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Review: Picky Bars

Real (good) food, built to fuel

Creating an energy bar that people will want to eat takes a bit of experience, nutritional knowledge and marketing savviness. Jesse Thomas, CEO of Picky Bars and one the brand’s co-founders, has a lot of experience racing triathlons (he’s an Ironman champion) and has a fair bit of style with a signature aviator sunglasses race look. With the help of his wife, Lauren Fleshman, a two-time US 5000m champion, five-time NCAA track and field champion and Stanford science graduate, he has made a bar that athletes of all abilities would enjoy. The couple also enlisted the help of their friend, Stephanie Bruce, a 2:30 professional marathoner who lives with Celiac Disease. Together, the trio designed an energy bar that is gluten-free, easy to digest, made with real ingredients you can pronounce and packed with nutrients to fuel your triathlon endeavours.

What I love about Picky Bars is the texture. Picky Bars have a soft composition that requires minimal effort to bite into. This may seem like a ridiculous feature, but after years of munching on densely packed energy bars, it’s nice to know I can fuel myself without choking on a bar that is supposed to help me perform.

When it comes to training and racing, I reserve energy bars for the bike, or I’ll have them as a light snack before a swim session. This is more out of habit than anything else. Through trial and error, I’ve found my stomach does not handle solid food well on the run and eating on the bike is most effective for me.

Like the texture, the choice of flavours is appreciated (eight in total). During my testing phase, I got to try “Picky Bars: Cookie Doughpness – Chocolate and Peanut Butter” and “Picky Bars: Ah, Fudge Nuts! – Cinnamon, Raisins and Walnuts.” Both flavours I really enjoyed – they gave my tastes buds a break from the same old chocolate chip energy bar. Other flavours include:

  • Blueberry Bloomdizzle
  • Chai and Catch Me
  • Lauren’s Mega Nuts
  • Moroccan Your World
  • Need Your Seed
  • Smooth Caffeinator

Picky Bars are gluten-free, non-GMO, and contain no dairy or soy. With a nice balance of fast-acting carbs and long-lasting fats, you can keep your engine running with Picky Bars during those fast-Olympic distance triathlons or long course triathlon grinds.

A box of 10 Picky Bars has an MSRP of $39.90.