Theola > Or I also eat regular meals in addition to pigging out on nuts,
which always means my caloric intake greatly exceeds a day's expenditure.

I'm not a middle aged woman in the throes of "hormonal havoc," either
(love that phrase!)  I'm a 37 year old male.  But I believe it's not
necessary for one's caloric intake to be less than one's expenditure as
long as you keep carbohydrate intake low enough.  You can take in more
calories than you expend and not gain weight as long as those calories
come from fat and protein.

Now the threshold is probably individual, some can eat more carbs than
others, eat all the fat and protein they like and not gain.  While others
might have to avoid those after dinner raspberries if they're consuming a
lot of calories from fat.  But the calorie calculus of "eat less calories
than you take in" is oversimplified and doesn't apply if one is consuming
carbs below one's threshold.

So how many carbs do nuts have?  I've noticed that I tend to gain weight
when I go a little crazy on my favorite indulgence: almond butter.  Of
course I dip Pink Lady apples into it, so that may be the source of the
carbs, enough to turn the "sugar pumps" on in my cells.