Comments on: The Healthiest Homemade Protein Bar Ever!

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 15:01:07 +0000

@Dan. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing 🙂

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 15:00:20 +0000

@Ikky. Only people that eat a lot of sugary foods or drink a lot of soda need to be concerned about that. Some agave nectar isn’t going to harm anyone. Just like eating some fruit isn’t going to harm anyone.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 14:27:22 +0000

Just thought I’d share a recipe that I came up with for a low carb, high fiber, protein bar. That tastes like cookie dough – sort of.
For a batch of 5 bars:
80 grams clean 90% whey
100 grams coconut flour
78 grams ground flax seed
+/-270 ml heavy whipping cream
*cinnamon- to taste (I use 1-2 tablespoons)
* stevia – to taste (I use 2-3 individual packets)
* vanilla extract- to taste
* almond extract- to taste
Mix all dry ingredients, mix all wet ingredients, then combine and mix with a spoon and hands. Form into 5 bars, wrap in wax paper, refrigerate for a while to firm up.

Each bar will be contain roughly 350 calories, 20g protein, 4g net carbs, 13g fiber, and 25g fat.

I have tried many different variations and flavors as well, but this one is my favorite.

By: Ikky

Ikky — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 13:28:29 +0000

I’ve read a few articles that say agave nectar is not as healthy as was once thought. Although very low in GL it is very high in fructose, about 85% which is even higher than regular sugar.

By: TomGreenwald

TomGreenwald — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:58:18 +0000

Good recipe.
I haven’t tried to make a protein bar, but I do make healthy home-made breakfast musli. It consists of different nuts, dried fruit, oat-flakes and everything is fried in honey. Healthy and tasty. You should give it a try.

By: Bas

Bas — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:56:07 +0000

Alright, then I guees I’ll have to keep searching since I do not live in the US but in Europe.
Thx anyway!

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:43:28 +0000

@Mark: It’s nto the Glycemic Index that’s the issue. Fructose has a lower GI than other sweeteners because it doesn’t cause an insulin release. But fructose is a very damaging sugar–much more so than glucose. It increases triglycerides, increases uric acid (causing hypertension), screws up the liver, etc. The huge rise in fructose consumption over the past coulple of decades is probably the root cause of our obesity problems. Here is a pretty good discussion about the varous sweeteners:

https://tinyurl.com/yf9jg26

Honey is about 50/50 glucose/fructose. Agave nectar can be as high as 90+% fructose. Avoid it. The glycemic index is irrelvant.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:39:19 +0000

@Budgie. I don’t know where you live but I get the flax seed in a shop called SuperValu (Irish franchise) and Tesco do the agave nectar.
@Bas. Honey has a GL of 16 for a tablespoon compared to GL2 for the nectar. To be honest I can’t think of a natural alternative. If you’re in the US, Walden Farms make zero calorie syrups sweetened with splenda.

By: Bas

Bas — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:33:56 +0000

Hey Marc. Can you think of sth. to replace the Agave Nectar while having a comparable effect (I thought of honey, also for the taste but is this actually a good idea??)
Can’t get this Agave stuff around here:/
Would be great to get some suggestions how to modify this protein bar.

Keep going with this blog!
Very inspiring and motivating!!!

By: Budgie

Budgie — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:25:34 +0000

this one looks great i used to eat the mans one a lot but i was wonderting where do oyu get your ground flax and syrup ?

By: Alex Kay

Alex Kay — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:21:06 +0000

Thanks for the recipe Mark, I’ll try this the next time I have some chocolate protein powder at hand…

By: walauA

walauA — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:33:22 +0000

thx man!!

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:34:48 +0000

@walauA. 1.5 – 2 scoops is good.

By: walauA

walauA — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:33:47 +0000

i am taking whey protein of 24g a scoop does that mean that i have to use 2 scoop for a post workout drink?

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:18:40 +0000

@confused. No you certainly don’t need 3 protein shakes a day. Get most of your protein from food and meet your daily requirements. Extra protein won’t build extra muscle, it will be converted to glucose and used for energy, or stored as glycogen (if there is a need) or fat. That book sounds like it was written by, or sponsored by, a supplement company.
I’ll be shooting more vids soon.
Mark

By: confused guy

confused guy — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:15:38 +0000

hey, mark, buddy!
i have same question with noodkia… i read a book that says u should take 3 protein shakes, 1 immediatly after your workout, 1 about 30 monitues later, 1 about 45 minutes later…should i follow it????

btw can you reupload the lateral raise shoulder exercise;\

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:41:15 +0000

@Mike. Yes my chest was still fairly developed in my ‘skinny’ pics but remember that I had still been working out for a few years at that point. I was doing lots of things incorrectly but over time I was still making small progressions.
You may want to through a set or 2 of dumbbell flies to isolate the pecs, or use a pec deck if available. Overall, if you’re progressing just keep going, you’re moving in the right direction.

By: CR

CR — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:45:48 +0000

Good start, but Agave syrup is really high in fructose. Fructose is really, really bad. Just because it has a “low glycemic load” doesn’t mean it’s good for you.

Agave syrup is higher in fructose than high-fructose corn syrup, which is generally around 50-55% fructose. Agave is 70-90% fructose.

Seriously, agave syrup is not a healthy food in any sense of the word. Avoid it.

By: Michael Hwang

Michael Hwang — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:52:46 +0000

Sweeeet! I’ve been eating those promax bars, dunno what you think about them, but after a while I got really tired of the sugar. This seems like a really good long term bar.

Thanks Mark!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:01:16 +0000

This is off topic, but I am afraid you won’t see this if I post it in the correct place. So, I noticed that even when you were skinny (first successful cut ever pics) you had a big chest and you said that the chest is one of the easiest body parts to develop in your chest articles. In the flat bench press and incline bench press articles you used a barbell, but I only have dumbbells. I am currently doing 4 sets flat bench press with 30 pound dumbells (1st set about 35 pounds and 8-9 reps), 2 sets incline press with 25 pound dumbbells, flat chest flies with 20 pound dumbbells. My chest is one of only a couple muscles that is growing slowly, and strength gains are slow. I am 16 years old and I weigh about 140 pounds at 9-10% body fat (I can see my abs fairly clearly), and my chest is only about half as big as yours was. By the way, I am using good form and my tempo is the same you recommend. What do you think I should do? Thanks, sorry for long post!

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:58:07 +0000

Gareth,
Both GLAD and MANS are bulking diets, the goal being to pack on the muscle without adding fat. However, many have reported back to me with simultaneous muscle gain AND fat loss (see ‘testimonials’ section https://musclehack.com/testimonials/ ).
‘Total Six Pack Abs’, on the other hand, is the full cutting strategy to strip fat while preserving lean muscle. Again, many have reported back with simultaneous muscle gain WHILE they lost fat (see the testimonials on that page https://www.totalsixpackabs.com/ ).
All the best,
Mark.

By: Gareth Fitzpatrick

Gareth Fitzpatrick — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:42:27 +0000

Hi, just thought id leave this on here as im abit confused about what diet you think is best for cutting and also bulking?. Is low carb best for cutting but keeping as much muscle as u can (mans) and the low GI diet best for adding the most muscle without getting fat?.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:27:44 +0000

@John @Mike @Shay @Marochka_Raduga Thanks! 😀
@noodkia. No you don’t. I take 1 protein shake after a workout and that’s it. On non-workout days, I simply get my protein from food.
Eat a meal before working out but leave it about an hour to digest a bit before hitting the iron. Hope that helps.

By: noodkia

noodkia — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:29:51 +0000

i just bought gold standard whey(ON) from my local store, the salesman said i should take 1 scoop morning in non-workout days, for workout days take 1 scoop before and after workout!! that is a lot of money… should i take it that way?

By: Marochka_Raduga

Marochka_Raduga — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:58:04 +0000

I’ve not tried this recipe yet, but it sure looks great! If I pair this with some baby carrots and celery sticks, I should have a breakfast that’s just about perfect! Thanks, Mark!