NOW Foods Trip Recap {& GIVEAWAY!}

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to take a trip out to the NOW Foods headquarters (just outside of Chicago, Illinois) to take part in their amazing FitFluential Immersion program! It was pretty neat to go out there and meet all kinds of health and wellness enthusiasts like myself, and also be able to get the inside look at a pretty huge company!

The flight out to Chicago was a quick one, it seemed like as soon as we were up, we were down! I think it ended up being about one hour, fifteen minutes in total. Not bad! Once we landed, we were taken to our hotel to get situated, showered, and ready for a fun dinner.

With a full two hours to myself, I was completely lost. What does a mom do without her kids in a strange place for two hours? I watched Wild Kratts on PBS of course. I did flip through the channels but I don’t even know what I like for shows anymore so, PBS it was. It seemed familiar so I stuck with it! lol plus it was more of me trying to decompress before a big night!

For dinner, we took a bus out to Cooking Skills Academy where we learned even more about NOW products, their lineup and what’s new. Then we had a lovely demo on protein donuts from Kasey at Powercakes! As you guys know, protein donuts are my JAM, so this was right up my alley. Plus, they were so delish that NOW Foods even included the recipe in their latest e-book, “50 Twenty Minute Recipes” which you can grab free here!

After her demo, it was our turn to grab the spatulas and participate in our own Iron Chef contest! This meant we had to work with certain ingredients (NOW products) to create a delicious dish. And the race was on!

My team (Team 1) decided to do a breakfast frittata/burrito over a bed of the NOW Foods Q Cup (it’s an organic quinoa cup, kind of like oatmeal, you just add hot water and wait five minutes and bam! It’s done!) The Q Cup we used was the Southwestern BBQ blend, so it had some good flavor. Then we topped it off with a dash of chia seeds and avocado drizzle. We ended up taking 2nd place! Not bad in my book 🙂

After the contest, they catered an amazing and healthy meal while we sat and talked with the CEO who happened to be sitting at our table! We were able to grill him and ask all kinds of questions about upcoming products, his favorite products, and really hear his take on the company.

I think this was the time when I started forming a special place for NOW in my heart, it kind of made me want to move to Chicago and apply for a job there because the company just seems like one that you’d want to work for. They’re a larger company (product-wise, and employee-wise) but they’re still a family run company and they take time to take care of their employees. Walking around the plant, you’d see flyers for their upcoming company picnic or events they were putting on for them, it was just really nice.

After a big meal, I was spent! It had been a long day traveling and taking everything in and I was ready to get to bed! Especially with a full schedule the next day, I wanted to be on my A-game.

The next morning started bright and early with a Tabata workout, followed by an AMAZING smoothie bar. I wish I had access to a smoothie bar at home every morning because this would be heavenly. They had everything under the sun that you could ever want in a smoothie; fruits, greens, proteins, MCT oils, probiotic powders, and loads more.

I was even more excited because I knew that most of these products were going to come home with me so that I could try them out for myself. I’m still sampling them all and working them into meals, supplements and protein shakes! There’s so many options, it’s fun to learn about all the new advancements in this arena and how they can help you with your health and fitness goals.

Their beautiful new NOW Sports line labels

While we enjoyed sipping on our smoothies, we had a short presentation from the NOW Sports division, who educated us on some of their popular sports products including their BCAA’s, proteins, MCT Oil and L-Carnitine oil. What I learned about MCT Oil, is that it helps to encourage the use of fat for energy rather than for storage. The L-Carnitine oil is similar in that it helps to burn fat. Good to know, right? I wasn’t really familiar with those two products going into the trip, so it was fun to get some useful tidbits I could use later on at home.

(Left) Eryn Whalen and I ready for the tour. (Right) A NOW Foods employee explains their Microbiology Lab

Next it was time for the factory tours! First we toured their manufacturing plant to see how it was all done. I was amazed at the level of precision and cleanliness that they enforced. We all looked very stylish in our caps, glasses and gowns, and we were able to get a full insider’s look at how NOW Foods produces their products.

It looked like what a chemist’s lab would look like. Lots of lab coats, clean marble countertops, huge expensive equipment everywhere you turned, and assembly lines of beautiful orange bottles waiting to be filled.

After the factory tour, we headed to their main offices to do some fun ‘make and take’ activities. This was possibly my favorite part because we got to test out their essential oil line and make some fun things to bring home. The first thing we made was a DIY sore muscle soak, which I used the first night home! It smelled amazing and it felt amazing and everything was amazing.

We also made a cleansing spray that you could use on your home gym equipment (you know, like when you wipe down your mats or equipment after you’re done using them) this was really neat to have and I’m going to carry it in my gym bag as well, just in case!

I fell in LOVE with their essential oils line. They had a presentation from their specialist in this field, and she told us about how they’re able to maintain high quality oils while providing them for a lower cost than say any MLM companies. They’re not paying the middlemen, just providing their quality product with the same quality ingredients that you’d pay $40 a bottle for elsewhere. My favorite oil is their Nature’s Shield, which is comparable to Thieves oil except about half the price. It’s used for cleansing and freshening.

After our time mixing oils and such, we closed the trip off with an awesome gong meditation time. It was soooo nice to have this before embarking on our voyage home! I felt so relaxed and ready for life after that.

Then, we were off to the airport to catch our flights home! It all happened so fast, in a matter of about 24 hours, and before I knew it I was back home in Minneapolis, SO excited to see the fam! It’s crazy how you can miss them after just a day, isn’t it?

I had SUCH a great time on the trip, and thank you so much to NOW Foods for bringing us out there and showing us such a great time. I learned so much and it was truly a fun experience!!

The Giveaway!!! ($520 Value)

And now guess what… (you can probably guess by the title of this post) I have an AMAZING GIVEAWAY for you guys now!! (See, we both win!) NOW Foods is giving me a prize pack to give away to one lucky winner. It’s going to be just like the bags they filled to the brim with products and sent home with me! A $520 value, and you get to test out some of their seriously amazing products. It’s a mix of their food products, sports products (like proteins), snack items, supplements and more. Excited? You should be!

Giveaway is valid only in the US. Contest ends June 11th at 11:59PM CST

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