It's A Bird...It's A Plane...No, It's the Nutless Wonder!

I had every intention of tasting all 4 of my sample Picky Bars BEFORE writing a review, but after the first bite of the Nutless Wonder bar, I absolutely had to tell you about these things. 

Source

Honestly, I was skeptical at first. The bars are small and individually wrapped in resealable plastic bags (a huge plus)! I headed out on Monday morning to hit the gym, and in my typical fashion, I only had time to get the Weasel her breakfast. So I grabbed the Nutless Wonder bar and hopped in the car. The bars are very dense, but less than 200 calories each. I took my first bite and tasted pumpkin seeds and chocolate...YUM! I was shocked at how tasty it was. 

Take a look at the ingredients:

Ingredients: organic dates, organic sunflower butter, raw honey, organic rice cereal (Organic brown rice, Organic brown rice syrup, Sea salt), rice protein (protein from whole grain sprouted brown rice, natural vanilla flavor), organic apricots, cranberries, organic pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, semi sweet chocolate chips (cane sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin (soy), vanilla extract), cinnamon, kosher salt, canola & sunflower oil. 

HOLY COW...you can pronounce every last word! Now that's refreshing!! I am so excited to try the other three bars they sent: All-In Almond, Lauren's Mega Nuts, and Smooth Caffeinator.  

Let's break it down. Here are the PROS:

1. Small, easily digestible for pre-workout fuel. 

2. Resealable packaging means you can eat a few bites and save the rest for after your workout.

3. They have tasty chocolate bits!

4. I've finally found a nutrition bar that doesn't make me want to gag.

5. Picky Bars is a small company started by runners and made for runners. Why wouldn't you want to support them?!

CONS:

1. I would have to order the product online because the only place they are available in NC is about 2 hours from my house. 

Seriously, only 1 con, and luckily, you can grab these online with no hassle. I'll be providing more reviews of the other flavors in the near future, but I really couldn't wait to share this with you. So go grab a bar and find out what the craze is all about!

Picky Bars Review - Part 1

As you know, my sister is in Afghanistan right now, but she managed to find time in her busy schedule to review one of her FAVORITE products ever! Here's what she sent me:


It kind of reads like a sales pitch...but I really do believe all of this stuff! (I'm not sure I was supposed to include this disclaimer:)

Over the years I have tried so many pre/post workout snacks...but none have compared to how tasty and filling the Picky Bars are.  They are much smaller than a normal energy bar, but that's part of what is so great about them!  I can eat one 20 min before a run or a long bike ride and it's not overly filling.  It gives me the energy I need to make it through a long workout.  Additionally, as you can see from my picture below, it's great post-workout fuel to reenergize my body.  After a seven mile run, I definitely needed to refuel the tank!

When we flew over here to Afghanistan, I didn't want to carry a ton of extra stuff, but I knew that the food on the plane might not be vegetarian-friendly...I was right.  Luckily, I had packed a bunch of Picky Bars, which came in very handy!  They are small, so I could pack lots of them!

Picky Bars also taste awesome!  I love that they put a few chocolate chips in there!  So, if you haven't tried them - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  I promise that you will not be disappointed!


(Ok, so there you have Jessica's two cents. Mine is forthcoming as I recently received this awesome package in the mail courtesy of the fine folks at Picky Bars:

I'm a Picky Bar virgin, and a hater of most energy bars, so I promise to give you my honest perspective. But I'm feeling pretty confident about them after hearing Jessica's rave!)

Great Customer Service!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently had some problems with my Saucony ProGrid Cohesion shoes. I purchased these shoes in October 2011, and by late November, this happened:

Yup, that's my finger poking through all four places where the leather meets the mesh:( I was totally bummed out because I LOVE Saucony! So I decided to figure out my options. I wasn't able to return them to the store where I purchased them because it recently went out of business (and had an awesome sale where I picked up another pair of Saucony's at a great price!). I contacted the customer service department using Saucony's website. (I explained that the holes may have formed due to my recently adopted mid-foot strike.) I received a very informative email with explicit directions on how to go about returning the merchandise. I shipped the shoes to the company on Saturday, and by Wednesday, I received a phone call from a representative letting me know that a new pair of shoes would be here next week! 

After several bad customer service interactions, I almost came to view it as the norm. Thank goodness for professional companies like Saucony who take care of their customers. I knew there was a reason (besides their AWESOME shoes) that I've been buying their shoes for the last 7 years. So to the customer service department, THANK YOU! And for anyone wondering about what type of shoe to purchase next, I strongly urge you to consider this great company!