Indulgence

Lately, I've been attempting to maintain my self-control around snacks.  I failed today.

Or, if you're a glass half-full type of person, I succeeded at increasing my indulgence!  Which technically I deserved to reward myself, since I set a new personal record on my 2-mile run yesterday!

I went a little nuts and ate an entire bar of Orange Dark Chocolate, along with four Fig Newmans.

No, you don't need to have your vision checked: you read that correctly!  I ate all of this for a snack.  A little excessive, perhaps.  Am I feeling slightly dizzy from all the sugar and deliciousness?  Yes, as a matter of fact I am.

Where did these goodies come from?  Sally at Newman's Own Organics hooked me up with the best care package ever!

Newman's Own Organics is the Second Generation of Newman's Own.  The ingredients list on all of these items contain the word "organic".

Be careful, though, because apparently there is such a thing as "organic corn sugar".  Just because it's organic doesn't mean you should eat it by the bucketful.

To demonstrate why I felt the need to make this statement, see below:

As soon as this guy walked in the door, he was ripping open bags and munching down on snacks.

Full-disclosure: He's a vulture.  He eats everything. 

Want to know a little about the soy crisps that he's eating?

• 
  
  Serving Size: 1 oz, Calories per Serving: 110, Calories from fat: 20, Total Fat: 2.5g (saturated fat: 0gm, trans fat: 0g), Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 650mg, Total Carbohydrates: 14g (dietary fiber: 3g, sugars: less than 1g), Protein: 9g

I had an interesting conversation with Sally about these.  They have a very high protein content - at 9g of protein per serving - which caused Austin and I to ask a question regarding the "soy" ingredient in these crisps.  As we suspected, they are made from unfermented soy.  Now, I'm not an expert on soy, but I do know that fermented soy is proven to be healthier than unfermented.  Some research indicates that there are risks associated with unfermented soy, such as skewing estrogen hormone levels in both men and women.  I encourage you to do your own research on this matter, but here's my outlook: eat everything in moderation and you'll be just fine.

Anyway, the crisps taste great!

Moving on to what I have deemed "the best cookie ever":

Newman's-O's are a healthier version of Oreo's.  They are made out of organic ingredients, with a much lower fat content than Oreo's.  Oh, and did I mention that they taste amazing?  The mint-chocolate flavor is my favorite.  I keep accidentally referring to them as Oreo's though.  I guess Newman's-O's just doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily.

While we were stuffing our faces with treats, Dozer was sitting in the corner looking awfully pathetic.

Okay, who am I kidding?  Jack Russell Terriers do not sit still.  As usual, he was jumping up and down attempting to snag a crumb of whatever we were eating.

Fortunately, Newman's Own Organics has a line of organic dog food that Dozer was lucky enough to sample.

He loved it.  And clearly he's no longer interested in his dry kibble.  "That sh*t's for the birds".

Dozer was completely satisfied with his organic dog food.  But we didn't stop there.  It was his lucky day: he also got to sample a Salmon & Sweet Potato treat!

We took this opportunity to work on his begging skills.  He likes to paw at the air.  He probably thinks this improves his chances of earning the treat.  He would be correct.

Do you teach your pets tricks?

Dozer is quite the talented pup!  He can sit, stay, lay down, stand up, beg, jump, balance food on his nose, kennel-up, and fetch.