The H-E-B Forney Meal Prep List: High-Protein Shopping for Gym-Goers

With H-E-B opening in Forney at The Village at Gateway, suddenly the easiest grocery trip in town is also one of the best places in Texas to shop high-protein on a budget.

This is the actual shopping list we’d give a member who walked into TX Fitness asking, “I want to eat better, what do I buy at H-E-B?”

No fluff, no aspirational $14 boutique items. Real food, real budget, real macros.

The Backbone (Buy Every Trip)

Strictly Lean 96/4 ground beef. The cleanest lean ground option H-E-B sells. Brown it Sunday, portion it into 4 oz servings, freeze half. Hits ~28g protein per 4 oz at very few calories.

H-E-B boneless skinless chicken breast. Watch the weekly sale price — sometimes hits very low per pound. Bake or air-fry a tray of 4–6 breasts for the week.

Eggs (large, dozen or 18-pack). The cheapest 6g of complete protein on Earth. Hard-boiled three at a time keeps for the week.

Greek yogurt — H-E-B brand, plain non-fat, 32 oz tub. ~17g protein per 6 oz serving. Buy the big tub, not single cups. Adds up to real money saved.

2% cottage cheese, H-E-B brand. Underrated. ~24g protein per cup, mixes into anything sweet or savory.

Fish and Seafood

Atlantic salmon portions, fresh from the seafood counter. Bake at 400°F for 12 minutes, brush with olive oil, salt, lemon. ~35g protein per 6 oz fillet. Easy, fast, restaurant-quality.

Frozen wild shrimp, peeled and deveined, H-E-B brand. Thaw, sauté in 5 minutes. Almost pure protein.

Tuna pouches (water-packed). Pantry staple. Add to salads or fold into Greek yogurt for a quick high-protein lunch.

Carbs That Work

You don’t need carbs to be a hero. They just need to come from things that fill you up and don’t crash you.

Mi Tienda flour or corn tortillas, made in-store. Wrap any of the proteins above for an instant meal.
Long-grain brown rice, H-E-B brand. Big bag, cooks in batches.
Oats — old-fashioned, store brand, 42 oz canister. Cheapest steady-state breakfast there is.
Sweet potatoes. Bake a pan Sunday, microwave through the week.
Sourdough or sprouted bread. Reasonable insulin response, makes any sandwich better.

Produce That Actually Gets Eaten

The trick with produce is buying what you’ll eat in 4–5 days. Don’t load up.

Bagged spinach or spring mix. Goes in everything.
Pre-sliced bell peppers, mini cucumbers, baby carrots. Snackable, no prep.
Berries (frozen). Cheaper than fresh, lasts forever, perfect in yogurt and oats.
Bananas, avocados, lemons. The basics.

H-E-B’s Texas-grown produce in summer (peaches, tomatoes, watermelon) is genuinely best-in-state. Don’t miss that window.

Snacks That Don’t Wreck You

String cheese or H-E-B mozzarella sticks. ~7g protein.
Beef jerky / Wellsley-style protein snacks. Watch the sodium, but useful.
H-E-B brand almonds, dry-roasted, no oil. Buy the big bag, portion into 1 oz baggies.
Premier Protein shakes (case at H-E-B is competitively priced). 30g protein for emergencies.

Things to Skip at H-E-B

A few traps even great grocery stores have:

“Healthy” granola. Often 250 calories per quarter cup with a candy-bar sugar profile.
Smoothie drinks. Mostly fruit sugar.
“Protein” cookies, brownies, and bars. Marketing math. Real protein per gram of sugar is rarely good.
Pre-made salads with creamy dressings. Read the label. They’re often 700+ calories.

A Realistic Sunday Prep

A 90-minute Sunday that uses this list:

Bake a tray of chicken breasts (45 min, mostly hands-off).
Brown 2 lbs of Strictly Lean ground beef (15 min).
Boil 6 eggs (12 min).
Bake a pan of sweet potatoes (40 min, parallel with the chicken).
Cook a big pot of brown rice (30 min, parallel).
Wash and bag produce.

You now have ~10 high-protein meals waiting in the fridge. Total grocery cost for one person: usually under $80.

Train Where You Shop

We covered the broader H-E-B Forney grand opening and Village at Gateway recently. TX Fitness has been at 127 E US Highway 80 in Forney for over 25 years — five minutes from Gateway. Lift, swing through H-E-B on the way home, prep on Sunday. That’s the loop.

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