My wife and I are living in Houston's Med Center while preparing to move into our new home in Sienna Plantation. Sienna is a beautiful community in Missouri City, Texas. As a personal trainer it is important for me to know where I can find the best in healthy food for myself, my family, and my clients.
I'm an advocate of variety in ones diet. It makes life more interesting and helps to prevent nutrient deficiencies. With that said, my personal eating habits do include some staples that I do eat nearly every day of the week. That's why tracking down these items in Sienna made it to the very top of my nutrition to do list. Both HEB and Harvest stocked my most critical items. I do my weekly shopping at HEB, but it was important for me to also see if Harvest stocks my favorite goods because they are located right next to my most frequent stop, Snap Fitness. Here is what I bought...
Perfect Bars
My wife says I'm addicted to these and she just might be right. They are either peanut butter or almond based, come in a variety of flavors, and they are delicious. Admittedly, they do have a higher sugar content than is ideal, but the large amount of whole food protein (~15g) and fats (~19g) are both satiating and effective at mitigating the insulin spike associated with sugar consumption. They are my go to quick breakfast on my way to early morning clients.
Kettle and Fire Bone Broth
Bone broth is rich in collagen protein. So long as we eat a balanced diet that includes all the essential amino acids then your body has everything it needs to build collagen of your own. That said, it certainly can't hurt to support that process by consuming collagen protein in your diet and when its made my Kettle and Fire its damn tasty, too! I'm overcoming an injury with the help of Prolotherapy and Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP) and looking to support that process in every way. Bone broth is part of that support. I choose Kettle and Fire because their ingredients are top notch. Its really a delicious way to consume an extra 20g of protein. Also, if you're looking for additional collagen support you'll find that a high quality collagen powder mixes easily into bone broth and does nothing to hurt the taste.
Organic Dark Berries
Blueberries, black berries and raspberries are nearly always part of another favorite quick eat of mine...protein smoothie. I'll detail another time about my smoothies, but what is important to know now is that any frozen bag of berries will do. Not everything I eat is organic. I'm selective. One are I do not skimp is on berries. The surface area of the berry is so great because of its texture and we, of course, do eat the berries skin (try pealing a berry, right!?!). For that reason it is very difficult to wash off any pesticides so I make every effort to purchase berries with as few chemical interventions as possible.