Our Daily Eats "Spicy Maple Pepitas" *Review*

I'm back with another fantastic snack that I've recently had the pleasure of stuffing my face with in every possible instance.  As you may or may not know by now, I like things with flavor, things that can kick you in the mouth a little bit with a spicy, sweet combination, yet keep your belly full and waist trim at the same time.  I don't come across store bought snacks that provide this unique feeling too often, yet today I'm pleased to say that a new food has graced my plate with its presence and given me something I truly enjoy.  They're made by a company called Our Daily Eats, and are named creatively "Spicy Maple Pepitas."

So what are these things exactly?  Well, they're pumpkin seeds to be exact.  Small ones, that are spiced up with cayenne pepper and maple syrup.  If that doesn't sound like a combination made in heaven, I don't know what does.  And as far as taste goes, these things really hit the spot.  They're exactly what you'd expect, spicy and interesting, yet deliciously sweet at the same time.  If you're not a huge spice fan, don't worry, these things don't burn, they just let you know they're there with a nice little twinge of flame.  And the maple syrup...well coming from Vermont you can already tell I'm a fan.  I love maple syrup, and I truly believe it is a PERFECT addition to these spicy little seeds.  Together they create a very unique taste that I believe you must taste ASAP.

But what about the actual nutritional profile of these seeds?  Well, as you know, I don't eat food that's not healthy/beneficial toward my body in some significant way, much less write a review on it.  And I'm pleased to announce that the nutritional profile on these pepitas is AWESOME!  Let's look a little closer, shall we?

Ingredients:  This is the first thing that caught my eye.  There aren't any chemical/artificial additives!  In fact, the only ingredients are: Pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, cayenne, and sea salt.  That's FANTASTIC!  Seriously, they don't even have any artificial sweeteners, or even added sugar (other than the maple syrup, which is considered a purely natural sweetener that is MUCH better for you than the granulated stuff).  Normally if you see salt on an ingredient list, you need to be wary of sodium content, but NOT THIS TIME!  We'll get more into that later.  But like I said, this list is short and sweet, and completely fulfills the claim "100% natural" that's boasted on the package.  PERFECT!  

Caloric content:  Now as we know, nuts and seeds tend to be very calorie dense, but they're also quite filling, so you're unlikely to go hog wild on such a product.  1/4 cup of this product has 125 calories, which is quite managable and is a PLENTY decent serving size if you're looking for a quick, midday snack.

Added Nutritional benefits:  As the package states, pumpkin seeds are quite rich with unsaturated fats and Omega-3 fatty acids, which you can pretty much always use more of.  They're extremely heart healthy, and lower your risk for heart disease or other cardiovascular health ailments if consumed on a regular basis.  They also help lubricate your joints and keep things sliding smoothly, keeping you mobile as age creeps onto all of us.  Pumpkin seeds are also very rich is minerals such as iron, zinc, and manganese, and have good helpings of vitamins C and E.

Sodium content:  Now usually you have to be wary of packaged nuts and seeds for their sky high sodium counts, but not this time.  In fact, per serving, there are only 85 mg of sodium, which is EXTREMELY low compared to most other similar products.  There's just enough salt there to support the delicious flavor, without causing that sodium level to skyrocket.  Awesome!

Entire Nutritional Information:

Serving Size: 1/4 Cup
Calories: 125
Total Fat: 5 g
   Saturated Fat: 1 g
   Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 85 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 15 g
   Dietary Fiber: 0 g
   Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 1 g

So would I recommend this product?  ABSOLUTELY!  They're ridiculously delicious and are a great tool to either trim down or bulk up, or even just maintain your weight.  They're very healthy, and are a refreshingly powerful flavor compared to most other bland health food.  Just watch the serving size and you're golden.  Excuse me while I go and have another handful...

Eat healthy, stay creative, and as always, GOOD LUCK!

Food Worship #2: The Tomato

It's hard for me to imagine a food with as many benefits as the humble tomato.  Is is a fruit?  A vegetable?  Something else?  I'll tell you what it really is, A SUPERFOOD!

I absolutely love tomatoes.  I chomp into whole ones like apples, and I pop cherry tomatoes like grapes.  At the salad bar at school, I'll finish my dinner, and my salad, then I'll head back to the salad bar and grab a good five or six more cherry tomatoes just to finish off that great meal I just had.  They are undeniable one of my favorite foods of all time, and will always be a staple in my diet.

I implore you to try to fit more tomatoes into your diet.  There are so many reasons to love them, and at the end of this article I plan to reveal a secret about tomatoes that I bet will convince you to have a few more in your salad today.

Tomato Benefits:

Tomatoes are extremely nutrient rich.  They are very high in beta carotene, a nutrient that helps keep you healthy by keeping that immune system running top notch.  It'll also keep your skin healthy, as well as other inner body tissues.  This decreases risk of infection and will help to fight off any new bugs you might come in contact with this winter.

Tomatoes have large amounts of Vitamin E and C, which will help keep your heart in great condition.  In fact consuming a few more tomatoes may help in decreasing your risk for heart disease, and might also decrease blood pressure.  Believe me, you really want your heart to stay healthy.  I know I want mine to stay ticking away, considering I demand so much of it in the gym every day.

Vitamin C will also help you to absorb other nutrients from your meal more effectively.  So basically, tomatoes not only help your body, they help those other foods you've eaten to help your body.  That's a win-win situation if I've ever seen one.

Guys, tomatoes are one of the best foods you can eat if you want to keep your prostate healthy.  And believe me, you DEFINITELY WANT that.  Tomatoes can help stave off prostate cancer (as well as other kinds of cancer).  Not many foods can claim to be so proactive in preventing cancerous growths as tomatoes can.  Eat a few more and feel a little better about your future.

Tomatoes taste amazing and are also very low in sugar and simple, starchy carbs.  This means they are low on the GI scale, and will not spike your insulin levels very much at all.  In fact, Tomatoes, like sweet potatoes, can help regulate your blood sugar, and keep your metabolism running quickly and efficiently.

Tomatoes are also very high in fiber.  That'll keep your digestive tract healthy.  And all of those gym rats on a bulk, a high fiber diet in compliment with your high protein meals will keep you from putting on excess fat because it slows digestion and allows your body to more easily metabolize the food you've eaten.  Lean muscle, that's what I'm talking about.

To finish up, tomatoes are very low in sodium, high in chromium, and contain no saturated fat.

Phew!!!!!  That's a good food, if there ever was one.

But I promised you a special secret about tomatoes.  We all know a good sized tomato is about the size of a large apple.  The apple will have around 100-150 calories.  The tomato?  Only 30!!!!!  Wow!  Talk about a healthy, filling snack that will barely even register on your daily calorie count.  Even cherry tomatoes only have about one calorie per tomato.  That's just plain awesome in my book, and definitely puts them on the podium to be worshipped as the super food they are.

I plan on posting a bunch of tomato related recipes at a later time.

Bite into a few, and try not get any on your shirt.  Good luck!

Don't Feel Bad About What You Eat

Before I get too much farther into this blog, I need to give you all an important little nugget of knowledge about my way of thinking when it comes to my diet, and this blog.

  This is a health food and fitness blog.  Health food blogs tend to be a little frustrating to read, at least for me.  Why? Because they like to tell you what you're doing wrong with your diet.  They make you feel bad about what you've eaten for so long, and make you feel stupid for not realizing why it's been so detrimental toward goals of strength or weight loss.  Ever felt like crap when you realized that your lunch had 300 more calories than you thought it did, and was crammed full of starchy carbs and trans fat?  And you didn't even know about that stuff.  You thought you were doing all right.

Listen, nutrition is a huge field of knowledge.  To know everything isn't feasible.  In fact if you're just getting into the fitness/health world, you probably don't know much at all.  And you're going to make mistakes along the way.  I did, and still am.  Every day I learn something about a food I didn't know before.  I just recently learned that the 100% whole wheat bread I was using had high fructose corn syrup in it.  While it wasn't a huge deal, it kind of surprised me that I didn't realize it.  I felt stupid.  But I shouldn't have, and neither should you.

In order to see results in your diet, and feel good about yourself, you have to feel good about what you eat.  I believe it's easier to feel good about healthier foods.  You feel like you're doing your body a favor, and you are.  After a good healthy dinner, don't you feel great?  You should.

But does that mean you should feel bad about your guilty pleasures?  Absolutely not!  If you enjoy a cookie or two after lunch, savor them!  So what if they're not the healthiest thing going.  Sometimes food like that will help you to stay more focused on your strict diet in other parts of your day.  In fact, this is a common tactic used by bodybuilders to keep some of the strictest diets on earth.  They call them "cheat meals."  Eat one meal of unhealthy, absolutely and utterly delicious food, and feel so satisfied that you can go on with your diet for another week or so before you feel like you need a treat.  You may have a few more cheat meals than the super athletes, but hey, if you don't want to be one of those guys, who the heck cares.

Sure, maybe kicking a few of those guilty pleasures would help you achieve your fitness goals.  In fact, I almost guarantee they would.  But you know what?  Keeping them might not hurt your chances of achieving them either.  Can you bench 500lbs and still have a piece of chocolate cake for your birthday?  Sure can.  Can you run a sub 6:00 mile while still munching on Milanos every morning?  Darn right!  If you're happy with your guilty pleasures, and see no reason to kick them, then don't.  And if suddenly your weight loss starts to taper off, you have a great place to start.

But what if you're right on track, and suddenly have a splurge night?  You eat so much crap you can barely stand up.  You feel awful, and are almost ready to give up your dieting.

DON'T DO IT.  One day is diddly-squat in terms of your long term goals.  Go back to your diet the next day.  I can almost guarantee you'll see no fat gain (notice I didn't say weight gain, a lot of food will weigh, you guessed it, a lot, you'll probably retain water for a while), and giving up over one night is about the stupidest thing you could do.  You might even do yourself a favor by accident, and spike your metabolism, so when you return to your normal diet you'll lose weight faster (don't use this as an excuse to binge though.)   Enjoy your splurge, your dessert, and your after dessert snack.  It happens to the best of us.

Whatever you do, do NOT try to cut back on calories the next day, this will result in a yo-yo effect of hunger, where your body will cry for food, and you'll be more likely to splurge again.  Not to mention it will reek havoc on your metabolism.

In conclusion: The second you start becoming obsessive about your diet and feel bad about eating certain things is the second food takes control of your life.

There's a time and a place for very strict diets.  But even those don't have to be depressing or controlling.  Do it right, and you'll always feel good about what you're eating, and stay happy and full throughout your day.

Keep munching, and stay happy!