Healthy Shopping Haul with Sprouts

Happy Monday babes! I hope you had an amazingly wonderful weekend! I’m still recovering from mine. We took the kids hiking out at Cedar Ridge Preserve again and then out to the country side to visit my in-laws on their new farm.

It was such an amazing time. They have chickens, horses, cats, dogs, the whole works. I even met the fattest and cutest pig ever. Her name is Chubbs, just look at that face!

All the excitement from hiking and chasing animals left me so drained and worn out that I slept in pretty late on Sunday. I’d planned to do a 30 minute run, but I just couldn’t peel myself off the couch. This last week of training really got me down. My energy levels have been beyond low and I think it’s due to a mix of low iron levels and a bad diet.

I went to see my doctor before training started to have some blood work done and get a physical. He warned me that my iron was pretty low and that I should take a prenatal vitamin while training. I’m pretty stubborn though and I was sure I could get my iron levels up on my own through diet intake. Unfortunately, my diet has been poo.

It took all the energy I had Sunday, but I peeled myself off the couch for a quick trip to my local Sprouts to pick up some healthy snacks for the week and check out their vitamins. My trouble is that I’ve been getting pretty “snacky” lately and I’ve been reaching for those easy-but–not-so-great snacks like potato chips. I just love Sprouts because they have so many healthy options when it comes to snacks and foods and their produce is amazing too!

Today, I thought I’d share my “healthy” shopping haul with you and perhaps inspire some healthier snacks for you as well!

Breakfast is always one of those important meals for me. Especially now that I’m training in the early morning hours, I really find that I need two breakfasts before lunch. You guys should know that the Mexican girl in me about died when I found this chicken chirzo. I LOVE chorizo, but the fat and cholesterol in real chorizo just get me every time. This chicken chorizo is a great alternative. It’s higher in iron (which I need right now) and it’s also lower in fat and cholesterol.

I also love parfaits for breakfast and as well snacks during the day so I picked up this diary free yogurt alternative in Vanilla. I love SO Delicious products because they don’t upset my stomach as much and they’re super creamy and delicious.

To go with my yogurt parfaits I found these delicious blueberries and raspberries as well as the sweetest smelling dried figs. Seriously, the aroma made my mouth water in the store. Sprouts has such an amazing selection of dried fruits and nuts. That’s one of (the many) reasons I love coming here when I need more of a selection.

To top off my parfaits I picked up this maple dream granola which I think will pair nicely with those figs.

Now, I also wanted to pick up some extra ingredients to make smoothies with this week. I’m hoping to premake a few to take to work with me when I feel that urge to snack. Plus its a great way to get more fruits and vegetables added into my diet.

The  micro nutrients in fruits and vegetable also help in the recovery process which will make for less of those sore days after a hard workout. My body is still adjusting to the 6 days a week training schedule. Even though I haven’t had any extremely tough workouts, I find that just working out 6 days a week has made for some pretty sore muscles.

I found these beautiful mangos and these ginormous honey crisp apples. Can you believe the size of these things???

I also found this red beet root powder near the supplements while browsing for protein powder. I opted to get these instead of a protein power because we still have about 5 tubs of it as it is. I’ve ready a lot lately about the positive effects of beet root on oxygen uptake and efficacy for endurance athletes. Now, while I understand that it has been shown to have SOME benefit I also understand that it’s not going to make my Lance Armstrong. I just thought it would be nice to mix in with my smoothies. I’ve never had a beet root supplement before so this will be an experiment for me. (I’ll keep you posted on that.)

While I was in the supplement section I also browsed the prenatal and iron supplements. I’m still so hesitant to take either of them. I just feel like a failure as an nutritionist when I have to supplement because my diet has been off. I want to give my body what it needs so until I can get my act together with food and training, it might be best to supplement.

I picked up this gentle iron specifically because its formulated to digest easily. Most iron supplements are notorious for causing constipation and I definitely don’t want to deal with that.

I also picked up the Sprouts brand prenatal vitamin. Important note, I wont be taking both the prenatal and the iron supplement. I wanted to have to options available should I feel the need to boost my iron levels. The prenatal with offer more than just iron and will act as a daily multivitamin but as my diet improves, if I’m feeling like I’m getting enough nutrients from food than I can also opt to take the iron pill.

I also found these yummy smelling lotions and picked up coconut body cream. It gave me a chuckle because my husband’s name is Jason. Real talk though, I’m swimming a lot now and my skin has been so dry and itchy. I really needed something to help hydrate it and this body cream seemed perfect.

Last but not least, I stopped by the meat isle so see what specials they had and found these lamb chops. I’ve never had lamb before and they were a great deal so I picked some up!

Well that just about covers it. Keep in mind that my pantry was pretty stocked before this trip to Sprouts. I just needed to pick up somethings I couldn’t find at my other grocer and I knew Sprouts would have some healthier options.

So, now to the good part! I’ve teamed up with Sprouts to share some great deals with you and give away a $25 gift card to one lucky reader!

Sprouts is offering 25% off nutritional supplements and body care from October 19th-26th. Plus, you can save an additional 10% when you spend more than $100 on supplements or body care after the discount.

To enter to win the $25 gift card simply enter using one of the entry methods in the rafflecopter below.

If you’re sharing on Instagram or Facebook, be sure to enter using the rafflecopter then visit my FB or IG to re-share my giveway post on that social site. It’s much easier to re-post then to create a new one.

Open to US residents only. Contest ends Thursday October 20th. Winner will be announced Friday October 21st.

Happy shopping!
Priscilla