New Year, New You

  A big thank you to my friends at LARABAR for sponsoring this post!

Hi, friends, I am thrilled to be partnering with LARABAR for today’s post.  I’ve been in love with LARABAR for years now, flash back to 2014 when Missy was an only child…

Since then, a lot of things have changed in my life, but not at LÄRABAR; they have remained committed to 100% real, minimally processed ingredients.  Just in case you live in a box and have never had a LÄRABAR let me break down the reasons why I love them:

• The ingredients are a blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts, and spices, that’s it!  All ingredients your Great-Grandmother would recognize as food!
• Everything they make is gluten-free, kosher and non-GMO, with many vegan, dairy-free, and soy-free options. (I know many of my readers follow a paleo-esque type diet, for those of you interested they also have 9 Whole30 compliant flavors, including: Apple Pie, Banana Bread, Carrot Cake, Cashew Cookie, Cherry Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Chew, Coconut Cream Pie, Key Lime Pie, Lemon Bar, Pecan Pie, and Pumpkin Pie.)

You already know I’m all about as much REAL food as possible, but sometimes it isn’t practical to bring perishable healthy items on the go.  I can’t count how many times I have found a mushy gross apple in my bag that I forgot about.  So. Gross. That is why I love having a LÄRABAR in my purse for emergencies, it won’t get gross even if I forget about it, but when I need it, I’ve got a delicious snack to devour!

I always tell my Hungry Hobby RD clients to not leave the house without their water, wallet, and walnuts.  The  “walnuts” just mean a healthy non-perishable snack.  For so many of my Hungry Hobby RD clients, it isn’t a lack of commitment or willpower that stops them from reaching their healthy living goals, rather, it’s lack of planning.  If you don’t plan to succeed, you are planning to fail! You never know when you will get stuck in traffic, running an extra errand, or in a meeting that ran over.  Those moments are the moments that define success, having a little something to tide you over might be the difference between hitting up the drive thru or heading home!  Be prepared, keep a stash! Moreover, keep a stash of something you actually want to eat.  I remember back in the day when I thought “healthy” was forcing myself to eat things I hated, then I would secretly devour snickers bars while studying.  I coach my clients (and myself) to eat things that I enjoy, to find healthy things you love, and don’t force yourself to eat things you’ve tried multiple times and hate.  (cough, kale, cough, beans, cough) If you stash “healthy” food you hate then the likelihood of eating it over going to get something better is very low.  I used to bring carrots with me all the time, I would either begrudgingly eat them or throw them away and get something else.  I wouldn’t dream of bringing a bag full of carrots with me now unless it was to an airport.  Now, I have a simple balance of real food throughout my day that keeps me energized and happy.

That is why I love that LÄRABAR wants to spread the message about their New Year, New  You campaign.  To help you keep committed to crushing your healthy goals, they are offering 25% off of select varieties now through 2/14 on Amazon!  So you can stock up on your favorite flavors, which is good because I find it hard to make the tough choice of picking which ones I want.

I usually eat a 1/2 or full LÄRABAR pre-workout depending on how hungry I am because they have the perfect mix of carbs and fat to give me energy and keep me full for the workout.  Recently, though, I’ve been playing around with them POST workout!  I LOVE adding a 1/2 a Larabar instead of sugar coated granola  to a Greek yogurt post workout for refuel.

And last Sunday, after Orange Theory, I found my new favorite LARABAR flavor and made this epic smoothie with it! It tasted like a delicious coconut cream pie shake, SOOOOOO good.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Coconut Cream Pie
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup ice
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 cup water

Nutrition:  355 Calories, 25g Protein, 50g Carb, Fiber 6.5grams, Fat 8grams

If you head over to Amazon now you can stock up on select LÄRABAR flavors for 25% off!  The discount applies to the lowest price item, so make sure you load up with a value pack to save the most money.

For more ideas on how to simplify your life with the real food goodness of LARABAR –

Drool over their Instagram page

Get real with them via Twitter

Get motivation and tips on Facebook 

Get lost in their simple joy of their Pinterest page

This post was sponsored by LÄRABAR. The opinions expressed herein are mine and are not indicative of the opinions of LÄRABAR.