Are meal replacement bars really supposed to be a substancial meal? Does anyone here eat Special-K and, if so, what do you eat along with it in order to make up a meal?

I think that you can consider Special-K a meal becasue it is, perforce, combined with MILK a pretty high protein food. If you use whole milk you're also gettin a hefty supply of fat as well plus the carbohydrate value of the grain.

I presume that this meal isn't eaten 3 times a day, but as breakfast it's just fine.

Meal replacement bars can be good or bad depending on what's in them. GOOD is high protein, low sugar and NO sugar alcohols; BAD is a candy bar at a fancy price...all sugar glued together with trans fats.

Pretty basically, you can look at food as composed of PROTEIN and CALORIES. Usually we want to accentuate the former and mitigate the latter.

I would consider meal replacement bars anything but a meal replacement. How can anyone presume to call this skinny rectangle a meal?
A meal should have you sitting down at a table, with eating utensils and a plate upon which delicious food is placed.
If you are starving and cannot possibly wait to enjoy a normal meal, have an apple or some other fruit.
We have become a nation of fast food addicts, snackers, eat-on-the-run people. It's not a healthy way to eat. I have been to many places in the world and only in the United States do I see people stuffing themselves while driving a car. I wonder if this type of hurried eating has something to do with all the obesity in this country.

Really, I've found meal replacement bars to be good as a snack--it depends on the type of bar, amount of calories and protein. Being that the slimfast bars or shakes have just under or around 220 calories, they are hardly sufficient for a meal by themselves. I've found them to be good energy replacements after a high intensity workout or a nice snack after a light lunch.

I like to eat Powerbars and other similar bars for breakfast. If I ate one for lunch or dinner I think I would be too hungry afterwards! I'm not a morning person and I'm always rushing to get out the door, so packing something like a Powerbar and water bottle for me to eat on the way out is perfect.

I see them as a post-workout meal, or a snack on the go and that's about it!