For the past year, I have been working very hard on me. I have been much more active, but more importantly, I have been learning about nutrition, and eating right.
I had heard things like "abs are made in the kitchen", and "80% nutrition, 20% fitness, 100% attitude", but until you put your knowledge into practice you don't know what you're missing!
Part of what I had heard over and over, and finally put into practice is to eat smaller meals, more frequently.
My previous weight loss plan (which was really a bust) was to eat very few calories in a day. The calories I would consume would be lacking nutrition. Great example: Oreo's for lunch. Duh. They were from the vending machine, so I had portion control, and I only ate the 6 Oreo's, so I saved myself all those calories from, like, a healthy sandwich AND the Oreo's, right? Good thinking Jen.
I would eat 2, maybe 3 times a day, if I was lucky. And the only thing I payed any attention to on the nutrition facts portion was the calorie count.
Now I eat 5 to 6 times a day. Part of me still has to glance at the calories, but I pay much more attention to the ingredients, and how much protein I will get. I love me my protein! Feed my muscles, food, do it!
When I saw the opportunity to try and review SquareBar, I jumped!
The idea and creation of SquareBar started with a couple, Sarah and Andrew Gordon, from San Francisco, CA. That's less than an hour away from me - so as far as I'm concerned, local! Sarah had asthma, and to control it she found eliminating inflammatory foods (gluten, dairy, soy) was the way to go. Kitchen experiments led to SquareBar! Mmm.
SquareBar is an organic protein bar with low glycemic coconut nectar, and packed with 11-12 grams of protein per bar. The bars are also coated in real dark chocolate, rich in antioxidants.
SquareBar is available in 3 flavors, all of which I got to try: Cocoa Crunch, Cocoa Almond, and Cocoa Coconut.
Each of the three SquareBars are Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, and "natural flavoring" free. I loved looking at the ingredients list on the packages, I could read and pronounce the few things listed on each one.
I first tried the Cocoa Coconut. I am not a fan of coconut, so I thought I'd start there, and I had company over so I knew they could try it and give me additional feedback.
The chocolate coating just melted in my mouth. The coconut texture was primary, though there was a powdery texture and finish too.
I enjoy powdery textures, when I used to have hot chocolate I always wanted a powder, not syrup.
The coconut texture was too much for me, but it wasn't over imposing in taste. I'm glad I was able to share it.
The Cocoa Almond SquareBar was my favorite. The chocolate coating was again, melt in your mouth yummy. It also had a slight coconut flavor, and powdery, or gritty texture, but a strong cocoa flavor. I loved the almond slivers, they gave a soft crunch. Eating this made me think of eating a See's candy. It was that good.
The Cocoa Crunch to me tasted like the Cocoa Almond, sans slivers of almond. The crunch comes from organic brown rice crisps. Snap, crackle, pop!
The size is convenient for Purse travel, and they hold up to a beating. The Almond Crunch stayed in my purse for days. It looked like a cracked painting, (as an artist, I totally know) but kept its shape until I bit through, or pulled off pieces. Impressive!
All the bars are soft bars, as compared to a crunchy, crumbly granola. I prefer the soft bars like this.
In looking online for more about these SquareBars, I found that some people like to crumble them over fruit and peanut butter, or yogurt.
I also noticed on the SquareBar site, healthy, delicious looking recipes using SquareBar, like mint chip truffle, and almond joy parfait shooter! Say what! I gotta try that!
SquareBars can be purchased from their site, a box of 12 is $34.49. You can choose to get a box of one flavor, or a multi pack with 4 of each flavor.
If you want to try SquareBar, you can purchase from squarebar.com with this exclusive discount code! The code "ReviewsChewsAndHowtos" can be entered at the end of checkout for 20% OFF + FREE SHIPPING!! (shipping is domestic only)
All in all, SquareBars are too coconuty for my usual taste, but I enjoyed them. Definitely worth a try. When you do, tell the Gordon's I say hi!
Shared with:
~ Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Be Inspired, Brag About It, Handmade Tuesdays, Hip Homeschool Hop, Tip Me Tuesday.
~ Homemaking Link Up, Moonlight & Mason Jars, Penny Pinching Party, Wake Up Wednesday, What's It Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Whimsy Wednesday, Wonderfully Creative Wednesday, Work It Wednesday, Works For Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday.
~ Anything Goes, Freedom Fridays, Friday Favorites, Handmade Hangouts, Shabbilicious Friday, Weekend Re-Treat.
~ Making Your Home Sing Monday, Meandering Mondays, Mommy Monday, Monday Funday, Mostly Homemade Mondays, Thank Goodness It's Monday.
Thanks for sharing with SYC. I have never been able to fall in love with any protein bars, but I have friends that love them!
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Jann
Oh, wow, these look good. I have not seen any of these in the store, but, admittedly, I do not usually look for protein bars. -craftyone
ReplyDeleteI've tried the calorie diet too and I think I gained weight. The bars look great but the price is crazy.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally trying these!! Thanks!
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