Meal planning and prep is one of the best ways to make sure you are eating healthy, balanced meals; however, sometimes we slip up and find ourselves with an empty fridge, or don’t have time to sit and eat a full meal. When our lives get extremely busy (like often happens around the holidays) we may start cooking less, skipping grocery runs, or not having enough time for our weekly meal prep. In these cases it’s always great to have a backup – protein bars and shakes are great meal replacements that require little to no preparation and can be eaten on the go. However, all protein bars/shakes are not created equal! Always check the nutrition label to ensure that the calories and macronutrients are appropriate for a meal replacement. Some protein bars and shakes can have as many as 400 calories with as little as 8 grams of protein!

For post-bariatric patients I recommend looking for a protein bar with 200-250 calories and 18+ grams of protein, protein shakes should be within 200-250 calories with 20-30 grams of protein.

Here are a few protein bars and shakes that fit within these guidelines:

Protein Bar Brands

• Quest (180-210 calories, 18-21g protein)
• Oh Yeah (200-230 calories, 19-22g protein)
• Paleo Protein Bars (150-220 calories, 20g protein)
• Pure Protein Bar (180-200 calories, 19-21g protein)
• FitJoy Nutrition Bar (230 calories, 20g protein)

Protein Shake Brands

• Premiere Protein Shake (160 calories, 30g protein)
• GNC Total Lean Shake (170 calories, 25g protein)
• Pure Protein Shake (120-170 calories, 22-35g protein)
• CorePower Shake (240 calories, 26g protein)
• Orgain Organic Protein shake (150 calories, 25g protein)