Too much protein bars?

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jmh_90
jmh_90 Posts: 17 Member
edited January 2016 in Food and Nutrition
Hey I'm on a caloric deficit to lose weight and about 30% of my daily calorie intake comes from Whey protein (shakes) and protein bars. Do you guys think it's unhealthy? I try to eat my protein mostly from "actual meat" (chicken breast, tuna, beef, etc) but I find it hard to eat big portions of meat. What's your thoughts on that?
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Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    What is your calorie goal? Your protein goal?
  • jmh_90
    jmh_90 Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
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    jemhh wrote: »
    What is your calorie goal? Your protein goal?
    1350 cal/day. 135g protein. About 50g of protein I take comes from a combination of protein bars and protein shakes (whey protein)
  • johnboy916
    johnboy916 Posts: 52 Member
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    I'm just going to leave this here..... adjust yourself and make sure you have the proper intake of protein
    http://m.livescience.com/43839-too-much-protein-help-cancers-grow.html
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I'm not sure of your weight but your protein goal may be high. I aim for .8 gram per pound, rounded to the nearest 10. .64-.82 g/lb is sufficient.

    That may help lower your goal enough that you can cut back on bars and powders. I get my protein from eggs, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, granola bars, bread, and meat. I use protein powder a few times a week and bars when I feel like it (maybe a couple of times a month? ) I feel like bars are pricey so I kind of reserve them as treats. I have never read about them being bad to eat on a daily basis though.

    Also, I pretty much love steak, chicken, pork chops, etc so I find it easy to eat plenty of them. I'd rather have steak than pasta, for example. You just have to find what works for you.
  • AdrianChr92
    AdrianChr92 Posts: 567 Member
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    I try to avoid protein bars. They are made with lots of fat and sugars and are low on protein. Instead you can buy some unflavored whey and make your own bars with cocoa powder and whatever. There are a lot of recipes on google
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Chiruadr wrote: »
    I try to avoid protein bars. They are made with lots of fat and sugars and are low on protein.

    You are eating the wrong kind of protein bars then.
  • __Wolf__
    __Wolf__ Posts: 137 Member
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    Protein bars are convenient and they can certainly help if they are lean. However, I prefer good ol' fashioned meat for my protein.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    OP I don't think you eating 50 grams of protein in bar or shake form is too much if you enjoy having it like that. I mean it's only about 2.5 bars or shakes a day, doesn't seem shockingly too much.
  • ambition0967
    ambition0967 Posts: 5 Member
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    Hi. Are you finding that the bars make it easier to meet your goals but push you over your calorie limit?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Sounds fine to me, if you're happy. If I have a busy day I'll have two protein bars, and I wouldn't be afraid to sprinkle 10grams of protein powder on my ice cream that day either.
  • jmh_90
    jmh_90 Posts: 17 Member
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    Cool! Thanks for the feedback guys! :)
  • jmh_90
    jmh_90 Posts: 17 Member
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    ambition0967 wrote: »
    Hi. Are you finding that the bars make it easier to meet your goals but push you over your calorie limit?
    It makes it easier for me to eat a protein bar than another portion of meat haha
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Keep Protein to no more than 1 gram per pound of LEAN BODY MASS per day. :) I haven't found any decent bars. Whey Isolate Powder is best.
  • ambition0967
    ambition0967 Posts: 5 Member
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    jmh_90 wrote: »
    ambition0967 wrote: »
    Hi. Are you finding that the bars make it easier to meet your goals but push you over your calorie limit?
    It makes it easier for me to eat a protein bar than another portion of meat haha

    I hear ya. Another idea would be finding a way to incorporate whey protein powder into some other things you enjoy. Maybe oatmeal, muffins, wheat pancakes, yogurt etc. That way you can have variety, meet macro goals and control unwanted added sugars
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    I wouldn't be afraid to sprinkle 10grams of protein powder on my ice cream that day either.

    I can't believe I've never thought to do that before, great idea!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    janjunie wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I wouldn't be afraid to sprinkle 10grams of protein powder on my ice cream that day either.

    I can't believe I've never thought to do that before, great idea!

    Yeah, I mostly use it for taste because I buy low calorie ice cream. I've usually already met my protein goal for the day hehe
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    janjunie wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I wouldn't be afraid to sprinkle 10grams of protein powder on my ice cream that day either.

    I can't believe I've never thought to do that before, great idea!

    Yeah, I mostly use it for taste because I buy low calorie ice cream. I've usually already met my protein goal for the day hehe

    I'm imaging vanilla ice cream with quest salted caramel protein powder sprinkled on top....drool
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    janjunie wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    janjunie wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I wouldn't be afraid to sprinkle 10grams of protein powder on my ice cream that day either.

    I can't believe I've never thought to do that before, great idea!

    Yeah, I mostly use it for taste because I buy low calorie ice cream. I've usually already met my protein goal for the day hehe

    I'm imaging vanilla ice cream with quest salted caramel protein powder sprinkled on top....drool

    Yeah I've used the Quest peanut butter protein powder and probably the salted caramel too. Right now I mix powdered peanut butter with PEScience snicker doodle. I put it on a gnarly low calorie ice cream that would get poo-pooed on this site but I make some decent sludges with it :)
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,390 Member
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    Nothing at all wrong with it, and lots of ways to get the extra protein. I like bars for when I need to up my protein and could eat a snack myself. But if you also use powders it's easy to add them in when you want.

    I think @arditarose has it all figured out for ways to add it too munchies. Poo-pooed ice cream with the right stuff on top is still better than no ice cream! And right now that has me thinking some of the bars heated up with some ice cream might be similar to a brownie sundae type treat.

    I might have to make an ice cream run. I have a load of calories left to eat today!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    robertw486 wrote: »
    Nothing at all wrong with it, and lots of ways to get the extra protein. I like bars for when I need to up my protein and could eat a snack myself. But if you also use powders it's easy to add them in when you want.

    I think @arditarose has it all figured out for ways to add it too munchies. Poo-pooed ice cream with the right stuff on top is still better than no ice cream! And right now that has me thinking some of the bars heated up with some ice cream might be similar to a brownie sundae type treat.

    I might have to make an ice cream run. I have a load of calories left to eat today!

    Yeah, the frozen thing I eat is 100 calories for the pint, then I put the protein powder and powdered peanut butter and yes-gasp-Walden Farms chocolate sauce on it, and I have a crazy chocolate sludge with protein for 200 calories.

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