Product review: Nakd

My best friend sent me a link to get a sample pack of these Nakd bars for $10 shipped. I scrutinized the website and saw things like "whole food" and "no added sugar" so I figured it was worth the money to at least try them.

It came with 13 bars plus 2 bonus bars but they are quite small so the price is on par for the size. The names, like "Rhubarb and Custard," are fairly ambitious but I like the concept of a handful of ingredients that I can pronounce or even go buy myself. I tried the Rhubarb & Custard which contains dates, cashews, raisins, and "a hint of natural flavours." I usually steer clear of "natural flavors" since they can be pretty much anything including animal products, but they explain on their site what is included so it doesn't bother me. It was fine, kinda boring and not super filling but not objectionable.

Later I tried Cocoa Mint which contains dates, cashews, raisins, (starting to see a theme here?) cocoa, and "a hint of natural mint & chocolate flavouring." I was surprised how good this one was after the earlier bar! I love mint and one thing I really miss is chewing gum but this really hit the spot on my mint craving! I like chocolate but I'm not a die hard fan so I can't say if this will satisfy your chocolate craving. I didn't find the taste super chocolatey but I got what they were going for.

One thing I thought was weird was that 4 out of the 14 bars had "soya crunchies" as an ingredient. Through some internet sleuthing I was able to deduce that "soya" is the UK term for soybeans but I still don't know what makes them crunchy. I shot the Nakd folks an email so hopefully I'll find out soon. In general I try not to get too much soy since it's so prevalent, especially in a vegetarian diet. Most of the bars do not contain soya crunchies so that's not a deal breaker or anything.

I find it interesting that the package says "1 of your 5 a day." I mean not only is that expensive but there's 18 grams of sugar in one bar (naturally occurring sugar, but still). I think these are a great option for when you need something quick and/or the convenience of a package, but eating 5 daily seems over the top.

Overall I would recommend them to have around for emergencies. Making your own is always best and I'm sure cheaper but sometimes that's just not feasible so these are a great option. The sample box is only $10 til 5/31 (this Saturday) so order NOW if this sounds like something you'd be into.

Day 18

Breakfast:

Oatmeal, homemade almond butter, banana

Snack:

Nakd Rhubarb & Custard

Carrot Cake Bites

Lunch:
Superfood Salad

Snack:
Nakd Cocoa Mint
Apple

Dinner:
Vegan Fajitas with Lentil Walnut Meat (I subbed Bragg Liquid Aminos for the vegan worcestershire because it had added sugar)

Exercise:
CrossFit

Whole Sugar

Today was really busy and I ended up working through lunch. This wouldn't be an issue except I didn't bring lunch today so I had to rely on my snacks to get through the day. Luckily I brought 3 granola bars instead of the 2 I normally would have.

I coasted on fumes through the last few minutes of my day and drove straight to Whole Foods after work to grab a quick bite for the commute home. I was planning to get one of my favorites: cucumber and avocado sushi! This is one of my go-tos and I've read the ingredients many times before. I never looked for sugar in the past so I decided to read the ingredients again and was disappointed to see fructose and brown sugar. Next I grabbed a veggie sandwich and checked the ingredients. Fructose. Finally I picked up the hummus wrap with stuffed grape leaves...success!! What a bummer though that so many foods have added sugar! It's already hard to find quick healthy food on the go but now it'll be even harder. Guess I just have more motivation to cook at home! Click HERE for a really interesting video on that very topic.

Day 17

Breakfast:

Oatmeal, homemade almond butter 

Snack:

Baby carrots

Carrot Cake Bites

Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars

Apple

Laaaate lunch:

Hummus wrap with stuffed grape leaves from Whole Foods

Dinner:

Superfood Salad (This is really really good, don't let the term "salad" make you think it won't be filling. There's not even any lettuce in it!)

Exercise:

Rest day

Sleep is important

I wanted to write a lot today but it's not coming out and I have a goal to get to bed by 10 on work nights (which I'm not succeeding at right now) so take a few minutes to watch this video. It hits on what I was planning to write about. CLICK HERE

Day16
Breakfast:
oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Snack:
Carrot Cake Bites (thanks Liz!!)

Lunch:
High Protein Salad from The Vegan Joint

Snack:
baby carrots
Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars
apple

Dinner:
Superfood Salad

Exercise:
CrossFit
1/2 mile run (forgot my running shoes and didn't want to do a whole mile in my brand new CrossFit shoes for fear of injury)

Progress

Last July I found Torrance CrossFit and even though I had two marathons under my belt and was doing barre workouts 4-5 times per week, I was incredibly humbled. I quickly realized that not only could I not do a pull-up, but I needed two of the thickest bands they had to be able to get enough assistance to do one. The bands are like rubber bands (but really really thick and really really long) that you wrap around the pull up bar and step into. It kinda sling-shots you up so you don't have to pull as much.

Well here we are not quite a year later and I have moved down from the green/purple band combo to one band. And that band is black! Black is one of the thinnest bands, well it was the thinnest band until a few months ago when we got lavender which is basically floss. Either way, I did 50 pull-ups today with the black band and I feel really good about it! I remember when I would look at the girls who used the black band and think I would never be able to do that. Now those girls use no bands and I still look at them thinking I'll never get there, but then I remember how far they have come and how far I have come so I think that I will get there one day!

Day 15
Breakfast:
oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Snack:
Key Lime Coconut Energy Bites

Lunch:
Noodle/lettuce/tofu bowl from Yellow Fever

Snack:
Key Lime Coconut Energy Bites
Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars

Dinner:
Jackfruit Tacos

Exercise:
"Murph Lite"
1 mile run
50 pull-ups (with band)
100 push ups (on knees)
150 squats
1 mile run

Two weeks in

Well my first two weeks are done and I think it's gone pretty well. I have definitely made better choices and been smarter when I "cheat." It's been hard at times, like today when I ate salad for lunch and dinner. But guess what? I survived! (I also ate second dinner when I got home.)

The most important thing in all this has been planning ahead. It's a lot of work to not only look up recipes and make a grocery list, but also make the food including snacks. However I must say it came in very handy this weekend when I was able to eat pretty healthy despite being away from home.

Day 14

Breakfast:

Oatmeal, banana

Lunch:

Salad, bread at Urban Plates

Snack:

Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars

Key Lime Coconut Energy Bites

Dinner:

Salad, bread at Urban Plates

Dinner2:
Jackfruit taco
Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars

Exercise:

Rest day

It's Regionals!

Our hotel is awesome! We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Carlsbad and they have free hot breakfast! They also have a teeny tiny gym which had just enough to get a good workout this morning! 

I never set planned to have cheat days but so far they have managed to work their way in. I try not to turn it into a whole day of bad decisions and still attempt to eat healthy where possible.

On this trip we have used the phrase "It's Regionals!" to explain away all kinds of things (similar to "It's Vegas!" but with a CrossFit spin). Which is why when one of my favorite desserts ever showed up, I decided to partake. I had been careful to avoid the brownie brittle, chocolate chip cookies, and other (many many other) dessert options so when I heard there were caramel Drumsticks available I didn't feel bad having one. And it was delicious!

Day 13

Breakfast:

Oatmeal, banana

Granola bar (see yesterday for recipe link)

Snack:

Granola bar

Margarita

Lunch:

Sweet potato

Roasted veggies

Snack:

Chips, guacamole

Corn salsa cream cheese, crackers

Olive tapenade, crackers

Dinner:

Salad, potatoes, asparagus 

Caramel Drumstick

Exercise:

5 min run

4 rounds of - 

5 dumbell deadlifts

5 dumbell squat cleans

5 dumbell push press

yoga

On the road

Today wasn't too bad. We left this morning for Del Mar, CA to watch my coach compete in the CrossFit Regionals. I was able to eat breakfast at home and made my snacks to bring along. Vegetarian options were few and far between in the land of paleo but I was grateful to find falafel and fries for lunch. No idea the ingredients but it was the best I could do. The events ended around dinner time so I stopped at trusty Whole Foods for a fairly healthy dinner, though I didn't check the ingredients for the bread. Everything else was veggies. ;-) I was able to resist a house full of every candy and dessert you can imagine and opted for some fruit for dessert. We'll see if I can keep this up tomorrow!

Day 12
Breakfast:
oatmeal, homemade almond butter

Snack:
Key Lime Coconut Energy Bites

Lunch:
Falafel salad with pita, garlic fries

Snack:
Feel Good Hearty Granola Bar

Dinner:

Veggie sandwich from Whole Foods

Banana

Apple

Exercise:

Rest day...again!