Training for the Great North Run is continuing. I finally hit 16km this weekend, so I’m not doing too badly. It still takes a day or so for my back to settle down again, but that’s a massive improvement on the week or so it was taking back in February and aside from an occasional whinge, my calf has been absolutely fine.
Hurrah for stretching, squats and weights work.
With six weeks to go, I’m not quite where I’d like to be, but I’m positive. I know I could do it now, but I’m glad I’ve a little longer to prepare.
It also means that the weight is slowly coming down, though with the longer distances in my running week (I’m running 3-4 times a week) I’ve had to ditch the low carb approach and ensure that I take a small amount of carbs throughout the day. Enough to keep me training, but not so much that I end up over fuelled.
And whilst I try to be organised with my meal times and prepare good food, there are times when I need a fuel boost. Protein bars and shakes are great for this, and I’m always looking for things that are both good for you and taste great.
Crobar are a bit unusual. As well as all the things you’d expect to find in a good quality bar – dates, raisins, sunflower seeds and goji berries – it also has an usual source of protein. Cricket flour.
Yes. Forget whey, ditch soya. Science is looking for an economical way of producing protein, and they’ve been suggesting insects for years. They cost a fraction of that used to farm cattle, and we’re barely producing 2% of the soya we’d need to move to that sustainably. Bugs are an option.
But that’s always been the problem. They’ve been presented as that, bugs. Chocolate covered ants, deep fried mealworms, they’re not appetising – and I’ve tried them. I’ve eaten crickets (peanutty), nibbled at locusts (crunchy) and chewed on a scorpion (unpleasantly overdone). And whilst I might have the lady balls to do that, not everyone has, or fancies the idea of getting a leg stuck in their teeth.
Cricket flour, however, is being used all over the world in protein bars – the USA seems to be leading the way, even selling flour ready to use at home. But until Crobar, I’ve not seen them in the UK.
Doesn’t look icky does it? Or scary?
It just looks like a fruit and nut health bar. And that’s what it tastes like. Soft sweet fruit, nibbly sunflower seeds and peanuts, or, in the case of the cocoa and chia bar, the crunchy pop of chia seeds and a deep dark cocoa flavour. Even my PT was impressed.
If I’m honest, the source of protein didn’t bother me. I was actually more concerned about the number of dates in there. I do not like dates.
But though they were present most heavily in the cacao and chia bar, this was the one I liked the best, the dark chocolate flavour dominated instead of the sweetness.
I really liked them. Really and truly.
My only niggle is the amount of sugar in there – it means that while I’m bringing my weight back down for the GNR, I can’t eat them often, or regularly. However, I’d be keen to see a lower sugar version, for more everyday use.
Cricket is definitely not off the menu.
With thanks again to Crobar for sending me two bars to sample.