Larabars!

As I mentioned in a previous post I've come to love Larabar's. I also mentioned that I would be finding a recipe for them since I love them so much.

Well, it didn't take long after that post for me to find one and I made my first batch last Thursday (the first batch was not too hot since I didn't use dates). But by the second batch I got the hang of it and I have to say that Daniel and I love the ones that I've made a 100X more than the actual Larabar's! I'm not sure how that happened but I'm glad it did since it's much more cost efficient.

I found a website called Damy Health and it has tons of recipes for these. So far we've made two batches of the key lime pie, one peanut butter cookie, and one chocolate coconut macaroon. Don't worry, we haven't ate them all yet. :) I made three batches on Sunday night for Daniel and I this week to take for snacks.

I'm constantly looking for things for us (mainly Daniel) to take to work to have something healthy to eat. I'd have to say that the one thing that makes me feel like an awful wife is if he goes to work without a lunch and snacks. I know...I know. He's a grown man who can feed himself. And he's never once gripped or complained if he doesn't have something to eat from home. I just feel like it's my job for us to eat healthy even if we aren't at home. I have mixed feelings about eating out anyway since you never know what's in the food. I like to think of it as limiting our unknown food intake. ;)

Anyway....

Please know that these bars are healthy in moderation. They have good fat, sugar, calories in them. Your body needs all of those things just from the right foods. This is not a food that will aid in weightloss, it is a healthy all natural snack.

When I was visiting my mom on Friday I let her try one and she was curious to know what was in them and seemed to like them as well! When we were eating one I said, "These are pretty much like a candy bar!" My mom looked at me like I was delusional! So I'm not sure if the lack of sugar in my diet makes these things seem amazing, if I'm crazy, or if they are actually as good as I think they are. But my husband loves them too, so that must be a good sign.

Please give them a try for yourself! They are SO easy to make and such a great alternative to all those other fruit/snack bars that 'claim' to be all natural. 

Here are the three recipes I've made so far but the website above has many more.

Key Lime Pie

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup Seedless/Pitted whole Dates
• dash of sea salt
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1/2 tbsp lime juice
• 1/3 shredded coconut

Peanut Butter Cookie

• 1/2 cup Seedless/Pitted whole Dates
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup peanuts

 Chocolate Coconut Macaroon

• 1/3 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup Seedless/Pitted whole Dates
• 3 tbsp dark chocolate
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut

Addict

Yep. Those are big cups of SUGAR! And after lots of comments about my sugar intake from my husband and much denial on my part I've finally come to the realization that I have a very unhealthy relationship with the sweet white stuff above.

What a bummer. I liked denial much better.

How did I know I was addicted to sugar? Well, just take a look at my excuses for finding a way to make sure I have it..

- Making sure there is always some kind of candy in my bag at all times.
- Eating all my veggies so I can have a sweet treat after pretty much every meal. (Yep, I know how childish that sounds.)
- Saying that sugar in coffee doesn't count.
- Picking restaurants that are known for good desserts or ones that are close to an ice cream place so I can go after.
- Pouting about not getting something sweet after dinner. (Yep. I'm five.)
- Putting sugar packets in my purse just in case we go somewhere and I need them. (What the what?! How can that ever be ok?)

The light bulb moment...

I've been running/working out now for a while and I've seen small results but nothing major and although I'm not trying to lose any weight, I am trying to tone what I've got. And that just wasn't happening as quick as I wanted.  Even when I put on a little weight, I've always been able to drop it really fast. Although the fact that I'm heading toward the late twenties may have something to do with it. Anyway, I decided to find a good food journal to see what I was doing wrong. In the back of my mind I knew it was my sugar intake but I would never admit to it. I'd rather cut out veggies and fruits than my sugar. I was convinced there had to be another way. ADDICT.

But as I typed in all my food and workout information so it could tell me how many calories I needed to eat a day to lose a small amount of weight and tone and the results were depressing. They weren't depressing because they said I needed to eat like 1000 calories a day or work out excessively. They were depressing because they pretty much said the amount of calories I needed to give up was almost exactly my daily intake of sugar. I just thought, that's impossible.. I can't! I need it!. ADDICT.

The break up...

Yesterday I woke up and decided to come clean and quit making excuses and for the first time in many many days, months, years I did not have any sugar! A lot of my break up had to do with these articles... here and here. Yeah, these sites are total bummers but the truth stinks.

So I made it through yesterday feeling just fine and even some of this morning I felt fine. It's safe to say that my back-up or overload of sugar is now gone though since I've had a massive headache and been extremely tired since about 10 a.m.

I am allowing Saturday sweets because I think it's just silly to never eat cupcakes, chocolate and ice cream. So I guess I'm not giving them up entirely but I am anxious to see how much better I feel after a week or so.

Wish me luck! It's not easy being healthy. ;)