I hear about people eating almonds and macadamia nuts, but for me (watching my cals) they're a little too high calorie. Is there anything wrong with pistachios? I plugged 30 kernels into fitday and came up with just over 100 cals, 5g carbs, 2g fiber. They work into my carb count, but it worries me that there may be something 'wrong' with them that I don't know about!

What do you think??

Cheers!

Jen
Started Atkins 5.5.03
196/181/155

Hi, Jen.

They're fine!

I love pistachios, undyed and in the shell. Eating nuts out of the shell takes longer and prolongs the enjoyment - LOL!

A handful of pistachios (my hand is NOT very big) is a nice TV watching snack in the evening.

Enjoy!

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160)/Maintaining nicely (110) ~~ Redhead until further notice!

Thanks, Maggie! We get the regular pistachios in the shell. Last night I had 30 of them while watching tv and it was so nice to sit and crack the shells and enjoy them. Don't like the red ones, tho. I hate having dyed fingers. LOL!

Cheers!

Jen
Started Atkins 5.5.03
196/181/155

I love the little suckers as well but can't stop at 30. Even cracking the shells etc, they really get out of hand for me and I had to stop eating them.

Shortie19
224+/201/130
Since 1/1/03
http://www.lowcarbeating.com/lcesupporter.gif

You might do better with pecans.

I just looked up pistachios in my Netzer's carb counter book.

1 cup of de-shelled pistachios has 35.2 carbs minus 13.8 fiber = 21.4 net carbs.

pecan halves or pieces 1 cup has 19.7 carbs minus 8.2 fiber = 11.5 net carbs.

I don't think you should worry about the calories. This isn't a low-calorie diet. Cutting your carbs should be enough, especially if you're just starting. (Just starting meaning you've been doing this less than six months).

The bigger question is, are you still in ketosis while you eat pistachios? I had to give them up because I was having trouble staying in ketosis while eating pistachios. I might have given up too easily... I'm not sure. If you can stay in ketosis, eat them.

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

Ok.

Let me be more specific about my pistachio eating. I get the ones imported from Turkey with the brand name Zenobia. These are not big, huge, hybrid variety California pistachios - they're little, heratige stock variety ones.

My portion size is a handful. The biggest handful I can scoop out of the bag has about 40 nuts, in shell. The weight is a bit more than an ounce. If I save the shells and weigh them, it's a bit more than 1/2 oz. The nuts themselves weigh a half ounce. Per the USDA, 1/2 oz of pistachios is 3.95 gms of carbs with 1.45 gms of fiber. That's a net 2.5 gms for my portion.

Having to take the shells off each of those 40 little nuts turns this portion into a very extended nosh while watching tv. After all, I'm not really hungry when I do this. It's a snack purely for the delight of the taste and texture. The ritual of opening each one is satisfying, too. I ate them during OWL (no problem with ketosis or blood sugar) and still eat them the same way and in the same amounts.

As with other nuts, I take out my designated snack and put them in a bowl, and put the bag away before I start eating. This way I know when I'm done.

That is my entire saga of me and pistachios - a snack of my youth - which I'm really happy I can have in my life.

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160)/Maintaining nicely (110) ~~ Redhead until further notice!

I don't really care for pecans, personally, except in recipes. For me, almonds and macadamia nuts are a HUGE no, no. They are really super salty and I fell into the trap of getting Smokehouse almonds. I'm a saltaholic, if it's salty, I'll abuse it. The pistachios are great for me. I count out 30,put the rest back in the cupboard, shell them one at a time while watching tv...sometimes I suck the salt off the shell. Heaven! If I have almonds or macadamia nuts, I'll keep going back to the container for a refill.

Dr I-->The reason I'm worrying about calories is, my exercise routine fell by the wayside. The kids were having sleep difficulties for a few weeks and I was up all day and most of the night. Just too tired to exercise. When I was exercising, I wasn't really concerned with the cals, but since my hiatus, I started to gain. I've temporarily cut my cals and have started to lose again. Luckily the kids are getting back to sleeping thru the night and I'm starting my exercise routine again today! BTW, I didn't have a problem with pistachios kicking me out of ketosis. But, that's why I asked. Nobody ever talked about them, so I wondered if there was something non-Atkins-friendly about them.

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

Cheers!

Jen
Started Atkins 5.5.03
196/180/155

They have unsalted macadamias and almonds for sale. You might like those. I'm too cheap for macadamias, but I love them when somebody GIVES THEM TO ME FOR FREE...

Not hinting or anything...

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."