Should Protein Bars Be Part of a Healthy Nutrition Plan?

Does a healthy nutrition plan [notice I didn't say "diet"] include protein bars? 

I get this question a lot from people who are just starting on a weight loss program. And the answer varies a little bit. It depends on your situation. 

If you go to your local grocery store, to the "protein bar section", you will most likely see approximately 60 different bars - different flavors, different brands, different breakdowns. So which ones are good? And are they that good? 

Here's some tips to help you navigate and made the decision as to whether you should include them in your nutrition plan. 

First of all, the NAME "protein bar" is misleading. Try an experiement for me. Disregard the pretty packaging and clever advertising and turn the bar over. Look at the label. Look at: 
1. Calories
2. Carb grams

3. Protein grams
4. Sugar grams

1. Calories - for women - should be in 180-250 range. 300-400 calories for a bar is way too much!
2 and 3. Look at carb grams vs. protein grams. If the bar screams on the label "High Protein" and yet it says 41 g Carb and 9 g Protein, what is it high in? Carb, it's a "High Carb" bar, not a "High Protein" bar. Aagh, so where's the truth in advertising? Well, they are a little overwhelmed in trying to fix our broken healthcare system, best not to wait for them to fix it. Take action yourself by reading labels and educating yourself. 
4. Sugar content by grams and also by reading the ingredient content. If sugar is first or second ingredient, you can be sure sugar content is high. Compare bars on sugar. You will see some with 9grams and other with 20+grams. Which do you think is better for you? 

Okay, so they are not all good for you. So, do you just pick out the ones that are good for you? 

Again, depends. 

When you first start on a nutritional program, a lot of times, you are coming off several things: bad [okay horrendous] eating patterns, poor quality of food intake and poor choices of food available. It's hard to make all of those changes at once without feeling some kind of rebellion from your body. 

When I wanted to lose weight, I realized I would have to give up some form of chocolate, whether it was the chocolate M&M's I had daily, or the small snack-size candy bars I had daily [see a pattern here], or the chocolate ice cream I ate at night. Something had to go. I chose all of them, which was a good choice for me at the time. I was able to focus on a good workout program and healthy foods for once. It forced me to lose my grip on chocolate. But there was a problem, I still CRAVED it. Then I found protein bars and again, was mislead by the title "protein bar". I figured if it had that title and WAS in the healthy section of the store, it can't be that bad, right? I did have protein bars as part of my nutrition plan, but I limited it to once a day, and then once I made progress, I had to limit that again to 1/2 bar a day or every other day. The further I got along in my weight loss, the more I had to "give up" in my chocolate battle. It just had to be that way. 

And now, I have been pretty much the same weight for the last 9 years. Are protein bars part of my regime now? Kind of. When I am training or serious about body fat % [think bikini], I don't have protein bars. When it is off-season or that time of month and I absolutely CRAVE chocolate, I will have one. But not every day. 

For me -- a protein bar was an ALTERNATIVE to having a candy bar. Period. 

So, for me, a protein bar was a good choice to help me over the weight loss hurdle hump. And that's what I recommend to my clients. Use it if you HAVE to to get you through, but know that there are heatlhier options and those include less-processed and more natural foods. 

Also, if you are going to have a protein bar, eat it with something for balance. For example, a handful of grapes, or an apple. Not only to satisfy your stomach, but to subconsciously tell your body to eat healthy foods [like fruits and veggies]. 

Be a smart consumer by turning foods over and reading labels. Then, YOU make the choice, NOT the front of the label, IF it is a good choice for you. Be strong friends!