when it comes to food, i find that the less processed, the better my body responds. when designing a meal, i look for whole foods, focusing on clean meats and unprocessed carbs. if you plan ahead, packing all your meals in tupperware, its very rare than you will ever need to deviate from the plan. unless i'm dieting hard for a contest, if i cant get to my food, i'll find a bodybuilding friendly option from a diner. it might not be exactly what i'd want, but if you're creative, you can do pretty well. if that isnt an option, or i'm in a real hurry, my 3rd line of defense would be to have a shake. i'll consume oats and or natural peanut butter with the shake to meet the macros of that meal...finally, if that isn't an option, i'll consider having a protein bar. so you can see what i think of most bars. at best, i think they are good to hold you over until you can get to real food. i would be hard pressed to replace a meal with one. many bars out there are down right garbage, filled with surgar alcohol and an inferior protein source. those sugar alcohols can do a real number on your digestive system. they can be a real, um....crapshoot (pun intended). if you are going to pick a bar, the only brand that i have found, that seems to have any real value is quest. they are make with whey iso and dont contain sugar alcohols. they are also low in net carbs and have a good amount of fiber. there may be a couple more good brands out there, but i try to stay away from bars, and this is the only one i know of. when you are considering a bar, look at the list of ingredients. if there are more than a small handful, and you cant pronounce half of them, i would probably stay far far away.