Come with to Costco for a quick shopping spree. We take an in-depth look at 25 of my favorite low calorie, high protein foods. These are items that I personally buy when shopping at Costco and have recommended to the thousands of clients who have lost weight with me.

📌TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 | Intro
0:40 | Ground turkey
1:05 | Chicken
1:50 | Lean ground beef
2:05 | Top sirloin
2:15 | Kevin’s Ready Made Meals
2:35 | Amylu’s Ready Made Meals
3:00 | Seafood
3:35 | Party chicken wings
4:10 | Smoked salmon
4:25 | Eggs and egg whites
5:00 | Protein bars
5:50 | Protein powders and shakes
6:45 | Frozen chicken
7:15 | Yogurt
7:45 | Fudge bars
8:00 | Outro

One of the biggest impacts on your health is cardio. I’ve loved weight training my entire life, but in the past few years I’ve seen everyone act like that’s enough to optimize your health. Strength training is an amazing place to start but adding cardio to my training has taken my health and performance to new levels. 

Three years ago, in my 30s, I scored a 47 on my VO2 max. The score was considered “fair”. As someone who was approaching my 40s, combined with a family history of heart disease, it was at that moment that I decided to change that. 

Two years ago, I scored a 51 on my VO2 max. Last year, I scored 53.7. Both of these scores are considered superior but I have a goal of reaching a VO2 max of 60. For my 42nd birthday, I tested my VO2 max and scored 55.6.

This is my current cardio protocol – what I recommend to clients may differ based on their level of adherence:

Zone 2
🔘 90 minutes per week
🔘 Broken up into three 30-minute sessions
🔘 I prefer to ruck using a vest that’s approximately 20% of my body weight on a treadmill at a pace of 4mph
🔘 I keep my heart rate between 120-130bpm
🔘 I choose this modality because it’s minimally fatiguing for my legs. I absolutely love weight training and I train my legs every 4 days using very heavy weight – I don’t want my cardio to affect my ability to lift heavy.

Zone 4-5
🔘 35 minutes per week of HIIT
🔘 Broken up into two sessions of 1:1; one session of Norwegian Protocol
🔘 1:1 sessions are done on the SkiErg typically with 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off with an average watt of about 400 
🔘 Norwegian Protocol is four rounds of 4-minutes with watts around 250 with a 3-minute rest break between each round
🔘 The goal is to get my heart rate into the 160s, 170s bpm

Sauna
🔘 100 minutes per week 
🔘 Broken into four 25-minute sessions
🔘 When I’m using my home @SISU_sauna, I keep the temperature at 190 degrees
🔘 When I’m using saunas away from home, I keep the temperature around 175 degrees
🔘 Quickly after entering the sauna, my HR enters the 90s and escalates over time to the 130s

Product Review: @QuestNutrition Cheese Crackers.

I enjoy sharing product reviews, although people often assume they’re sponsored. In reality, many brands restrict posts about other products and I want to discuss all of my favorite brands freely.

That being said, here’s my genuine review of Quest Cheese Crackers.

The macros are decent with 130 calories and 10g of protein. While they don’t quite pass The Test, they do offer 5g of fiber.

The taste is excellent too. The cheese flavor is spot on, and the spicy varieties are always bonkers good. I’m usually not a fan of cheese-flavored protein products, but Quest has done a fantastic job with these crackers.

#shorts

Should you be eating grass-fed or grain-fed beef?

When selecting animal protein, I follow three key criteria:

1️⃣ The Protein Test – 10g of protein per 100 calories is the benchmark.
2️⃣ Leanness – The meat should have ≤10g Total Fat or ≤4g Saturated Fat per serving.
3️⃣ Grass-Fed vs. Grain-Fed – Grass-fed beef contains more Omega-3s, but keep in mind that beef is a secondary source of EPA and DHA. Seafood is the true Omega-3 powerhouse. While grass-fed is superior to grain-fed nutritionally, beef shouldn’t be your go-to source for Omega-3s, you should rely on seafood for this.

Ideally, your protein source checks all three boxes for optimal nutrition.

#shorts

Here at @TraderJoes going over foods that are high in Omega-3s:

1️⃣ Wild-caught sockeye
2️⃣ Norwegian farm-raised salmon
3️⃣ Grass-fed beef
4️⃣ Pasteurized eggs
5️⃣ Canned sardines, mussels, trout, anchovies
6️⃣ Flax, chia, and hemp seeds

#shorts

Many people view fitness as a destination rather than a journey. But the truth is, fitness doesn’t have an endpoint. It’s something you work at for life.

Weight training, cardio, nutrition, and maintaining a healthy body composition aren’t short-term goals – they’re lifelong commitments.

The more you put into fitness, the harder it pushes back. It’s a game of diminishing returns. As you build more muscle, it becomes increasingly difficult to add more. As you get stronger, progress slows.

That’s why enjoying the process and surrounding yourself with a supportive community is a gamechanger. If you love your workouts and the food you eat, you’ll stick with them long-term.

If you treat fitness as a destination, you’ll reach your goal, then ease up and lose progress. But if you see it as a daily practice, you’ll build something sustainable for life.

#shorts