A little confession
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llfretwell
Posts: 218 Member
I'm admitting my love for my protein bars and wondering how detrimental they are to my diet. As long as I hit my protein goal and calorie goal for the day, is it a huge deal that I am eating TWO protein bars a day? These obviously help my protein intake but they are also my "sweet treat" at night. I know that I need to focus on unprocessed foods for my protein intake, but these are delicious to me! Are they messing me up at all?
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If you're in a calorie deficit, they won't mess you up. (Weight loss is all about CICO.) It's a bonus that they help you hit your protein goal as well.0
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Oh, awesome. That is great news for me!
Anyone else have any input on this?0 -
I'm a firm believer in enjoying whatever you want in moderation. My opinion is that if you are hitting your calorie goals and meeting your macros (whatever you have them set at; I know many of us who lift want higher protein goals than MFP's standard setting) you can enjoy your treat without guilt or worry!
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It seems to work for a number of people. I noticed on some of the general forum posts when they talk about quest bars and such, a number of people mention having 1 or 2 a day. Most go with the it's fine if it fits in calorie count and helps with macros.
I only eat protein bars on occasion for macros and time (last night I was bad at work and didn't take a lunch break so ate one while machine restarted after a major jam). But I have to limit whey as I have an allergy to something related to dairy but the exact what hasn't been determined. I can eat any dairy on occasion though stomach isn't always happy but if i eat on regular basis, I start to itch all over. So, I limit them but for other reasons and I haven't found a really good, non-whey based one yet.0 -
Thank ya'll so much for the input. Now I am curious about how important carbs and fat REALLY is. I mean, as long as I make sure I hit my protein goal every day, should I even be worried about being over or under carbs and fat?
I really am not even sure that my carbs and fat goals are correct. I have read that women who heavy lift but also want to lose a little weight should try to eat less carbs. This is all pretty confusing for a beginner..0 -
I would say that you should aim to hit a minimum of ~45 grams of fat per day. Fat is essential to ensure sufficient absorption of fat soluble vitamins, cellular membrane synthesis, hormones, and other intracellular signalling molecules. Once you hit your protein and fat macros, make up the difference in carbs.0
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ScientificExplorerGirl wrote: »I would say that you should aim to hit a minimum of ~45 grams of fat per day. Fat is essential to ensure sufficient absorption of fat soluble vitamins, cellular membrane synthesis, hormones, and other intracellular signalling molecules. Once you hit your protein and fat macros, make up the difference in carbs.
It also helps with..uh...intestinal function.0 -
llfretwell wrote: »Thank ya'll so much for the input. Now I am curious about how important carbs and fat REALLY is. I mean, as long as I make sure I hit my protein goal every day, should I even be worried about being over or under carbs and fat?
I really am not even sure that my carbs and fat goals are correct. I have read that women who heavy lift but also want to lose a little weight should try to eat less carbs. This is all pretty confusing for a beginner..
Focus on meeting protein and fat macros overall and fill in the rest with carbs. Protein is estimated at 1g/lb lean body mass or about 0.8g/lb total weight. Fat is usually estimated at 0.3 to 0.4g/lb weight. Also don't fret about meeting this perfectly every day.0 -
I generally eat one Quest bar each afternoon when I'm at work. I do it for the fiber as well as the protein.0
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I have to be honest I pretty much always eat 2 Quest bars a day. I want to say I only eat 1 but... it's a lie. I eat one every day for breakfast and then pretty much always have another either in the afternoon or evening.
My protein needs are high and my calorie intake is low (I'm short, and reasonably small at this point, so I don't get much) and without them I would really struggle to hit my daily protein.
I personally don't pay any attention to my carbs or fat. But a lot of that is, after working toward my protein macro, I don't really have the space TO pay attention to them. Almost everything I put in my mouth is for my protein macro. Except the popcorn that I eat almost every night 0 -
Reading this as I eat a protein bar...
I usually eat them because of convenience and time. I can eat them and work/drive/etc at the same time!!!0 -
I have quest bars from time to time but they're way too expensive to eat more than one a day unless I'm really hard pressed to find other things to eat (like being on the go all day or really not having time to fix something up, or when I crave something sweet lol).
However I'm a protein powder junkie. I throw it in cottage cheese to make it more palatable, have shakes, or put some in greek yogurt for flavoring and added protein. Oh, and now I have a bunch of different protein pancake mixes and OMG that stuff is.... The P28 white chocolate? heaven!
I do try to limit myself to 1.5 or 2 scoops a day tops and eat the rest of my protein as meat, eggs, cheese and other things. My fat % is sitting I think at 40% right now and to be honest that makes it a lot easier to fit in my protein (a little over 1g per lbs of LEAN body mass in my case. Seems to be the magic number) and anyways carbs tend to make me hungrier so cutting them back a bit is not a bad thing 0 -
However I'm a protein powder junkie.
yeah, me too. always the same thing: half-scoop of whey powder, plain yogurt, water, frozen berries. friend of mine got me into this as a 'breakfast' shake and now i can't leave the house without one.
on lifting days i usually have another one sometime between workout and bed. eh. easy way to deal with the whole protein/recovery thing.
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So it seems lots of you eat the Quest bars. What are your favorite flavors? What flavors do you hate? Looking for a low cal way to get more protein at the end of the day when I havent hit my protein. Not sure where to start, there are so many choices!0
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I HATE the cookies and cream Quest bars.
Some I've enjoyed: chocolate chip cookie dough, banana nut muffin (just ok), double chocolate chunk, chocolate brownie, peanut butter, vanilla almond crunch. I've found that they are really tasty if you microwave them for 6-8 seconds (especially the browine/chocolatey flavors).0 -
My favorites are choc. chip cookie dough and s'mores. I microwave them for 20 seconds and eat with a fork.0
