I just had my surgery yesterday so I am 3-4 weeks away from solid foods. That said, I was told that, once I can eat solid foods, I should eat a bar rather than drink a shake (as the shake will go right thru the stoma and not be satisfying). The problem I see is that all the bars I can find have a high calorie to Protein ratio.

Anyone have any suggestions for a descent tasting Protein Bar that is relatively low calorie?

Check out Bariatriceating.com. They may have some options or some reviews of different bars.

I like thinkthin bars but only in an emergency when I am caught without having been able to prepare something else. I keep one in my backpack just in case.

Is there some reason you are planning to use protein bars and not food to get your protein? Just curious. At my second nutrition consult I learned that most bandsters don't need to supplement protein...I'm still very new at this so I don't have my own routine set. My nutritionist did say that if for some reason I can't get enough protein (recommended 70g per day) and I decide to go with a bar that I should pick one with minimum 15g protein and under 200 cals.

Good question. I do plan to ear protein with my core meal but was led to believe that I would still need a supplement.

I rarely need to supplement my meals with protein. I only supplement on the days when I'm weightlifting and aiming for 130g+. If you're eating 3-4oz of dense protein a meal you can generally hit 60g+ with that alone. You can look at Pure Protein bars. I also used Quest protein bars.

I just had my surgery yesterday so I am 3-4 weeks away from solid foods. That said, I was told that, once I can eat solid foods, I should eat a bar rather than drink a shake (as the shake will go right thru the stoma and not be satisfying). The problem I see is that all the bars I can find have a high calorie to Protein ratio.

Anyone have any suggestions for a descent tasting protein bar that is relatively low calorie?

My .02...I'd ditch the idea of a protein bar and just eat regular food. I generally start my morning with either an egg and 2 sl of bacon or a low carb/low cal Protein Drink (depending on how tight I am in the morning), lunch and dinner lately have been 3 oz of protein and 1/2-1 cup of low carb vegies.

The 60gm guideline is given because we're healing from surgery. The amount a normal person needs varies according to which expert you're talking to. I'm not sure even they know how much we 'need' although most seem to be somewhere around 40 for women and 50 for men.

However, even if you're trying to boost your protein, you're better off doing it by actually eating protein.

.

I eat the ZonePerfect Protein bars for Breakfast every morning. They are not perfect in terms of the calorie to protein ratio (here is the nutrition info), but I never have any time to eat breakfast and this is the only way I can get it down. I also have to admit that I love the cinnamon roll kind a whole lot and since it's probably the only thing I regularly eat with carbs (other than veggies, of course), it's sort of a morning treat

I will say, if I had the time or motivation to do eggs or some other no-carb protein in the morning, that would be highly preferable. I think that if you are really conscientious about your Proteins, you won't need to supplement.

I found "Pure Protein" bars when I was going on a long road trip and didn't want to get stuck in the fast food trap. They worked great and go down with no problem. They have 20g. of protein and hardly any sugar (I think 2-3 grams depending on the flavor you choose). However, now that I have them in the house, I WANT one every day even though I don't need it. Hopefully you're more disciplined than me and can use them only on occasion, like on a day you've really worked out hard or didn't get protein in otherwise.

Not sure why the doc would recommend bars instead of shakes. I have a protein shake for breakfast that has zero sugar and 25g of pure protein. It's by Genisoy. I think that's actually better than the bar any day.

Good luck!

I don't do protein shakes or bars. I feel that if I eat properly I will not need meal replacement I do mix Pure unflavored protein powder in my yogurt once a day. I eat 1200 cals a day and I am always at about 75+grams on protein, my scoop of powder is 12g so I really don't need it. I think you should focus more on real foods as they will keep you satiated longer than shakes. I have one bar that I eat for snacks, SOUTH BEACH PROTEIN FIT. It's only 140 cals and I think10g protein. Makes a filling snack. Good luck and I hope you feel better and stronger each day as you recover.

I found www.youbar.com where you build your own bars, shakes and trail mix. i LOVE LOVE the trainer 33 bar.

Shakes I use www.leanerliving.com

I don't supplement any Protein, I get more than enough with my 3 meals. If protein is the main focus of my meal chicken breast or eggs or something like that has like 20g+ of protein

For me the bars have too many calories to be a snack anyways... i'd rather just eat my meals.

I keep the South Beach protein ones (cranberry almond) on hand "in case of emergency" like something that comes up at work and keeps me from eating the food I brought for lunch. But I typically get protein from real food.

Pure Protein bars are a life saver!! When I'm extremely busying during the day and running around....the last thing I need to do is go food shopping when I'm starting to get hungry!!! I just take a quick break and eat my Peanut Butter/chocolate bar then hit the food aisles! No risk of buying bad choices because it really is filling! Only 200 calories/2 grams of sugar...its a meal itself! I actually got my 85 year old aunt who lives alone & hates to cook. I was worried about her just snacking on cookies, etc and at least this has protein and she loves them. My mom who is on dialysis needs to get tons of protein in her but she cannot eat a meal during her treatment and she's starving when she's on her way home and stuffs her face with food. She takes a bar and eats it in the middle of her treatment which fills her up enough until she gets home to eat a proper meal.

I found www.youbar.com where you build your own bars, shakes and trail mix. i LOVE LOVE the trainer 33 bar.

Shakes I use www.leanerliving.com

I just clicked on your link because I thought the idea of building your own foods is awesome! When the page came up, it was all in an Asian language...Chinese I am guessing! I thought to myself, "Awesome! This lady can read Chinese!" And then I typed your link in Yahoo and found that it is http://youbars.com/, with an "S". LOL

Off to look around the site! Thanks for the info. and the giggle!

Kelley

I still like Lindora's protein bars best. My favorite is the Chocolate Mint. Tastes like a thin mint cookie from the Girl Scouts. I also like the Peanut butter bars. You can get them at Lindora and some insurances give you a discount. They alson now sell them at Rite Aide stores. It's a great snack when you're "on the go".

Good Morning!

Great replies from everyone! Thought I might add my 2 cents.

I was banded september of 09 and made it a point to take this weight off SLOOOOOWLY. Im doing it, im under 200 and started at 246. I want it all to be off 3 years from my band date. Ok, I know, im weard, lol. At this rate it will be!

I dont do the Protein drinks, they tend to go right through me and im hungry a short time later. I do have a Protein Bar once a day. Usualy in between meals. I eat 5 very small meals a day. I found one that was decent in calories and high in protein and low in sugar. I t kinda takes me back a bit. Im going to age myself here. When I was around 5 or 6 my Mom used to eat figurine bars. Anyone remember them???? Well when I bit into this bar it went alllll the way back to 5 or 6 years old and sneaking into the cupboard to steal moms SPECIAL food! The name of the bar is Power Crunch protein bar. it has 200 calories, 13 grams of protein, 5 grams of sugar and 1 gram of Fiber. I only eat the choco Peanut Butter ones and they go down pretty good. I can only eat half at a time, so I stretch it out over an hour or more. I also work construction so this is perfect for me when we are on the road working. Its a wafer type bar and I LOVE it.

I do eat alot of protein and good veges at my regular meals, eggs in the morning, I can get 1 down, and rolled turkey or ham in the afternoon with some swiss inside, dinner will usualy be anything meat,,and some broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower, etc.

If Protein Bars arent you thing you could try some greek yogurt too, 14 grams of protein! Or some Nuts,,mmmmm one of my favorites.

OH ,PS I have a 9cc realize band and it has 8.25cc's in it.

Have a great day everyone!

Becca