Protein Bars?

Can anyone tell me what their favorite protein bar brand /flavors are?
I was looking at protein bars over the weekend and Target and wasn't sure where to begin with buying what I will eventually need.....

I personally think most protein bars are way too high in calories and a lot of them have tons of sugar in them and are nothing more than glorified candy bars, so be sure to read the labels.  I will do Atkins protein bars. They only run about 160 calories and most taste pretty good. They're good for when I'm on the run or if I want something chocolately and need some extra protein.

My surgeon doesn't really say much about protein bars, but I do have them once in a while if I know I'm going to have a busy day and won't get time to fix myself a good breakfast.  You MUST read the labels though - a lot are packed with sugar.

I prefer the Pure Protein bars (available at Walmart) - they only have about 2g of sugar per bar (acceptable for RNYers) and about 20g of protein.  The chocolate chip cookie ones have about 200 calories (what I usually eat for breakfast anyway) and the chocolate delight have 180 calories. 

Be forewarned - they do have sugar alcohols in them (which I why I rarely eat them) so if you are sensitive to anything ending with a 'tol (maltitol, sorbital, etc) they will have an effect on you.  They have aboug 4g of sugar alcohols per serving - right after surgery I couldn't handle any - now I can handle just about that...No more or I"m in the potty all day.

I prefer the South Beach Diet protein cereal bar in peanut butter, chocolate or cinnamon apple.  Each have 10g of protein and are 140 calories.

Erica, when I was a couple months out of surgery, on the full food diet, I could not get in enough protein wven after my liquid protein supplement. I kept a supply of protein bars at my desk. I didn't have problems with the sugar alcohol/sugars in them. But, I wasn't planning on using them as meals for the rest of my life either.

I tried many types and found that I cannot stand the crunchy ones, so I do the PowerBar flavors like vanilla yogurt etc. Now, 2 years out, I keep them for the occasional mealtime when I am not sure I can handle a meal or I don't have enough time for lunch between meetings. At 250-300 calories, they give me as much energy as a meal plus I get 25-30 gms of protein. I don't care about the sugars because once again, I am not eating these for 3 meals a day so it's not an issue.

A lot of what we eat/drink after surgery is by trial and error.

I use the Pure Protein. However I will warn you if you like them pre-op it does not mean you will like them post-op you tastes/likes will change A LOT!

I have an ongoing blog on protein bars that I've tried, like etc.  Feel free to check it out.  I am partial to the ZONE ones and you can buy them at Walmart and Target.

I too think protein bars are high in calories but they have other better nutritional value if you choose one of those for a snack or in a pinch then going for something else - me with my band it would be a candy bar or some crunchy sliders so if I have one with me I will do my best to avoid the not so good choices.

at  about 4  months out I am still not using protein bars.  Protein powders yes but not bars.  I don't think they give me enough bang for my buck so to speak.

My NUT said anything less than 15grams of sugar is okay. Sounds kinda high to me...  But I've tried the SlimFast bars and I like those.  I don't like the ones that taste like cardboard.  You really have to watch the sugar and calories.

Hi Erica -

I think I tried each one out there, and my fave is the Pure Protein brand.

The flavor I currently have is the Chewy Chocolate Chip - 200 calories, 3 g sugar, 7 g sugar alcohols and 20 g protein.  I always keep these with me, but usually only use them as a meal replacement OR when I really need a chocolate fix.

They have some other yummy flavors, but of course, the nutritional count varies with each one.

HTH,

Tia