Getting in Shape

Protein Bars

I met with a doctor for weight loss yesterday.  I need to lose 33 lbs to be within the healthy threshold for my height.  

His plan is to help me tweak behaviors so that I start eating 1200 calories a day out of habit and learn to eliminate hidden calories.  We'll do this for the first 20 pounds and then add exercise once I've learned to control my caloric intake.

His suggestion for the next two weeks, in addition to tracking my calories, is to replace my morning Cliff Bar, which averages 250 calories for 9 grams of protein with protein bars that have at least 10 grams of protein and no more than 200 calories.

I tried a Quest Bar today (20g of Protein since it's my first day) and it tasted like chalk.  My sister and BIL recommended mixing in Shakeology shakes which have 17g of protein and about 170 calories on days when I have time to make and drink a shake.  

Does anyone have any other better tasting suggestions?
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Re: Protein Bars

  • I like the special K protein meal bars. 12g of protein and under 200 calories (170 I think..). They do have more sugar than I'd like but they taste good. Plus they have fruit and chocolate flavors so there is more variety. 

    https://www.specialk.com/en_US/products/strawberry-protein-meal-bars-product.html

  • I would totally recommend Luna Protein (all their flavors are delicious and are around ~170 cals & ~12g protein) and Pure Protein (also good flavors and are around ~200 cals & 20g protein). Also if you're into shakes, the Premier Protein shakes are ~160 cals & 30g protein, and I think they keep me from getting hungry longer than the bars (just make sure you drink them ice cold).
  • I would recommend "Premier Protein" bars. There are a number of options to chose from with respect to flavor, and most options put you in the range of 18-20g of protein, and under 200 calories. 

    Another helpful tip, (which I'm sure you've probably heard but it warrants repeating) - make sure you drink plenty of water. A good way to kick start your metabolism first thing in the morning is to drink a glass of cold water. Not only does it wake up your system, but your body has to burn more calories to keep your body temperature regulated, it's a small thing, but a good thing to be mindful of. 

    With respect to tracking your calories, I would take that one step further and say you should really be tracking your macro nutrient intake. If your serious about losing weight, you need to know more about what you eat than simply how many calories you eat. I'm a body builder and I use the "myfitnesspal" app by Under Armor, it helps you set up goals, and track what you eat so you know how many grams of fat, proteins, and carbohydrates you are getting every day. The reason why this is important, is because if you are getting 1200 calories, but 50% of what you eat is fat than you are never going to lose weight, or if you are eating a lot of carbs you are never going to feel full, and therefore want to eat more. 

    I hope this has been helpful and not over-whelming. Best of luck to you! Keep up the hard work.
  • First - go get a Body Composition Scan done - this will tell you where you really need to be! (I carry a high lean body mass to the point my LBM is Obese according to BMI charts by itself which makes it fun to figure all this stuff out because toss the textbook)  Unless you have true knowledge about YOUR body, not some chart or other unreliable measure, you could shoot yourself in the foot for the long-haul!  Also, not having you exercise is setting you up for failure in the long-term, even if it's only a 15 minute walk around your driveway each day, do some thing! 

    I liked the MetRx bars myself and have BB friends that highly recommend the protein wafer bars (not sure the brand) - but for me, it came to a point after learning the stuff that @WestCoastGirl05 mentioned (I hang out with the bodybuilders though I'm a powerlifter) that I determined "If I'm going to consume 200 calories, I want to enjoy every single solitary one of those calories!" Food as fuel!  It also helped to create a balance because once the weight is off, how is it going to stay there?!?!  The plan needs to be manageable in the real world! 

  • Thanks all, sorry I didn't see these earlier.  I stocked up this week on Pure Protein Bars, and they're not bad.  They're about 20 grams of protein and 190-200 calories.  

    @charlotte989875  I didn't realize I didn't respond to yours, sorry!  For some reason those Special K bars never leave me feeling full.

    Knottie06171718 I have some of the Luna Bars for days when I need to mix it up or prefer a snack with a protein bar.

    @westcoastgirl05 - I drink about 12 -15 cups of water a day.  I have a 24 oz bottle that I refill throughout the day, I usually have 3 before lunch.  I have also been using My Fitness Pal, I like that it tells you when you're getting close to your other levels.  Most days, I have been eating a protein bar for breakfast and lunch and have a snack of some sort of veggie, sometimes with 2 TB of hummus.  For dinner, we cook from scratch and I use EMeals so our dinners are always under 500 calories. 

    MesmrEwe My weigh ins are on a Tanita scale (is that the same thing?).  It gives me a printout with my muscle mass, water weight and fat weight.  I weighed in yesterday and lost 6lbs of fat, my water levels were still good.  According to BMI I should weigh 135, according to the Tanita I should weigh 150.  That's a huge difference!  It also shows me what my metabolic rate is (just shy of 1600 calories).

    I also should have clarified, he doesn't want me not exercising, he doesn't want me counting on expected calories burned during exercise, so the focus for the first 20 pounds is on my eating habits.  

    I'm having surgery in a month and my ability to exercise (minus walking) will diminish for a month, so he wants me to have healthier eating habits so those 4 weeks I'm not recovering and struggling with food.  He told me that he has a lot of patients who are looking to make long term lifestyle changes, and a mistake he sees often is that people begin exercising, assume they burned x calories, so they then eat x more calories, get burned out and quit.  So he likes to track the bodies natural progression and changes in metabolic rate while tweaking their diets as they go.


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  • I've found that I really like making protein shakes and honestly, the brand isn't the issue. I find that if I use the recommended amount right off the bat, it tastes weird. I have been slowly working my way up to the total amount of powder required and letting my body and taste buds adapt to the flavour. I also find that adding in a handful of fruit can usually disguise any chalky flavour.

    It is also not a problem to start with smaller goals like 1600 calories/day x 2 weeks ... then 1500 calories/day x 2 weeks. I find that big jumps tend to be an issue with me. I like Luna when I need a protein bar.

    I've been looking at making my own and found this website and pinned it for use later. I haven't looked at protein quantity or anything, but it may be something of interest.

    http://dailyburn.com/life/recipes/homemade-protein-bar-recipes/

  •  

    MesmrEwe My weigh ins are on a Tanita scale (is that the same thing?).  It gives me a printout with my muscle mass, water weight and fat weight.  I weighed in yesterday and lost 6lbs of fat, my water levels were still good.  According to BMI I should weigh 135, according to the Tanita I should weigh 150.  That's a huge difference!  It also shows me what my metabolic rate is (just shy of 1600 calories).

    I also should have clarified, he doesn't want me not exercising, he doesn't want me counting on expected calories burned during exercise, so the focus for the first 20 pounds is on my eating habits.  

    I'm having surgery in a month and my ability to exercise (minus walking) will diminish for a month, so he wants me to have healthier eating habits so those 4 weeks I'm not recovering and struggling with food.  He told me that he has a lot of patients who are looking to make long term lifestyle changes, and a mistake he sees often is that people begin exercising, assume they burned x calories, so they then eat x more calories, get burned out and quit.  So he likes to track the bodies natural progression and changes in metabolic rate while tweaking their diets as they go.


    The Tanita scale is not even remotely close to the same thing.  Look up "DEXA Body Composition Scan" and your area.  The Tanita type scale that the office is using - I wouldn't give it much validity at all.  The only thing it's useful for is your pounds/kilos of overall bodyweight provided it's been calibrated and not being done on a carpeted surface.  BMI is absolute BS.  The Dexa scan is more accurate than a water tank as far as all things figuring out where you're actually at.  Without that knowledge, everything else is just a best guess, you could already be sitting at 150+lbs. of lean body mass! 

    The burnout his patients experience is because the program sucked from the outset and wasn't manageable for a lifetime nor using accurate numbers to start it off.  Often people will get to a perceived goal or close to it and they haven't done the due diligence to know where they really were at in the first place so they get down that they're 30lbs. away from an arbitrary chart that doesn't take into account their body composition IRL when the reality might be they're actually at an ideal body weight given their body composition and it's a an issue with toning.  Or, people get close to the goal and didn't do the change work inside (they didn't "get" the intended result they perceived the weight loss would give them, or the plan doesn't fit their life, they don't like feeling the way it made them, etc.).  Until those things are changed it's like a fly hitting the glass.. 

  • @MesmrEwe so the closest DEXA scan is 5 hours away.  Wah wah, are there others that are comparable?

    Thanks also for your input, I'm learning a lot from you!
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  • which quest bar did you have? my fav is the brownie and my fiance likes the cookies and cream one. anyway 1200 cals?! yikes! 
  • A few of the Kashi bars have around 120 calories
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