I admitted it to them, and I’ll admit it to you.  In my past, I was one of those people who avoided nuts in my eating habits.  It was the calories that got to me.  Like many of you, I was worried about stopping at the one-ounce portion – getting the health benefits without overdoing it on the calories.

Then one day, a package from the Almond Board of California appeared on my desk.  It showed great ways to measure the portion of almonds, including a little mint tin (all the options are visible here). Both professionally and personally, I loved the marketing campaign, and it made me rethink the roll of nuts in my eating habits.

Today, nuts are a go-to product for me as a late morning snack.  Since I work full-time out of a home office, around 10:00 am, I’ll head down to the kitchen for a cup of instant coffee and a light snack.  A handful of nuts is perfect.  Nuts provide the satiety I need at that time of day.  Just a small handful fills me up.  Plus I know I’m getting good fats, vitamin E, protein and fiber.  Nearly a perfect food in my mind.  My favorite nut product is Archer Farms Mixed Nuts, Unsalted, a blend of walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts.  The flavors are a perfect blend.

I wonder what Gretchen’s GPS would say about my mid-morning snack?

Visit www.nuval.com to check out scores on your favorite nuts.

But I digress. . .

A nutrition book – well really a combined nutrition-recipe book – that just crossed my desk which I love is The Full Plate Diet.  Here’s why:

• The entire book is about what you CAN eat.  All POSITIVE messages.
• The authors understand real consumers.  Many of the options and ideas presented use convenience items and bump up their nutrition with easy additions.
• The photography is beautiful.  It just reaches off the page, and makes you want to try the recipes.
• It’s presented in soundbites of information.  I can pick up one tip in five minutes, without having to read pages and pages of text.  This fits into consumers’ lifestyles.

Overall, a great tool for building healthier eating habits.  Practical, doable solutions.  I love it.

Visit www.nuval.com to fill your plate with high scoring foods.