Don’t miss my guest post for Heather over at The Love of Kale today – I’m doing my restaurant review thang for her two favorite vegan hotspots – and mine as well!
You’ve probably seen Barre popping up on other Fitfluential Ambassador blogs lately – no, not the popular workouts (though I’ve always wanted to try a barre class). I’m talking about Barre the bar (you still with me?), a “real food bar” developed by two professional dancers, Aaron and Julia, with athletes specifically in mind. The ingredients in each Barre:
- are whole, real food
- contain no animal products (vegan!)
- contain no common allergens like soy or wheat
Examples: dates, sea salt, ground flax seed, hemp & brown rice protein, agave nectar (are you impressed yet?)
A crumbled Barre mixed with plain Chobani made for a great evening snack last night!
The Barres also are lower in sugar and saturated fat than other bars, as well as high in fiber and healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The nutrition stats are definitely not candy-bar status. Personally, I prefer a bar with less than 200 calories. However, the 200-210 calories in Barres come from the above REAL food which serves as REAL fuel for your body!
Protein is power!
And I should know, because I put each Barre to the test before a workout – and had FANTASTIC results! I felt like a rock star and dominated at the gym. Fuel from whole, clean foods really does make a huge difference in fitness performance.
Rock-star smile.
I love the names of each Barre! The original flavor is the Pirouette Cinnamon Pecan. This one definitely tasted the most decadent. At first bite, memories of Cinnabon in airports during family vacations back in the day danced in my head. It honestly was a bit too sweet for my snacky tastes. I prefer savory snacks in the mornings and afternoons. However, I can see myself going to TOWN on one of these after dinner and dipping it into plain Chobani for a #chobanipowered dessert. The taste really is exactly that of a cinnamon bun!
The next flavor to be released was called the Black Swan Chocolate Cherry, very appropriate to go with something dark and sweet like a cherry bar made with cocoa powder! I enjoyed the fact that this bar was full of contrasting flavors. I’d take a bite and get the dark cocoa, and then suddenly taste sweetness when my tongue hit a cherry. Still a bit more sweet than my usual snacks, but truly enjoyable.
Finally, the most recent, brand-new flavor is Spirulina Ballerina. I heard the name of this one and immediately wondered what the heck spirulina even was. Wikipedia revealed to me that it’s a microalga…what? BUT it’s also a common dietary supplement – a complete protein (meaning it contains all the essential amino acids, like soy), making it superior to many other plant proteins, which are incomplete. That makes it ideal for vegetarians and vegans! And you know what? This Barre flavor was my favorite, because it tasted the least sweet and the most hearty! I really felt like I was fueling my body with what it needed to perform at its best. Maybe part of that was psychological, but hey, it worked!
Thank you so very much to Julia for sending me each flavor of Barre to “test drive”. I certainly enjoyed eating them – and the results thereafter at the gym! As if she hasn’t already been generous enough, Julia has offered to give one reader a box of Barres, so that you can try them yourself.
What a sweetheart!
Want to enter? Here’s how! (US readers only please, and no Hawaii or Alaska entries, sorry!) Make sure you do a comment for each method of entry:
- Comment and tell me which of the three flavors you’d want to try most. *mandatory*
- Tweet “I entered to win @realfoodbarre from @CaitPlusAte! http://wp.me/p1SfTW-15s” and comment with the link to the tweet.
- Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter and comment with your Twitter name saying you did.
- Follow @RealFoodBarre on Twitter and comment with your Twitter name saying you did.
- Follow CaitPlusAte on Pinterest and comment saying you did.
That’s 5 chances to win! Entries close this Wednesday 7/9 at 11:59PM EST. And if you don’t win, you can always purchase Pirouette Cinnamon Pecan and/or Black Swan Chocolate Cherry Barres from their website!
