Monday 20 May 2013

Know What You're Eating

These days, food companies will label ANYTHING as healthy, low fat, no sugar added and/or organic. By doing so, they can jack up the price and come out on top while you, the consumer, are tricked into thinking that you are eating healthy and right. My dear readers, you are being fooled.
Exhibit ‘A’-
A certain cereal brand advertises all of their products as healthy, low fat, low cal. Here is their nutritional information for their granola bars…

10 freakin’ grams of sugar! That is insane, especially considering how small these things are. Not only are they NOT HEALTHY AT ALL, they are about $8 for a box of six.  Stop letting these companies fool you! Know what you are eating…If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.

To solve this granola bar dilemma, I have resorted to making my own, homemade, simple ingredient granola bars. I made three different kinds, 24 bars in total and it cost me about $15. 

The one on the left is a craisin & almond bar. It has chopped plain almonds (1 cup), all natural dried cranberries(1/2 cup), oatmeal(2 cups), ground flax(1/2 cup) and raw honey(3/4 cup, give or take). That’s it. Simple, clean ingredients. I mixed it all together, lined a glass casserole dish with some wax paper and pressed it in. Once it was stiff, I cut it up into 8 bars and wrapped ‘em plastic wrap.

The middle ones are dark chocolate and coconut.  Unsweetened shredded coconut (1 cup), oatmeal(2 cups), ground flax(1/2 cup) and raw honey(3/4 cup, give or take). Once I pressed it into the pan, I melted ½ cup of dark chocolate and spread it over the bars. Let it cool/harden in the fridge before cutting. Also, because these ones have dark chocolate, I cut them a lot smaller to keep them in the same calorie range as the others.

The ones on the right are peanut butter.  Coarsely chopped salted peanuts (1 cup), oatmeal(2 cups), ground flax(1/2 cup) and raw honey(1/2 cup, give or take) and natural creamy peanut butter(1/2cup). Same drill as the others.
I can’t seem to pick my favorite… J

Last but not least, we need to talk about yesterday’s workout. I felt great doing it and I felt fine right after but I had a seriously hard time getting out of bed this morning. My calves and ankles are KILLING me and my deltoids feel less then great. I could have easily used this pain as an excuse to sit around all day and do nothing, and I almost did. It was a holiday here today so my gym was closed at 6pm and my gym shoes were in my office at work. (2 more excuses to not work out)

At 9:15pm I forced myself to get up and go for a bike ride. No gym needed, no gym shoes needed and I was pretty certain it wouldn’t make my calves scream. So I did it. It was just a 10k and I was only gone for 30 minutes but it was better than nothing. I feel better after getting out, getting some fresh air and getting my heart rate up a bit. Much better than I would have felt had I stayed on the couch all night. No matter how crappy you feel, you will always feel better after exercising, promise. 
Sometimes when I need that extra boost to get me up and going (I’m human after all) music usually does the trick. I have a huge playlist with work out songs on it, one of my new favorites being, “Nothing I Wouldn’t Do” by Serena Ryder J Enjoy!

3 comments:

  1. Was it a "civic holiday"? ;) I love your blog, Ashley. You should find a way for me to pin this recipe on pinterest. It would be fantastic! Which bar is your favorite?

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  2. I dunno...
    Today I made a whole bunch more (everyone I work ate all the other ones) and this time I made dark chocolate and peanut butter ones, I think they take the win.
    Rochelle, MY RECIPE?!? ON PINTEREST!?! Don't toy with my emotions like that. Pretty sure my life would be complete if that happened.

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  3. I think I'd go dark chocolate and peanut butter, too. That sounds absolutely divine! And I think you could make the Pinterest thing work. You've got skills. :)

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