Not for the true chocolate lover or the really hungry
Written: Aug 22 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Some flavors are good to some people
Cons: Both flavors either have a pronounced cocoa or taste unlike chocolate & do not provide complete satisfaction for more then 2 hrs.
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| plaything's Full Review: Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bar |
The Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bars are one of those meal replacement bars that has it's definite good qualities as well as bad. This epinion will reflect the taste & satisfaction received from using these bars by both myself & Lurker, in continuance with my he said/she said series. Lurker is a good friend of mine who had committed to a 30 day diet using various meal replacement products such as shakes & bars for 2 of his meals, & we have been co-reviewing these for the past few weeks. His week #3 update will follow our low down on the Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bars.
The Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bars come in a variety of five flavors:
Chocolate Peanut
Lemon Meringue
Oatmeal Raisin
Milk Chocolate
Yogurt Peanut
The two being specifically reviewed today are the Chocolate Peanut & the Milk Chocolate. Both bars contain 24 vitamins & minerals & claim to be high in protein & calcium. Let's take a look at the contents of the two bars as well as the overall nutritional information, which in both bars the vitamins & minerals are almost exactly alike, & they carry the same first 3 main ingredients.
The Chocolate Peanut bar weighs in at 1.97 ounces as does the Milk Chocolate. The calorie content is 220 & 210. Both bars have 45 calories that are made up from fat or 5 total grams. Both have 10 grams of protein & carbs 33 grams. The cholesterol content is 0 as with most standard diet bars, ones that do have it tend to carry only 5 grams. The sugar content is 19-20 grams.
Both contain the following daily values of the vitamin or minerals as calculated based on a 2000 calorie daily diet: Vitamins A, C, E-100%, Vitamin B6-30%, Vitamins D, B12-20%, Iron-20%
Comparing the Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bars with other meal replacement products the calcium % is among the highest, yet the protein % is actually lower then most, only beating out the Slim Fast Meal-On-The-Go-Bars with 8 grams & the very low 3 grams in the 151 bar. The Iron & Vitamin contents are right about average to what most bars can contain, as well as the sugar. These are really where differences are apparent from one bar to the next & you can pretty much find a bar to meet your specific needs. Of course the 151 bar while both low in protein & calcium contains 100% of every other vitamin & many minerals you can think of. So your best bet is to compare several products to find what is just right for you.
These two flavors contain high maltose corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, & the protein blend made up of soy protein isolate, & calcium caseinate as their first main ingredients. They both also contain similar ingredients such as sugar, palm kernel oil,& nonfat milk. The Chocolate Peanut continues with some ingredients such as: toasted soy pieces, crisp rice, maltodextrin, carmel, & partially defatted peanut flour. The Milk Chocolate follows with ingredients: cocoa crisped rice, rice bran, honey, & lowfat cocoa.
Chocolate Peanut
Plaything says:
This Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bar has a very rich dark chocolate coating & the taste can be separated from the rest of the bar, unlike many similar products where the flavor of the coating is undetectable. But it was still a disappointing flavor.
I really enjoyed the flavor of fresh roasted peanuts that seems to blend very nicely throughout this bar. I found the texture somewhat pasty & heavy. The Chocolate Peanut bar was not the best peanut type bar I have tasted among similar products but it was pleasant tasting & I do eat them from time to time but it is not on the top of my list of favorites.
Lurker says:
This bar had a very good peanutty taste & the peanuts though small were visible throughout this product. This was a really chewy bar I found both satisfying & filling & was left with no unpleasant aftertaste as with many of the ones I have eaten in the past few weeks.
I did find the dark milk chocolate coating to be not only rich but on the bitter side for my taste, but it did not detract from the overall taste of the bar. Both this bar & the Milk Chocolate flavor only held me over for about 2 hrs. before I felt hungry, but it wasn't a consuming hunger & I did manage until my next meal without much of the thought of eating on my mind.
Milk Chocolate
Plaything says:
The thin chocolate coating on this bar is a grave disappointment because it doesn't resemble the taste of milk chocolate at all. The bar is similar to a Three Musketeers (which I hate) and it was gritty tasting. It had a bitter aftertaste, yuk, & this bar was one of the worst I have tasted of the milk chocolate type & I would not recommend this bar for the chocolate lover.
Lurker says:
This is a light bar all the way through and has a taste reminiscent of nougat. It reminds me of a candy bar as well, but with a heavy cocoa bite that leaves that lingering aftertaste. This bar really tasted a bit too chocolaty for me but I was satisfied with it overall, can you tell it is easy to please me? I have tasted many that were much worse!
Together we have found that the cocoa or strong taste of chocolate flavoring to be less then desired. While I being the lover of chocolate was disappointed overall in the taste of the coatings of the Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bars, Lurker just found them overwhelming but not intolerable. We agree the Chocolate Peanut has good qualities with it's rich peanut taste, but the Milk Chocolate suits him far better then it ever could me.
I was surprised that while these only kept Lurker completely satisfied for about 2 hrs. he still is willing to give his overall recommendation to this product. I on the other hand know there are several better overall products of similar nutritional value on the market, with much better qualities as far as their overall appeal & flavor.
So it's a toss up on this one, & the overall grade will be a 3. Guess this is one of those love it or hate it products & depending on the flavors you tend to find pleasing, you might use our analysis as your guide to whether the Jenny Craig Nutritional Meal Bars would be a good product choice for you.
Lurker's Diet Week #3
Lurker's meal replacement products for his 3rd week included a variety of different products. From his experience in the first 2 weeks, using only one shake product and/or one bar product for the entire week, he found that some products did not keep him satisfied until his next meal. So we got smart :*) & we decided maybe he would be better off buying only a couple of each different product, so he wouldn't be stuck all week with one that he hated or didn't keep him satisfied until his next meal.
The Balance line of shakes & bars were one of the ones he tried, & not to my surprise he found this product line to be one of the worst overall as far as taste & satisfaction. Epinions doesn't have it categorized as of yet, but I wanted to give you the mutual thumbs down on this product line until I do have the chance to review it.
As in his previous weeks, during week #3 Lurker used a meal replacement product for his breakfast & lunch meals. His exercise of a 30 minute nightly walk was increased to a 50 minute walk. Also this week, he started doing morning sit-ups & tried hard to get in 25 while he said it was hard every time. These type of sit-ups are the real tummy crunchers, hands extended in front of you palm up & fisted. Knees bent & as if you are pulling up on a bar, but only half way to the knees & for a hold count of 5 seconds. I think this is the best workout for your abdomen, but for those that aren't used to it, it hurts!
Week #3, he continued to enjoy his choice of his nightly meal with little restriction except for the avoidance of high fatty foods. Nightly snacks continued in the forms of an apple, a cream sickle, blueberries, or melons. He was still strong & resisted his Pepsi, & restricted his extra fluid intake to only water.
Starting his diet Lurker weighed 260 lbs. He dropped 12 lbs. week #1, & another 6 lbs. in week #2. He started his 3rd week at 242 lbs. & ended it weighing 240 lbs. He was a bit disappointed he had now lost only 2 lbs. this week, but looked at the bigger picture that he was very close to his weight loss goal for the 30 days. He, as in the previous weeks, was just as ready as ever to continue his weight loss & was excited at the approach of a successful 30 days!
During these 3 weeks, Lurker was just great & was really upbeat considering the major changes he had been making in the way he eats & what he eats. Stay tuned for a few more epinions in the continuing he said/she said format by Lurker & myself as we approach the 4th week & final update of his 30 day diet plan*
Note: These bars should never be used by those under 18, those who are pregnant &/or nursing, or persons suffering any health problems, without first consulting a physician; which is always a good rule of thumb as everyone is different & has different needs as far as daily calorie intake, to either loose weight and or maintain their weight. If you plan to use this product as a substitute for some of your regular meals, it is important that you intake a sufficient amount of calories in your regular meal as well.
A portion of the proceeds of this product supports breast cancer research!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
plaything
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Member: Cassandra
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 74 members
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