(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best sports nutrition bars

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time! Learning about eating well can be really overwhelming. I've struggled with gaining weight at times too, so I can relate. I agree with some of the recommendations that have been posted so far (more frequent small meals, grains, bars, multivitamins).

My suggestions:

• Try to consume high-calorie foods. IMO, the most convenient sources of calories are foods like bananas (a fast way to get 100 kcal), avocados (if you can afford them, lol), dried fruit, dark chocolate - 250 kcal per serving, 225 kcal per serving, granola, rice, quinoa, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. If you can find a trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, and dark chocolate, that’s a great way to get in some calories!
  
  
• Eat healthy fats! Good sources of calories include nuts (especially almonds, macadamia nuts, and walnuts), nut butters (peanut butter, almond butter, etc.), and oils (olive oil, coconut oil). Honestly, one thing I've done before is to buy some coconut oil and eat a spoonful at a time (15ml has 123 kcal!). It doesn't taste like anything, so it's easy to eat, and it's a super-fast way to get calories.
  
  
• You mentioned trying but not being able to tolerate Ensure. I highly recommend other forms of liquid calories, such as protein shakes or pre-made smoothies. These are some I like:
  
  • Naked Juice smoothies - these contain good-for-you ingredients, and some of them are good sources of protein, too. They're high in sugar, but all of the sugar comes from the fruit (plus it sounds like you need sugar).
    
  • Innocent smoothies
    
  • Orgain protein shakes: These are pre-made (ready to drink) and have 140 kcal + 20g of protein. You can also get Orgain in powder form, which is probably more cost-effective, but less convenient.
    
  • Sunwarrior rice protein powder is dairy-free and vegan. It has less calories than the Orgain (80 kcal + 16g of protein per serving), but it's less expensive.
    
  • If you decide to try a protein powder, I recommend getting a shaker bottle like this one - they make it so much easier to mix up protein shakes.
    
    
• Definitely try some protein/snack bars, as /u/allycat-alison mentioned. I like Larabars, Luna/Clif bars, and Kind bars.
  
  
• Your energy is probably low for many reasons (not sleeping because of stress, feeling depressed, not eating enough/low blood sugar) - another reason may be having low iron. You could try an iron supplement and see if that helps. Another potential source of low energy is depleted B vitamins, so a B-complex supplement could also be beneficial. This is a multivitamin I found that’s a good source of B vitamins, vitamin D (also related to energy), AND iron. It also contains vitamin C, which helps your body absorb the iron.
  
  
• I know you said you didn’t want your family to find out (and unfortunately, keeping all of this to yourself is even more stressful!). I'm not going to advise you to talk to them, because I don’t know your situation. BUT, your family shouldn't get suspicious if they were to find out you had a physical - a physical is a standard thing that everyone should have regularly, IMO. I think it would be really helpful for you to have one, because your doctor can order bloodwork (again, totally standard/understandable/nothing that should raise eyebrows) and find out if there's anything contributing to your situation, like anemia or low thyroid function.
  
  
• Does your uni have a student health center/offer counseling? I'm in the U.S., and many here do. It's usually included in your tuition, and it's anonymous, so no one would have to know. I would go by your health center and see if they have any nutrition and/or counseling services, because it sounds like you don’t have anyone to talk to, and you should!!
  
  
• Lastly, remember that tobacco is proven to reduce appetite, so if you can, please try to take your friends' help with quitting tobacco. You could also try cessation products like nicotine gum, lozenges, or the patch. Did marijuana not help your appetite? I almost always get the munchies!

I've had this journal thing called My Grandma: Her Stories on the top of my list for a bit. My grandmother is one of the most important people to me. I love hearing the wisdom she has to impart as well as any random story from her past. She loves writing and talking, so it's the perfect gift for both of us really. I'm not that great with starting conversation, and even if I do, I know there I things I don't even know I wanted to know. There are a bunch of questions about life stuff in there that I'm sure I'd love hearing about. I'm sure I could gush about my grandma some more, but yeah. That's my tippy top item.

Somehow didn't notice that you mentioned each list. The above is my main super wants list and really the only thing that I'd want if given the option between all lists. Grandma has a special place in my heart.

My other lists though:

From my food list: A pack of Luna Bars, so that my SO has a decent snack while in class. She doesn't get much of a break and sometimes goes a good 5ish hours without anything to eat.

My music list: This is a bit strange, though I want all of the albums there, none of them are super mega wants. Oddly enough, the super mega want albums are on my high priority/default list. I guess I should change that. That being said, the albums I reallyreallyreally* want, are on Bandcamp. Artists that are lesser known and stuff. That'd either be Ott's Mir, Ne Obliviscaris or Naomi's self-titled that I've wanted for quite some time. Though, if it HAD to be on Amazon, the Blade Runner soundtrack would be AMAAAAZING!

Books list: I'm into cyberpunk, so the top of my list right now is between Afrofuturism because rarely are POC represented in sci-fi and I'd love to see who's done what and the Cyberpunk Handbook which is a bit of a parody/joke book.

Vidya games list: The highest are Way of the Samurai 3 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed "Ultimate Sith Edition"

Finally, my other random assortment of items wishlist: Probably the H&K MK23 airsoft gun. I like H&K, and this is much safer lying around than the actual thing. I won't shoot somebodies eye out with it a la A Chris Story, I promise!

Sure thing! There are SO many variations to this. It's funny you ask, because I was spooning flavor variation #3 in my mouth as I read this. :)

Basic recipe

• 1 cup Greek yogurt + 1 scoop protein powder + stevia to taste (or your sweetener of choice) results in a yogurt-y textured dessert/snack that is just fine on its own, no add-ins needed. I like to call these "protein bombs" because when using nonfat Fage and ON protein the macros end up around 280-300 cal for 2F/10C/50P before add-ins are included.
  
  
• Stirring may be messy; take it slow and use a folding technique when mixing.
  
  
• Refrigerate to thicken slightly from a yogurt-y texture.
  
  Texture add-ins
  
  
• 1 tbsp. of chia seeds - great to add healthy fats, and thickens quite nicely. I just don't like how the pips get stuck in my teeth if they haven't fully dissolved.
  
  
• 1 tbsp. of psyllium husk - the final texture is EXACTLY like cheesecake when this is added. Right now this is my favorite texture add-in.
  
  
• PB2 provides some thickening benefits but I would classify it more as a flavor add-in.
  
  Flavor variations
  
  
• Chocolate: 1 tbsp. cocoa powder. I also like to use Walden Farms chocolate syrup because I'm on a cut and I'm addicted to chocolate. If I'm adding a peanut butter flavor I'll add in 1-2 tbsp. chocolate PB2, because as you can tell, I have no limit for chocolate.
  
  
• (Anything) Peanut Butter: Add 1-2 tbsp. PB2 if you need the low calorie version. Regular peanut butter is miles better though, and I love to simply swirl it in. edit: If your wallet can handle it, Nuts n' More peanut butter is god-mode. They also have a toffee, chocolate, and pumpkin spice all of which are face-stuffingly delicious.
  
  
• Cinnamon Bun: Add 1 tsp cinnamon. I use MP's Cinnamon Bun flavor for this because my feelings on cinnamon are similar to my feelings on chocolate. If you add a teeny bit of ground cardamom, you get a delicious Chai flavor.
  
  
• Apple Pie: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and ginger, 1/8 tsp cloves...or just buy premade apple pie spice but who does that?
  
  
• Any Jello or Pudding flavor ever: Buy your favorite flavor of sugar free jello/pudding mix. Add 1/4 of the package (adds only ~25 calories/6g carbs) and mix in. The possibilities are endless...pistachio? Strawberry? (mix in real strawberries too!) Lemon? Butterscotch? The world is your oyster! The kind I'm having tomorrow is lemon pudding mix with vanilla protein and I've mixed in some fresh blueberries. YUM!
  
  
• Mocha: Add 1 tbsp. instant espresso mix + 1 tbsp. cocoa. Or just do the espresso mix for a coffee flavor. I haven't done this yet with coffee-flavored protein but I bet it's amazing.
  
  Hope that helps!

I know what you are dealing with, and I'm so sorry that you're going through it.

What I've found helpful is to try making different levels of effortlessness for various daily tasks. Basically, it's just having contingency plans that I can implement as needed. Making them pleasant is also important.

For example, here are my breakfast contingencies:

• DEFCON 5: Use whiskware to make protein pancakes. (1 cup of water+1 cup of pancake mix+1 optional egg, shake it up, squeeze onto skillet, and eat; add chocolate chips, blueberries, or whatever you want if you're in the mood.) Or make scrambled eggs and toast.
  
• DEFCON 4: Oatmeal of choice (tip: no need to measure water precisely, just pour some boiling water directly from a kettle to make it as thick or thin as you like) or some healthyish cereal with oat milk (because oat milk keeps longer than dairy milk, which means fewer surprises, and tastes the most like dairy milk out of all the options)
  
• DEFCON 3: Instant oatmeal cup, Kodiak to-go cups, etc. These cups are great to have on hand, and lots of brands make lots of kinds of them. Go wild.
  
• DEFCON 2: Tsogo in a blender bottle, or whatever meal replacement powder you prefer (BlendRunner can help you compare options)
  
• DEFCON 1: Soylent meal-in-a-bottle, Ensure Complete, Met-Rx meal replacement bars, or any equivalent zero preparation product that's specifically meant to be a complete meal replacement, because you need the nutrients and calories when things are this tough. (Beware the really small, cheap meal bars. They're too small to be satisfying, so you end up eating a bunch and it doesn't save money.)
  
  Another thing that really helped me a lot was learning to drink more water. For almost everybody, this sounds as simple as just grabbing a water bottle and making an effort to change habits. It probably doesn't even occur to them that this might need to be streamlined for people like us.
  
  For me, here's what worked:
  
  
• The right water bottle is big enough that you won't need to get up to refill it often, insulated well-enough that the small pleasure of ice can be added before you go to sleep and still be there in the morning, and – perhaps most importantly, I found – has a lid that doesn't even require you to open it when you want a sip (because people like us really do need to save every spoon possible)
  
• The right ice tray doesn't require you to ever wrestle with it. You don't need to get rid of your other ice trays, but silicone ones will never cling too hard to the ice. This makes you more likely to get the ice, and the ice (if you're like me) will make the water more pleasant, and making it more pleasant makes it require less mental effort to get yourself to reach over to take a sip.
  
• The right reminder won't require you to press a button to deactivate an alarm, won't ever make you scramble to turn it off so you don't wake up your roommate, and can be ignored relatively easily (just turn it to face away) so that you're still in control.
  
  These are all things that require spending some money upfront, but are cheap to maintain.
  
  Basically, the strategy is to accept that you're already doing what you can to help yourself, so making the tasks easier will let you do more and live better with your limited energy. Having contingencies that accept how bad some days can be will help to keep one very bad day from turning into a very bad week because you won't need to stretch yourself to get something done when you can least "afford" to do so.
  
  Don't be embarrassed or ashamed by the lengths you need to go to in order to live decently. Others won't get it, but we both know that you're already used to people not really understanding.
  
  If you want to talk more and exchange ideas about more ways to "save spoons," then just let me know. Good luck!

True nutrition and their vegan formula is the cheapest before shipping. You'll need to buy about 10lbs upfront to really get some savings after shipping though. Otherwise, there's plenty of protein products that are in about the same price range but aren't the cheapest thing ever, check out your local health foods store (Nature's Pavillion, Sprout's, Whole Foods, etc) for a selection or search Amazon.

I've tried Garden of Life, Plant Fusion, Vega, and True Nutrition and they were all good, with True Nutrition being the least tastey. Plant Fusion is my personal fave but we all have different preferences. One fun thing I like to do with Plant Fusion it is mix it by hand in milk and it ends up clumping in such a way that the clumps get soaked through and are like marshmallows in chocolate milk :3. Plant Fusion does not clump at all in water. I've also tried rice and hemp protein from Trader Joe's and other brands, and omg they were awful.

For bars, everyone I've ever met loves builder bars. They really are just super tastey chocolate bars. I stick with the mint or peanut butter flavor, although sometimes I'll get smores. Watch out because they sadly just released a line of super-high protein bars with whey. Probar just came out with their protein bar and it's more airy and crunchy and I wasn't a fan of the cookie dough one I tried. Builder Bars are also cheaper and can regularly be gotten for $1.50 in my area and they've available like everywhere including gas stations.

Oh no I forgot to take the spoke reflectors off. And they aren't uniform. Noooooo

Anyway I'm pretty slow but I've seen some improvement. Todays stats: 2h 43m. 40.3 miles. Avg Speed 14.8 mph. I live in a very hilly city I might add but I still feel like 14.8 is slow.

I would love some input on my diet before/during todays ride.

Breakfast was a packet of instant oatmeal. Lunch was a caesar salad with 4-5ish ounces of cubed ham. Then probably 300 calories of just random snacks.

During the ride:

• 24oz bottle of water
  
  
• 24oz bottle of Gatorade Zero Berry (4/5 stars in regards to taste)
  
  
• 30 min: 100 calorie GU tri-berry (2.5/5 stars)
  
  
• 1 hour: 220 calorie Clif bar Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter (5/5 stars)
  
  
• 1h 40m: 100 calorie Honey Stinger Gold Gel (1/5 stars but it was unseasonably hot and I let this one warm up too much.)
  
  
• 2 hours: 160 calorie Honey Stinger Fruit Smoothie Energy Chew (5/5 stars)
  
  After I got home I still had legs enough to chase my little ones around for a good 15 minutes but that's pretty much just a cool down. I never felt hungry but I have been made very afraid of the bonk just from trying to learn. Is this too much? Too little? Is this a good pace of calories to get to 100 miles? I don't really have a goal time.... so I'll just throw out 7 hours.
  
  Also does anyone have any good recipies for food to eat during the ride? I hate cooking so it has to be dead simple for me to cook, but I would appreciate reading fancy recipes if someone would like to share.
  
  Thanks!
  
  Edit: Also congrats to Greg LeMond.

Ok, so for my whole life I wanted a cordless Dyson vacuum. They’re about $500 but amazing because you literally just charge it and it’s good to go for a couple of days of serious vacuuming. But once I got my Dyson, I realized that it can’t pick up a lot of dirt because it has such a small compartment. Also, it gets stuck on long carpet and doesn’t do well if you have pets.

But, around the same time I got my Dyson, my Mom got the Shark cordless vacuum which runs at about $80. She has rheumatoid arthritis, so vacuuming really hurts her hands. This vacuum was perfect for her and I wish I had gone with it instead of my Dyson. The rollers and dirt compartment are so much better than the Dyson, and it rolls easily on all types of carpet. My mother has three cats and never has to unblock the roller. So this is my definite recommendation.

Things you need on your wishlist: for good baths, for a healthy and satisfyingly sweet snack, and for the best game known to man. Trust me, that last game is one of the most creative games I have ever played.

I summon /u/denygfx because they are a dirty bird who needs to be punished!

The household chore I hate the most is doing laundry because it’s really like three chores in one (sorting, timing, and folding).

For the nausea, send her some ginger chews. Ginger is GREAT for nausea. Also, some ginger tea. Ginger all the things!

If you can afford it, send her a body pillow. Those things are great for the whole pregnancy (and then afterward!). Also, some seriously comfy house shoes that won't be too tight (as she progresses, her feet are gonna swell big time).

You can find Belly Bars at Target (or on Amazon). These are pretty delicious.

Also: The Belly Book was SO much fun while I was pregnant.

Congrats to your friend!

>I'm wondering what foods I can buy beforehand that will be a good snack on the road (high fiber/ antioxidants/ protein).

Ah. Prepackaged vegan food for the lazy -- my specialty! I recently drove across the country (2 vegans driving the whole way, non-stop from Boston to SoCal), so this is all fresh in my memory. I'll use Amazon links, but there may be other places to buy these products for cheaper. Unfortunately, for most of the pre-packaged things, you're either going to have high sugar or high sodium. Also, I'm linking my favorite flavors for each brand, some may have lower/higher sodium/sugar content.

High sodium, but convenient:
Vegan jerky, McDougall just-add-hot-water soups, tofurkey sausages

Lower sodium, higher sugar:
Cliff Builder Bars, Lenny and Larry's vegan cookies (EDIT: Lenny and Larry cookies are are 16g protein to 380cal, actually pretty good protein, and super delicious with some soy/almond milk)

Low in both, actually healthy, but generally less convenient: Unsalted peanuts, fruit cups (berries are relatively convenient to eat in a car), G.O.R.P, crackers and hummus, pickles, dry cereal, oatmeal. I've also seen people make their own protein bars to bring along. Oh, and Soylent would also be an option, if you know anyone who has some.

Also, you can always fall back on the classic "Pack fixings for PB&Js." Even the larger group might want to join in on a few of those.

I think that a simple search of "BCAA" will give you an idea, though for every article that says they are great, there's one that says that they aren't necessary. Here is one that's pretty balanced. Like you, I sweat like a pig and typically take a 32oz water bottle (along with a pretty big towel). Each serving of this is good for 16oz so it's two scoops in the water bottle using the included scoop. If you look at the nutrition label, you'll notice that its sodium content is off the charts--ie just like having a sports drink. That said, I keep very well hydrated throughout the day and will generally eat a protein bar like RX or one of these from Costco (and get them at Costco if you're a member--much cheaper than Amazon) an hour before I my OTF class starts.

In addition, I almost always start on the floor if a 2G and rower if it's a 3G so that I empty the tank on the treads and not on the floor.

I find that I can survive on gels for up to 50K although I still try to consume a bit of fats and protein such as peanut butter or something like Bounce energy ball. For 50+ mile distances I added more other food but I still had upset stomach and some nausea at the end. My stomach is picky and I've just recently found out I have gluten sensitivity. Gels that I tolerate the best in ultras are Huma gels. I also recommend Clif Energy Food - this stuff is fairly heavy to carry around but works well in drop bags.

Good luck with your 100K!

Basically you are looking to balance carbs and protein.

Carbs are sugars, and grains. Fibrous carbs (check the nutrition label to see how many of the carbs are fiber) are better than simple carbs (think fruits, bread, rice, and other grains). Protein carbs (nuts, beans, legumes) are also better than simple ones.

I found the app, Carb Manager, to be a god send. You type in what you ate and how much and it tells you how many carbs/fiber and protein is there. Helps you get a good feel for what portion sizes you can have of things.

General rule of thumb for amounts seems to be:

Breakfast - no more than 30 carbs
Lunch - 45 to 60 carbs
Dinner - 45 to 60 carbs
With 2-3 snacks a day at no more than 15 carbs each

You will want to wait at least 2 hours between eating (for blood sugar testing). I found that spacing my meals out more like 5-6 hours with a snack at the 3-4 hour mark worked best for me.

It was also emphasized to me that I should be EATING my carbs not DRINKING them, so no juices or sodas. (That really helped with my water intake. 😋)

All of these need protein with them. My favorite snacks are Nature valley protein bar, Special K Protein Meal Bars, and Carnation Breakfast Essentials, in addition to nuts and cheeses.

MyProtein is probably best. GNC do some decent sales, but unless you can get a sale it's usually overpriced.
I've got some good deals from Amazon in the past but it can be variable.

A very quick look found this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MaxiNutrition-Progain-Mass-Strength-Flapjack/dp/B00284C8PQ/ref=sr_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1493552821&sr=8-6&keywords=maximuscle+bar

£1.41 per bar. I've had them before - they're pretty good. Also a chocolate/hazlenut flavour.

Protein shakes, avocados (with Tajin seasoning), roma tomatoes (with lemon juice), bananas, sliced green peppers with peanut butter (great nighttime snack), cucumbers, cheese (Havarti is delicious), Chobani greek yogurt, glazed walnuts, Lara bars, Clif builder bars, FruitChia bars, steak (with corn and squash), chicken breasts and wings, ranch style beans, raspberries, eggs, and bacon.

I love the bars man because they're about the same price as a candy bar, and they taste like a candy bar, but they give me amazing clean energy.

Here ya go: https://www.amazon.com/MusclePharm-Certified-Artificial-Ingredients-Chocolate/dp/B072MZHRSV

Honestly tho, I prefer the greek yogurt option these days. It ends up cheaper per serving and I feel super solid for whatever session I end up doing. I think just finding the macro numbers you need and experimenting with different combos will help.

Ya for Skratch I mix a scoop with a liter of water. Seems to work well with my guts, which honestly is the number 1 sign to me if my strategy is working.

I need some help and opinions-

I bought the Atkins Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bar as a Keto friendly sweet item and have eaten one a day so far. However, today I came to find out that these bars contains Maltitol.

Have any of you tried the Atkins bars (specifically the Cookie Dough flavor) and if so, did you get kicked out of Keto?

My sticks are all over the place, sometimes dark purple sometimes super light pink so I’m not sure what to make of it.

Thanks!

Atkins Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bar

Bit over budget, but

Honey Stinger Waffle Variety Sampler Pack - 14 Waffles, 2 of Each Flavor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011LI0UI6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1MQhAb7K27VK6

You can always pick up some singles instead of a variety pack. They're delicious and a great source of running energy for those who don't train fasted

Gah. I feel your pain. I recently figured out that Im allergic to gluten, and have take to snacking on these Kind Bars Theyre a little expensive through amazon, but I can find them at my local grocery store for around $1 each. And they're so good. Not the weirdo, granola, dry crap you get some times, but so good, crunchy and kind of sweet.

These earring display cards would be nice, if I win! Thanks for the contest!

cheese me please.

I did vegan keto for 5 months and liked the way it made me feel/look! The only issue for me was going out to eat with people. Since I was trying to stay under 20g of carbs, I couldn't really eat much off of a menu besides vegetables slathered in olive oil or avocado/tofu things. I found two protein bars that are really low carb like Julian Bakery's Pegan Bar (don't bother with any flavors but vanilla cinnamon roll) and the No Cow Bar. Also, these appear to be really new and amazing (1 net carb?!) and I might go back to vegan keto just because these look amazing! Another resource for you: http://meatfreeketo.com/

I was on a keto diet for 2 months when I started this. I did not really count calories just carbs. I used a shake called Ketolent and pretty much had 1200 cal worth of that a day (3 scoops mixed in a large yeti thing and sipped on it through the day) and had beef jerky as a snack or These Bars. I am an airline pilot so quick easy food is essential for me as I can't really meal prep for a whole 4 day trip. So if I had to guess my caloric intake was somewhere between 1800-2200 per day.

-I did not work out at all for the first two months really since the effects of being on keto already made me tired.

-After I started seeing results I started to incorporate running back into my routine when I was on overnights and eating some more carbs.

-Now I pretty much count my carbs when I am on a trip and run every day that I fly, and when I am home I eat what I want within reason and make sure I get a workout in.

-I run ~20-25 miles a week now with 2 days of strength training.

I've never tried Rx bars, so I'm not sure. I buy the Primal Thin bars off of Amazon, though.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MU7KQTJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523830544&sr=8-2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=primal+thin+protein+bar&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Signature-Variety-Protein-Chocolate/dp/B071GWNV5G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525900575&sr=8-3&keywords=kirklands%2Bsignature%2Bprotein%2Bbar&th=1&psc=1

Edit: Hmm my formatting didn't work