As a woman, life can be a bit of a circus. Between juggling work, family and household chores, to endless carpools to soccer and dance practice, busy often isn’t an adequate word to describe a 21st century woman’s life.
Often this means we’re busy concentrating on everyone else, and fail to meet our own needs – especially when it comes to nutrition. One way to get enough essential protein daily is by adding a protein bar to your diet. So let’s take a look at the best protein bars for women.
Who Should Use Protein Bars?
We women are so concerned about our kids drinking enough milk for their daily dose of calcium and making sure our other half takes their daily multivitamin, yet we can forget to look after ourselves along the way.
The average lady should be getting around 0.36 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. This is just to get on with the hustle and bustle of daily life.
For the women who like to workout, you should aim for 1 gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight. This means the average 150 pound woman should be including 150 grams of protein in her daily diet.
If a benchmark of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is a tough goal for you, protein bars are an easy way to meet your protein needs. They also mean you can avoid the hassle and mess associated with protein powder.
At around 20 grams of protein per bar, they provide a low calorie boost towards your goal. You can stash some in your purse for a long car ride, a between meal snack or even just when you’re craving a sweet treat. Let’s face it, it’s certainly more convenient than storing chicken breasts in your purse!
What Will Protein Bars Do For You?
Not only are protein bars a convenient way for busy women to meet their daily nutrition needs, they’re also a great weight loss tool.
If you’re looking to keep weight gain at bay, protein bars can be a great low sugar alternative to satisfy your sweet tooth. With flavors like cake batter and peanut butter, you can treat yourself and get all that protein goodness at the same time.
Plus, being packed with protein and fiber means you’ll feel fuller for longer and even stop hunger pangs before they begin. Of course, you have the added bonus of retaining lean muscle mass by consuming high protein snacks, which helps you lose more weight from fat and keep that muscle you’ve worked so hard for.
How to Choose a Protein Bar
Although protein bars can be a great addition to your diet, not all protein bars are created equal. Make sure you look for a low calorie option without sugar. Women should only be getting about 25 grams of sugar a day – you don’t want to use all that allowance on one measly protein bar!
A savvy label reader knows it’s as much about what’s not inside as what is. Try to avoid products with artificial colors and sweeteners. Look for good, old fashioned, whole foods. Whey protein, nuts and seeds are examples of real food protein.
Even if a bar tastes amazing remember to check the label for calorie and fat content. Some bars are designed for huge bodybuilding men aiming to achieve that Hulk Hogan look – not ideal for your average woman. A bar with no more than 300 calories is a good choice as a post-workout snack or as a meal replacement.
The Best Protein Bars for Women
Choosing the right protein bar for you can be a difficult task. To help you ladies out, I’ve looked at all of the available options and selected five I think would be an excellent addition to any woman’s diet. I’ve listed pros and cons for each and even ranked them from one to five, leaving you with my overall favorite.
Our Choice
For me the Oh Yeah bar has to be the overall winner. Simply because they offer a really great source of quality protein. Plus if I can have a guilt-free sweet treat that even has sprinkles on top, I’lll be a happy woman!
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