She Says: Another Good One!
As I’ve explained I’m in this new routine where I run after student teaching instead of in the morning. Now, after school, I have a little snack before my run. I’ve been trying out different bars for the role of after school/pre-run snack. Today’s bar for review was this Kardea Lemon Ginger Bar.
Stats: 40 g serving, 150 cals, 5 g fat, 0 cholesterol, 90 mg salt, 7 g fiber, 9 g sugar.
Taste: Delicious! I love lemon flavor, but haven’t found a great lemon bar. They usually taste super fake and sweet, but this was neither. The best way I can describe it is “gentle.” I can’t say I tasted any ginger flavor though.
Texture: I was a little nervous when I opened it and it looked kind of like a Larabar because I am not the biggest fan of their mushy, dry texture. I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into it and it had some chew, but was still soft. I looked more closely at the ingredients and realized it must be the rolled oats I am loving in there (you can kinda see them in my poor iPhone picture)! So it’s kind of like the best part of a Larabar plus oats!
Functionality: For me, a perfect pre-run snack. Not too filling and did not sit in my stomach.
Highlights: I think this contains the least amount of sodium and sugar that I’ve eaten. This makes me feel good, like I am eating something less processed than a traditional bar. When I eat a bar it’s out of convenience, but that doesn’t mean I want a ton of sugar. Additionally, I embarassinlgy have borderline/high cholesterol (something I get from my dad, not my diet), which is another reason I eat my oats. As an extra bonus, these bars have more soluble fiber than oats and contain 1 g of plant sterols. These reduce LDLs, which I know from Dr. Oz is the lousy cholesterol.
Overall: Although I still prefer a “grainy” bar, these were good. I really enjoyed the flavor and will definitely remember this for an afternoon snack.
Sneaks
On an unrelated note, I wanted to share this link I found for finding the ideal sneaker for your foot, which takes you through the process of figuring out whether you’re an overpronator or underpronator. I’m an underpronator. Anyone else know of a similar kind of site?
And for inspiration.
You probably heard that Jennifer Lopez, who gave birth to twins in March, completed a triathlon last weekend. You know who else did? Erin, the fitness/exercise blogger at Self.com. She had a baby at the end of May! Excellent work JLo and Erin. These are the kinds of things that inspire me to try to run further and faster. 
Tags: bar, kardea bar, lemon, review, run
September 18th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
thanks for the great review!i ‘ll be on the lookout for those… they look great
i would love to do a triathalon..sadly, i can’t ride a bike :/
September 18th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
good review! That’s kind of amazing how low in sugar they are, but I’m liking the sounds of the texture. I tagged you for a meme if you’re interested, check out my latest post!
how bout a tri?
i was thinking about a post discussing how i trained for my first…
September 18th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Do you find it easier to run in the afternoon?
Please don’t be embarrassed about the high chol.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I will definitely be on the lookout for those bars! Great review, you were very thorough
September 18th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Great link! Thank you! Thanks for the review too! You should try making your own bars if you have spare time one week- its nice to be able to control the sugar! Ellie Krieger has some good ones!
September 18th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Erica: Maybe I’ll try! I love Ellie K.
Jenny: I am a nerd and am trying to keep an accurate record of the bars that worked for me.
Erin: You’re right! I’m embracing my flaws.
ttfn: Let me get through my first 5k first, then we’ll chat. I will do the meme thing soon. Promise.
Gina: You mean you can’t because of your leg or at all?
September 18th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Hey!
We’re not 100% sure where we’re going tomorrow in the cape…probably Chatham though because we haven’t been there in ages!
I think I’ll have to try one of those bars soon…I love lemon!
September 19th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Mm, another tasting looking bar review! I haven’t seen Kardea in stores, I will have to re-check.
I saw that about the triathlon – SO inspiring! It’s definitely on my list of things to do before I die
I should do it sooner, so I live longer, haha.
September 19th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Great review! I haven’t seen that bar around here yet, but I’ll keep an eye out. Sounds like it has some good stuff in it
Shoes – they definitely make a difference in the workout. I’m an extremely severe overpronator. But I found out by going to my local running store (a great place with incredibly trained people! I am impressed) and getting a gait/foot analysis. It took a while, but it’s really helped me get to know my feet/body. Most running stores have the similar type of thing….. I think there are other sites on the web with test-your-feet methods, a lot of the running sites (coolrunning, runnersworld, etc) have them and explain what they mean and give examples of the shoes that match each type.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Lol. No, I don’t work at Subway as a sandwich artist.
I work at Costco in the Administrative office, dealing with all the money & deposits.
We just had Subway as our catered lunch for the safety meeting or whatever.
What is that up there under the Kardea bar?
September 19th, 2008 at 8:23 am
I don’t think I have ever seen that brand before but I love lemon things! I need to stalk amazon to see if they have it.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Jordan, Those are some math manipulatives I used to fancy up the picture.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
[...] oats inside! This had a subtle banana flavor and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favorite. Lemon Ginger still wins that contest. I think my problem is that I love bananas and banana bread, cake, muffins, [...]