CLIF Builder's Bar Review and Giveaway

Before today’s post, a very heartfelt thanks to everyone who contacted me via post comments, e-mail, or in person following last week’s big book announcement. It’s very much uncharted territory for me to travel, and I’m excited about where the journey might ultimately lead. And as I mentioned, there will be a lot more discussion of The Running Life in the weeks to come.

In the meantime, such an occasion calls for a celebratory post, don’t you think? Fortunately for all of us, the extremely generous CLIF Bar company has stepped up to help me spread a little goodwill (and more importantly, good swag) to a handful of lucky readers over the next few weeks.

Truth be told, I’ve already been the beneficiary of some CLIF love, and the timing of it was nearly unbelievable: about 2 weeks ago, after a training hike with my 12-year-old in preparation for a trip to Yosemite (separate posts coming soon, naturally), I mentioned to my wife that I needed to make a trip to REI that afternoon to pick up a handful of CLIF Bars and Bloks for the trip. That exact same afternoon, a box with the following goodies arrived on my doorstep:

I swear I’m not making this up. And the CLIF folks are total rock stars in my book.

So I’m paying my good fortune forward with two separate giveaways, the first of which features a product that doesn’t seem to get as much publicity as other CLIF offerings, but has become a favorite of my wife and me recently: the Builder's protein bar.

Five of the six flavors: lemon, peanut butter, vanilla almond, chocolate, chocolate mint (clockwise from top R). Not pictured: cookies and cream flavor.

Several years ago I became a fan of high-protein energy bars - partly because I experimented briefly with the whole Atkins/modified paleo diet thing, and partly because I was sold on the idea of protein intake facilitating muscle recovery after hard training sessions. The diet stuff never had any traction, but I still prefer a good-tasting protein bar to regular energy bars after workouts.

However, the serious protein bar connoisseur in the house is my wife, who on most days of the week uses one as her primary breakfast source. Since she rarely has time to prepare meals for herself, she grabs a bar and eats it incrementally between an early-morning workout and taking kids to school and getting about 20 other errands and chores done. She’s tried many different kinds of protein bars over the years, and tells me that the Builder’s are her favorites.

Nutritionally, you could do a lot worse than these bars if there’s really no possibility of having a regular meal in the morning. They are made from 100% natural (and 33% organic) ingredients, and contain 20 grams of soy and nut proteins. They're the only all-natural protein bar on the market, and the only one made with no trans fats or hydrogenated oils whatsoever. The low glycemic index and high protein content are extremely effective at controlling hunger for a prolonged period of time.

That last reason is the primary point my wife appreciates about Builder’s Bars, as she says they feel more substantial than similar protein bars, and suppress her appetite much longer. She also likes the texture of them, and the natural ingredients effectively eliminate that “laboratory” taste found in other high-protein offerings.

Another advantage of Builder’s Bars is the unique flavors they offer in comparison to most protein bars on the market. They come in six different varieties, and our favorites are lemon and vanilla almond – two options that are a refreshing change from the garden variety chocolates and peanut butters of the protein bar world.

Perhaps the only drawback I can think of with these bars is that they’re not distributed nearly as widely as their competitors, and can therefore be a bit difficult to find, especially in all six flavors. Our local Trader Joe’s stocks all varieties, and our Whole Foods and one other high-end grocery store carry a few flavors, but otherwise, that’s about it. If you’re in a town that doesn’t have a TJ’s or a similar health food market, you may be out of luck – but for a few of you, I’m here to help.

In conjunction with this post, CLIF will provide three winners with a 12-unit Builder’s Bar sample pack to save you a bit of shopping around. Typical giveaway rules apply here: just leave a comment below this post by Thursday at 5PM PST to enter, and I’ll draw winners at random and announce them on Thursday night. Good luck to everyone, and special thanks to CLIF for being such a cool sponsor!