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There is nothing that makes my life or healthy eating easier than when I have something on hand that I can grab on the go. Therefore, I am a bar addict!

I used to be totally clueless as to what made one bar better than the other. I had a vague idea that the ingredient list should be short and recognizable and the calorie count should be low.

Well… I was kind of right… but I learned a general rule of thumb from my trainer that changed the way I looked at bars, and gave me the power to decide if it was right for me in one glance.

The kiddos and I fell in love with the taste of the NoGii product line.

They are amazing for many reasons, but there are also a couple reasons they aren’t all perfect for me. They do pass my easy test, so I can give them a pretty great recommendation.

First, let me tell you some great things:

• They taste fantastic! The whole family loved them.
• NoGii bars are a snack we can take on the go and feel good about.
• The NoGii Vanilla Protein Powder was also very tasty. I’m usually a chocolate person and I’ve yet to find a vanilla powder I like, but the kiddos and I had this in our smoothies and loved it.
• Made with sustainably sourced, premium ingredients, NoGii bars have an ideal balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, and do not contain any trans fat, hydrogenated oils, or high fructose corn syrup.
• NoGii’s High Protein Peanut Butter & Chocolate Bar is a delicious, certified gluten-free, and non-GMO protein bar with 20g of high quality protein.
• The Paleo bars are so tasty and you can really taste all the natural ingredients. They are also closer to the calorie count I like my bars to be.

So, what’s the not so great part?

The calorie count on some of these bars is super high for me, personally.  The super protein bars will run you upwards of 400 calories with 26-29 grams of sugar! To be fair, they are one huge bar, and they do contain 26-30 grams of protein!

I think it would be fantastic if they were packaged at half the size. If I didn’t have a weight loss goal and was extremely active, I can see how these would be a good choice. And, c’mon, how can you resist flavors like Rocky Road, Cookies & Crème, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Crisp?

The high protein bars are about 230 calories on average, with 9-14 grams of sugar and 17-20 grams of protein. The Chocolate Mint and Chocolate Coconut were definitely my favorites – yum!

However…

Most of these bars do pass the golden rule given to me by my trainer.

The protein content should be larger than the sugar content.

This was completely new to me. The calories are important for weight loss, but not all calories are created equal. Same as the sugar and fat content, you want to look at your sugar and fat sources.

For example. the paleo bars are the only ones that fail this test. If you look at the ingredient list of the tropical fruit bar – dates, honey, organic cashew butter, almonds, sunflower seeds, organic dried mangos, unsweetened coconut, cashews, freeze-dried bananas, unsulphured dried apples, organic freeze-dried pineapple, sesame seeds, organic sunflower oil – the sources for the high fat and sugar content is pretty great.

So, it’s a give and take and everyone has to decided what is right for them based on their own goals.

I’m by no means an expert, that’s why it helps me to simplify. If you’re overwhelmed by it all, I say stick to the protein over sugar rule and you’ll be alright. It really helped me be able to zero-in on something that I could evaluate without going crazy.

Do you have any rules you follow when it comes to evaluating your food? Are you a bar lover like me?

If you’re interested in checking out the NoGii products for yourself, visit the NoGii site, facebook, twitter, or Instagram pages. You can also enter the NoGii TABLESETTERS Contest for a chance to win a trip to New York City, where you’ll meet and have lunch with Elisabeth Hasselbeck! To enter, visit facebook.com/nogiinogluten, look for the link for the contest, and complete the entry form. Hurry!Contest ends on July 31st, 2015