Nutty For Nuts! My Diet Secret-SHHHHHHHHHHHH! Don't Tell

Recycling one of my favorite posts!

When I was a little girl my family and I would visit my grandparents each summer in their small rural Kansas town. I always enjoyed those summers because my papa would take me with him to collect walnuts and then we would run home to crack them with the nutcracker. I loved nuts-all kinds of nuts and could eat them to the exclusion of anything else back then. As I grew older and became conscious of my weight (neurotic might be a better word) I stopped eating nuts because I thought they were fattening and would make me gain weight.

But, I now no longer wistfully stare at the cashews, almonds, peanuts, and almonds as I shop and instead fill up my buggy with nuts, nuts, nuts! What can account for such a drastic turnaround you may wonder? Well let me tell you! I have discovered that for me nuts actually help me maintain and when necessary lose a couple of pounds. When my favorite jeans start getting a bit snug I know it is time for a little nut detox. I follow a low carb diet for two days consisting of usually cheese, salad (or whatever low carb foods you like) and yes, NUTS (usually almonds, peanuts or cashews)! Now, let me tell you why this works for me. I like to eat and I have to feel satisfied or a day of low carb eating or dieting will not work and I will grab the next completely unhealthy, fattening and inappropriate thing in sight to eat. The nuts make me feel full and satisfied because they are filling and therefore I don't feel a need to grab some chips, brownies, etc. When people ask me how I do it I can honestly say NUTS.

**Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health found three times as many people trying to lose weight were able to stick to a Mediterranean-style moderate-fat weight loss diet that included nuts, peanuts and peanut butter versus the traditionally recommended low-fat diet. (International Journal of Obesity, Oct. 5, 2001).
As long as you control total calories, eating a handful of nuts daily may help prevent weight gain and possibly promote weight loss. The fat, protein and fiber in nuts help you feel full longer, so you may eat less during the day. By helping induce a feeling of satiety, nuts may help people feel less deprived and not like they're "dieting." Just limit your portion to a healthy handful.

** Nuts naturally contain no cholesterol and very little sodium
(unless of course you get the salted so try to stick to lightly salted or no salt if possible)

**More than 30 studies have shown that nuts in the diet can reduce the risk of heart disease regardless of the nut studied.

**Nuts serve as an important source of protein

Now to make things even better I found this incredible recipe here

This is a recipe from Low Carb Connoisseur Cafe & Market in Anderson, SC


Fast Low Carb Macadamia Parfait


1 8 oz package of Regular Cream Cheese

1 cup Hula Princess Macadamia Nuts

*Heavy Whipping CreamExpert Foods Mousse Mix*

No calorie sweetener such as Stevia

*Singing Dog Sugar Free Vanilla Extract*

Several small serving bowls or parfait dishes


1.To make the nut layer: Crush Hula Princess Macadamia Nuts to a medium fine consistency.

2. To make the cream cheese layer: Whip package of cream cheese with an electric mixer and slowly add heavy whipping cream until you reach a mouse like consistency. Stir in sweetener and Singing Dog Vanilla extract to taste.

3. To make the whipped cream: Combine 1/4 cup of whipping cream with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and sweeten to taste. Whip until doubled in volume but still soft. Add 2 teaspoons Expert Foods Mousse Mix and whip until thick but not stiff. Thin if necessary with a little cream.

4. For each serving dish - start with a layer of crushed mac nuts in the bottom of the dish, and alternate with cream cheese mixture.

Top with whipped cream and a few whole macadamia nuts. Chill thoroughly and enjoy!

LOVED IT! NOW GO GET NUTTY!

25 comments:

  1. Nuts are fantastic! I eat them all the time, my favorites are almonds and peanuts. High in fiber and veggie protein, you can't go wrong. We do share a lot of the same healthy habits (as well as both giving up drinking and getting hooked on those sodas--glad we back on the healthy stuff), and I dig your blog. Take care.

    peace,
    Mike
    livelife365

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello
    I find my way to you in David site

    what a healthy fresh site you have here...I try to live good and kind to my self but, some times I'm a cheater to my self and the fast food and taking the car instead of walking give my life some feeling of luxury...*LOL*...

    ReplyDelete
  3. that dessert sounds awesome Yummy!!

    i love Parfait + English Trifle + Tiramisu type Desserts*

    Cashew Nuts + Pistachios + Macadamian Nuts are awesome too*

    Enjoy!! ;)) Peace*

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  4. I'm with you! My husband and I keep a stash of walnuts and almonds. We've been eating them for so long, I can't remember a day when we didn't have some delicious nuts in the house. :-)

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  5. We used to collect black walnuts at my grandpa's woods and take them home too. We'd all sit around cracking them, then mom would make walnut waffles or pancakes - they were my favorites! Nuts are very good for you- it just makes sense that what God provides us on earth is good for our bodies. Thanks for the great post.

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  6. As usual I love being part of your choir. =o) I have always liked snacking on Walnuts, Pecans, Pistachios, but most especially Macs. SO I really appreciated the recipe. Yummy. Take care =0)

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  7. I love nuts! Thanks for reminding me they are great for you. It's just hard to stop at one handful!

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  8. I am a nut fan too and couldn't agree more with what you are saying. I think people may believe that they are fattening because they choose to eat cooked/baked/roasted, etc loaded with saturated vegetable oils and salt which I do believe to be very fattening. The raw varieties however provided that they are eaten in moderation - a small fistful each day are brilliant. They plump out your skin, make your hair shine and satisfy anyone from those in between meal hunger pangs. Great post!

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  9. hi heidi! i'm so glad i access the comment section again. i was trying to make comments last time, but every time i tried to hit the comment button, my pc hangs.

    anyways, i hope you're having a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love your blog! I've got an award for you (posted over at mine)!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nuts are very good for you. I'm going to have to try that recipe you shared. Great information!

    Cascia @ Healthy Moms

    ReplyDelete
  12. Tag you're it! Don't kill me, it's easy... Look at my post on 4 Things on my Arduous Nincompoop blog!

    We all wanna know more about ya!!
    wink wink..
    Really, you don't have to, it won't hurt my feelings. Much...
    bahhaahahahah

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nuts are so good for you and I love eating them! That little squirrel is so cute :)

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  14. ooooh that looks fantastic

    thanks!

    MizFit

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  15. Nuts are like a guilty pleasure because they taste so good but fortunately are good for us too. The parfait sounds so good too!

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  16. Dry roast peanuts are my favourite nuts. Not sure how healthy the dry roast variety actually are but they are very tasty.

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  17. Macadamia nuts are my favorite!
    Great blog you have :)
    Thanks for visiting mine.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nuts to you, Heidi!

    Have a good day!

    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  19. nice article,
    hope you need some pc protector from spyware or virus, u can download free on http://virus-cleaner.blogspot.com,
    i'll waiting for u.
    thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Heidi,

    I enjoyed looking over your site and learning a few new things.

    I would like to invite you on board with Young Living. I think it would do well for you and family.

    Sincerely,

    Roy.

    ReplyDelete
  21. wow ! this is pretty interesting stuff about nuts you have here ! i have always loved nuts, especially almonds. i still need to shake off a few pounds from my last pregnancy. would give this a try :) .

    thanks for your comments on my posts. i really appreciate it !

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  22. Awesome!

    I just got back from commenting on this guy's blog about eating nuts to help maintain or lose weight! You still have to watch your portions so you're not eating like 10 bags of it, but yeah, eating nuts, especially almonds, can reduce the amount of calories you take in a day, because of the healthy fats and protein found in them.

    Also, did you know almonds have over a 4,000 ORAC value? Very good antioxidant!

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  23. sweet, what great news. i LOVE nuts and shared that same taboo feeling you did. now I feel like I have an excuse to go munch a few of my favorites (Peanuts, peanut butter and cashews) without the guilt. thanks for the great news!!

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  24. I agree nuts are really good for health.

    ReplyDelete

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