Snacks

This is my first official product review! I got a few samples of the 18 Rabbits granola bars in the mail (along with a cute button and a sticker. I love buttons. Mind you, I'm aware that it is no longer the eighties, when it was fashionable to affix buttons to one's jean jacket, but I still love them).


To be perfectly honest, I totally spaced on checking the nutrition facts (good for me, bad for you), but 18Rabbits.com has all the information you need. Some adjectives of choice: authentic, natural, real, nutritious, wholesome. I'll also add delicious, because they are. This is me eating the Funky Figs and Cherries bar while out shopping on Sunday. I look kind of annoyed, but I think this is just because I'm not used to taking pictures of myself eating something. I don't know how you food bloggers do it. Why does my hand look so huge?


I loved it. These have my ideal bar texture -- chewy, but not too soft or too hard. I ate this kind of fast because I was on a shoe mission, but I really enjoyed it. The chunks of cherries and figs were great. It filled me up until I got home, which was my goal.

I know lots of people in recovery from eating disorders have a love-hate relationship with bars. They equate bars with "recovery refeeding," kind of like Boost or Ensure in food format. My affair with Luna bars began in treatment, after all. Personally, I love bars. I'm somewhat lazy, so having something that's quick and easy, especially when I'm at work, is kind of essential. I have 2-3 snacks per day, and one of them usually involves a bar. For most of my snacks, I combine TWO things from this list (for example, I'd have a string cheese and ak-maks with a piece of fruit, or a bar and a glass of chocolate soy milk):

• -String cheese and ak-mak crackers
• -Trader Joe's packet of almonds or trail mix (I love that they have these in snack portions)
• -Gourmet popcorn (Gourmet or go home, that's what I say. My cats agree)
• -Clif Z Bar
• -Chocolate soy milk (Trader Joe's has these in single servings too)
• -Juice
• -Yogurt
• -Cottage cheese
• -Chips: My favorites are tortilla chips, Sun chips, Trader Joe's sweet potato chips
• -Carrots and hummus
• -Luna bar
• -Piece of fruit: I usually go for apples, oranges, pears, bananas
• -Bowl of granola with soy milk
• -Bowl of ice cream, or frozen yogurt with toppings (nuts, granola, berries, chocolate chips)
  
• -Cookie
  

I'm much more flexible than I used to be. I change these up pretty often, and I'm always looking for new ideas. I used to have a set meal plan that dictated what my snacks would be, exactly. Now, I see what I feel like when snack time comes and I consult a mental list of options. Snacks have been pretty important to me in recovery. Unless I go out to a meal and eat a lot more than usual, I need to have snacks. My body is pretty used to that, so it's not as much of a struggle as it used to be. My biggest red flag is the disappearance of snacks. That's always the first thing to go when I'm struggling. I was never really a meal skipper, but I'm notorious for skipping snacks.

What about you? What are your favorite snacks?

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Today's gratitude:

1. You guys! Thanks for all your encouragement regarding The Things. I slept in today instead of doing my usual walk or yoga. I admit it was hard. I was kind of out of it. I really do love my morning routine! Oh well. I actually used a few spare minutes to cuddle with the kitties in bed and jot down some writing ideas.

2. I have a fun-sounding freelance thing that just came my way.

3. We're watching "Up in the Air" tonight!

4. It's another beautiful day in Southern California.

5. I really have nothing stressing me out. At all.