It all began with four souls looking to satisfy a hunger craving…

The creators of Pala Snacks, Nick Congelossi, Nicole Congelossi, Joshua Nafman and Paola Nafman, did not all just wake up one morning with a business plan to sell keto friendly bars. It was a rather gradual process that happened and was a product of their personal journeys in the world of health and fitness.

Before going any further, for those who do not know what the “keto” diet is, it is an eating regimen that consists of a high fat, low carbohydrate and moderate protein intake. Over time, the goal is to train the body to run off of fat for fuel instead of carbs. With the absence of carbs, the blood produces what are called “ketones” and the body slips into a state of “ketosis”. Not only does one experience fat loss, a state of mental clarity and high energy are also common side effects.

Nick, a 31 year old who works as an attorney in Florida, first heard about keto through a podcast by Joe Rogan, an ex martial artist and commentator. He immediately picked up an interest and began to research more about the ketogenic lifestyle.

Prior to taking up a career as an lawyer, Nick packed on a lot of excess weight in law school. He tried many approaches which proved to be unsustainable such as low fat and low calorie diets. Nothing seemed to be working. However, after stumbling upon keto, he took the leap of faith and gave it a shot.

Unlike the diets before, keto seemed to work in Nick’s favor.“Its crazy how fast it works and how easy it is to do once you get into the swing of it,” says Nick.

It was not long before his wife, Nicole who works as a middle school teacher in Lake Nona, was thrown into the mix of things. Since she left most of the cooking to him,(due to his passion to cook), Nick would create meals that were very keto based. This meant a lot of greens and fatty meats, anything without carbs. He describes it as “learning to cook with a new pallet.”

Within the course of about two years, Both Nicole and Nick experienced fat loss. Nick took the cake, (yes, a poor choice of words in this case), by losing nearly 60 pounds. He ended up making a generous donation to his job afterwards. He ended up donating 22 suits to the public defender’s office for clients that could not afford suits. “Hopefully there’s some big guys out there that need them,” he added in good humor.

After hearing about the positive results from the couple, Nicole’s sister Paola who is also an attorney for a living, decided to take up keto as well. Besides wanting to burn off some fat, Paola describes herself as a very competitive person so she wanted to beat everyone else and try to consume the lowest amount of carbs. She ended up dropping about 15 pounds. Her husband, Joshua, who works in marketing for a natural toothpaste company, caught onto his wife’s changes in eating. Everyone seemed to be losing weight and he has a few pounds that he wanted to drop too. So, he jumped on the bandwagon. Joshua was able to lose at least 25 pounds of fat.

After all of them fell in love with the keto diet and would stick to it for the rest of their days they walked the earth, they needed to create meals that would sustain their new lifestyle. “We wanted something to take with us so we could eat anywhere. That’s why we made the chewy nut and seed bars,” states Nicole.Thus, the keto nut and seed bar of from Pala Snacks was invented.

Not only did they eat them among themselves but they also shared the bars with friends and family. Everyone kept giving positive feedback and soon enough, the four put their heads together and decided to sell their creation to the public.

They all knew that the keto diet was not easy in terms of putting meals together. That took a lot of time and it was a call for creativity since only specific ingredients could be used. Other people out there were struggling with this battle. They found a fix for themselves and they wanted to share it with others. ‘It’s something that we’re proud of,” says Joshua.

The keto bar is truly something. It is 220 calories with seven grams of protein, 18 grams of fat and only 13 grams of carbs which mainly derive from the fiber. It packs a flavorful taste with as thanks to some key ingredients such a hint of agave, coconut oil and vanilla. These are what help give the bars their signature chewiness.

Pala Snacks recently launched in May 2017 and the Congelossis’ are residents of Lake Nona. They continue to expand their product and always appreciate the support from their community. To put in an order of Pala Keto Nut & Seed Bars and to read more about the product, visit their website at www.palasnacks.com.