The Clif Bar Meal Plan

I do Clif bars/Clif Shot Roks during the day while hiking, but I like my hot meals at night and hot coffee in the morning!

My son is good with Clif Bars, hot chocolate, and jelly beans.

Hey Chris – I sure have. In fact, I have gone stoveless for several days and just ate bars. I don't drink coffee and a hot meal at the end of the day is not that vital. I will, however, also take protein bars with the clifs.

"I will, however, also take protein bars with the clifs."

David, have you tried the Clif Shot Roks? A bag of protein bites. Pretty darn good. Better than most protein bars IMAHO. During the day I nibble on a bag of them. Good stuff.

You make a good point Chris, however weight could be an issue. I'm pretty sure this has been discussed quite a bit on this forum. Clif bars are quite sufficient in their carbohydrate content and nutrients, and depending on the flavor, contain a fair amount of protein and like you said are uber convenient. The big drawback to using a Clif Bar meal plan for more than a day or two is the water weight present in the bar. The weight over 2 days+ would quickly add up as Clif Bars arent exactly light, they're quite dense and have a lot of packaging. Pasta, dried meat, instant mash potatoes, dried fruit, beans, lentils and soups contain equal amounts or more of required nutrition on the trail, can be more sustaining once consumed, and give you a sense of a complete meal at the end of a long day. Just my thoughts.

Eugene,

I suppose it would be possible to dehydrate/rehydrate a Clif Bar, no? Has anyone here tried doing that?

Ah, since the bars are high protein, then it would probably be a good idea to balance them with some slow-burning carb snacks in between meals, which would be ideal when you are on the go.

I can't argue with a hot coffee or tea in the morning. In the outdoors, becoming one with piping hot liquid caffeine can be a religious experience…

Hi Doug,

actually I have and I like them. Thanks for reminding me!

Sounds like a good way to condition yourself never to want to eat another Clif bar!

Is that possible? I have consumed well over a thousand and somehow look forward to them still. I swear some of them are cookies masquerading as a balanced snack. MMM maplenut. Makes me hungry.

I love the convenience of energy bars– Clif, Lara, Snickers (candy bars count as energy bars!), etc. The only downside, as far as I can tell, is that they are maybe a little too easy to digest. That's perfectly okay for shorter trips, but I find that once you go three or more days eating several energy bars each day, you start having to visit the facilitrees a lot more than usual. Of course, that might be other things besides just the bars.

The only other downside is the price to calories ratio. If you're really cheap, bars aren't always the best choice.

"Sounds like a good way to condition yourself never to want to eat another Clif bar!"

It only took me one. :)

Of all the energy bars on the market they have the best taste and consistency as far as I'm concerned. Often that's all I'll eat in the morning so I can hit the trail early and quickly. However, I don't think I'd do well trying to subsist solely on energy bars as I don't have much of a sweet tooth…It seems I crave salt more than sugar when on the trail. And as Eugene pointed out there's the weight factor to consider.

Two Comments –

First: Cliff Bars are predominately soy based. If you are sensitive to soy, a full diet of Cliff Bars Will send you into the woods.

PowerBar's Harvest line is oat and rice based, and usually tolerated well. In addition they have 10 grams of protein per bar.

(I have no vested interest in either, but my gut is particular.)

Second: Do the math. PowerBars are around 125 calories per ounce, comparable or better than many of the all-dry meals that are commercially available, or that you can make at home.

I do have to say, Blueberry Crisp flavored Clif Bar, mmmmmmm, I ate like 8 of those once on a 3 day trip, that one does it for me every time. If I'm splurging, as they are ridiculously pricey, I pick up a few of the Probar brand assortment, those things are loaded with dense calories and a healthy dose of good fats and some protein thrown in their from the nuts. Last time I checked out REI they were like $2.50-3.00 a bar though!

I must say, if candy could sustain me and had even an ounce of nutritional value, I would eat Skittles and Red Vines for days. Now that is a 'meal' plan I could adhere too. I'm a sucker for sweets, once a boy always a boy I say :)

" Last time I checked out REI they were like $2.50-3.00 a bar though!"

Buy a dozen at a time and get 20% off.

Safeway – $1 each on sale. I buy boxes of my favorites.

I did it going into the grand canyon. I had a bunch I got for free that I needed to get rid of. Luckily I had a pretty good variety of flavors, which was the only thing that saved me.

It got to the point that I would have a blueberry cliff bar as desert. Thats just sad.

One piece of advice, if you must do this, don't buy chocolate ones. If its just chips that should be fine, but my friend who also did the cliff bar meal plan had brownie, chocolate fudge, and chocolate chip I think.

Watching him eat was one of the funniest things I've seen. I think it was harder for him than the hike.

I did a half cliff bar plan on another hike. But also brought along a thing of salami, some almonds, and dried mangos.

Having real food-even though it is noncook- is so much better than straight cliff bars. There is no reason to put yourself through that. Especially if you are going with other people who aren't eating only cliff bars. You will be so jealous that you wont want to eat.

Honestly for me….nearly all the bars taste the same. Most are too sweet. And not brace friendly. So for the last 2 years while my chompers have been in Titanium I found other things to eat. If I want a quick eat I do Baker Breakfast Cookies (which are waaayyyy better tasting than any bar) and are in the high 200's to 300's. Yum!

Pro Bars have the most dense caloric content of any energy bar (that I've found). They also use whole food ingredients and are not overly sweet.

I pretty much eat Pro Bars and cliff shots for breakfast and lunch, with a freeze-dried meal for dinner. It's superlightweight, easy, and nutritious. Dried fruit, nuts, and beef jerky rounds it out if I'm feeling luxurious.

I've eaten clif bars for a few days and the roof of my mouth became incredibly irritated. This happened to several other people I know as well. Not sure what it was (soy? ), but look out for that. Pro Bars never cause that reaction in me.

I used to find outdated ones locally for a dime each. I always had hundreds of Clif Bars at a time. I liked them then, but I can't hardly stand them now. Might have something to do with the price. :)

I used to pack cliff bars almost exclusively for breakfast and lunch, especially on day hikes. My wife used to give me a hard time about it, usually on day hikes while she was eating a nice sandwich. Eventually I realized that I couldn't stomach enough of them to get the calories I need. I actually don't care for them any more.

If I want a no cook option I usually go with dates stuffed with peanut butter or bleu cheese, Ryvita crackers with cheese and smoked oysters, sometimes instant hummus, wasabi peas and sesame crackers, or gorp made with raisins and peanuts, or chopped dates and almonds. And home dried apricots and apples. I do keep a couple cliff bars in my bag for emergency eats, and I haven't had that emergency yet.

Could easily do it with Probars. Like real food. Texture. Far more energy per weight — 400+ kcals/bar. No added sweetners. Lots of ingredient variation. Decent shelf life. Vegan. No soy.

Tofurky Jerky rocks (if you can have salt). Freeze dried edamame too. Unsalted available at amazon.com. Best place for vegan organic backpacking food period. Food allergy aside, soy is a more complete protein than most animal flesh. Clif irritates my mouth too. Think it's the gritty texture and the sugars.

Have friends who slice Clif and toast.

I seem to remember that Skurka ate mostly balance bars on some of his hikes. I always suspected that it had a lot to do with being sponsored. I'd find a bar diet horrible. In 2006 we met in the Sierra. I was making a delicious tortilla of peanut butter, walnuts and dried fruit, he said, sarcastically, "That makes my Balance Bar look appetizing." and moved on. I never got which way he meant the sarcasm to be taken. Andy, remember this?

One emphatic vote for Big Sur Bars (White Zest and Blind Date)! At $3.20 each they aren't cheap, but they are the only bars I actually like to eat.