I love nutella. Who doesn't?
My friend first introduced it to me a few years ago and I've been hooked since. Sweet, chocolatey and creamy, it's delicious!
However, I don't like the fact that it's high in sugar and calories. It's actually really unhealthy. Have you seen the nutrition label?
 |
| from the Nutella Website |
It's crazy! There's 21 grams of sugar in just one serving of nutella. On top of that, there is 11 grams of fat, 3.5grams which are saturated. We are suppose to limit our intake of saturated fat. Take a look at the ingredients list:
 |
| from the Nutella Website |
The first ingredient is SUGAR. That's not a good sign. On the ingredients list, the first ingredient is the predominant ingredient and then goes down in descending order. In English, the first ingredient has the most while the last one has the least.
You can learn more about reading nutrition labels from eatright.org and from the FDA website. It's really important to learn how to read nutrition labels so you know what you are putting in your body.
Anyway, my homemade almond nutella is healthier. Here's the recipe and the nutrition facts.
Servings: 8
Calories: 120 calories
Sugar: 8.5 grams
Fat: 7.63 grams
Saturated Fat: 0.5 grams (all foods with fat naturally have some saturated fat, some more than others)
Ingredients:- 1 cup roasted almonds (unsalted preferred)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoon water
Directions:
1. Pulse the almonds until finely ground.
2. Add in the honey, cocoa powder and water.
3. Pulse until a creamy texture comes together.
Unfortunately, my food processor is not strong enough, so it only got to the paste part. The creamy part comes after the paste, once the almonds release their oil.
And, now, it's ready to be eaten!
Can't you see? The panda wanted some too! Even though it didn't get to the creamy phase, it still tastes delicious!
By the way, the nutrition label reading is the HoW.
Also, it's important to have rest days, from personal experience. Your body needs time to recover. I know from personal experience that if you don't have a rest day a week for your body to recover (especially if you do intense workouts), your body will burn out and you'll feel tired doing the workouts you've been doing.
Your rest day doesn't mean not doing anything. It can be an active rest day. Go for a leisurely walk or bike ride. You can also do yoga, which helps stretch the muscles and destresses you at the same time.
So, do you like nutella?
What's your favorite nutter butter?
Do you have rest days? If you do, how often and what do you do on rest days?
P.S. Remember to check out my friend's band, Revolt With Reason, =) They're an awesome alternative rock band from the L.A. area.
