Good job with the weight! Maybe carrying around “your little weight” (GS) has helped.
After my husband’s brother had bypass surgery and husband found out he had heart issues also, he changed from eating chips, pretzels, cookies, etc. to eating fruit as snacks, and he lost more than 10 lbs. His other “significant” change was eating healthier breakfast cereals. I of course have no idea what kid of snacks you’re eating, but something to think about.
What breakfast cereal does he like? I am a big fan of Fiber One Original (ha, eating it now with a half banana … total of 20g fiber). I like it a lot, but my husband does not. He often eats oatmeal he makes in instapot, but that gets boring every day.
I think his cereal of choice these days is plain old Cheerios, or oatmeal (with water - if I do Oatmeal I do it with milk). He used to eat things like Frosted Flakes (actually, he hasn’t eaten them in quite some time, but he ate other ones similar), then moved on to Raisin Bran, then to Life (cinnamon mostly) and now Cheerios, with oatmeal mostly in the winter. He will eat Special K if I have it around. I’m not claiming he’s perfect by any stretch, but he is much better than he used to be.
Has anyone tried the new Floura bars by the maker of Jeni’s Ice Cream. It’s a plant based fiber bar that to me is quite satisfying. It takes fruit “waste” and turns it into a delicious bar, 140 calories, 13 g fiber. Not too sweet. I felt the bar size was just right - not too small or big. Tummy was content after eating one. Sort of fruit chewy but with the bite of some seeds/nuts (?)
special deal on first order from their website and you can get a variety pack to try all the flavors. Again, not cheap but I feel GOOD nourishment
@abasket - someone brought a box of the Floura bars into work - they are amazing! I’m used to the occasional, dry Nature’s Valley granola (at work vending machine when starving in the afternoon) - these were so much more delicious and such fun flavors!
My only thought is that I wouldn’t want to spend 130 calories on fiber without also getting a significant protein boost. I can drink Metamucil or a Fiberwise for 20 calories.
But will that drink satiate your hunger? I’m not looking to count calories personally. I’m also not on one of these bars specifically for the fiber. I’m looking for a snack that will be portable, make me feel satisfied and not still hungry, have decent nutrition and not have a ton of additives - and actually taste good. A lot of bars out there don’t taste good to me.
The discussion reminds me of a time long ago, before I paid as much attention to nutrition etc, when I had various kinds of bars at the desk at work for breakfast. I had a simplistic rule that it had to have at least as much protein grams as fat. It did seem the ones that had very high amounts of protein were not very tasty. So it’s all about compromising within your priorities.
My breakfast that I’ve mentioned that I eat about half the time (2/3c fiber one original, 2/3c skim milk, half large banana) has 20g fiber but only 9g protein. That’s OK - I just look at the overall averages. At some point I may decide to up the protein goals, but usually I average around 60g (0.5g per pound) to 70g per day.
I discovered a new sport! While eating out, I was watching TV - they had groups of people (USA vs Canada) shooting arrows at each other. I looked it up online. Archery Tag! I have never heard of such a thing, but it looked like fun! I could totally see younger S and his gang having a blast with this. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any places close to him that do it. There is a place maybe 45 minutes from me. I wish my workplace would have a field trip! Note they would never ever do this. We haven’t had any team bonding experiences in the 28+ years that I’ve been here, but it would be sooooo much fun! I can dream. Though I’m sure I’d be terrible it compared to many of my co-worker who bow hunt!
Throw out the idea at work - maybe some people would be interested in trying it outside of work! (If you want to spend time with them outside of work, lol)
I’m not a protein bar eater, but a Katie’s company representative brought some samples of these protein bars into the gym where I work trying to get us to carry their bars in our POS areas.
I enjoyed them and the ingredient list is “honest.”
I am finding their website difficult to navigate in terms of nutrition info. Finally found one pic of a label that showed each bar is two servings so about 260 calories for six grams of protein. I think I’ll stick with my less-expensive Rx bars, which are only six ingredients and twice the protein.
Exercise is associated with reduced digestive system cancer risk:
I have been on an oatmeal kick lately. I make it with water, but add equal and cinnamon. It is one of my after dinner snacks or weekend lunches. I am not much of a breakfast person. Also it is really cheap at like $0.60 a bowl.
My wife and I now usually will only buy a treat item to share. Like Saturday night we got a concrete mixer from Culver’s and split it. We are getting close to splitting meals at restaurants.
You can see the ingredients/nutrition in the final picture. The same is true for the Floura bar mentioned earlier. An example is below. Primary ingredients appear to be peanut butter, honey, oats, pea protein, and chocolate. It’s not an especially large number of ingredients, and they are simple ingredients. However, it’s not what I’d consider particularly healthy ingredients, with the gratuitous honey and salt.
I have similar feelings about most such granola/nutrition/sports bars. I don’t eat bars for nutrition. I eat them for convenience. In the rare occasions where I’ll go long periods without access to previously cooked foods or a fridge, it’s nice to have bars available that will store for months with little decline in quality.
However, in the more typical scenario where I do not have such restrictions, I make different choices. For example, for my next meal, I plan to have a salmon fillet, broccoli, and cantaloupe. This meal has more protein per calorie than the pictured bar, more fiber calorie, no added sugar or salt, is in my opinion far tastier than any bar I have had, is far more filling, and contains many additional nutrients not found in the bar besides just protein and fiber. For example, salmon is especially high in omega-3 EFAs, the broccoli and cantaloupe are high in numerous vitamins and minerals.
It takes 15-20 minutes for me to prepare + eat this meal above, and total cost is $2 to $3 (frozen salmon, bought with sales/discounts)… less than the price of one bar on the website (supermarkets may sell for lower price than website), and far lower price per calorie.
That’s not their protein bar. Their protein bars are like 14-16 grams of protein.
The Rx bars, which I had in an airport recently, do not taste that great.
Here’s Katie’s snickerdoodle protein bar:
BTW, I have no affiliation with the company whatsoever. And as I said above, if I’m running around an airport, then I’ll pick up a protein bar for the plane. But otherwise, I try to stay away from overly processed food.
Deleted, see below
I think that he was talking to me.
I think they need to work on their website and differentiate their products better. Clearly on the pic posted here, there are protein bars, but this is what the FAQ also says:
Our bars have between 3 and 4 grams of protein per serving. Our recipes are carefully crafted to provide calories in the form of complex carbs to help you sustain enough energy to power through your busy day and daily adventures. Although we would love to check off all the boxes, our bars aren’t functional protein bars.
We are currently exploring ways to include more protein without using highly processed soy or whey sources, and without sacrificing quality or taste. If this is something you would love to see, email customerservice@katesrealfood.com and let us know. We love hearing from you!
