US Food recommendations...

Living in the UK I get very jealous of the range of cereal bars etc. that you seem to be able to get in the US.  But, I'm coming on holiday to the US next week (so excited!) and am planning on making the most of the shopping to get stocked up on goodies to make my weight gain that bit more enjoyable! 

I've heard Whole Foods is the place to head to, but I was wondering if anyone has any personal recommendations (am particularly thinking luna bars, cliff (?) bars and peanut butter related things!) 

Thank you!

I am not sure of what items are available here in the US that aren't in the UK, but I'll try to give you the best answer I can and recommend some of my favorite items!

Luna Bars are amazing. The Toasted Nuts n' Cranberry, Chai Tea, Chocolate Pecan Pie, and Nutz Over Chocolate are my favorites. To make them even more high cal, I like to slather Peanut Butter over them. Mmm..

I have never tried Clif bars, but I have tried the Clif Kid Z Bars, which I think are really yummy :). I also eat LaraBars, Bobo's Oat Bars (VERY high energy, low density snack bar), Pria Bars are yummy, ThinkThin bars (despite the name, are good high cal snack bars), and Bumble Bars.

I heard that Kashi GoLean crunch! wasn't available in the UK, if you haven't tried that cereal, I definitely recommend you get it here!

If you are going to Whole Foods, I recommend Gnu bars. Also check out some of the gluten-free sections. The US has pretty good gluten-free options and for some reason GF things tend to be high cal, but healthy!

Hope I helped some, have fun on your trip!

i agree with everything ziggy said! a few more high cal ones: pro bar's are around 400 calories and although they are filling, they're delicious as well. clif builder bars are around 280 and have 20 grams of protein! larabars, jocolat bars, odwalla bars... all good picks. whole foods also has a killer selection of nut butters. and i feel your pain, i'm from canada but i live right on the border so i often cross for groceries. trader joe's and whole foods are worth it.

Brilliant, I'm hungry just reading your suggestions, thank you!  A chocolate pecan pie flavour bar sounds especially good!  Think I may have to take a whole extra suitcase just for all the food I want to buy...

I used to like Clif bars and Luna bars, but after eating clean for the past few months, when I tried one of those bars, they just tasted so awful.  They have a lot of sugar (organic doesn't really mean it's that much healthier than regular sugar...) and the flavors are just so fake so that I would rather indulge in just a 100% cocoa bar.  Anyway, I hear pretty good things about Gnu bars, and if you're not bothered by an overwhelming sensation of sugar, larabars are pretty good too for no addition of sugars (though you can probably just make those at home...).  Anyway, that's just my take on it.

Hi Lizzie,

   Welcome to the States!

   One of my friends lives half the year in a remote village in Guatemala where she has no delivery services. If your situation were similar, then I'd agree with you about packing an extra suitcase, as she often does when visiting.

   Here's another idea: what about ordering over the internet and having them delivered right to your doorstep? Is the shipping an issue? Personally, I have no experience with international orders, so please forgive me if my complete ignorance is shinning brightly.

   A cursory Google search yielded a plethora of online retailers who carry various bars. Here's a sampling:

http://ipwrshop.mybisi.com/product/144133/Lar aBar-Nutritional-Bars-16-Bars_679366.html

http://www.fitfuel.com/Jocalat-Sampler-2-of-E ach-Flavor-p-1077.html

http://www.a1supplements.com/Luna-Bar-15-box- p-18709.html

   Hope this helps.

   Enjoy US.

   Peace,

   Eric

Wow, you will have so much fun with this.

My favorites are Luna bars, Larabars, Clif bars (regular or Z), Odwalla bars, NuGo bars, and Quaker True Delight bars.

I love the fiber one bars... oats and caramel, oats and peanut butter, oats and cranberry/almond.... they are all so good and have alot less sugar (usually 9 to 12 g) than cliff and some other bars.

I also like the kashi go lean crunch coffee cake bars, but those only on ocasion because they are higher in sugar (about 15g)

Thank you everyone, that's a big help!  and Eric, I will definitely be looking into getting stuff delivered, particularly if some of these bars are as good as they sound  Yay, can't wait to get shopping!