Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Have a Delicious and Nutritious Valentine's Day with Balance Bar {Review & Giveaway}

Balance Bar logo
While I would like nothing more than to dive into a tub filled with chocolate truffles and heart-shaped cookies covered in sprinkles this Valentine's Day, the guilt that would follow would most likely be overwhelming. Even though my sweet tooth would be happy with the chocolate feast, there aren't too many of us that enjoy the feeling of quite that many calories in one sitting, right?

Instead, avoiding the extra pounds isn't impossible thanks to finding products that combine the great taste of sweets with healthy nutrition, energy and convenience. That's why this Valentine's Day (and beyond) is the perfect time to step away from the junk and instead reach for the satisfying flavor and health benefits of Balance Bar.

Balance Bars

Founded in 1992 by a group of sports enthusiasts, scientists and people with a passion for life, Balance Bar was one of the originators of energy bars and the nutrition bar category.

good nutrition
As they have long crafted their products with the perfect balance of great taste, quality nutrition and lasting energy, it is easy to see why their 40-30-30 nutrition principle (40% of calories come from carbohydrates, 30% from quality protein and 30% from dietary fat) provides balanced energy... as opposed to a sugar rush and subsequent crash.

Add to that the many different flavors, styles and formats of energy bars that Balance Bar offers and there is no reason that nutrition can't be easy and delicious for everyone. These convenient bars can be eaten at home, work or on-the-go, so no matter if your day has you attending meetings, running errands, picking up the kids, squeezing in a workout or more, you can stay balanced and ready to keep up with it all.

So, with Valentine's Day on the calendar this month, it was the perfect time for a heart tin and assortment of bars to arrive to help remind me about not completely forgetting about my waistline.

Balance Bar heart tin

Waiting inside were two scrumptious flavors of Balance Bars: Chocolate Raspberry and Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch.

Balance Bar gift

While I wasn't sure what to expect from either of these flavors, I was already happy that they were both an excellent source of antioxidants and Vitamin D and that both contained 23 vitamins and minerals.

But... could they really taste all that good?

Balance Bar flavors

Fortunately, the answer is yes!

The Chocolate Raspberry is a gluten free, 180-calorie bar that manages to have just the right amount of smooth chocolate with a hint of sweet raspberry that melts in your mouth. Considering that these bars also include 4g of fiber and 13g of protein, they're a great replacement for the usual chocolate Valentine's Day treats!

Chocolate Raspberry Balance Bar

Although I was hesitant to try the Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch simply because I'm typically not a fan of chocolate and mint together, I was surprisingly pleased by the satisfying crunch that these provide and the way that the flavors mix together for a light, refreshing taste.

If you're a fan of Thin Mints, these would be a much healthier, extremely delicious replacement that would keep you going with only 200 calories and a whopping 14g of protein!

Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch Balance Bar

Whether you are trying to make your New Year's resolutions last further into the year than most or you simply know that it is better for your body to eat healthy snacks throughout the day to stay fueled (and not starving!), Balance Bars are a delicious way to keep you on track... while giving your taste buds a treat at the same time.

To find out more about the HUGE variety of Balance Bars and the endless number of flavors available, visit them at Balance.com and on Facebook and Twitter. As well as keeping an eye out for these bars at your local grocery store and health food store, you can also find them at ShopBalance.com as well as on Amazon.

Plus, thanks to the generosity of Balance Bar, one person will be able to have a post-Valentine's Day dose of healthy nutrition as well, because...

One lucky person will win a Valentine's Day tin and assortment of bars from Balance Bar!

heart tin


A big thank you to Balance Bar for providing a prize pack for me to review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

181 comments:

Monica said... 1

Nuts!

Thanks

Tamar said... 2

Diet shakes :)

Unknown said... 3

dark chocolate almonds!

Allison said... 4

fruit is my go to healthy snack

Anonymous said... 5

My go-to snacks right now are greek yogurt and fruit and nut or protein bars.

Yona Williams said... 6

Fresh fruit, block cheese, peanuts.

steve weber said... 7

cottage cheese!

Sylvia said... 8

Nutrigrain bars

Bakersdozen said... 9

Nuts and berries. vidomich(at)yahoo(dot)com

Sarah said... 10

Wasabi almonds and lots of fresh fruit that is in season right now!

d schmidt said... 11

My current go to is almonds and pistachios

(d schmidt in widget)

sonyamorris (Sonya Morris) said... 12

Dried fruit.
sonyadmorris@gmail.com

BeeBubbaBella said... 13

dry cereal is my current healthy go to snack

Sherry Butcher said... 14

Raw Veggies

Unknown said... 15

I eat dried fruit and granola

Robyn Dones said... 16

I love crunchy healthy snacks, so I'll get either a handful of pretzels, or nuts, or Frosted Mini Wheats (without milk). Thank you for the chance to win!

Unknown said... 17

string cheese

ColleenMarie82 said... 18

veggies and hummus

Jess said... 19

greek yogurt and fruit!

jek9880 at gmail dot com

Unknown said... 20

To help me reach my goal of a healthier lifestyle, I subscribed to NatureBox, and now receive healthy snacks delivered to my door each month. Love them! Thanks!

janetfaye said... 21

I like a Banana.

janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com

abfantom said... 22

When I need a healthy snack, I eat grapes or nuts.

abfantom at yahoo dot com

abfantom said... 23

Google+ and GFC ids: abfantom fantom

abfantom at yahoo dot com

DShope said... 24

Yogurt is my current go to snack.

ken ohl said... 25

blue diamond almonds. thankyou, ken pohl19@comcast.net

apple blossom said... 26

granola bars

Anonymous said... 27

oranges!

SueZH said... 28

I love the cocoa covered almonds.

Anonymous said... 29

Raw veggies are my current go-to healthy snack

Darlene said... 30

Any kind of fruit

Jennifer said... 31

Fiber bars and yogurt!

jls_wss2003 at yahoo dot com

Bo said... 32

Currently, baby carrots with hummus!

s said... 33

Nuts

Jennifer T. said... 34

Greek yogurt with granola is my favorite healthy snack right now.
jtmagmom73(at)gmail(dot)com

stowelljg said... 35

Microwave popcorn is my current go-to snack.

Anonymous said... 36

Almonds!! YUM!!~

Crazylicious85 said... 37

string cheese

Allison L.

Denise Taylor-Dennis said... 38

Fruit is my current go to healthy snack especially bananas.

shootin4par said... 39

cottage cheese

Claire said... 40

Yogurt with nuts mixed in!

Gina Ocean said... 41

I try to have mostly healthy options in my kitchen for snacking and meal preparation. My favorite healthy snack would be yogurt with berries.

Anonymous said... 42

My to go snack is indeed, granola or nut bars of some sort. I would love to try these!

clc408 said... 43

I usually snack on fruit, nuts or popcorn.

R. said... 44

My favorite healthy snack is popcorn.

rebecca.nvcl (at) gmail.com

Carolyn said... 45

Greek yogurt

Anonymous said... 46

they are not exactly healthy, but better for you than other stuff:

WHONU cookies:)

jmatek AT wi DOT rr DOT com

virgomomwriter said... 47

Greek yogourt!

Heather! said... 48

I eat a lot of carrots. I love 'em!

Thanks!
h4schaffer at gmail dot com

Lindsey said... 49

Strawberry Greek Yogurt & Raisins

Debra said... 50

fresh fruit or veggies most of the time

sweepmom said... 51

My go to healthy snack is carrots and hummas.

llinda29 said... 52

I go healthy with various protien bars

Lina said... 53

i like having grapes and yogurt!

Barbara Montag said... 54

Yogurt with fruit - thank you.

Jackie said... 55

a granola bar or banana

Unknown said... 56

An apple sliced with cinnamon and almond butter
Ttrockwood@yahoo.com
Ttrockwood

Unknown said... 57

We have many to go snack foods such as Cheese Stick, Apples, Rice Cakes, Baked Chips, Bananas, Cuties, etc.

Anonymous said... 58

baby carrots dipped in peanut butter is my favorite go-to snack.

Selinda said... 59

Bananas!

Thanks,

selinda_mccumbers at yahoo.com

Anonymous said... 60

chunky natural peanut butter with a crisp apple

Gina F. said... 61

granola bars!!!

ginaferrell26 at yahoo dot com

kim burnett said... 62

cottage cheese

walk9 said... 63

an apple or nuts.

Miss Sarah said... 64

Popcorn! :)

Thanks for the giveaway!

dawn keenan (newnameford) said... 65

Carrots!

Unknown said... 66

String cheese

sdavis said... 67

wheat crackers is my main snack food

Becca said... 68

Apples or bananas :)

Unknown said... 69

greek yogurt

wildorchid985 @ gmail dot com

Unknown said... 70

I love Edamame!

Melissa said... 71

trail mix

Michelle said... 72

Yogurt with granola. Thanks for the chance to win!
mrsmchappell at gmail dot com

Fangirl Jen said... 73

popcorn is my weakeness... I love popcorn.

kyl neusch said... 74

string cheese

Stephanie said... 75

I like dried fruit and almonds for a quick snack at work.
Stephanie
steph 0828 at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said... 76

A banana and sunflower seed or almond butter. Yum!

Unknown said... 77

banana and apple are my favorites

tamarackart said... 78

Chocolate chip peanut butter Larabars.

deb.rumball@gmail.com

jcwega27 said... 79

masa chips from naturebox
jessicawedwards@gmail.com

Cserafini said... 80

Pretzel crisps.

Anonymous said... 81

Nuts.

Dave said... 82

a banana

ShellyH said... 83

Right now I have been snacking on a lot of apples and bananas!

Ravish30 at aol dot com

Anonymous said... 84

i love GNU bars

Terri said... 85

Fruit and Granola Bars

terra_incognita said... 86

Greek yogurt

Sara said... 87

Laughing cow cheese

Denise said... 88

Black grapes. Mmmmm. I love black grapes!

Unknown said... 89

Popcorn

jlafount said... 90

Quaker Granola Bars

This post was brought to you by Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and a drunk goat

Unknown said... 91

I eat grapes or nuts. Thanks so much for the fantastic giveaway!
Reneewalters3 at yahoo dot com

lilyk said... 92

fruit

Unknown said... 93

String cheese

Amy Z said... 94

Yogurt with frozen berries and granola!

mscoffee77 said... 95

Apples and grapes :-)

♡♥♬ Louis ♬♥♡ said... 96

trail mix
Thank you for hosting this giveaway

Louis
pumuckler {at} gmail {dot} com

Holly_Heart said... 97

I love Lenny and Larry's muscle brownies!

hook6475 at yahoo com

enizete said... 98

Nutrigrain bars and fresh fruits

Danai @ Living, Learning, Eating said... 99

Energy Bars, Yogurt Parfaits, Nuts, or Fresh Fruit!

Michelle said... 100

one of my healthy go to foods is chicken avocado salad

KellBee8 said... 101

An apple with peanut butter!

skipthelaundry said... 102

Nuts and strawberries!
Amber Porter

Karen said... 103

I like to snack on fresh berries.

tina reynolds said... 104

cube cheese and grapes

judy gardner said... 105

bananas or cheese

velvetelvis46@yahoo.com

Unknown said... 106

grapes and cheese!

polly said... 107

i like to have fresh fruit

Jen lleras said... 108

I love fresh raw veggies, the crunchy kind!

Blueiris, RhondaC said... 109

Nuts and seeds with Fruit.

Fangirl Jen said... 110

Yogurt with flaxseed

Anonymous said... 111

Apples and peanut butter.

Kelly g said... 112
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kelly g said... 113

fresh fruit

Chelsea said... 114

My go to healthy snack is rice cakes :)

Anonymous said... 115

Almonds or a bowl of oatmeal if I'm at home.

Nancy P said... 116

Fresh fruit or string cheese!

Treesa said... 117

I try to eat string cheese!

cc_girly(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said... 118

Kashi granola bars

katfam95 said... 119

I usually have fresh fruit for a snack.

katfam95 at aim dot com

Helga said... 120

luna bars

Helga said... 121

luna bars

Anonymous said... 122

Apples with almond nut butter on the side.

JLT said... 123

I make baggies and fill with Kashi cereal

Anonymous said... 124

My current go to healthy snack is greek yogurt.

Unknown said... 125

trail mix or peanut butter and crackers

Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage said... 126

hummus

luckynordberg said... 127

my go to snack is granola bars

buzzd said... 128

trail mix (mixed nuts w/dried fruit)

Kristen said... 129

I like raw almonds.

marissayvette said... 130

almonds

yellowlabs said... 131

Yogurt

michedt said... 132

Popcorn and grapes:)
Michelle Tucker

deniseyweesy said... 133

I eat protein bars

bac1 said... 134

i eat nuts

Karen F said... 135

any kind of fruit

Unknown said... 136

Nutrigrain bars

rosannepm said... 137

Bananas

Unknown said... 138

Apple or banana.

LesleyfromWI said... 139

I like apples

Melanie Montgomery said... 140

I like Pita chips

bettycd said... 141

chips and hummus, or just an apple

kroch said... 142

My go to healthy food is roasted edamame.

Katie R.
dancehottie1621 at aol dot com

Erica C. said... 143

I like celery with cream cheese.
ericacarnes(at)gmail(dot)com

Christina said... 144

apple and nut butter

mtbears819 said... 145

sliced apples-Dorothy Deakyne

Deanna said... 146

oranges and celery
xoxo

Valerie Taylor Mabrey said... 147

pretzels
vmkids3 at msn dot com

saturdaynightfever said... 148

I heart the cashews!

theyyyguy@yahoo.com

Jules525 said... 149

Greek yogurt and fresh fruit

Julie H said... 150

Veggies with hummus

bbrittbrat1398 said... 151

I love frozen grapes.
Brittney House BBrittBrat1398@yahoo.com

Julia said... 152

i cut up a platter of veggies and they dont last long

Carolyn Daley said... 153

Light Vanilla Yogurt

cassandra marquez said... 154

I really like carrots and apples.

Unknown said... 155

sunflower seeds.

dani marie ferriza2(at)yahoo(dot)com

Patrice said... 156

My healthy snack is nuts. I especially try to eat walnuts, almonds and pistachios.

Patrice said... 157

Nuts - especially walnuts, almonds and pistachios.

Diane W said... 158

Hummus and whole grain crackers.

Lisa said... 159

Fruit and Yogurt

Unknown said... 160

I put almonds in my yogurt it is quite satisfying

Unknown said... 161

Apples are my go to snack

Unknown said... 162

I like to eat fruit or nuts as a snack whenever I can. I love berries and fresh pineapple.

c allen said... 163

bananas are my healthy go to snack, thank you crystal allen

ladyvon5845 said... 164

I like to peal a grapefruit and eat it when I want to snack ladyvon2013 at hotmail.com

one frugal lady said... 165

I love apples and peanut butter!
onecheaplady@yahoo.com

Anonymous said... 166

Carrots dipped in Greek yogurt with crushed garlic and onion powder.

Unknown said... 167

popcorn myamurphy@mail.com

Kathy P said... 168

I love lowfat granola

Tonya Dean said... 169

yogurt

tdlsfm(at)yahoo(dot)com

susansmoaks said... 170

fruit and greek yogurt
susansmoaks at gmail dot com
tony l smoaks on rafflecopter

1porkchop said... 171

Honestly I usually snack on cookies and candy, but in my defense I offset that with plenty of physical activity throughout the day in addition to exercise.

blew415 said... 172

nature valley bars!

Audrey said... 173

Baby carrots :)

Teresa R. Simpson said... 174

Veggies and hummus!

Holly said... 175

I keep almonds around everywhere

Unknown said... 176

String cheese!

mamalama82 said... 177

Bananas!

M said... 178

Sunflower seeds!

cman said... 179

Honeycrisp apples.

noreen said... 180

Carrots and hummus

/\Heather/\ said... 181

Sugar snap peas and hummus.