Lara Bars at Costco!

[KnottedYet]

Happy Dance!

I went to Costco to buy eggs. Just eggs. Came away with eggs, bananas, artichokes, and a case of Lara Bars!

"Variety Pack" apple pie, chocolate coconut chew, and cherry pie.

(Cherry pie is my favorite, if they'd had a case of just cherry pie I might not have been able to control myself.)

I've been buying Paydays, but I eat them too much. Instant food is what I really need. That's how I rationalized buying a case of Lara Bars. Cuz they're real food. (really. aren't they?)

Edit: these are, of course, for eating on bike rides. Or if I'm running off somewhere and need food. Or for at work when I'm starving. And if I just feel like I need a nibble... but really they are for the bike.

[farrellcollie]

I have got to join costco. I get lara bars too, just for the bike or breakfast on the run, or a snack just before teaching to keep energy up.... I really do try to keep them bike or hike food - but I acutally like them in general.

[Bikingmomof3]

I do not have a Costco and I have never tried a Lara Bar so what do I do? I sent DH to the store to buy some. :D Are the Maya bars any good?

[KnottedYet]

I haven't tried the Maya bars, but somebody posted about them.

Lara bars are really good, and don't give me sugar rush. They're filling, too. And they only have 5 or so ingredients.

[Lise]

This is the second time in one day that I've heard about Costco. As a single woman with no kids, I can't see paying the membership fee. So I make my friends pick things up for me! My pal at work gets cases of the Kashi energy bars there. I'll have her pick me up some Lara bars, too.

I've tried the Maya bars, Chocolate Coffee, and Chocolate Orange. As much as I want to love them, I do not. There's a strange taste that I think of as "industrial". Don't know what it is, since they're as natural as natural can be. But I do not love them. I bought a case of the C/O ones on sale, certain that I would adore them. I was wrong. I still have three or four to get through. :o

[Bikingmomof3]

I just had a Maya Bar-Chocolate Coffee and I liked it. :) DH bought one Maya and 4 Lara Bars.

[KnottedYet]

My favorite Lara bar is the cherry pie. Mmmmmm. Might have to try the Maya bars, too.

[donnambr]

Cherry Pie is my fav, too.

I'm single, too. You can get a Costco membership and you can have anyone take the extra "spouse" card that goes with it. Switch off who pays the membership dues which year, or just split the cost. It's quite reasonable that way.

[divingbiker]

Lara bars seem so heavy to me that I haven't acquired a taste for them yet. I'm addicted to Luna bars, which Costco also sells. But their variety pack includes the lemon flavor, which I find disgusting. Luna bars are vegan, so they substitute as candy bars for me...there's only one vegan candy bar that I know of, Goldenberg's peanut chews, which I must not get into the habit of eating. At least Luna bars are semi-healthy. Aren't they? Please?

Had to let the Costco membership lapse this year because it just wasn't worth it to me, even sharing a membership. I didn't go often enough, and how many 4 lb bags of spinach and gigantic jars of sun dried tomatoes can a girl eat? Did like the huge bags of organic carrots for the dog, though. He eats lots of them as treats when we do our weekly therapy dog visits to the nursing home, and we had no trouble finishing off a bag.

[Dogmama]

Check out the fat content on Larabars. :eek:

[DeniseGoldberg]

Check out the fat content on Larabars. :eek:
Funny you posted this, because that's just what I did when everyone started raving about these bars many months ago. My sister told me about them after she was at Whole Foods one day and they had Larabars cut up and out for tasting. She loved the taste. Of course, nutrition nut that I am, I went directly to their web site and looked at the nutrition info. Based on the percent of fat in the bars (a very high 40%), I opted not to try them. They don't fall anywhere within the recommend nutrient percentages to support my activity level - even though the fat comes from nuts, and nuts in a reasonable amount are good.

After my initial shock at the contents of the bars, I threw the nutrition info from the Larabars into a spreadsheet with the nutrition info with a few other bars. My usual choices are Lunabars, Pria, or ClifBars, so that's what I used for comparison. I included the Clif nectar bars because they are similar to the Larabars (and from my experience, they don't work as well for me during exercise as the other bars do - based on that I think the Larabars would be a total disaster for me).

I calculated the calories by multiplying grams of fat by 9 calories, and by multiplying grams of carbs or protein by 4 calories. In case anyone else is interested, I've included a screen shot from the spreadsheet.

I'm well aware that different people's bodies work differently, and it sounds like many of the women here are Larabars fans. I guess I'm just not one of them...

--- Denise

[salsabike]

Interesting thread. I tried Lara bars not long ago and just hated them. Luna bars and the occasional Balance bar work for me. I like my bars to feel "light" in the stomach and not get in my way, if you see what I mean. Lunas seem to do that best for me.

[snowtulip]

Denise, thanks for the snapshot! I love Lara Bars, but hadn't realized the difference between the bars. I started eating them for our tour of the Colorado Trail and have been eating them ever since. However, unlike on the Colorado Trail, I don't necessarily need that much fat and calories for some of my small rides. Thanks again!

[farrellcollie]

I have tried both the lara bars (which I like - but I am mindful of the fat content) and the maya bars (which I thought were disgusting). I like the taste of Lara bars better than any other bar except perhaps Cliff mojo bars. Luna bars are okay - but often too sweet for my taste and I dislike the ones with "icing" on them.

[yogabear]

I don't usually eat energy bars for rides that are two hours or less. I use the Gu20 if I am riding at an intensity or longer duration.

I love Larabars...Cashew cookie flavor. They are perfect for me because I am sensitive to common food allergens like wheat, oats, soy, dairy, artificial flavorings, synthentic vitamins, artificial colorings, corn, etc., etc.

I like buying a bar that lists things like almonds, cashews, dates, etc. It feels better for me to put that into my body.

I train and race on my bike, so I pretty much don't worry about calories, fat, protein, etc. But, here's the kicker...I don't eat any junk food, desserts, fast food, animal products, etc. So, a Larabar helps me to get fuel that I need.

Since I started eating super healthy in December 2005, I've lost at least 15 pounds (I don't weigh myself, so I'm guestimating...). I was never overweight, but now I'm leaner for my biking and racing :) And, yes, I lost weight while eating Larabars, avocadoes, nuts, seeds, etc. I'm a raw foods vegan :) My skin glows and I have more color in it now than ever before. I feel great :)

Just wanted to share another perspective...Different strokes for different folks :)

[leacato]

I agree wirh YogaBear. When you exercise a lot there is not much to worry about from calories/fats especially when these are considered to be the good fats. My new nutritionist has been reminding to balance a good fat, protein and carb at all times.

I'm also sensitive to wheat, dairy, eggs and soy so it was a joy to find these recently..and they taste so good. For the food sensitive crowd the ThinkOrganic bars are good too.

[KnottedYet]

Ditto on the food sensitivities. I'm thrilled that Clif makes Nectar bars (copies of Lara bars) because even if i can't find Lara bars, I can sometimes find Nectar.

There's another good bar, "BumbleBar" that has very few ingredients (no wheat, oats, barley or rye) and I think it's vegan, too. The Chai flavor is my favorite. Bumblebar's base is sesame seeds, so it's not as sweet as Lara which is based on dates.

As far as I know, BB isn't a raw food though.

[Dogmama]

I agree wirh YogaBear. When you exercise a lot there is not much to worry about from calories/fats especially when these are considered to be the good fats. My new nutritionist has been reminding to balance a good fat, protein and carb at all times.

When you get to be my age and your metabolism totally stops, you have to start watching diet, even when exercising a lot. :mad: I used to be able to ride, lift and eat ice cream. I still ride & lift....sigh...

[DeniseGoldberg]

My new nutritionist has been reminding to balance a good fat, protein and carb at all times.
You should absolutely balance fats, protein, and carbs. But if you look decent sports nutrition guidelines, a food that is 40% fat does not fall into a good balance for supporting activity like cycling. (You are right that the Lara bars contain only good food components and no crap, but the percentage of fat is way to high for my body.) If you are eating your Lara bar along with a better source of protein & carbs, everything will likely come into the right proportions for generating energy. Alone? I doubt it.