Luna Bar Berry Almond

I was pretty disappointed with this bar, I thought I would enjoy it a lot more than I did. I knew things would be rough when I opened the package and had to peel it off the bar itself - this is one of the stickiest things I've ever had. Not only is it sticky, but it's purple. Be sure you're not holding any papers (or a book) while eating it, because the goop will quickly stain it. The flavor itself wasn't too bad though, it tastes sort of like what you might expect a Kix cereal bar to taste like. The flavors were pretty artificial tasting though, so don't expect it to really taste like any naturally occurring fruits. The bar was also very flimsy, it started "sagging" as soon as I took it out of the package. I can't really recommend buying this bar unless you're willing to look past the messiness of it. For me, granola bars are meant to be on-the-go convenience foods, which this certainly wasn't.

The nutritional information can be found here.


In other news, there is a Amazing Grass giveaway going on at Live, Love, Violin. Be sure to check it out!

Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond Crunch Granola Bar

Another granola bar to review. This time it's from Trader Joe's and it's their "Vanilla Almond Crunch" flavor. I'm not sure if the vanilla was lacking or if it's just too subtle a flavor to really pick up, but I didn't really get any big hit of any flavor other than the typical granola/nut taste. It didn't taste bad but it didn't impress me much either. As far as granola bars go, this isn't the most convenient one to take with you somewhere. It's very sticky, which means your steering wheel or whatever you're carrying could get a little dirty, and it's not sturdy at all - mine were a little damaged just from being in the box I bought it in. It seems smaller than a Kashi TLC bar, but it also has slightly fewer calories (130).

Full nutrition information can be found here.

Kashi TLC Peanut Peanut Butter

Welcome to the first StartingHealthy review! This one is on Kashi's chewy granola bar line, called TLC. They're available at almost any grocery store and are a bit pricier than Fiber One bars, but about the same as other "organic" granola bars.

The one I had today happens to also be my favorite, the Peanut Peanut Butter flavor. The "butter" in the title is a bit misleading, since this doesn't really taste like all the other peanut butter products on the market, but more like raw peanuts. If you're fine with that, it's definitely worth a try. The bar itself is pretty chewy, enough to hold it together without too much crumbling as you eat it. It's a decent size for the 140 calories it has, and it held me over for 1.5 to 2 hours. Overall, this is a great snack for when you're on the go between meals, the only thing I didn't like was that it seemed to stick to my teeth a lot.

Full nutritional information available here.

An Introduction

Welcome to Starting Healthy's first post! I'm currently a college student (sophomore) trying to live a healthier lifestyle in an environment that doesn't make it especially easy (no money or time). I'm hoping to keep this blog updated with thoughts, reviews, tips, questions, etc. as I try new things out. Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check back soon for more posts (or subscribe to the RSS feed).

Be sure to head over to An Apple A Day, where she's currently holding a Sodastream Giveaway!