We’re going to try and post a simple mash-up of products we find to be WLS-friendly (or least tolerable), be they food, supplements, general products, what-ever. First up, some food stuffs…

Yea… it’s a Snickers. Well, made by them. Way too many protein bars just taste… gritty, with bad after-tastes, all fakey, and well.. crappy. Snickers Marathon Protein comes in two flavors, Carmel Nut Rush and Chcolate Nut Burst. I’ve only had the latter… but I like them.

Be warned though, this is not a snack food. This is something to have on hand for a really active day, or as a meal replacement. Check the nutritional stats and you’ll see what I mean…

One Chocolate Nut Burst bar is 2.82oz or about 80grams. It has 280 calories, 80 of which from fat (9g). Sodum 360mg, Total Crabs 37g – 17 of which are from sugars, and then Protein clocks in at 22g.

These bars are dense, chewy and flavorful… with a layer of peanut and almond in the middle of two layers of chcolate. Right now, the higher sugar count isn’t a big deal for me, cause I can usually only handle a couple bites of this at a time. It’s just that thick and dense.

I might get a half-bar down as an entire meal, but I typically keep one of these in the Jeep to grab a bite of here and there when I need a lil kick or to take the edge off my hunger between meals. I also keep one on me when playing paintball or when I was hiking while camping.

These things aren’t cheap either, around a couple bucks a bar. WalMart has the six-pack which saved quite a bit. Might be able to find them cheaper online too. Snickers also makes an Energy bar and a Nutrition bar. The Dark Chocolate Crunch Nutrition bar is supposed to be really good, and it’s got almost half the calories… but also only half the protein. snickersmarathon.com

Next… pretzels. The Kay’s Naturals ones are good… but to me they really don’t taste like prezels. I was shopping for a baked chip or cracker I could use with my lunches and such and I found these; Rold Gold Pretzel Waves.

They come in Cheddar, Buffalo Wing, and Parmesan Garlic, which I have. They have a light, crispy, pretzel taste with a hint of parmesan and garlic that is not overpowering by any means. I’ve had them as a small snack, as well as along with some tuna salad for meals.

They were about $3.50 for an 8oz bag, and a serving size is 1oz, or about 8 pieces. 6-8 of these along with about 1/3 cup or so of tuna salad was a very filling meal for me. The stats on that serving are as follows:

Calories 120 with 25 from fat (2.5g), 340mg sodum and 22g of carbs… with less than 1g of that from sugar and as a bonus there’s a whole 2g of Protein in there too.

These are nice treat. They are not something I’ll be eating every day… or likely every week… cause the carbs and calories are on the high end. But, as an option to say regular chips… well, I’d rather bring some of these with me to a party than indulge on some Ruffles, cause they’re baked and have no trans fat. I’m interested in trying the buffalo wing flavor and the cheddar… they may make good options over tortilla chips for future taco salads. Hit up the Frito-Lay website for more info.

Last up… Arnold Select Sandwich Thins. I discovered these pre-op, and they replaced me making my own bread for the last couple months before my surgery.

They come in white, whole wheat, seedless rye, and multi-grain. I’m partial to the multi-grain myself. They’re thinner than a hamburger bun, but work great for those typical sized frozen burger (turkey) patties. I’ve also used them as an alternative to tortillas for making pizzas when I want “thick” (well, thicker) crust. And I toast half of one occasionally for an open-faced egg sandwich for breakfast.

These come in an 8pack for $2.50-$3 depending on where you get them. Sams has a 16pack for about $5. Nutritional stats (least on the Multi-Grain) go like this;

100 Calories, 10 of them from fat (1g), 230mg Sodium, 22g carbs with 5g of that in Fiber and 2g in Sugars and a nide 4g of additional Protein.