Fitness Talk Tuesday: Are Almonds the Enemy?

Now before anyone gets ahead of themselves and dumps their entire stash of Almonds in the trash, let me clarify; Almonds are not unhealthy nor are they the enemy...If eaten in moderation. Yes, we're talking about the big M word again AKA the most important word to understand if you're trying to achieve any maintainable fitness goal.

So the answer is no, Almonds alone are not the enemy, but they can be. Lucky for me, as a fitness nutritionist, I get the opportunity to assess and listen to what many of my clients think are the best foods to eat when trying to lose weight. 

Let me walk you through a pretty typical conversation I have in an initial nutrition consultation. 

A new client comes in and immediately we get into a discussion about their goals and what they are currently doing. In regards to weight loss if a person is already making attempts to get started, I'll usually get a daily meal plan from them that looks something like this: 

Breakfast: Greek Yogurt and some fruit or egg whites and some oatmeal

Lunch: Chicken or fish and a salad

Dinner: Chicken or fish, rice and some vegetables

*Side note: Three meals a day is not something that I've ever been a fan of because I prefer to eat often and in terms of my clients who tend to struggle with losing weight I find that eating more frequently prevents a lot of over-eating and munching on foods that will put them over their daily caloric goal. 

Anyways, back to the point; at this step I'll usually ask them if there is absolutely anything that they are consuming outside of these three meals. Coffee, "snacks", protein shakes, anything...? This is when nine out of ten times I get this response: "In between meals I'll snack on some almonds". 

The first thing that runs through my head when I hear this is: how many almonds is some? Even though almonds seem like a tiny snack, they do count as a healthy fat and are therefore pretty calorie dense for their size (1 almond is roughly 7 calories and 12 almonds already puts you at almost 100 calories & about 7 grams of your daily fats). So if someone is casually snacking on 20-30 almonds between meals, those are some high-fat calories that can add up pretty quickly and shoot you way over your goal.

I do highly recommend eating almonds as one of your healthy fats because they're a great source of Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats. These are good fats that promote healthy hormone levels and can actually help with weight loss when used correctly. With anything else, it's just important to time them out and eat them in moderation. Before I make my next suggestion, I want everyone to remember that everyone's bodies and metabolisms are different and this is not a blanket statement that will work for everyone, it is just a very generalized suggestion. 

With that being said, when trying to achieve weight loss I would typically recommend that women consume somewhere around 30 to 40 grams of fats throughout the day (including fats that come from lean protein sources) so two or three servings of 10-12 almonds is appropriate if you aren't consuming any other fats (avocado, hummus, egg yolk, nut butters, olives, etc.)

 For Men I would suggest somewhere in the range of 45 to 55 grams of fats per day to start. So assuming that a man is eating the correct portion sizes of lean protein and consuming no other fats, he would be able to eat roughly 3 servings of 16-18 almonds (remember, we are accounting for the fats that naturally occur in lean meats too). 

Now for timing: I personally believe that it is great to start the day off with some healthy fats in the morning because those healthy fats will help keep away the cravings throughout the day and will provide you with some natural energy (Carbs and Fats are energy-yielding nutrients, but we can talk about that another time). I would also recommend fats and  a slow-digesting protein source before bed. i.e. a shake with casein and a serving of almonds is perfect right before bed because both of these foods will take longer to digest and help keep your metabolism active throughout the night!

I hope some of you found this helpful, if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out!

Xo, Kelsey