Protein Bars? yes or no?

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fitinyoga14
fitinyoga14 Posts: 448 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Clif brand Builder's Bars. "entirely natural portein bar" 270 calories. 8g total fat. 310g sodium. 30g carbs. 20g sugar. 20g protein.

Sometimes I need an on-the-go dinner that is light and healthy. I want my dinners to be small but also filling. These bars are definately filling and packed with all kinds of stuff. Can I eat these as a large snack or with another small portion to make a dinner?
Is it okay to eat them if you eat it at a time where you're not doing vigorous exercise?

I know that you need something nutrient-filled and packed with protein after hard work outs. But what if you just need something filling and on-the-go? I want to know if these types of bars could prevent you from loosing weight if you eat them for other reasons than replenishing after a hard work-out.

if you have any info. or advice it would be greatly appreciated. :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • SarahNicole317
    SarahNicole317 Posts: 302 Member
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    Clif is my personal favorite of any bar, partially because I have a dairy allergy and I can get the luna or other clif bars with soy protein. The only way you will gain weight when eating these is if your calories in are greater than your calories out. Simple as that.

    If you are consuming protein bars, check the label. You want to look for a bar that has less than 11 grams of sugar and not a lot of fat. Otherwise, it's a glorified candy bar. I think a snicker's bar has 10 grams of protein. I definitely wouldn't substitute with these more than once a day either. They are great for on-the-go meals and post workout. If you are consuming with something else just make sure it creates a balanced dinner (carbs, protein, good fat).

    I hope this helps!
  • danielleleee
    danielleleee Posts: 34
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    THATS A LOOOOT OF SUGAR!
  • fitinyoga14
    fitinyoga14 Posts: 448 Member
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    yes the sugar count definately worries me. and snf is right- this bar could definately be a glorified candy bar. what are some better alternatives?
  • fitinyoga14
    fitinyoga14 Posts: 448 Member
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    yes the sugar count definately worries me. and snf is right- this bar could definately be a glorified candy bar. what are some better alternatives?
  • jquintinjr
    jquintinjr Posts: 191
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    i wouldnt reccomend builder bars for "losing weight" maybe weight management. as far as a bar that could be used in part for substituting a dinner. i would reccomend snickers marathon nutrition bar.
    Specs:
    cal: 150
    Fiber:7g
    pro: 10g
    not to mention a wide array of vitamins and minerals.
    the snickers nutrition bar not only tastes amazingly good. better than normal snickers. it is also filling.

    another bar that isnt too bad is the south beach diet high protein cereal bar.
    specs:
    cal:140
    Fiber:3
    sugar alcohol:3
    pro:10
    the net carbs work out to be like 4g

    if you are looking for something with a higher protein content i highly reccomend 2:1 oatmeal protein bar
    google it. gnc now carries it and at 250 cal 32g protein only 4net carbs you cant beat it. its also a 70g bar so it is fairly large.

    as far as other portable on the go snacks/replacements go here are some of my favs:

    -handful of almonds
    -dry roasted soybeans
    -kashi crunchy bars
    -slice of homemade protein banana bread(basic banana bread with one scoop of whey and addition of 1/4 unsweetened applesauce)

    hope this helps a little. can the food be cooked or does it have to be ready to eat? and other protein bars i like are:
    odwalla super protein bar
    promax cookies and creme
    zone perfect dark chocolate nutrition bar
    labrada cookie bar
    supreme protein carb conscious bar
    i also like to make some plain oatmeal and add in 1scoop of whey. tastes really good and at 150cal for 1/2 cup dry oats + 130cal from whey and total of 31g of protein and 5g of fiber its excellent.
  • bosanka
    bosanka Posts: 336 Member
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    I have read a ton of books regarding nutrition and that kind of stuff. Most recent one was the Master your metabolisam from Jillian M.

    She says - stay away from that stuff.. it's loaded with everything in " few bites " like you say it's a " large snack " calorie wise.. but not really " amount wise. ..

    If you are on the go, i would recomend that you pre-plan your meals. Maybe one day a week you could prepare- pre-pack or freeze your " on the go" dinners ..
    Just today i have read an article from a bodybuilder - he said, everyday he puts his protein powder in a bottle takes it with him to the gym- leaves it in the car.. once done with workout adds water to it- shakes it and has it in the car while driving to his next thing " to do" .

    Why not have milk with whey protein instead ? I think it has much less sugar than those bars.. maybe even less calories.

    A cup of ff milk is about 90 kcl- no fat- 9 gm protein.. Add a scoop of protein- about 50 kcl - together 140 kcl .. compared to the bar of 270 kcl .. it's a huge difference on a " daily basis " ..

    Would say- no to the bars, just because they are loaded with extra stuff that you don't necesserly need- esp. not in those amounts.

    Good luck
  • danielleleee
    danielleleee Posts: 34
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    yes the sugar count definately worries me. and snf is right- this bar could definately be a glorified candy bar. what are some better alternatives?

    I CAN'T REMEMBER THE BRAND NAME FOR THE LIFE OF ME RIGHT NOW. MESSAGE ME AND I WILL GET BACK TO YOU ON THIS TONIGHT OR TOMORROW!

    UNFORTUNATELY THE ONES WITH LOW SUGAR AREN'T GOING TO TASTE AS GOOD. BUT LOOK AT THE NUTRITION FACTS AND JUST LOOK FOR SOMETHING WITH LOWER SUGAR..
  • SarahNicole317
    SarahNicole317 Posts: 302 Member
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    The interesting thing about what Jillian says is that she totally disregards anything about putting 'crap' in your body when she came out with a line of supplements.

    Detour has a low sugar bar with only 5 grams of sugar in it. Also, remember the body can process about 20-30 grams of protein at one time so you don't want to go too high, especially being a woman with what looks like a smaller frame (from the pic).

    Have you ever seen the clean eating magazine or eat clean diet cookbook? Both of these resources have recipes for homemade protein bars without added chemicals and other crap. You can make them on Sunday and have them for the rest of the week or freeze them.
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
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    I loooove Luna bars as a mid-morning snack :) S'mores is my fave!
  • jquintinjr
    jquintinjr Posts: 191
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    and the snickers are actually decent contrary to belief. the have a low gi and contain good amounts or protein and fiber. the sugar content may be somewhat high but protein content and fiber slow the absorbtion.
    and odwalla bars are great the protein one has 210cal 14g pro and 4 or 5 g of fiber i think.
    they also make other flavors but they contain a max of 5g pro.
    the odwalla bars do not contain dairy and use soy and brown rice syrup. this = a low gi and almost non existent spike of Blood sugar.
    but if your looking for filling nutritional with fairly high protein go for kashi crunchy
    the chocolate pb one has 180cal 9g pro 6g fiber and very low GI
    keep in mind just because the sugar content is somewhat high the doesnt mean all bad. Kashi are low btw.
    the high fiber and protein great reduce the rate at which sugar is absorbed.
  • MichelleWagner50
    MichelleWagner50 Posts: 240 Member
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    I really like the South Beach Diet high protein cereal bar in peanut butter flavor. I tried the chocolate ones, but didn't like them and I love chocolate!
    I eat one every morning for breakfast with a cup of coffee.
    Good luck!
  • biffy107
    biffy107 Posts: 38
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    I like the atkins carmel double chocolate crunch bar
    Nutrition Facts
    Protein 10g
    sugar 1gr / Net carb 3g
    Fiber 11gr
    sodium 160gr
  • naeS1Sean
    naeS1Sean Posts: 21
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    Clif bars are soooooooooo good. There fine to eat Id say, as long as you can work them into your MFP (that is, if you do it before you eat)
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
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    I like Larabars. All natural, usually only 5 ingredients in em, very dense & yummy. I usually have half of one half way through my work out to keep me from bonking (with my diabetes, I'm more prone to it). They've really been helping with the issue lately!

    here's the stats for the Cinnamon Roll flavor I had today:

    serving size: 1 bar
    cals: 240
    fat: 12
    sodium: 0
    potassium: 320
    carb: 30
    fiber: 4
    sugar: 23
    protein: 5

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