Nuts. I love them.
They're incredibly satisfying, tasty, and they add flavor to entrees, desserts, salads, and more.
I lovingly look at pistachios as little gifts I get to unwrap for the nutty goodness inside.
The many benefits of eating nuts: 🥜 boost energy
🥜 maintain a healthy cholesterol level
🥜 improve skin health
🥜 rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, minerals & antioxidants 🥜 good for your heart and brain 🥜 good source of protein 🥜 have strong anti-inflammatory properties
🥜 high in fiber
I use nuts in a variety of ways, including: - adding to smoothies - adding to stir-fry - eating as a snack - with my yogurt, fruit, granola
As you can see from the image, nuts are high in calories (and fat) — over indulging in them is an easy way to sabotage healthy eating. It's remarkable that just 5 pecans (which I love) are 100 calories! I find nuts to be pretty addictive and if I'm not mindful of how much I'm eating, I could consume hundreds of calories and grams of fat in no time. I don't really count calories per se, but I work hard to remain mindful of what I'm consuming throughout the day. I'm also cognizant of how much fat I consume daily — and so on days I have avocado (high in fat) I have less nuts. If I am using nuts in a stir fry, I won't eat them as a snack that same day, same with smoothies. It may seem neurotic, but it really is about eating mindfully and in moderation.
My nut of choice to snack on these days are dry roasted and unsalted pistachios. About 20-25 pistachios are about 100 calories. I find portioning them out to be a helpful solution to limit the potential in overeating them.
What nuts should you eat?
• almonds • pistachios • walnuts • cashews • macadamia • brazil • pecans • hazelnuts • peanuts
Nuts vary in calories, fat, and nutritional benefits so it's advantageous to eat a variety. For instance, macadamia nuts are the highest in fat while hazelnuts are the lowest. If you're looking for the nut with the most protein, hazelnuts are for you. And, interestingly... peanuts are not a tree nut, but a legume! The rest of the nuts listed above are tree nuts.
When buying nuts, I look for the healthiest and most naked nut I can find. For example, with pistachios I look for dry roasted and unsalted. Why dry roasted? No added oil is used in the roasting. For cashews, unsalted and raw. As appealing as cinnamon glazed cashews are, they have limited nutritional value, higher calories and sugar, are a processed food, and are definitely not a naked/healthy nut. Naked nuts FTW!
Now, go enjoy some <naked> nuts — in moderation of course.
Check out the new move of the week video on the blog: TRX Squat w/ Kettlebell Press
