Sometimes I cut my steak into oblong shapes. Does that count as a protein bar?

So, in a word: no. That sort of stuff weirds me out...if I can't make it in my kitchen, I'm not gonna eat it.

My philosophy does exclude them because they're processed food. Have you tried using something like beef jerky instead for your snack?

I'm sure all of us are already getting more than enough protein, so it's pointless at best but likely toxic once you cross the useful threshold. Probably better for you to eat a stick a butter (srsly).

I have made it a point to not eat food that I do not make, or could not make. So, I would not consume them. It would kind of depend on where you fall on the spectrum of optimal nutrition (no processed foods) vs. Weight-loss (limiting sugar, etc.)

I'd go with some tineed sardines, beef jerky, hard boild eggs, etc...

I don't eat food bars nor do I give them to my kids for the following reasons:

1. There are always questionable ingredients in them: soy, weird proteins that may not be good quality, artificial sweetners, too much sugars, sugar alchohols, nuts (allergic).

2. Never the perfect ratios of protein, fat, carbs. Usually too many carbs. The ones that are right in carbs - see above!

3. Expensive

4. Real food is just better

5. Homemade jerky is much better than any bar on the market.

No, I avoid all processed foods regardless of their origins. This is not because I am a "paleo" pedantic, I just find avoidance of such foods makes life a lot simpler. "Oh gee, is this or that ingredient paleo?" makes for way too much strife. If I make it or cook it, I know the food is "safe." (I especially save time by not reading food labels.)

Simplistically: If I don't make it, I don't eat it.

I like Mark Sisson's idea of 80/20 -- I try to eat right 100% of the time, but I sometimes just want a quick and tasty Atkins bar (their chocolate hazelnut bar is, for me, better than a Snickers!) So I consider an Atkins bar as falling into the permissible 20% quota. When I do eat them, it's for breakfast, too. I might eat them after a workout, too.

http://www.atkins.com/Products/ProductDetail49/Chocolate-Hazelnut-Bar.aspx is the bar I love. 1 gram of sugar, 4 carbs, 180 calories, 14 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein (admittedly, not a lot).

Making your own beef jerky (at temperatures below 115 degrees a la Lex Rooker style) is so worth it and much cheaper. I have to agree with you though, pre made protein bars are tasty, relatively cheap and efficient, but to answer your question- No i dont eat them.

I keep bar type foods on hand for "emergencies". I know most Paleo answers to food emergencies are to fast, but that doesn't work for me. If I get over hungry I have a tendency to binge.

The bars I prefer are Lara Bars and Mrs. Mays and Kind bars. I know they are sugar bombs, but they are gluten free, mostly nuts, dried fruits and honey. I probably only eat them once a month or so. Usually when I manage to forget my pre-made food at home.

Check out quest bars. They're really great and I like them from a nutritional perspective.

I like Tanka Bars - and they support a good cause too.

www.tankabar.com

Buffalo, Dried Cranberries (cranberries, sugar), Sea Salt, Red Pepper, Onion, Garlic, Lactic Acid Starter Culture

70 cals, 2g fat (it IS bison which is pretty lean), 7g carb

Not a lot of nutrition per bar but certainly better than other franken-food stuff. They come in bars and "bites" and a regular or spicy flavor.

Are you sure that the Atkins bars are gluten free? I believe that they are often sweetened with maltodextrin, which is a hydrolysed starch commonly derived from wheat. Equally, isn't the protein used soy protein?

You could probably experiment with making your own Paleo-ish protein bars; use whey protein powder bulked up with nuts and/or a gluten-free starch like air-puffed rice/quinoa or gluten-free certified oats and bound together with dark chocolate or coconut oil (if the ambient temperature of where you live is cold enough for it to stay solid).

If you have the stomach for it, you might consider buying or making some pemmican.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican

Edit: If you can find it, South African biltong also makes a good beef jerky alternative. If you're very adventurous, take a trip to your local Asian market and stock up on some dried seafood. Dried chilli squid rings; long-life Paleo fuel or nightmare fuel? ;)

Solution: Beef Jerky! Pemmican is another option but I can't really do the texture of pemmican just yet (only paleo for 1 month). My favorite is grasslandbeef.com's spicy version. But I feel you on the protein bars, it is hard for me to turn one down especially while running in between classes and work. Also the sweetness is refreshing sometimes, right?

Enter Mark Sisson. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-energy-bar-redux/ I feel these are relatively portable and absolutely yummy, and no worries about processing or questionable ingredients.

I will do a protein bar if I am desperate but I really like the "primal bars" from Sisson's website. They're pretty tasty (I add in some little chunks of 80+% dark chocolate sometimes). My kids even love them. I'll make up a batch of these, grab some nuts and jerky and we can make a pretty long car trek without having to stop for food.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-energy-bar-redux/

It's not 100 % paleo but it's a helluva lot better than the sugary bars at your local health food store (and they won't give you stomach cramps and gas like the sugar alcohol containing bars). In my experience, you can play with the percentages of the nuts and nut flours. Sometimes I have more almond or pecan meal on hand. Keep in mind, depending on the nuts you use, you are exposing yourself to some anti-nutrients and you may be skewing your omega 6: omega 3 ratio a bit. But again, these are better than the other alternatives out there. I've heard a lot of great things about quest bars, but I've never seen them in a store and have been to lazy to order them.

My philosophy does not preclude protein bars, but my taste buds do... they taste like shit!

Well, let's see ... so some 20,000 year ago a man walks up to a tree and there's a ripe protein bar hanging off the branch ...

Wait, what? Protein bars don't grow on the trees? Ok, a man throws a spear and kills a fat protein bar ... no?

That's why I don't eat them. My ancestors would not even recognise them as food.

they are about as processed as processed gets. that being said, I do occasionally find it useful to pack a few away. but there are better brands than Atkins. think thin bars they have dairy and some soy but are gluten free.

The ClifBar C seems to be a fairly healthy alternative. Of course, I think we are all looking at these as emergency foods when you just need a boost to get thought until you can get a steak. But its all fruit and nuts and salt. Nothing with words starting with mono hydro or soy-based, which is nice. Looking at the ingredients list, looks like something I might have as a snack in separate parts, rather than pushed together in bar form.

http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_clif_c/

I used to eat those at first when I went on lowcarb (my prepaleo days). At first, I liked the taste and ate them a lot, but after eating them for a while, they actually started to make me feel sick. My taste buds liked them but my body was STRONGLY rejecting them and started to put up a fight. There are actually only a few foods that have done that to me. The other one I can think of is Crystal Light lemonade. Atkins bars are probably not a huge deal, though, if you just need an occasional bit of cheat that will not spark carb cravings. However, I do not consider them a healthy food to be eaten often.

Try justagudbar www.justagudbar.com apricots almonds sunflower seeds flax seeds agave whey protien & cinnamon hand rolled and made in small batches....

I'll eat Quest Bars every so often. Usually something I keep at the office or in the car in-case I need something quick.

Used to occasionally in the past. Now I try to eat real food.

I've heard quest recommended several times on this site but I have some issues with it:

1) It has whey. I can't tolerate dairy, so I've been on the hunt for a dairy-free high protein, low-carb bar for some time.

2) It has sucralose and states "Sucralose is generally recognized as the best artificial sweetener available." Really? I know for a fact that Splenda makes me feel like crap in a way that Stevia never has.

With that said, the closest I've found to a paleo bar is the PaleoBar by PaleoLife. It has even less carbs than the Quest bar at 19g (quest=22g). Here is how I summarized it on my blog:

this bar is the closest I've seen to an organic low-carb, zero-sugar-alcohol, high-protein, dairy-free bar. Summary of ingredients: organic rice protein, organic nuts & seeds, organic cocoa, organic honey, some spices & salt. Money baby.

It's so new to the market that it has only 1 review on Amazon, and their website isn't even operational, but it has 1/3 of the sugar (6g) in the previous protein bar I recommended (18g sugar) with almost as much protein (17g). This really isn't that different from Mark Sisson's recipe for making your own protein bars (note to the dairy-sensitive: Mark's version includes Whey) http://blog.healclick.com/4-paleo-vices-that-need-no-recipe/

Note: I'm not sure what the PH policy is on linking to our own content and I looked in the FAQ section. If it's not allowed here, I will gladly remove it.