Typically, I eat breakfast every day, or at least make an effort to eat something before lunch.

One Thursday morning, I had left my house in a rush and started running dangerously low on energy due to the fact that I ran out the door without my usual smoothie. So, I walked down to the college bookstore to find something to hold me over until lunch.

At first, I walked down the junk food aisle with the Pop Tarts, cookies and cereal. I was reaching for the chocolate peanut butter Pop Tarts when all of a sudden, my conscience told me to put them down and keep walking.

I went to the other side of the aisle where the healthier food is kept and made a decision to choose something. I looked through the choices feeling disappointed and knowing I wouldn’t get the same satisfaction as a Pop Tart.

Then, I saw it — the KIND Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein Bar. I had heard the company name in the news recently because the FDA claims they aren’t actually healthy due to the amount of saturated fat from the nuts in the bars.

This sounded like the perfect combination of unhealthy and healthy to make me a happy person until lunch. I paid more than $2 for the bar and went on my way.

I sat down to eat the bar, bracing myself for disappointment and mediocre taste, but when I took that first bite, all of my worries faded away. It was crunchy, chewy, nutty, chocolatey — everything a great bar should be.

It has peanuts, almonds, walnuts, cashews, peanut butter, brazil nuts, honey and other ingredients that you can actually recognize, unlike other regular granola bars. KIND bars are also non-GMO, have natural ingredients and have seven grams of protein per bar.

I felt great eating something healthy even if the FDA disapproves. And stayed full until lunch time. I purposely forgot my breakfast the next day so I could eat one again.  Be kind to yourself and eat a KIND bar.

To learn about more of their products and find where KIND Snacks are sold near you, visit www.kindsnacks.com.

Rating: A

To contact Lauren Daniel, email onlineeditor@occc.edu