In your quest for a slimmer waistline, a leaner body, or more muscle definition, protein bars can be a great tool to help you build and maintain muscle while losing fat. But like anything, you must make sure you are using them properly and eating the right type of energy bar for your specific needs.

I have been using protein bars as a part of my diet for over twenty years. I know how important they can be in our every day diet plan. It does not matter whether you are an athlete, bodybuilder, exercising or not, protein bars used properly can have very desirable results.

A good protein bar can have a profound effect on our energy levels, body fat levels, and muscle condition. They keep your metabolism up, and support your health and fitness lifestyle.

Best utilized as an energy boosting snack, but in a pinch they can be a good meal replacement. There are so many flavors and varieties available, you can be certain to find an alternative healthy energy bar to replace whatever your favorite junk food ‘vice’ might be.

Before buying any nutrition or protein bar, you have got to take a good look at the label. Pay close attention to what it is exactly that you are buying. What are we looking for here?

For starters, protein. Choose a bar that has at least 5 grams of protein. That is a minimum. The most productive bars, metabolically speaking, have at least 12 grams of protein while being less than 230 calories.

A high quality protein bar will list whey protein as its first protein source.

There may be additional protein sources as well, such as calcium caseinate, soy isolate, milk protein isolate, and egg whites. These are acceptable proteins, and most bars contain protein form more than one source. Gelatin is a very low quality protein, and is also sometimes an ingredient.

Take note of the carbohydrate content. We want to be energized, not falling asleep after a big blood sugar surge. Choose a bar that has less than 30 grams of carbohydrates. If you are dieting to lose weight, you best bet is to stick with bars that have about 20 grams of carbohydrates or less.

A bar with some fiber is certainly a nice attribute. More and more bars on the market have fiber, but there are still plenty that have none.

Even so, a protein bar with no fiber is still 100% better for your diet that any other junk food. So if your favorite energy bar has no fiber and uses high fructose corn syrup, it may not be the healthiest but still a better choice than a junk food snack.

Eating a protein bar that is ‘cookie dough’ flavor is still dramatically healthier than eating real cookie dough or cookies for that matter. If people replaced their junk food intake with protein energy bars for one year, the results could be staggering.

Unhealthy snacking simply sucks the energy right out of you and increases body fat.

Okay, so what about the fat? Don’t be alarmed when you see that a lot of the protein bars have 20-40% of their total calories from fat. These are usually acceptable forms of fat that will keep you sustained with energy. The fat will help sustain hunger and steadily energize you.

Total calories for most of the bars range between 100-230. That is a perfectly acceptable ‘snack size’ range for anybody

Just like any other food source, too much intake will cause weight gain. Just because they are protein bars, or energy bars, does not mean you can snack on them all day long. Use them properly and protein bars can help you achieve weight loss and fitness goals.

Stock up and keep them readily available. If you don’t have them, you can’t use them. A healthy protein bar snack can prevent a bad choice at the vending machine or convenience store.