Breakfast Bar Reviews
A nutritional breakfast can be one of the big challenges facing frequent travelers. Some hotels, such as Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn, offer a complimentary breakfast. Load that plate up with scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon, and you've got yourself a daily dose of inflated calories.
One solution to the breakfast dilemma is to pack your own. Recent growth in more portable breakfast offerings has given people on the go cereal, yogurt, and other unique breakfast options. Throw a few in your suitcase every week and see what kind of difference a convenient and healthy breakfast can make. oGym has gone to the trouble of sampling a few from the current crop of breakfast bars. Here were the results:
The Champion: Fiber One Chewy Bars - Oats and Chocolate
Taste: B. I don't know anyone who would wolf down a bowl of Fiber One because of the taste, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Oats and Chocolate breakfast bar actually tasted pretty good. It is drizzled with a thin layer of chocolate and is a little bit chewy.
Nutritional Value: A. 140 calories, 9g fiber, 2g protein, and 10g sugar. A bit high in sugar, but getting a third of the daily recommended value of fiber and not tasting like it is well worth it. Getting your daily dosage of fiber can be a huge key to a healthy diet. That was the difference between the winner and runner up.
Second Runner Up: South Beach Diet High Protein Cereal Bar - Chocolate
Taste: A-. Had a good chocolate taste and a little bit crispy.
Nutritional Value: A-. 140 calories, 3g fiber, 10g protein, and 7g sugar. For those looking for high-protein options in the morning, and obviously those on the South Beach Diet, this is a great choice.
First Runner Up: Special K Chocolatey Drizzle
Taste: A-. The Special K bars taste great and were the low-calorie leader in this group. They taste like a cereal bar, without that sugary "fake milk" taste that ruin so many other breakfast bars. This Special K bar is also topped with a nice chocolate drizzle to provide a little extra flavor.
Nutritional Value: B+. 90 calories, 0.5g fiber, 1g protein, and 8g sugar. Other than being a low-fat (1.5g) and low-calorie way to fire up your metabolism for the day, the Special K Bars don't offer much.