According to the USDA, we should be filling half of
our plates with fruits and vegetables at every meal. Loosely translated, that equates to about two cups of
fruits and almost three full cups of
vegetables on a daily basis. Loosely translated again, one might equate that to two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables. At the very least, of course. It never hurts to have more. But for some of us, these recommendations can be hard to meet. We all live active lifestyles, and stopping our day to peel an orange or steam some broccoli is often out of the question in the name of time. And fresh, wholesome fruits and vegetables are plagued by both price and season. But these excuses don't really matter because, when all is said and done, we still need to fill half our plates...get two servings...we need our fruits and vegetables.
The food industry loves to capitalize on this need, rolling out box after bar after can of "fruits and vegetables" meant to replace the real thing. Problem is—you can never really replace the real thing, so you just have to be careful what you purchase when you purchase such foods. For example, strawberry flavored Fruit Roll-Ups are NOT an adequate source of fruit. But these are:
"Adding a bunch of extra stuff to natural fruit only takes away from the purity and balance that nature intended"—this is the idea behind
That's It bars, and I couldn't be more excited about the samples they sent me to review. When I was a kid, I ate Fruit Roll-Ups like it was my job. When I bit into the Apple Apricot bar, it took me right back to school lunches and after-school snacks. It was so good! And if you look at the packaging, you can see (very clearly) all of the ingredients. One apple and three apricots. That's it. That's seriously it:
Guys, these bars are so good! And I love that there are only two ingredients. No funky sugars or preservatives. No chemicals you can't pronounce. Just fruit. Quite simply, fruit. And at only 100 calories, one bar satisfies your sweet tooth without breaking your calorie bank. (What, you don't consider fruit to be a sweet? You should. It's a good, healthy sweet.)
It's bars like these, which I honestly haven't seen anything like before, that can help us complete our serving requirements for the day. So if you don't have time to deal with fresh fruit, these might be a great substitute in times of need. And you might be able to get your hands on some.
For starters, you can always
order them off the company's website. They also have this great
That's It Club, which allows you to get what is essentially a subscription service to the bars. (They are, by the way, totally worth it.) And, you can even win some. Oh, yes...you can. The good people behind That's It have agreed to give one lucky
Daily Dose reader a variety pack of the bars: all three flavors, 12 bars total. Jackpot! To enter, leave a comment below and tell me which bar you'd most like to sink your teeth into. (Please include your email address. If you win, I will need to contact you for your shipping address.)
Additional entries can be gained by doing any of the following:
1) Like That's It on
Facebook.
2) Follow That's It on
Twitter.
3) Like
A Daily Dose of Fit on
Facebook.
4)
Subscribe to
A Daily Dose of Fit.
Contest ends on Monday, November 7, 2011 at midnight EST. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 9, 2011.
Best of luck!
