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Deb - I'm with you here.  Why do we have to have bars to substitute for breakfast?   The emergency thing is taken too lightly.  In an emergency.   An emergency is when the power goes off, a hurricane blows in or there's an earthquake.   An emergency is when you're stuck on Donner's Pass and everyone else is looking incredibly hungry.  

 

That's the time you spring your Larabars and Epic bars on 'em.  That'll satisfy the troops for about 10 minutes.   Bars are hooey.   Back in my day, when I started the WD30, no one babied me.  I took my lumps.  I'm glad I did.  It made me tough. :D  :D 

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Posted 22 June 2014 - 07:50 PM

Whole9 Moderator/First Whole30 May 2010

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Notetojenn, on 22 Jun 2014 - 5:25 PM, said:snapback.png

Notetojenn, on 22 Jun 2014 - 5:25 PM, said:snapback.png

Did you seriously just call me murderous for making my kids cookies?  How is this different than an adult grabbing a larabar when a full meal isn't available?

 

If it were up to me, larabars would be banned during the Whole30. Despite our saying repeatedly that they are only okay as "emergency" food when stuck in a long meeting or in traffic, people keep eating them as a matter of convenience and preference as the paleo candy bars that they are. So you will never see me signing off on larabars. I think if you need emergency food in your purse or car, you should carry a ziploc bag of nuts

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Okay, well, I thought larabars were sort of a gray area, just like dried fruit. But for me, they really don't get my sugar dragon to roaring. :) I don't think they ate particularly tasty. Too sweet, weird texture. I bought three early in my whole30 (first whole30 shopping trip actually). On day 30, and i still have the last one hanging out in my lunch bag as my emergency snack.

I ate one early on, because I had not yet gotten the hang of eating enough breakfast (begrudgingly, not enthusiastically). I have gotten much better at judging my portions and balancing my meals because these days I am rarely hungry at irregular times.

A week or two later, I ate one on a long and challenging hike because I tend to need some quick calories when i am really exerting myself for extended periods or I get a bit woozy. Can anyone tell me if that indicates some sort of issue? Or is it normal even after three weeks of W30? And if I feel I need some quick-digesting carbs, it seems like i could do worse than a larabar...?

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How about a swapped out version.  That would be your standard Snickers bar with 27 grams of sugar.

That equals 7 teaspoons....same amount of sugar in a Larabar.

A regular-sized Snickers bar contains 27 gramsof sugar (the equivalent of 7 teaspoons). ... Odwalla Original Superfood Drink: 37 grams sugar.

 

Chocolate Coconut Larabar has 29 gm. of sugar

 

 

 

 

The heart wants what the heart wants.

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Okay, well, I thought larabars were sort of a gray area, just like dried fruit. But for me, they really don't get my sugar dragon to roaring. :) I don't think they ate particularly tasty. Too sweet, weird texture. I bought three early in my whole30 (first whole30 shopping trip actually). On day 30, and i still have the last one hanging out in my lunch bag as my emergency snack.

I ate one early on, because I had not yet gotten the hang of eating enough breakfast (begrudgingly, not enthusiastically). I have gotten much better at judging my portions and balancing my meals because these days I am rarely hungry at irregular times.

A week or two later, I ate one on a long and challenging hike because I tend to need some quick calories when i am really exerting myself for extended periods or I get a bit woozy. Can anyone tell me if that indicates some sort of issue? Or is it normal even after three weeks of W30? And if I feel I need some quick-digesting carbs, it seems like i could do worse than a larabar...?

 

I don't really have an answer for you, but I would suggest posting either in the Whole30 for athletes section or making a post in the Troubleshooting Your Whole30 section, listing what you typically eat and water intake and how you feel on your hikes (or whatever exercise you find you feel woozy during), and maybe someone with more experience can give you some advice about whether that's typical or what you might do to fix it. 

 

I think one of the approved uses of Larabars is for long exercise sessions, so I would think it would be okay -- but I'm really not an expert on exercise-related anything, which is why I suggest posting in one or the other of the sections I listed above, so that someone who knows more can help you find answers. 

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I think they are gross, but there aren't many flavors available in canada so I imagine there might be some better ones out there. They kind of taste like plywood to me. I'm not a big fan of the nuts and dried fruit thing, I am all about actual fruit. I don't think those mealy gross bars have anything on a good slice of watermelon or fresh pineapple. But... I don't have much of a sugar dragon, I have a bread dragon :P

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I think they are gross, but there aren't many flavors available in canada so I imagine there might be some better ones out there. They kind of taste like plywood to me. I'm not a big fan of the nuts and dried fruit thing, I am all about actual fruit. I don't think those mealy gross bars have anything on a good slice of watermelon or fresh pineapple. But... I don't have much of a sugar dragon, I have a bread dragon :P

On first glance, I thought I read...I don't have a sugar dragron but I have a bread wagon.   :D 

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Bars can be helpful in certain instances. For instance, I used Lara Bars, Epic Bars, and RX Bars to help me eat during a military exercise. They were easy to pack, could be eaten quickly, and didn't require me to leave my position to eat them (as opposed to the tuna packs and seaweed sheets I alternated between my bar days). I keep a few at my desk at work so that, if I have to work through lunch, I have a better option than fast food. We keep a few in our car emergency bags, and bug out bags. Stuff like that.

 

I have, on occasion, used them as breakfast when running late to something. I try to pair a higher-fat one with a lower-fat one, and have something a little more real to help in between. It's not ideal, but honestly, I don't ENJOY eating the bars. They make my jaw seize up a little when I take the first bite, and I mostly force myself to eat them when they are the only option.

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Yeah....I definitely wasn't eating the chocolate coconut larabar while on W30, I think it was the apple one. And frankly, when backpacking (not just day hiking), I would absolutely eat a snickers bar if I had to in order to keep going. There are some situations where fresh fruit just isn't going to work, unless you want it squished beyond recognition. I drink at least 80 oz of water on a daily basis, more when I am doing intense activity.

I certainly don't prefer bars of any sort. But I would entertain the idea that they may sometimes be a necessary evil.

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I am a recovering "bar" junkie, so I've avoided larabars and carefully used rxbars on occasion. I bought some larabars on sale at my co-op out of curiosity, and ended up trying a chocolate coconut one. It was meh. But a handy thing about them is they're self contained packages. So on the rare occasion, say at a particular time of the month, and while not on a W30, I may have one as dessert. Safer than making a batch of date balls or something that I'd have tons of to binge on. But I'd never use a Larabar as a meal replacement since it contains no protein and is basically a sugar bomb.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I found out my FIL had a heart attack yesterday and we had to immediately leave town and head to the hospital. Frankly I was grateful for the few Lara bars I had on hand because eating one on the drive kept me from breaking the rules. There was NOTHING available at the hotel even the eggs at the continental breakfast had milk in them. I are the larabar in the car last night, almonds, a grapefruit and black coffee for breakfast, and was able to make it through until I could get a plain green salad with plain chicken at the hospital cafe. So while I see how they can be problematic, I am grateful that I was able to quickly grab a few from my kids' lunchbox "treat" stash on short notice. I have zero guilt over it. Sure they aren't optimal, but they are 100% whole food, and deliver fiber along with the sugar.

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  • 3 months later...

This was a good thread to read! I bought three larabars at trader joes the other day and didn't eat one until today. For me, they are never been a big issue never really inclined to eat more than one sometimes can't even eat one depending on the flavor. You also have to be careful with larabars because there are some that are not compliant. Target used to sell a variety pack with smaller bars... but that's not always a good thing either. Smaller bars make you think you can eat one more or it can be the "fruit" at your lunch. My roommate used to make her own and control the ingredients more

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Same with me for RxBars, which are delicious.  I ate 4 today.   Yikes.  I'm on Day 24, and I've successfully had only 1 per day since I bought them, until today....I guess a KATT day for me.  A very stressful week.

 

I'm putting them in my "paleo treats" area of my pantry until I reintroduce.

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