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Snack help

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Mavis

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Can I ask what proteins bars are best and lower carbs,
I find I’m not hungry at lunch time and would prefer a snack bar with a cuppa and just wondering what everyone has used in this way that may help
 
I always have KIND bars in the larder. There are 2 sizes, though. The smaller ones, sold in 3-packs, are all less than 10g carb. The larger ones, also sold in 3 packs, but also often found in the Meal Deal sections in supermarkets, are higher carb so I don't buy them. Deliciously Ella's Roasted Peanut Crunch Bars are only 9.2g carb and I have them in the larder too.
 
There are also Nature Valley Protein bars, Eat Natural, Graze which are all low carb but check the wrapper to be sure as sometimes people move them about and mix them with the normal ones which are much higher carb.
You could just have a piece of cheese and a cracker or apple.
 
I don't think these protein bars are a good idea as a regular lunch. I used to use the Nature Valley ones as an occasional "grab and go" breakfast but the more frequently I ate them, the more I wanted and buying a multipack and knowing there were more in the cupboard after I had the first one meant they were gone rather too quickly. They are highly processed and sweetened with sweeteners and developed to be addictive like many other foods and I just find they encourage me to want more sweet stuff, so I stopped buying them.
Half a Braeburn or Cox's apple which has a good balance of sweetness and tartness and a chunk of nice cheese works for me as a lunch substitute or some roasted nuts or a pot of olives with feta, or a boiled egg with mayonnaise and a couple of cherry tomatoes or some veggie sticks with a sour cream and chive dip.
 
rebrascora said:
I don't think these protein bars are a good idea as a regular lunch. I used to use the Nature Valley ones as an occasional "grab and go" breakfast but the more frequently I ate them, the more I wanted and buying a multipack and knowing there were more in the cupboard after I had the first one meant they were gone rather too quickly. They are highly processed and sweetened with sweeteners and developed to be addictive like many other foods and I just find they encourage me to want more sweet stuff, so I stopped buying them.
Half a Braeburn or Cox's apple which has a good balance of sweetness and tartness and a chunk of nice cheese works for me as a lunch substitute or some roasted nuts or a pot of olives with feta, or a boiled egg with mayonnaise and a couple of cherry tomatoes or some veggie sticks with a sour cream and chive dip.
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I have those bars in the cupboard but cut each into 3 and have 1 piece with my afternoon cuppa. As you say they are quite sweet which is why I am not tempted to have more.
 
A hanful of nuts can be a nice snack
 
Leadinglights said:
I have those bars in the cupboard but cut each into 3 and have 1 piece with my afternoon cuppa. As you say they are quite sweet which is why I am not tempted to have more.
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I am not as disciplined as you and once I start, I struggle to stop at eating just one whole bar, let alone a third of a bar, when there is/are more in the cupboard. I think I have quite an addictive personality.
I don't crave sweet stuff anymore now that I eat low carb, but if I start, it gets out of hand very quickly and I like the fact that when I don't eat sweet stuff I really enjoy other flavours like sourness and bitterness and saltiness/savouriness and I can taste sweetness in things that previously just tasted sour.... Just been out in the garden eating blackcurrants straight from the bush which used to make me cringe when my mother did it years ago because they were so sour.... but I really enjoyed what I ate just now and so good for you of course!
 
rebrascora said:
I am not as disciplined as you and once I start, I struggle to stop at eating just one whole bar, let alone a third of a bar, when there is/are more in the cupboard. I think I have quite an addictive personality.
I don't crave sweet stuff anymore now that I eat low carb, but if I start, it gets out of hand very quickly and I like the fact that when I don't eat sweet stuff I really enjoy other flavours like sourness and bitterness and saltiness/savouriness and I can taste sweetness in things that previously just tasted sour.... Just been out in the garden eating blackcurrants straight from the bush which used to make me cringe when my mother did it years ago because they were so sour.... but I really enjoyed what I ate just now and so good for you of course!
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You are dead right there that as you reduce to 'sweet' things you have tastes change and what would have been OK before now are sickly sweet. I am definitely more of a savoury taste person.
 
Leadinglights said:
You are dead right there that as you reduce to 'sweet' things you have tastes change and what would have been OK before now are sickly sweet. I am definitely more of a savoury taste person.
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Actually I still don't find things sickly sweet and could go back to being a sugar addict and eating a multipack of Snickers in one afternoon at the drop of a hat. What I love about going low carb is that I don't crave those sweet things unless I eat them and that the sweetness masks a wonderful rainbow of other flavours that I had previously lost awareness of, so I kind of see the sweet stuff as turning my taste buds to black and white mode whereas, if I avoid the sweet stuff I have discovered that there is a wonderful array of other enjoyable flavours and without that sweet stuff I enjoy eating in "colour". It is like having heightened awareness!
 
Mavis said:
Can I ask what proteins bars are best and lower carbs,
I find I’m not hungry at lunch time and would prefer a snack bar with a cuppa and just wondering what everyone has used in this way that may help
Click to expand...
My favourite is the KIND bar..but they do come in two sizes so you need to decide which size of KIND bar is best for you.
 
I am not as strict with myself as I used to be. I have learnt what works etc. But my go to snack is something called a Bounce Protein ball, not because of the protein element or tfe health benefits it says it provides but simply because I like it! Just checked the label 35 grm protein ball is 10 carbs.
 
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