Protein bar or fruit?

[margo]

Which of these two do you prefer as a snack between meals:
Fruit like apple, orange or pear
or
Protein bar (150kcal - 15g protein - 8g carbs(6g sugar) - 3.5g fat)

I´m trying to stay lean!
Margo

[painintheazz]

The fruit will have less cals but no protein, so IMO it would depend on what your protein consumption for the day looks like if it is a little low I would go for the bar, if it is high I would go for the fruit. Stay with apple, orange, pear. Just be careful fruit can be hard when cutting. But if you are just trying to stay lean it will be fine.

[demetri]

Fruit is generally a bad idea if you're trying to lose weight. A peice of fruit a day wont derail most diets but the fructose is about as high in the GI as you can get.

If you need a fruity snack, berries and watermelon (yuck) tend to be low in carb. You can check out the carb counts of fruit at http://www.atkins.com.

Personally I would stick with the protein bar if I'm dieting ... actually I tend to avoid those too while dieting. The problem with looking for treats is that they usually multiply. If I don't have any I don't miss or crave any.

[RAMMEL]

What about fresh fruit juice?

Is it a suitable source of simple carbs to take post-workout?

[demetri]

It depends on your goal. If you're trying to cut then I'd stay far away from juice. Generally it's more concentrated than a peice of fruit. Most fruit are high in the GI but the total calories (carbs and sugars) are not that high.

Juice tends to be a little higher.

If you're looking to bulk then juice after your workout should be no prob.