Meal Bars?

[rmedina]

Hi,

I am aware that bars may slow down your weight loss or give you crvings but there are times that I just don't have time to go get anything else. Anyway. Any suggestions for meal bars or protein bars out there.

Thank you!

[PaulaMM]

Re: Meal Bars?

Hmmmm, I really don't have any suggestion in the bar department. My suggestion is to make sure you have plenty of stuff handy for those moments you have to grab and go.

Boiled eggs, precut veggies, mozzarella sticks, pork rinds, sugar free jerky, pepperoni, and tuna pouches are just some things I can think of right off the top of my head that could be grabbed in an instant and would be preferable to any bar you could buy. I'm sure if you really put your mind to it, you could come up with many more. Once you reach OWL, there will be even more choices. Very few Atkineers can have the bars without dietary backlash of some sort.

Don't let a hectic lifestyle derail your success.

Anyway, if you are determined to use the bars, I hope someone more knowledgeable than I comes along soon.

I wish you the best of luck and success!

[julirama723]

Re: Meal Bars?

The bars are no good for a few reasons...

1) YOU HAVE TO COUNT ALL OF THE SUGAR ALCOHOLS! True, the big number on the front of the bar says 3g net carbs, but look at the nutrition label and it has 4g fiber, 3g sugar, and 21g of sugar alcohols. You need to count the bar as 24g carbs. Why? Because sugar alcohol is absorbed just like regular sugar in some peoples bodies. How do you know if you're one of them? If you don't get a case of diarrhea, then the sugar alcohols were absorbed by your body.

2) THEY CAUSE HUGE CRAVINGS! Eat one, and you want another one 5 minutes later? Why? Because they're nothing more than glorified candy bars.

3) THEY ARE NOT LEGAL FOR INDUCTION! True! If you check out the ingredients, the bars contain milk, nuts, soy products, fruit, and sometimes grains. These ingredients are not legal until the later rungs of OWL. So even though something CLAIMS to be induction-legal, check the ingredients to get the real scoop.

4) THEY ARE EXPENSIVE! It's much cheaper to make your own beef jerky, buy pepperoni, eat cut veggies with dip, and eat string cheese.

5) YOU ARE NOT LEARNING TO EAT WHOLE FOODS! By relying on bars and shakes, you are not giving your body whole, unprocessed foods, which is the foundation of Atkins.

If you want the most success, it's best to do a clean induction--this means NO frankenfoods. Frankenfoods are all those specially formulated and modified foods like LC bars, LC shakes, Sugar Free chocolates, etc. On induction we want to BREAK the bad habits that got us here, whether it's coffee, soda, our sweet tooth, binging, etc.

I hope this helps! I feel it's always best to know the information before you make a final decision. When I read about all the no-no's surrounding bars and shakes, I stopped eating them and did a clean induction. I haven't had them since. At first I thought "Holy cow, how do these people eat all these real foods all the time?" But now, I can't imagine eating anything else, and wouldn't eat one of those bars if you paid me.

[Fuschia]

Re: Meal Bars?

Ditto to what Julie said. I also find it very odd that the official Atkins site doesn't have the full nutritional information on the bars listed. However, they do list hydrolized collagen in one bar. Along with a lot of other ingredients I don't know.

[rmedina]

Re: Meal Bars?

I had no idea there was so much to them. Thank you ladies!