Q: Even though I know how important my diet is, I still find myself searching for ways to cheat!  When I’m in the grocery checkout line, I can’t help but pick up a Snickers or Hershey’s with almonds and then justify it by telling myself I will just work harder tonight in the gym.  I have tried the Detour bars and they aren’t bad.  My question is, can you recommend something for a good snack that still solves my craving for chocolate/candy?
 
A: My first thought was a Detour/U-Turn bar.  They are about as close as it gets to a candy bar and still have some nutritional value to them.  Of course, they aren’t as good (nutrition wise) as traditional protein bar but most traditional protein bars taste like cardboard and would never satisfy a true chocolate craving!  If you’re anything like me, 99% of the bars I’ve tried just don’t cut it.  They just don’t taste good to me.  If a Detour bar isn’t working for you, I don’t know what will.  Try the U-Turn bars as well.  Then as a last resort, try the IRON-Tek triple-decker bars they are pretty good too. 

 

Now, those are pretty good bars and if they don’t fix the problem, then the problem isn’t the bar… it’s you.  The best way to solve your problem is to never put yourself in a position to compromise your diet.  For some people, this might mean not going to the grocery store at all!  At least, cut it down to once a week or even better yet, once a month.  Candy and other sweets are a bad food addiction that many people just can’t overcome.  Try to approach it like a sobered alcoholic would - avoid it altogether!  Recovering alcoholics don’t have beer in their fridge, even if the rest of the people in the house drink beer.  And they especially don’t go to bars!  This approach might seem a little extreme, but sometimes that’s what it takes.