Do you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock, brush your teeth in the shower and rush on your way to work? What about skipping meals running from meeting to meeting? Or maybe you’re just busy running after the kids or grandkids.
Whatever your situation, at whatever age, life can be hectic.
We often find ourselves running around with no time to eat a proper meal. If you’re turning to snack bars as your go-to food on the run, maybe you should check this out first.
Get Fit Quick
As well filling a need to eat on the run, the snack bar phenomenon has grown out of society’s tendency to look for quick-fix solutions. We want to lose weight fast. We want a supermodel body overnight and 3-minute workouts on a vibrating plate.
The logical side of your brain should tell you there is no (healthy) shortcut to getting what you want. But the manufacturers in the health and fitness industry are pretty good at appealing to our emotions.
Snack Bars to Lose Weight
If you’re eating the occasional snack bar here and there to fill a hole on the go, then there’s probably nothing wrong with that. An Eat Natural or Special-K bar is definitely better than a Snickers. But if you’re replacing meals with these “weight-loss” aids on a regular basis, then it’s time to actually look at the ingredients.
Snack bars will not make you lose weight, in fact, the opposite is probably true.
What’s Inside Them?
We took a look at three different snack bars to see what’s inside them and here’s what we found out:
- High in Sugar – Eat Natural and Special-K bars both contain 2 teaspoons of sugar (10 grams per bar). The Nakd bar has actually got 3 teaspoons of sugar – not so much naked as fully stacked.
- Low in Energy – This sugar spike is going to make you feel great! For about thirty minutes. But once that wears off, you’re going to feel pretty sleepy and need somewhere to crash.
A Better Replacement
You may not be able to change the fact that you’re on the run, but you can change what snacks you eat. Try nuts and coconut flakes, soy nuts, yogurt, trail mix, or sweet potato oven baked crisps. Also, make sure that you’re drinking enough water, as this can help stave off cravings if your stomach’s rumbling between meals.
Finally, if you don’t want to ditch your snack bars for good, then try to opt for one with less sugar. Ditch the Nakd bars and cut down the quantity you eat, as they certainly won’t help you lose weight. Replacing meals with snack bars on a regular basis will only leave you feel constantly hungry and tired – not very healthy at all.
