protein bars - blessing or curse?

I've been faithfully logging via My Fitness Pal and the scale's not budging.  I'm not whining although I'd really like to kick and scream about it.  It's part of the journey.  I'm basically a very lazy person in the morning and have made a protein bar my breakfast for as long as I can remember.  I'm sticking to "real" food this week, increasing my water and keeping a watchful eye on those notorius carbs.  Make it a terrific week!

Great attitude.  Willingness to do things differently can be so helpful as we figure out what works best for our own body.  Let us know how it goes.   I need to increase my hydration as well.  Thanks for the reminder.

I call them both. I do not eat them daily, but I carry one in my purse at ALL times, "just in case." 

I recently found the Atkins "snack bars" which are basically protein bars only in a smaller size, and they are yum! I sometimes eat 1/2 and then eat the other half on a completley different day.

Good luck, I agree with about your willingness to change. I have to say on this journey I have seen the scale STUCK more often than I see it MOVE, it's just how things have gone for me. As long as the scale still keeps moving down, however long it may take, I'm happy!

For me, protein bars are dangerous territory.  They're a necessary convenience for days when I'm out erranding, or when I'm out hiking and I want a good nutrition option that doesn't require refrigeration and will hold up well in my bag.  But many of them are a bit too much like candy bars for me, and tend to set me to craving more.  With many of them, if I eat half, I'll find my brain thinking about that other half for the rest of the day.
Lately I've been very pleased with the Quest Bars I ordered.  All the flavors have been good, and most have been GREAT, and the net carbs are very low, around 4-6 grams for a whole bar, so I feel like they're a safer bet to not turn into a problem food.  I wish I could get them at a local store (some of the GNCs have started carrying them, but only 1-2 flavors), but they're well worth special ordering. 

My head is missing my morning protein bar.  I haven't given them up forever.  They have a time and a place.  I was having one every morning, though.  I'm concentrating on keep my carbs lower.  Via My Fitness Pal, the bars and fruit were really bumping up the carbs.  I have decided to give the bars up for the rest of Lent.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I will give the Quest bars a try in the future.  Thanks!

Janet

I actually eat one a day. They are convenient and they don't trigger me to do any dangerous types of eating.

Plus, I always have a hard protein for lunch so I can never eat enough not to be hungry an hour later. I have my bar and then my entire "lunch" is about the right amount of protein and the right amount of calories.

They are an essential part of my diet.  Because of my restriction, I can still only eat about 2- 2 1/2oz of anything dense at a time, maybe (and not always) 3oz of soft cheese if I pu**** or 4oz of cottage cheese.  In order to get 1500 calories a day, I have to eat 6-7 times a day.  I would never be able to drink enough If I ate dense dense protein or cheese that many times a day and had to wait an hour afterwards. 

Keep in mind,    I can't eat or take vitamins for an hour after taking Levoxyl first thing every day and I take an Iron supplement that comes with it's own set of dietary restrictions (No dairy, levoxyl, vitamin pills, or calcium,  2 hours before or after).   Also, I work 60-70 hours every week, workout 5-7 days a week,  travel on the weekends, have a house full of dogs including several puppies I'm training right now, etc.  I need a certain amount of convenience.  I have a private office and a fridge which is helpful becauase I can keep it stocked with Babybel, etc., but I still have to work around my timing and schedule issues. 

I prefer Atkins Daybreak Peanut Butter Crisp bars and Cliff Mojo Trailmix bars.  I get the 22 mixed assortment of Mojo bars for $17.99 at Sam's club.  I am still losing weight, albeit slowly, at  1300-1500 calories a day.  I need to go up like another 500 to stop completely. 

Thanks for all of the feedback.  I needed a reset from my normal routine.  Quite frankly, "slider" food is terrifying.  I opened Pandora's box which for me is carbs.  I have tested how far I can push the envelope.  I don't want to go there.  I'm cleaning up my act a meal at a time.

Janet