One of the most important things to do when you want to live a healthy lifestyle is to choose the right fuel for your body. Whether you’re wanting to lose weight, gain muscle, train for a specific event or just general fitness, the food you eat every day can make or break your goal. With the myriad of products available now a days, it can get very confusing when you read your food labels so, when I had the chance to try the SoLo GI® energy bars, I was quite excited.

I live a pretty active lifestyle. I teach fitness classes and train personal training clients but I also do my own workouts in between, either running, lifting weights and/or practicing my Zumba® choreography. Sometimes my classes or clients are scheduled right in the middle of when I would normally be having a meal, so convenient and proper fuel are super important for me.

I’m a big fan of protein or energy bars for just that reason but, when looking at the labels, there are bars that have just too much sugar or alcohol sugar (or, *shudder* high fructose corn syrup!) that, sure, gives me energy, but it’s the kind of energy that comes with a sugar high that spikes up your blood sugar level and then makes you crash. I have only a select few bars that I choose to eat before my workouts or in between meals as a snack and, let me say, the SoLo GI® bars have made the cut.

These bars are low-glycemic meaning that they do not elevate blood sugar or glucose levels quickly, so there is no flood of insulin from the pancreas that converts glucose into glycogen and fat, they are the first energy bar to be officially certified low-glycemic in Canada. Solo bar are also gluten-free and are the first energy bar to be officially certified by Canadian Celiac Association. They claim to “fuel your body with energy that sustains” and “keep you satisfied longer while preventing cravings” and that they are “perfect for everyone from professional athletes to busy parents and kids”. Now, let me say that I always put claims to the test because I’m pretty skeptical by nature, but I gotta say that after trying one of these, I was sold!

SoLo GI® bars come in 5 “delicious” flavours. And they’re definitely not lying about that! I had a chance to try all of them:

–    Peanut Power: was like a crunchy peanut butter bar with honey and covered in chocolate.

–    Chocolate Charger: It was a chocolate overload! Tasted like brownies, chocolate cake and chocolate cookies all in one! A chocoholic’s dream! My favourite one.

–    Lemon Lift: all I can say is that it was like a lemon bar with cranberries. It has a yogurt coating. It tasted like desert.

–    Dark Chocolate Mandarin: the only reason why this was my least favourite was because I’m not a big fan of chocolate orange but that’s not to say that this did not taste good. It had a rich dark chocolate coating that was pretty darn good.

–    Pineapple Coconut: real chunk of coconut and pineapple. It tasted like a tropical paradise! It also had a yogurt coating.

Each bar was 190-200 calories (if you’re into counting calories), contains 10-13g of protein, 3-4g of fibre and 25g of carbs. Natural ingredients, so no additives, artificial flavours, artificial preservatives, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup (right on!), sugar alcohols, trans fats, hydrogenated oils and… wait for it… they have non-GMO soy protein. The company has an impressive amount of science and research to back them up as well as testimonials from real-life athletes. That kind of stuff doesn’t impress me much, but what really sold me on these was the taste and the fact that they really are quite healthy. In my opinion, I would reach for one of these over a Power Bar®, I felt much better without the sugar crash. Plus, it’s a Canadian company!

These SoLo bars are now available throughout Canada for less than $3 each (somewhere between $2.50 and $2.70) but I will probably be buying them by the case. You can find a retailer near you at www.soloenergybar.ca or check them out on Facebook www.facebook.com/soloenergybar

My name is Silvia and I approve of this product! :)