Snack bars that aren’t too tasty and tempting

Now that Outdoor Provisions are gone, what’s good?

Used to get these in bulk when they had a discount on, they were great as nice enough to eat on a ride, yet I was never tempted to eat them at home when I had a snack/chocolate urge.

Any kind of flapjack, cereal bar, breakfast biscuit, or something with chocolate is too tasty. So as a rule, anything you’d pack for your daily lunchbox isn’t suitable as I will eat them all and have none left when I’m heading for a ride.

Clif bars, you’d have to be **** ravenous to eat one indoors,

Clif bars, you’d have to be **** ravenous to eat one indoors,

Or outdoors!

Or outdoors!

that as well! which makes them the best of the emergency foods

Or outdoors!

that as well! which makes them the best of the emergency foods

Nature Valley CRUNCHY oats & dark chocolate. DRY AF chipboard flavour. I only ever buy them by mistake. Last lot I bought I donated to the office’s zombie apocalypse survival cupboard.

Isn’t this the reason brown Kendal mint cake exists?

I enjoy a Clif Bar on occasion but a box of them will easily last me a year – see the “would you eat this SIS gel” thread 🙂  I’ll almost always have one in a backpack / bumbag / saddle bag but never get around to eating it.

Ryvita

Keep an eye on HUKD for Lux Protein Flapjacks, they appear fairly regularly with a discount code. I’ve paid £13 for 24 bars delivered quite a few times. They are full of sweetener (Stevia) rather than sugar though, so maybe not what you’re after. They taste a bit meh, so the temptation to snack on them isn’t great (unless you microwave them for 15 second, then they’re actually pretty good). They’re not suitable for vegetarians either if that’s an issue.

Make your own and then you can make them as un-tempting as you fancy.

I made flapjack last night, 15 mins to make, 30 mins in the oven and leave out (covered) overnight to cool.

I just use a standard recipe off t’net – melt butter/sugar/syrup, add oats and then add nuts/glace cherries/sultanas/desiccated coconut – mine are more-ish though 🙂

Veloforte bars are tasty, but a bit too chewy to be tempting as a regular snack. Quite pricey of course.

Mind you, I bloody love Clif bars, so can’t be relied on.

Snickers work for me, especially if they been through a few melt cycles in the top tube bag.

I get the 5 packs of Lidl knock-off Nakd bars to take on rides these days:

Not that I take all 5 with me.

They never get eaten at home, but they’re not at all unpleasant on a ride or walk.

I made a batch of rice cakes recently following a GCN recipe I found.  Very bland, very boring, but actually pretty effective mid-ride – easy to digest, etc, if a bit messy to eat with gloves.

Not sure how long you can keep them in the fridge though or if they freeze well.

Make your own and then you can make them as un-tempting as you fancy.

+1 for this. I’ve pretty much stopped eating biscuits and cakes and find most shop-bought flapjacks/cereal bars hideously sweet – as well as being laced with all sorts of weird preservative/anti-oxidant/emulsifier/artificial flavouring yuk.

I do small batches using silicone bar trays in an air frier. Works really well and is far quicker and cheaper than using a full-sized oven. Do a search for healthy flapjacks and add / remove stuff to taste. Less sugar/syrup for reduced sweetness. Or avoid completely.

Go ahead fruit slices are one of my favourites, they’re so good on the bike but wouldn’t go out of my way to eat one in the house.

They’re essentially Garibaldi biscuits.

Back in the day, cyclists would eat dried fruit and nuts, they didn’t have any fancy sports foods.

Figs, dates, raisins and dates are excellent cycling foods. If you make your own bars, I’d uses oats, rice crispys, dried fruit and some crushed nuts and seeds like sunflower, pumpkin or sesame. Pretty cheap too if bought in bulk.

Fig rolls! Dirt cheap and taste great when you’re about to bonk but I wouldn’t touch them otherwise.

I like the Nairn oat cakes biscuits in ginger and or choc chip, quite low-GI for a “biscuit” and come in packs of 5 within box, which is 30g of carbs, but i do leave them in the garage next helmet and gloves to be grabbed with bike, never bring them into the house….

I make my own, They use apple juice as a sweetener and while they’re just about plateable if you’re starving on a ride, they’re pretty much inedible otherwise.

Back in the day, cyclists would eat dried fruit and nuts, they didn’t have any fancy sports foods.

Still a good option in a ziplock bag, with some dry roasted peanuts mixed in for flavour and salt.

I did a big multi-day Alps ride last year mainly using that mix, sour snake sweets and the fruit bars I mentioned above.

Only took a handful of gels IIRC.

I’m very guilty of excess snacking at home, but for some reason, I’m pretty good at leaving 250g bags of Tesco jelly babies and Nature Valley 10x honey oat “family pack” bars alone until I go on rides.

Won’t a load of dried fruit give you a sugar spike/ crash? Big mixed back of fruit/nut is only £1.49 at Lidl, I always grab an arm load.

Just got a few of those Bounce balls from Holland and Barret after deciding that Trek and nakd bars are a bit too sugary to be healthy. They’re tiny, not sure how they’re going to keep a lump like me going on a long ride but I guess I’ll find out tomorrow

Nature Valley DRY AF chipboard flavour. I only ever buy them by mistake

Haha, they’re terrible, my Mrs buys them cos they’re cheap and then claims to actually like them. Like eating Aldi own brand granola without milk

I use these Lidl bars too,cheap and healthy with only a few basic ingredients.

I’d say Jordan’s Frusili Bars. Not too bad when you’re hungry, but I’d never pig out on them.

The ones I can’t abide are those Trek protein “flajacks”, there’s just something about them that irks me

The nutrition on some of the options out there (including some suggested here) is just atrocious e.g. very little energy, carbs all from sugar, or no fat/fibre/protein to keep you full.

Also realised I have a few additional requirements: not totally dry, isn’t tempting to put soft cheese on, doesn’t take up a whole hip pack pocket, isn’t crumbly.

Probably will give Stoats a try, then Clif or OTE if no good.

 get the 5 packs of Lidl knock-off Nakd bars to take on rides these days:

Not that I take all 5 with me.

They never get eaten at home, but they’re not at all unpleasant on a ride or walk.

Came on to post them. Ok to eat, but not… tempting. Fairly low GI/not too processed. Backed up with toffee waffles for an instant hit 😉

If you want quality food then my method is no good. I just buy Higate flapjack from Home Bargains. 30 bars for £11.70.

I’m sure it’s all sugar and heavily processed, but it does hit the spot out in the bike when I feel I need a bit of something.

Easy enough to ignore when I’m at home due to the quality.

I make my own from

100g sunflower seeds

100g dried peaches

100g biltong

Grind each up in the blender and then combine. Make into bars and shove in the oven at 140 for 10 mins to dry them off (else they are greasy)

Low sugar, complex carbs and salt from the biltong

Seem to last a few months (I wrap each bar in tinfoil)

Haha, they’re terrible

If you hadn’t replied I was thinking about getting my STW account deleted.

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Soreen bars, I’m a terrible snacker but only ever eat Soreen mini loaves on the bike

no fat/fibre/protein to keep you full.

TBF, if you are racing or just want top performance on a ride, you really do just want carbs (and electrolytes) during.  The science is pretty well established on that.

Save protein/fat/ensuring you get a diverse range of nutrients for after.

Make your own savoury flapjacks. Not as more more more as the sugary ones.

Got some Stoats porridge oat bars on the way home today. They’re essentially a flapjack. I’ve already eaten 2 and fancy another, so no good.

Nature Valley chipboard bars would definitely do the trick, but then I’ll have to carry an extra half litre of water on rides for each one.

The trick with the Nature Valley bars is to open the packets a day or two before so they moisten up a bit.

Buying  a snack you don’t want to eat so you only eat them when you need them makes no sense.

Just pick up some random snack on your way to your ride – just enough for the planned ride.

Just not having them in the house is the ultimate barrier to not eating them.