Welcome to the 12th edition of “Stuff I Like”, where I talk about products, people, services or shows that I like. I have no financial relationships with any of these companies/brands. Whether you get them or not – I don’t care.
Step Up Massage & Rehab
Some people in Toronto often ask me to recommend a physiotherapist, chiropractor or massage therapist. I’m always at a loss, because as far as physiotherapists go, they’re not entrepreneurial, so they don’t really get “out there” and promote themselves. Chiropractors – unless they’re Matt McGrath or David Song, I can’t really vouch for them, because I haven’t used them personally. Also, Matt is in Scarborough and North York, and David is in North York and Markham. There’s no one downtown. As far as massage therapists, well… they’re not James Alberto – who’s been my massage therapist for the last 4 years.
Enter Step Up clinic. They’re a full rehab clinic with 4 locations downtown Toronto. I did 3 presentations for them back in August, and I was thoroughly impressed. First of all, James works there (in addition to North York). Second of all, it’s a full-scale clinic. They have:
- Chiropractors
- Naturopathic doctors
- Massage therapists
- Physiotherapists
- Osteopaths
Also, the owner/founder, Jacky Leung (who’s a chiropractor) takes continuing education very seriously. He has regular trainings for his staff to continually make them better.
Finally, I have a rehab clinic I’m comfortable recommending downtown Toronto. And no, I don’t get paid for this endorsement.
Boba Tea Protein
If you don’t know what bubble tea is, or you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out. It’s a culinary delight. A 400-calorie culinary delight. It’s basically milk tea, with different flavours, like strawberry, chocolate, hazelnut, vanilla, etc. You’ll usually find them in Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean places.
My favourite flavour is taro (which is a Chinese root vegetable, almost like a potato). It’s absolutely delicious – but 400 calories of mostly sugar.
Then I discovered Boba Tea Protein. They make bubble tea healthy by adding a ton of protein (25 grams per scoop), and decreasing sugar (less than 1 gram of sugar). Although my favourite flavour is taro, they have a bunch of other flavours, like strawberry, classic milk tea, pumpkin spice (I think that one is seasonal), mango, lychee, and others.
The best part is there’s no sacrifice of health for flavour. Usually, when you come across a healthy version of your favourite food, it tastes well… healthy (not good). With this, I can barely notice the difference between the real deal and Boba Protein Tea. We definitely have a winner!
Perfect Protein Bar
Protein bars have really evolved over the years. First, they didn’t taste great, the texture was chewy, and you had to go to specialty stores to get them, or online.
The current evolution is much better. First of all, nowadays, they taste almost like your favourite chocolate bars. Still not an exact match, but close enough to satisfy a sugar craving without a ton of sugar (and often, without any sugar).
Secondly, they can now be purchased almost everywhere – Walmart, Costco, grocery stores, and even some gas stations. You don’t have to go to supplement stores to get them.
However, the next trend is to combine protein with fibre. I’m only aware of a single protein bar that does that: Perfect Protein Bar by the No Sugar company. Not only do these bars have a hefty dose of protein (20 grams) along with reasonably low calories (190), they’re also packed with a ton of fibre. Most of them have 7 grams of fibre, and their peanut butter/jelly bar has 10 grams of fibre. To put things in perspective, that’s about a third of your daily fibre requirements in just a snack. That’s equal to about half a cup of beans. Not bad.
And they have flavours like peanut butter jelly, peanut butter chocolate, as well as cookies and cream.
The word “superfood” is commonly thrown around as a marketing term, without a formal nutritional definition. It’s usually used to describe some kind of exotic berry because of its antioxidants. In my mind, that’s really overrated, because it’s still not clear what role antioxidants play in human health. But the role that protein and fibre play in human health – that’s established. In all my books, these are my 2 most recommended nutrients.
Want to improve osteoporosis, inflammation and fatty liver? Eat protein. Want to improve cholesterol, diabetes, inflammation and fatty liver? Eat fibre.
I would legitimately call the Perfect Protein Bar a superfood.
Holos
When people learn how much protein they need versus how much they’re getting, they can wrap their mind around high protein lunches and dinners. Just eat chicken, salmon, turkey, cod, etc. And simply increase the serving sizes. But breakfast is a whole other challenge.
What makes Perfect Protein so good as a snack also makes Holos so good as a breakfast. It’s also high in both – protein and fibre.
It’s got the texture of oatmeal (it’s actually muesli), but way more protein than oatmeal. It also comes in different flavours, like berries, cocoa, mocha, matcha, and others.
Each sachet contains 350 calories. Of those, 20 grams are protein, and 10-12 grams are fibre. Personally, I like to use high-protein milk as a base, so when I combine it with high-protein milk, it brings up the entire serving to around 35 grams of protein. There’s not a single cereal or oatmeal brand that comes close to that protein content.
Bonus points for yours truly, who absolutely hates cooking: the only preparation required is adding about 200 ml of liquid to it, shaking it, and letting it sit in your fridge overnight.
