Diet derailers are everywhere -- in your house, in the grocery store, at work, at play, in your head even. Here, we'll address the very things that throw us off course. Together, we'll learn how to avoid our diet traps -- and how to get back on track when we can't.

Cashews were derailing my diet. Seriously. Without cashews, I normally weigh about 133 in the morning and 136 at night (it's normal, you now, to weigh more at the end of the day). With cashews, I'm more like 136 in the morning and 139 at night.

How can those little, healthy nuts screw with my scale so much? Because they're full of fat (15 grams per serving), and they contain a fair amount of calories too (160 per serving). There's salt too. And while they are good for me, in excess, they are just like many other foods -- they're fattening.

I went overboard with my nutty endeavors. Instead a handful a day, I was grabbing several handfuls, several times a day. It took me a while to catch on -- I'm not doing anything differently, I'd declare to the recipients of my weight complaints. We all do that, don't we? We choose to believe nothing is different as our pounds pack on and then magically, we realize we're eating too much and exercising not enough. It eventually hit me that my snacking was the snag in my diet. So I fixed it. I made my husband finish the nuts (he can afford a few nuts in his diet), and we made a pact that we won't buy another tin. A special treat, those cashews will be, reserved for something like, I don't know, holiday parties.

Nuts don't need to be an all or nothing thing. Just make them the exception and not the rule. And try these tips from eHow.

• Eat raw nuts rather than roasted, salted or honey roasted -- these have added oils, fats and sugars. Try organic raw nuts too -- no pesticides or herbicides involved.
• Go for top nutritional value. Almonds and walnuts are best.
  

Dr. Andrew Weil, also a fan of the cashew, agrees that raw nuts are best. And "ditto," he says on the walnut tip. Packaged walnuts -- 1.5 ounces a day, in conjunction with a low-saturated fat and low-cholesterol diet -- can even reduce the risk of heart disease. They pack a lot of omega-3 fatty acids too, which we know do the body good. Like pistachios? Dr. Weil says one ounce contains more fiber than a half-cup of spinach and the same amount as an orange or apple.

Yes, nuts are healthy. That's why Dr. Weil eats just a handful a day, which was totally my intention when I bought that big tub of cashews. Eat just a handful, and you're golden. Eat more, and your scale might revolt. Like mind did.