'muscle' way? Do you look good/feel good?
Posted 4 months ago # -
Raphael
MemberI have a really bad problem with nuts too. Fortunately, about a week ago I came across some rancid hazelnuts and they gave me a terrible headache and allergic reaction. That did it for me - I'm laying off the nuts for a while. :) When I do eat them though, I'm going to soak them over night.
I gave up nuts, cheese, coffee - and guess what? I'm still not losing weight. :P
Posted 4 months ago # -
I used to have a bad walnut and almond butter thing going on. I could seriously eat the snot out of walnuts. It stopped when I started taking vitamin E & only after a few doses @ 400 IU. I don't even take it daily, only when I remember, which isn't too often! LOL! Did really seem to help with the nut cravings, though.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Maba, fwiw, once I started taking magnesium as a supplement, I stopped over eating on nuts and chocolate. It worked for me perhaps because I wasnt absorbing as I needed to. I sweat alot during my bike workouts and had done for a very long time, years in fact, without getting adequate magnesium and zinc in my diet. A hcp friend of mine, when I was doing Bikram there for a while, also recommended taking it after doing a class as so many salts are lost through sweat.
Posted 4 months ago # -
i found nut butters (almond & cashew in particular) were just too tasty for me to "ration" so i won't buy them or i just do an individual packet (justin's natural nut butters) i DO eat raw almonds every day BUT i count them and eat between 10-20 a day so i'm not just "guessing" how many calories i'm taking in the form of nuts. next week i'm going to not eat the nuts or greek yogurt and see what happens to my weight. i lost weight after cutting out the nut butters and have maintained my weight loss eating small amounts of nuts daily.
Posted 4 months ago # -
OnTheBayou
MemberNuts do not "make" you gain weight. Nothing "makes" you gain weight.
maba, I'm going to be harsh. How many times have we read of you piling on carbs, often Indian delicacies? How many times have we read of your confessional "falling off of the wagon" episodes? In an exchange several months ago you told me that you don't really weigh your portions, you are estimating.
Well?????
If you've been "pretty primal" since August, you certainly shouldn't be GAINING weight (unless very skinny before, of course.) Eating a lot of nuts is NOT PB, they should be an occasional indulgence. If nothing else, they are loaded with n-6's.
Since flying blind isn't working for you, get a scale, record everything on Fitday, and get a handle on what you are doing wrong. It will be right in front of you and you can then make changes, the ones you need.
The answer to your question is "No," they don't make you fat.......unless you put them in your mouth.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Along with misa and OTB, I have to count/measure them. A handful here and a handful there will definitely stall my weight loss (and it has, believe me - I could snack on roasted almonds all day long). I can't snack on them anymore unless I'm in a bind (i.e. camping, hiking, traveling).
I've taken to the habit of only eating raw or blanched walnuts/almonds/pecans on salad. It's easy to portion and then I don't end up dumping a whole bunch on or it overpowers the salad. (This is also an excellent way to avoid snacking on cheese). Another good use for nuts (in portions) is to make a pesto (be it pine nut, macadamia, what have you) and spoon a small amount on meats as a savory topper. Satisfies the craving, adds flavor to a meal, and you don't go overboard.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Yes it happened to me when I first went primal. I needed something to snack on and I wasn't rationing. It's the excess calories that did it, not carbs. Since I cut out nuts, I've started losing. I've also notice my calorie count has come down as well.
Posted 4 months ago # -
maba
MemberThank you all for your input. Nuts are my source of "eatertainment" (an originial OTB coinage) and no wonder I go crazy with them. I work at a desk the whole day and sometimes boredom leads me to snack on them. I tried not having them around me at work, but the mister bought a big jar of nuts from Costco and now I indulge at home. I can distract myself at work with something else but unfortunately playing sudoku will be frowned upon. I'm going to try to keep off of nuts for a month (other than the piddly amounts in salads) and see how that's going to affect my weight.
@DMM: Raw nuts, roasted nuts, nut-butter are all the same to me in terms of self-control, I have none :( But I've cut down on nut-butter since I'm also trying to cut down on the nut-butter delivery vehicle - fruit.
@bobbylight: Thanks for the article. If I were to believe what the article says, I shouldn't have problem with nuts but that is not the case. Also, I used to workout regularly before I went primal but not anymore. Now it's just weights once or atmost twice a week and some slow walking occasionally.
@Iceskater: You're right! More than anything, I want to be a role model for my family with Primal eating. If it's not serving it's purpose, then they are not going to take me seriously.
@PrimalK: I kept telling myself it must be muscle but I don't even work out that much. I was kidding myself by saying my quads are getting stronger and bigger when my pants felt snug. But I compared some current pictures with 3 months ago and I most definitely have plumped a bit. The only upside is that my clothes haven't gotten snug around the tummy, yet.
@Raphael: I knew you'll understand.
@DebFM: Wow, that's amazing! I'm not sure if I eat nuts because my body needs the nutrients. I feel I eat them because I'm bored and they are tasty.
@62shelby: Nuts and chocolate are indeed my indulgences now. But I'm able to limit the amount of chocolate I eat because of the sucrose content. But with nuts, it's like I have a free pass. Do you take the Mg/Zn/Ca supplement?
@misathemeb: I REALLY need to cut out the nuts. I IF dinner-to-dinner 2 times a week, usually eat 2 main meals per day (barring the nuts), drastically cut down on my dairy and despite what OTB says, my cheats are few and far in between.
@OTB: I'm still loathe to calorie-counting (don't know why, possibly because it's a relic of CW dieting?) I agree I need to eliminate all the semi-primal stuff from my diet if I need to do the diet w/ only my sense of satiety as a guide. Oh come on now, the last time I fell off the wagon was during Diwali (Indian quivalent of Christmas) and if I hadn't, my Indian citizenship wd have been revoked.
Posted 4 months ago # -
chima_p
MemberI don't know if you measure your food. It can really be a PITA but if you have never done it before it can be a real eye opener.
I suggest you weigh yourself find and out your lean body mass and fat % ratio and then for 2 weeks count calories and measure your food. If your fat % increases in the 2 weeks then you can evaluate your whole diet not just nuts.
Eating 1/2 cup of almonds will give you 450ish calories. For me thats no problem for a small inactive female it could amount to 1/4 daily calories...
Nuts don't make people fat, people make people fat.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Squirrel Jo
MemberI'm glad you brought this up, I've been overdoing the nuts eating too (especially almonds and almond flour). This thread is a bit of hard truth that I needed to hear because since going Primal I haven't lost weight yet. MRD232, that's a good idea to only allow yourself to eat them in salads, or a bit of homemade pesto. The constant need to snack is something from my pre-primal days when I thought constant small meals are better for metabolism... it's a mind over matter thing that I need to address.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Jedi
MemberI have to agree with OTB, Maba, I think if you want to lose weight you may need to calorie count for a short time to give you a real idea of how much you are taking in. From different comments you have made about what you eat I suspect your daily calories are often well over 2000 and at your height, unless you are very active, it might just be too many. You don't have to calorie count for ever, but just to get you moving downward again. WEIGH everything for a week and you may be surprised :)
Posted 4 months ago # -
jc2bg
MemberJust want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences and conclusions. I'm a newb to this forum but am excited already (after 3 weeks of 80% primal eating) about the results. Have lost 3 pounds by eating less than one portion of grain (such as half of a sandwich bun) per day, have increased energy significantly, have slept much better, and have noticed a definite toning effect overall, without increasing exercise in any way. In short, primal eating works, but it's still a challenge to figure out just how much of an essentially primal food such as nuts one can consume and continue moving to a healthier body. Fwiw, I eat an average 10 or 12 raw nuts per day (almonds, macadamias, walnut or pecan halves) and still appear to be losing weight slowly (6'1" male, 168 pounds), but based on what I've read here, I probably should cut that consumption in half to expedite losing the additional 7 or 8 pounds that would allow me to be at my fittest. I have a lean frame and not significant muscle mass, so anything over low 160s has generally been just padding for me. Later middle age. - JC
Posted 4 months ago # -
hannahc
MemberMaba I took a break from the exercise too, I was going hard at the gym/on the pavement for about 2 years pre-primal, and was just BURNED OUT when I started PB. And I started eating roasted nuts like a fiend! I didn't really gain anything, but I didn't lose either, which I was sad about.
Eating fewer nuts now (though I still love my almond butter in moderation), and am going back to the gym. It's time to get my butt back in gear! It was nice to take a break for a while, but now that I know that consistant primal eating will stabilize my weight, I want to get to my goal weight/bf % and then restabilize. I say keep the walking going, but add in a few intense sprint days (I did sprints on the treadmill yesterday cause it was rainy, my gym treadmills have a setting that makes it easy), and keep doing weights a couple of times per week. And maybe try cutting out the nuts for just a couple of weeks while upping the intervals, see if it trims you back down. Us little ladies show the pudge so much faster, it's not fair!
Posted 4 months ago # -
maba
Member@mrd232: Pesto is a great idea. You're right about the salted/roasted buts. I binge on raw nuts too but with salted ones, it's worse.
@chima_p: If I were eating just 1/2 C, it wouldn't be such a problem. I eat much more than that. It's not like I eat them everyday but if I do eat, I end up bingeing. Yeah, I am small and inactive (120lbs @5'0").
@Squirrel Jo: You hit the nail on the head with, " it's a mind over matter thing that I need to address."
@62Shelby: I think I need to do that. I was on survival week once and did no nuts and I think my scales actually moved that one week. But after that it was back to my usual self. Maybe I'll start a new thread for the nut fast. Having others joining me will make me more accountable.
@Jedi: You're right, I'll have to do it at some point. I hate entering stuff on fitday mainly because I'm scared of the statistics it'll show me (I AM in denial). There are times I've easily eaten 800 cals worth of nuts in one sitting.
@hannah: I HAVE to get back to the gym. I can't believe what a lazy bum I've become. There was a time when I'd feel so guilty if I didn't get my workout. Now, with the the weather turning so cold, I have no motivation to even step out of the house. Will try to get some sprints this weekend.
Posted 4 months ago # -
MariaNYC
MemberThreads like these make me thankful for my recently "activated" almond allergy. Or maybe this box of shelled almonds I bought is simply rancid, and I'm reacting to the mold? Should do another experiment on this topic soon...
maba, do you buy your nuts shelled? I've noticed that when I have the unshelled variety, I tend to eat less of them because the process of cracking is time consuming. Plus the time between nuts might allow for satiety to be felt with consuming fewer nuts than if you were munching down by the handful. Good luck!
Posted 4 months ago # -
Iceskater
MemberGood luck, Maba. Im with you guys on the nut fast too. Having to tighten up the calorie intake is no fun, but I remind myself that I can ease up again when I reach maintenance (and fit more comfortably into jeans too:)
btw, I did have my 'asian' citizenship evoked when I quit white rice :) family events will never be the same again..Posted 4 months ago # -
Anand Srivastava
MemberThe trick is to understand that Snack is a meal. And you must have as few meals as possible per day. The reason is that it spikes your insulin. You want that spike to happen as few times a day as possible.
I don't even take coffee in the day time, unless I feel too sleepy (I do eat grains :-(). I try to club that too after meals ;-).
Posted 4 months ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.