Product: Picky Bars Nutless Wonder – $3.00
You know…it is so tough to maintain good athletic health at times and properly fuel pre- and post-race or run. Here’s why. A lot of those protein bars that athletes swear by…have gluten and/or dairy in them. Yep. And that just won’t work for this girl.
Enter to the scene Lauren Fleshman, US champion runner. She was down with an injury and set out to create a gluten-free and dairy-free energy bar for her husband to take on his long bike rides. The one key…it had to taste good.
What emerged from this initial idea, and after lots of trial-and-error, were Picky Bars.
I don’t actually have these in my area. I bought these when I was in St. Louis and stopped in at a running store. They had them on the counter and I admit…I was totally intrigued.
The basic concept that Lauren came up with was that she wanted the 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ration. In addition, she wanted slow releasing carbs for level blood sugar, minimal soy content, and healthy fats making up 25% of the calories. Oh…and it had to taste good too.
Picky Bars were the result of that brainstorm and the downtime she had from injury. And they come in a variety of flavors. I decided to use mine as a post-run fuel after running in the Minneapolis Half Marathon on June 3. After crossing the finish line in my first ever sub-2 hour half marathon, I downed a gluten-free/vegan protein shake and then tore into my first of two Picky Bars I bought in St. Louis.
I chose the Nutless Wonder because I was going to be in a house with children in it with nut allergies. And in case they had stumbled upon my stash, I wanted to make sure that they would be safe. Thankfully, it was just a precaution and the kids were good about staying upstairs. Now, after my half marathon…I was starving. And I brought along an energy bar last half marathon and ended up throwing it away.
Not the case with my Nutless Wonder Picky Bar. I actually downed this bar faster than anticipated. I happily tore into the package and began to chow down. It tasted great. And it should. There is nothing in these bars that I don’t recognize. The Nutless Wonder is a simple blend of organic dates, organic sunflower butter, raw honey, organic rice cereal, rice protein, organic apricots, cranberries, organic pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, semisweet chocolate chips, cinnamon, kosher salt and a mix of canola and sunflower oil. Yes…that’s it. Recognize everything? I do. And that really puts my mind to ease.
Even better…I enjoyed it bite-for-bite. These are really good. So, I think I might be making an online order just so I can have some here for my long run mornings and the like. And each bar clocks in at under 200 calories so I don’t feel like I’m going stupid on the calories either, despite having just done a long run. I appreciate that.
If you can find these in your area and you are an athlete who needs to fuel properly pre- and post- activity…I recommend Picky Bars. They are the perfect way to properly fuel your body with a perfect ratio of carbs to protein. Oh…and they taste fantastic. Find them. Order them. Enjoy them.
The Celiathlete 