Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Larabars, Farmageddon, and Drive.
1. Like many of you reading I’m constantly on the go, and between writing in the morning, coaching in the afternoon, and fighting crime in the evening, sometimes, I just don’t have the time to cook or prepare a decent meal. To that end, it’s not uncommon for me to resort to eating protein bars on a daily basis. Not all the time, of course – but when I’m in a pinch, they certainly come in handy. Two brands that I have been crushing lately are Larabar and the new Promax Energy Bars.
To be blunt, Larabar’s are the shit. Unlike many of the highly processed “gunk-y” bars to chose from that end up tasting like sandpaper dipped in fart, Larabars are completely (okay, mostly) natural and only contain upwards of 3-5 ingredients, which is definitely something that appeals to me.
And, while not quite as “natural” compared to Larabar, the new Promax Energy Bars are a step above most namely because they’re one of the few “mainstream” bars that use Stevia instead of all those nasty articifical sweetners. I had a few samples sent to me a few weeks ago, I pretty much devoured them within a few days
Again, REAL food is definitely the way to go, but if you’re in a pinch and need something quick to tide you over, these are definitely legit options.
2. And since I’m on a food kick at the moment, I want to direct everyone’s attention to a site which I have referenced before in the past: carascravings.com.
Cara is a client of CP – so she likes to lift heavy things, which should give her some crediability right off the bat. But even more important is that Cara is obsessed with cooking food. More specifically, she obsessed with cooking delicious, HEALTHY food.
Moroccan Chickean with Chickpeas, Dates and Raisins? Check
Paleo Friendly Granola? To diiiiiiiiiiiiie for.
What’s more is that she’ll break down the macronutrient profile of EVERY recipe she makes, which is something that, I feel, seperates her from the masses.
Give it a look, I promise you won’t regret it.
3. So remember that movie Food Inc, and how it pretty much opened people’s eyes to the shadiness of the food industry here in America? Well, another documentary, in much the same way, is starting to create some buzz and is starting to gain national exposure: Farmageddon.
It’s playing here in Boston this week, and I’ve already bought my tickets to see it tomorrow. I don’t know, something tells me I’m going to walk away very angry and have to resist the urge to perpetually stab myself in the cornea after watching it. I’ll keep you posted……
4. Speaking of awesome: I took Lisa out to the movies on Saturday night, and we went and saw Drive.
Hoooooooooooooooly gratuitous violence Batman. First off, the opening sequence pretty much sucks you in right away. Second off, Ryan Gosling is just dreamy. Third off, it has like three or four legit car chases. And fourth off, it shows boobies. Yep, I smell Oscar bait.
Okay, not really. But don’t be turned off by my less than exemplary description: this is a VERY well made movie. The director, Nicolas Winding Refn, who’s first feature, Bronson, won him a cult following, knows how to make dark, visually stunning movies – and this one is no different.
A word of caution, though, if you’re not a fan of graphic violence (and by graphic I mean someone getting their face beat it), then I’d probably steer clear. If, on the other hand, watching people get stabbed in the throat is your kind of thing, then by all means, go for it. Just remind your lady friend that, despite being a Ryan Gosling movie, this isn’t The Notebook. Just sayin……
5. I have a small favor to ask. Amongst other things – Scrabble, Turkish Get-Ups, and small using prime examples – I suck at anything related to Excel. It’s Greek to me, and I just don’t have the time to read Excel for Idiots.
I’m looking to revamp a few things that I use Excel for, and I’d be willing to trade-barter with anyone who’s willing to offer up a little help. Basically, in exchange for helping me out, I’d be willing to write a program (or two). I may not know Excel, but I do know how to make people diesel.
So, if there’s anyone out there who’d be interested, shoot me an email and I can go into a little more detail.
Thanks!
Comments for This Entry
ori
I'd like to help you out for excel in exchange for a program or (two), sounds like a sweet deal.September 19, 2011 at 7:50 am |
R Smith
Damn, Tony, you beat me to it on the movie. I keep watching the trailers. Want to see it even more after your description. Gratuitous violence is a thing of beauty. On the Larabars: I discovered them (not literally, of course) over a year ago and love 'em. They are also VERY easy to make at home with a food processor. After getting sick of buying protein bars that have a ton of crap in them, I started making my own with almond flour, oat flour, eggs, whey, peanut butter and not much else. Takes less than 20 minutes to make a batch for the week AND I get to control the macros. YES!!!!September 19, 2011 at 7:57 am |
JB
I can help you with excel. Drop me an email.September 19, 2011 at 8:40 am |
Brendan
Tony, good stuff as always. We use XPS Trainer for program design now, literally a million times quicker, easier, and more professional looking then excel, also has an Iphone app that allows you to attach video to every exercise. A couple of our golfers are using it on the road now and it allows us to securely share documents and video back and forth.September 19, 2011 at 8:53 am |
Bob C
We're well on our way to Soylent Green!September 19, 2011 at 8:55 am |
Deadbeat
I can't believe Tony won't put the time in to learn Excel. What's the matter, a pivot table too difficult to implement in a spreadsheet for you? If there was a 6 egg omelette as a reward, you better believe Tony would be trying to learn Excel.September 19, 2011 at 9:07 am |
Fritts
I, too, am down with helping you with Excel. I feel the need to talk smack since I am late to this party. I am a Microsoft certified expert in Excel albeit the test is not that hard.September 19, 2011 at 9:38 am |
Cara
Thanks for the mention Tony, I totally appreciate it! I'll be looking out for those Promax bars, the nutritional stats are pretty impressive (I just took a look, and another noteworthy point is that they have more fiber than sugar; you don't see that very often!)September 19, 2011 at 11:21 am |
nock
Tony........if you don't like the people who offered their excel expertise then let me know. I will even do it for free....:D. Cara......I just checked out your site. The only question I have is that the calories or any kind of nutrient levels are not listed on the food you featured on the site. I'm I missing something here? If I'm correct it would be great to have those. Just my two cents.September 19, 2011 at 12:47 pm |
Juliet
I've been to Cara's site a few times and it's definitely on my go-to list when I am stumped as to what to cook. She's got some great stuff! I'd seen the larabars before and heard of them, but I've yet to actually try them myself. They're so small, I feel like I would be hungry about 5 minutes later. As for the Promax bars, I went on their site and clicked the original formula first... whoops. The LS formula def isn't AS bad for a commercially made bar. Have you seen Quest bars before? (http://www.questproteinbar.com/) They're a little pricey - slightly cheaper on netrition - but they're also not too horrendous for bars.September 19, 2011 at 12:52 pm |
Stevan
Long time reader of your blog and big time fan Tony. Just wanted to drop a note here and say if you or anyone is interested in what I think is THE best protein bar out there check out Elevate Me! Bars from a company here in Canada: http://www.prosnack.com/ Reasonable price, all natural, great flavours, and serious amount of protein per bar. Check them out.September 19, 2011 at 2:03 pm |
Cara
@nock - all the info is there. Did you just check out the homepage and not any individual posts? You have to click on the titles to see the full blog post with recipe and nutritional analysis. (I do this to keep the homepage less cluttered.)September 19, 2011 at 4:00 pm |
Tony Gentilcore
@ Everyone: WOW, I didn't expect so many people to reach out and offer to help! Suffice it to say, I "found" someone, but wanted to say thanks to everyone who offered nonetheless. @ Stevan: thanks for the link. I'll definitely have to look into those. Also, concerning Larabar's, I may have to look into purchasing a food processor since Whole Foods AND TJ's just bumped their prices up.......jerks. Anyone have some good websites which have recipes for Larabars?September 19, 2011 at 5:41 pm |
Julian
I would help out with Excel. I am excel certified so I know all the bases, if you do not have a person already.September 20, 2011 at 4:14 am |
Roland
Tony, also try the Pure Bar. They taste a lot like some of the Larabars, but also have some protein. Granted it's rice protein, so it's more like not a negative than an actual positive.September 20, 2011 at 8:14 am |
David
Hey Tony, found your blog a few months ago and have really enjoyed it. A brand of protein bar that I have been eating for several years is The Simply Bar from Wellness Foods, a small independently owned company based in Toronto, Canada. The link below compares the Larabar to the Simply Bar: http://www.wellnessfoods.ca/thesimplybar-protein-bar-comparison.html Cheers, DavidSeptember 20, 2011 at 10:19 am |
Dana
love, love, love Larabars! When they're on sale 10 for $10 I buy a box of them :) Sometimes before an after-work workout I have the coffee one, just for an extra perk. I also crumble them up into Greek yogurt soemtimes for breakfast.September 20, 2011 at 12:43 pm |
nock
Cara............thanks I found it.September 20, 2011 at 1:52 pm |
Kujo
Tony, "Bronson" is not his first feature. He made the awesome Pusher Trilogy films (at least the first two were awesome), the first of which came out in 1996. Check out his imdb profile => http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0716347/. He's easily one of the best directors working right now. Drive is his first American film.September 22, 2011 at 12:12 pm |
ugg classic tall
I like the writiof your blog and it does a pretty decent job of presenting the material.October 11, 2011 at 11:27 pm |