It doesn't matter what you had for lunch

[cyrano]

Lunch and dinner today:
About a dozen organic baby carrots
Two baked tofu sandwiches, the bread containing whole flax seeds and omega fatty acids
A mixed greens salad with fresh white mushrooms, broccoli, black pepper, fat free shredded cheese, and lo-cal lo-fat dressing

There will probably be a fat free lo-cal yogurt after I get my hour at the gym.

If I can make my life more like this, I might survive it.

So what's up with these protein bars? Are all of them so high in fats, particularly saturated fats? I'm seeing twenty and thirty percent of the USRDA in a single bar, for most of these. THat seems really high.

Comments

[esmerel.livejournal.com]

People use them for energy and for replacements for actual, ya know, food. Fat makes you feel fuller :/

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Oh. That's too bad. But now I know. And knowing is... um... Nope, I forgot.

[(Anonymous)]

Alton Brown devoted an entire Good Eats episode to granola and protein bars; deriding those very characteristics. If you ever get ambitious enough to make your own, I'm sure the recipes he used are out there somewhere.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Or, heck, my housemate probably has the episode on DVD.

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

I like the Balance Bars myself. They have a healthy dose of fat, but it's proportional to the protein and carbs.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

And I wouldn't even mind the fats so much, but there's such a big chunk of them that are saturated. If I'm going to pretend that this tiny food bar is a meal, then having the fats for calories is handy.

*hugs* by the way.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Commercial protein bars are mostly teh suck. Here's a homemade version out of Gourmet Nutrition which isn't bad:

4 scoops chocolate whey protein powder [I use Met-Rx Protein Plus, which you can get at TJ's]
2/3 Cup flax meal [TJ's or Whole Foods]
4 Tablespoons chunky natural peanut butter
1/4 Cup water
Splenda to taste [I don't bother]

Mix everything together in a large bowl and start stirring. At first it will seem like it's not enough water, but keep stirring, and it will eventually become a sticky blob of dough. If you have to, add some water 1 Tablespoon at a time. Divide the mixture in four equal portions, and put them into separate pieces of plastic wrap, shaping into a bar within the wrap.

Per bar: 283 calories, 29g protein, 11g c arbs (6 fibre, 2 sugars), 15g fat (3g sat).

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Oop, forgot the last part of the instructions:

Put the bars into the fridge, or store them in the freezer. You can eat them chilled, or even frozen, or you can eat it right out of the bowl if you're feeling impatient.