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Food Bars Offer a Convenient Solution to Our Busy Daily Lives

In a way it's sad that we're now so dependant on food bars, but it's true.

And eating them is an improvement over consuming candy and fast food meals.

Yes, it'd be better if we sat down to home-cooked meals three times a day, but there aren't many housewives left who just stay home and clean and cook. Women wanted to go to work, and as soon as they began demanding equal pay for equal work, the labor marketplace adjusted.

Since employers had to pay women as much as men, they stopped paying anybody enough money to support a family (which they'd previously been paying to men on the assumption they were supporting a family).

So now it takes two paychecks to make a house note and buy shoes for the kids, let alone save up for their college education. Not to mention having some insurance against one spouse being laid off.

And it's not like many job leave either husband and wife enough time to cook every night. Both men and women are worked as long as hard as possible. By the time they get through the traffic jams back home, the kids are already too hungry to wait.

Besides, there is one big advantage. I'm on the Zone diet, which is a balance of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat. That's all described by Dr. Barry Sears in his Zone books.

To keep track of it, he has a system of "blocks." Essentially, we should eat an equal number of blocks of carbohydrates, protein and fat at each and every meal. That way, we get a Zone balance. For example, four Zone blocks of carbs, protein and fat makes a good meal for men. Three for women. One or two Zone blocks is a good snack.

Dr. Sears did a lot of work measuring the amounts of the macronutrients in all kinds of foods, including many common fast food menus.

However, these can't be exact. For example, one medium-sized apple is 1/2 a block of carbohydrates. However, just how big is a medium apple? Some kinds run larger than others. So what if I have a bag of small apples or large apples?

And many things are measured in cups, such as grapes. 1/2 a cup of grapes is one carbohydrate block. But grapes are round, so when you put them into a measuring cup there's a lot of empty space in between. And no even surface that reaches the 1/2 cup line and goes no farther.

Now, this sounds like a lot of nitpicking and in a way it is. It's not worth stressing out about. I combine the blocks to make the best Zone meals I can. I'm losing weight so I must be doing something right.

But sometimes it feels good to know I'm eating exact Zone nutrition. Therefore, it's good to know that when I eat a Balance bar from their good-tasting Original line I'm getting exactly two Zone blocks. No more and no less.

(By the way, the other bars from The Balance Bar company are no longer in the Zone. No ZonePerfect bars are in the Zone. Hershey's SmartZone bars were created by Dr. Sears but contain 2.5 blocks of carbs with 2 blocks of protein, so they're not in the Zone either. Dr. Sears has his own line which is available only through his website. At least, I've never seen them available in stores. I wish he would place them into Wal-Mart!)

But there are many kinds of food bars so pick the kind that suits you.