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tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

Protein Bar Recs

blubirde · Chanel

I really like the South Beach high protein cereal bars (specifically I like the peanut butter ones but they come in chocolate and cinnamon and maybe some other flavors). They have a good calorie to protein ration - 140 calories / 10 g protein. I eat them for breakfast when I'm in a hurry and I almost always have one as a mid-afternoon snack.

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

blubirde wrote:

I really like the South Beach high protein cereal bars (specifically I like the peanut butter ones but they come in chocolate and cinnamon and maybe some other flavors). They have a good calorie to protein ration - 140 calories / 10 g protein. I eat them for breakfast when I'm in a hurry and I almost always have one as a mid-afternoon snack.

Thanks! That is a good calorie/protein ratio. Are they filling? I grabbed some random one from a convenience store this morning and it had 310 cal (32g protein) which I thought was a lot, but I ate it at 7:30 and it's now 11:30 and I'm not even close to hungry.

blubirde · Chanel

Yours does have a ton of protein in it and the SB bars don't have that much, obviously. But I find that so many protein products out there are loaded with calories, fat, sugar, etc. I wonder what all these bodybuilder types are thinking when they eat them?

But generally it depends on what you're looking for. For me, I like something that will keep me going for a few hours, which these bars do. My coworker eats them as well but has to eat two at a time because they taste so good (that's her rationale, not mine!). In the afternoon I eat one about 3 or 4 hours before I eat dinner and although I get hungry around dinner time, it's not anything crazy. When I eat them for breakfast, I usually get hungry about 2-3 hours after I eat them, which works if a) I eat a late breakfast or b) I have a mid-morning snack to accompany them.

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

Thanks, I'll check those out. I think they'll work well for what I need.
Yeah, some of the bars seem way unhealthy. I looked at the nutrition label on about six different bars before I found an acceptable one. The one I ate had only 3g of sugar, but 9g of fat which isn't awful I guess, but isn't great either. I don't remember specifics but most of them were pretty bad - especially the Snickers one.

alb · Marc Jacobs

i am in a similar situation as you, tri sarah tops. i started out on weight watchers and lost a ton of weight just doing that and cardio. while i am the lowest weight i've been since college, i have the highest body fat percentage i've ever had. so i hired a personal trainer and started adding protein to my diet. i wanted to keep my diet low fat and low calorie/high calorie (which is WW, basically) but to add protein, so i began to look for protein bars and shakes that are higher in protein then i've been eating, but still low in ww points (i.e. fat, calories). here are the best ones i've found:

kashi tlc pumpkin pie spice - 5 grams or so?
kashi tlc dark chocolate coconut - i think also 5 grams
mucle milk light bars - 15 grams (flavors are vanilla toffee and choc peanut butter).

these are the only protein bars i could find without a lot of fat and calories. the kashi bars don't have huge amnts of protein but still about the same as a small container of yogurt (which is also a good snack too btw).

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

Thanks! Congrats on your WW success!

I'll have to check out some of the kashi ones. I've eaten the "random convenience store" one as referenced above, for breakfast three days in a row. It has a fair about of fat (9g) but it's 310 calories (about 7 pts) and it's so filling that I don't even think about food for four or five hours. That's amazing considering I usually eat every two hours or so, if I'm hungry or not.

How long did you do WW? I've never had a lot of success with it and I'm trying to figure out why. I started at the beginning of January and lost 8 pounds that month, but I haven't lost a single pound since then. I really can't figure it out - I exercise and track absolutely everything I eat, and stay within range each week. It's bewildering and super frustrating. I've even switched around my BC and other medications, trying to figure out why I can't lose more. It's really frustrating to be doing all the right things without results! I've ditched it for now and am counting calories vs. points, so I'll see how that works out. If I haven't lost any more in the next month or so I think I'm going to see a dr.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

Detour makes a good one with a lot of protein, but it has fake sugars and some other crap that doesn't make it too well suited for clean eating. I stopped eating them because I started to feel guilty about some ingredients.

I used to eat one that was like a granola bar, but crunchier. It said "natural" across the front like it was the brand. The almond ones rocked. But, searching online for a natural protein bar yielded ever bar but the one I was looking for. I haven't seen them in the stores lately, so maybe they dtopped making them. :(

NCshopper · Hermes

I've really liked the Zone Perfect bars. They have great flavors at Target, but most other retailers don't carry those flavors for whatever reason (like dark chocolate strawberry). They have a lot of protein and are really good for eating about 30 min. before a workout.

ETA: I wanted to add that weightlifting is GREAT for building lean muscle fat and dropping the fat. DH and I started working out with a trainer in May of last year and within 4 months we both went from body fat percentages of 25% to 19%. Upping your protein, cutting carbs, and doing weights is definitely the way to go.

-- Edited by NCshopper at 18:54, 2009-03-06

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

blubirde wrote:

I really like the South Beach high protein cereal bars (specifically I like the peanut butter ones but they come in chocolate and cinnamon and maybe some other flavors). They have a good calorie to protein ration - 140 calories / 10 g protein. I eat them for breakfast when I'm in a hurry and I almost always have one as a mid-afternoon snack.

I like these too!

gossipgirl · Dooney & Bourke

I like the Zone bars too!