Quick Bites: Protein Bar Reviews (Round 1)
January has been a bit of a blur. I can’t say I don’t know where the time is going… I know exactly where it is. I’ve got 10 million activities going on. But that’s how I like it, so I’m not complaining 🙂
That said, it’s a little tricky to stay on track with healthy eating, when there is barely time to stop and eat, much less prepare something. I’ve been snacking on protein bars in the afternoon, to carry me between lunch and dinner, since sometimes dinner is later than my stomach would prefer.
Let me start by saying I’m not generally a big fan of protein bars. I feel like most of them have too many calories, too many weird ingredients, and not enough protein and fiber. I’d much prefer a bowl of Greek yogurt and some fruit. Unfortunately, that doesn’t exactly travel well. Anyways, I’ve accepted that protein bars can be necessary, and even tasty. These are some of my favorites (and least favorites) that I’ve tried recently.
Kashi– Go Lean Crisp!
160 calories, 5g fiber, 8g protein. Less calories and a great taste. It’s the perfect bar to tide you over before dinner, but it won’t necessarily keep you full for hours. The cinnamon flavor was great, and it didn’t have that artificial flavor that some bars do.
Clif Builder’s Bar
270 calories, 4g fiber, 20g protein. This one packs in lots of protein, but also a lot of calories. Again, the ingredients list isn’t my favorite, but more importantly, I didn’t like the taste at all. It had that chalky protein powder taste. I won’t be getting this one again.
KIND Apple Cinnamon
180 calories, 5g fiber, 3g protein. I absolutely love the taste of KIND bars and the ingredients list is awesome. It’s less protein and fiber than some of the other bars, but I think the trade offs for ingredients and taste are totally worth it. It didn’t keep me full forever, but it did taste awesome. (And they have them at Starbucks, so that’s a bonus!)
Have you tried either the Lara bars or the Lara Uber bars? Both are awesome and usually have a fairly reliable ingredient list. The ONLY negative is that they don’t go on sale often, so they are a little on the pricier side compared to most bars.
Have you tried Quest bars? Low calories, low sugar and high in protein. I like Think Thin bars but they can be high in calories too. I tend to stick with LARABAR’s if I’m grabbing a protein snack on the go since they are made with very few ingredients. Not a huge amount of protein though but they’re all natural!
Cinnamon Coffee Cake? Oh man, I’ve never tried that flavor before, but it sounds incredible. I’m with ya though, they have never done a good job filling me up.
I adore that KIND bar!! PB and Chocolate is my other favorite:)
I love me some Kind bars. Two others that are fantastic with real ingredients…PURE bars and Picky Bars (the caffenator is the best)!
I love Picky Bars, Honey Stinger Bars and Luna Protein. Not as many scary ingredients than some others!
Yes, those protein bars can be clutch in certain situations but I really don’t like making a habit out of them either. My usual go-to bars are Luna, Simply, ThinkThin, Z Clif bars 🙂
Oh I like Z Clif bars, too! I think they taste way better than the Builder ones!
The Simply Bar. I find it usually DOES keep me full. And those are few and far between. I like ProBars a lot, although they can be higher in calories. I just tried these Journey bars that are SAVORY bars and they are amazing…small company based in Chicago so I don’t know that you could find them in Richmond, but YUM.
I really need to try the Simply Bars. The stats sound awesome!
I’m not a huge fan of bars either, but when I get stuck and need something to throw in my purse I always grab the Luna Fiber bars. You should try them 🙂 They taste like cereal bars and are really low in cals as opposed to the regular Luna
I haven’t tried the fiber ones yet! I’ll definitely add those to my list!
Try Picky bars!!!! I recently got gifting some at a running meetup and love them. Also, I know Hiney Stinger makes protein bars too. And I’ve had Luna protein bars and love them. All three do not have scary ingredients!