Sunflower seeds and other nuts

Olivia

Well-known Member
Location
Hawaii
I've been starting to add sunflower seeds to my low fat, low sugar yogurt. Out of curiosity, I looked up the calorie count in them, and was shocked to find out that 1/4 cup (which is hardly anything) comes to 186 calories. Yikes.

I like to snack on nuts instead of sugary, fatty stuff. I did kind of know that they were high calorie, but I didn't realize how high. One-fourth cup of almonds is 206 calories (I mostly don't even eat that much more at breakfast) walnuts, 183 calories, and peanuts, 206 calories. It's easy to eat 1/4 cup of anything if you're not careful.

I know nuts have heart-healthy fats, but you've go to be careful with them, I sadly learned.
 

I've had the sunflower seed "habit" for years. I always keep a cup by the computer, and munch on them frequently....But, I buy the regular seeds (with shells), so I spend far more time crunching the shell, than I do eating the seed. That way, I get the pleasure of a small handful of seeds, without overdoing it.
 
I do the same as Don M.,I buy with the shells. I also do that with pumpkin seeds. I love unsweetened dried fruit and was eating that like crazy until I saw the calorie count. Even raisins are loaded. Sometimes I think I'll chew the bark off my apple tree. I bet even that has calories.
 

I never realized they were that high in calories, no wonder the chipmunks I was feeding them to need to go on a diet.

I do like them toasted myself and tossed in a salad.
 
When God created the universe it was based on everything that is yummy is bad for you. This the one, single truth of all religions. ;)
 
Everything in moderation is the way to go. No matter how good something is for you like fruits and nuts, they all have downsides like high fat and sugar contents or high calorie counts when consumed in any quantities. My wife and I try to keep our daily calorie intake at 1500 or under for the most part with Sat night being our cheat night when we go out for dinner and eat a meal of anything we want. This works very well for us in both maintaining and losing weight when we need to. In that 1500cals we try to keep it as healthy as possible with a mix of fruits and veggies along with lean meats. Sure we have our times when we just say "screw it", and eat whatever we want on vacation for a week or two or during the holidays, but after that we try to get right back on the 1500 cals a day program. We also exercise every mornng for 45 mins including 30mins on the treadmill. Then at night we walk our dogs for 30-45 mins as well.

It wasn't too long ago that I could easily eat 2000cals a day or more and still lose weight, but old man syndrome has started to take affect and my metabolism isn't what it used to be.
 

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