At school for snack, to get my protein fix, I take a protein bar, but somehow it doesn't feel right eating a big chunk of chocolate as part of my diet (even though I don't have any problems with shakes after lifting - weird). Are protein bars a good idea?

Nice avatar, I used to blow that up a bit, ran around as the eyeball.

Is it really a chunk of chocolate now? Look at the nutritional breakdown claims.
It is a good idea if you don't have time to pack anything else, and is much better 'snack/meal' than grabbing a bag of chips for food.


Good: For convenience
Poor: Price per gram


I stopped using them a while ago, few are appetizing. Shakes go down easier and cost less.

Some brands make me fart. This in itself is both a good and bad.

There are no good or bad foods, only foods with different nutritional content.

I'd say it depends on the breakdown (and company making them to a lesser degree). What I mean by that is if you are buying a "meal replacement bar" with high protein, decent carbs, etc. from one of the supplement companies, I think you are further ahead than picking up something from "Adams" or "Mars" which is a glorified candy bar.

I totally agree that powders are way ahead in most categories, but I have to admit, convenience rocks with some of the bars. Buying by the case is less than by the bar (and some of the GNC type places often have discount cards etc.) but...try before you buy and...in my opinion...stay away from anything "fruity" or "cookies and cream". I think "artificial fruit flavor" has a nasty habit of coming back up all day long, and C&C is far too sweet, I've never had one I could choke down more than one bar of.

The price per bar thing is sometimes...well usually...nuts. but, I think they do have their place.

I would personally recommend protein shakes -- even the highest protein protein bar I found (The PowerBar ProteinPlus CarbSelect: $23.00 for a box of 16(?) at Costco) had only about 22g of protein in it or so for 270 calories. Admittedly, the ones with the sugar alcohols taste pretty good, especially compared to the shakes. I switched to the AllTheWhey orange flavored protein blend, and I get 44g of protein for 220 calories.

I mean, just for comparison's sake, the Chick Fil A Chicken Chargrill (no condiments) has 28 g of protein for 270 calories, and I think tastes pretty damn good. It also costs me around $3.09.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that protein shakes are good for protein, bars for portability, and chicken breasts for tastiness. The three factors that I consider.

Why not get yourself a tight, leak proof thermos/mug and throw in a scoop of protein powder in the morning. Then later in the day add water and shake? Add a pb/jelly sandwich (very cheap) or piece of fruit to put some substance in your stomach as well.

I take shakes everyday after lifting, it's just that bars are really convenient for snack at school. And I'm not concerned with calories. Actually, I'm trying to consume more calories so I can gain some weight. I just try to stay away from sweets and I'm wondering if the protein in the bar is worth the chocolate (not that I'm concerned with getting fat or anything, I'm just a health nut). But it says on the packaging "Helps support muscle mass" so that's why I picked it up.

By the way, to the first poster, yeah, Quake 3 ruled, I always played as Doom.

That's all good, but if you continue to eat protein bars daily, the total money spent will be greater than some 3rd world country's gross domestic product.

You sure you need the protein bars? What's your weight and what's your protein intake per day? Shakes are the way to go, I drink the slime everyday after my lifting. Apparently though mixing it while in school is a pain in the ass. I know I used to do that in highschool. The bars are also expensive

A pbj has 15 grams of protein (wheat bread) and a cup of milk will equal 22 g exactly of protein. The same amt you'd get from that bar, and it's cheaper. It also has some high glycemic sugars to halt any catabalism and energy loss you're experiencing from the strenous exercise. That and carbohydrates, extra calories, blah blah blah.

That's what I said, minus all the technical mumbo jumbo.

What you really need is Power Sauce bars, harness the awesome power of apples!

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Actually I was wondering about this myself... anyone know of any good protein shakes that taste good without milk? The only ones I've found are the Strawberry MetRx ones.

Ahh, they're lethal without milk. I wouldn't try it. I did once, That's all I tasted, all day. As for mixing them with milk or water, the one that mixes really well for me is called ON (Optimum Nutrition) Whey Protein. It mixes realitively clean and you can actually do it with a spoon. No blender needed.

Yeah, but if it doesn't taste halfway decent, I won't touch it. I had a batch of Muscle Milk that I threw out after the first shake because it tasted (literally) fishy.

This stuff isn't bad, it tastes like Swiss Miss cocoa. Not natural Hot Chocolate, but edible.

growproteins.com - classic grow mrp- sooo good- just throw in some fruit and its a delicious fruit shake-or leave it alone and have a nice milkshake- i love this **** 40 grams per shake