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NEDERLAND — Xtreme Nutrition’s mission is to serve up delicious food and beverages that satisfy taste buds and the waste line.

Their slogan — “Making the world happier and healthier.”

Owner Vicente Lopez opened the Nederland restaurant in early July to provide healthy, nutritious drinks and meals to the community.

“I started this business because of my results,” he said. “I started using the product 18 months ago. I started in March of last year and I’ve lost over 102 pounds, and when I started losing weight people started asking me about my process. I noticed a lot of people needed the change I had, so I took a little trip to learn about the protein bar concept and I found that everyone needs nutrition, not just those trying to lose weight.”

Lopez and his wife’s journey started unexpectedly.

“We weren’t looking for it,” he said. “In order for me to be here, I guess I had to be overweight first. I also had high blood pressure and sleep apnea. I was always using medication to level those two things out. It made me realize that was so unhealthy and we had to make a change.”

The Puerto Rico native and previous Florida resident said Nederland seemed like the perfect place to start.

His family relocated after being recruited by the Motiva plant in Port Arthur. He quit is job as a welder to open the shop.

“It was between starting here and starting back in Florida,” Lopez said. “For some reason, this area just felt like the right spot.”

The protein bar specializes in energy teas, unique flavor combination protein shakes, healthy snacks, meals and more.

Herbalife, a global nutrition and weight management company, sponsors most of the protein bar items.

Herbalife is one of the largest nutritional supplement companies in the world.

“I’m a product distributor,” Lopez said. “So the No. 1 ingredient in all of our products is protein. We want to show that you can be healthy and still have something that tastes good.”

Some of the most popular items on the board include a Mega Passion Tea, a Strawberry Cheesecake Protein Shake, the loaded protein pizza and the acai bowl.

Meal options include protein waffles, crepes, oatmeal, guava and cheese cookies and protein pumpkin pie.

In the next two weeks, the protein bar will also launch new items such as a breakfast pizza, brownie butter protein shake, a dragon fruit bowl and protein donuts.

Lopez said products range by need such as weight loss, muscle gain or healthy living.

“People are so visual,” he said. “The photos look rich and delicious, so that’s what often brings people in, but they stay when they realize it’s healthy, too.”

Lopez said staff will recommend items for individual journeys.

“It’s easy for us to stop being aware of what we are eating,” he said. “Everything moves so fast in our lives that we become unconscious of what we are eating everyday until we are over or underweight. We need to be more conscious of what we are putting in our bodies.

“In these days, if we are healthy our immune systems become stronger and that’s important right now, too. We need to create something stronger in our system in order to allow our bodies to respond to any situation.”

Since opening a month ago, Lopez said the feedback from the community has been amazing, reinforcing it was the right idea to start his protein bar in Mid-County.

“People are telling others, posting on social media,” he said. “I’m very pleased that I had that kind of response from people in this area. It’s been a lot of positive feedback.”

Xtreme Nutrition also sells Herbalife products in store with a free evaluation and recipe ideas.

“We have all kinds of products,” he said. “We are open to answering any questions about the recipes or how we make our menu items. Just come try it out.”

All products are gluten and dairy free. The protein bar also offers vegetarian options.

Xtreme Nutrition plans on expanding its current location to include a facility for personal training, Zumba classes and more.

Check out the Xtreme Nutrition–Nederland on Facebook to stay up to date on expansion.

Xtreme Nutrition, 2115 Nederland Ave., Suite B, is open Monday-Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It is open Sundays from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.