They helped me finally develop a healthy breakfast habit.
My weight gain happened gradually: The “freshman 15” here, a few pounds in law school there, and, of course pregnancy weight.
My turning point came during one fateful spa day in 2000. After checking in, I was handed a “one-size-fits-all” robe—that didn’t fit me. I was humiliated; so I vowed, then and there, that I’d start making changes.
To start, I tried to think about the things a fit person would do. One of those things was eating protein bars. But I tried a lot of them and so many were…just not good.
Then I grabbed a Luna Bar, specifically the Nutz Over Chocolate flavor, and holy yum! I started to eat one for breakfast every single day—seriously. I’ve done it for years now.
Breakfast was (and still is) a tricky time for me, since I’m always on the go dropping my kids off at school and racing to court as an attorney. I used to think that grabbing a low-fat blueberry muffin or bagel from a coffee shop was a good choice, but I’d be hangry soon afterward. Sometimes, I’d even skip breakfast entirely and overeat later in the day.
Now my routine goes like this: As soon as I wake up, I pop in a workout DVD by Jillian Michaels and get moving. After that, I grab a coffee and a Luna Bar. One bar is 180 calories, has seven or eight grams of protein, and fills me up until I have a small protein shake for a mid-morning snack. It’s a big reason I’ve been able to lose 100 pounds.
Of course, I eat healthy the rest of the day, too: Lunches are usually a protein smoothie with a grilled chicken salad; for dinner I make a lean protein like bison or seafood with a pile of veggies (zucchini noodles are my fave) and a sweet potato.
Sometimes, I’ll have Luna Bars for a snack, too—they’re my “in case of emergency” bars. If I’m stuck somewhere without a healthy snack in sight, I can whip a bar out of my bag and it’ll tide me over until I can get a balanced meal.
I know what you’re thinking: Isn’t eating Luna Bars every day expensive? Honestly, not really—when you buy a box of them, each one amounts to about 80 0r 90 cents, a.k.a. a super-cheap breakfast.
As for breakfast boredom—I don’t really get that either, because there are a bunch of flavors to choose from. (Right now I’m loving White Chocolate Macadamia, Nutz Over Chocolate, and Blueberry Bliss.)
Losing weight is all about making choices that you can live with for the long haul. And for me, having a Luna Bar in the morning is delicious, satisfying, and, most importantly, it works for me. Sure, making an egg white spinach omelet would also be healthy and tasty, but I work like crazy and have three kids, so time is always of the essence—and these bars are ready to go when I am.
