Product Review: AMC Theatres Smart Movie Snacks

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Coco

Snacking has become a take-it-or-leave-it part of my movie theatre experience. We usually go to matinees with plans to get dinner afterwards, so I tend to steer clear of the concession stand. Once in a while I do get a craving for movie theatre popcorn, but usually the thought of the calories and artificial flavoring scares me off.

Recently, though, I went to the movies the afternoon after an 8 mile run, and realized that I was going to get HUNGRY during the film. I really wasn’t in the mood for popcorn, and I knew I didn’t want to eat a whole box of Raisinets® in the dark (and yes, I probably would have finished the whole box and spent the rest of the movie fighting off a carb-coma). A display advertising “smart” snacks caught my eye.

For $7, you get a 20 oz. bottle of Dasani water, a bag of PopCorners™ chips, an Odwalla® Bar, and a bag of Chiquita™ Fruit Chips. I didn’t want all that food, but decided to purchase the snack box to support AMC’s decision to offer a healthier snack option.

I decided to try the chips, which were “Kettle” flavor. They are similar to PopChips®, but made from corn. They satisfied my hunger and gave me that movie munching experience for the low “price” of 140 calories and 4 g fat.

The Chiquita™ Fruit Chips are 100% natural dried fruit (banana, pineapple and mango) and 113 calories (yes, that’s what the package says!) and 0 g fat.

The Odwalla® Bar has 200 calories, 7 g fat, 2 g fiber and 5 g protein.

I don’t think this will change my movie snacking habits, but it is nice to know that there is a healthy option if I get hungry. It would be even better if AMC would sell the snacks separately, although relatively speaking (in the context of concession stand prices) it is a pretty good deal since you get three items and a big bottle of water.

Do you buy popcorn when you go to the movies?

Have you tried healthier concession stand options?

Posted in Food, Product Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Product Review: 22 Days Nutrition Bars

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Coco

I’m not sure where I first heard of 22 Days Nutrition Bars, but for some reason I “liked” them on Facebook and happened to see a special offer for a free “Power Pack” with four of their nutrition bars. I was disappointed that I still had to pay for shipping, but I figured it would be worth it to try a new product and maybe even have something to write about on my blog. 😉

I was looking forward to trying their bars, which they describe as “deliciously organic, vegetarian, gluten, soy and dairy free.” The package arrived promptly (yay for good customer service!) and included these four flavors:

Cherry Chocolate Bliss
Nut Butter Buddha
Daily Mocha Mantra
Enlightened pumpkin Seed

Each bar has about 220 calories (230 for the Chocolate Cherry Bliss), 12 or 13 g fat, 4 or 5 g fiber, and 10 or 11 g protein (except for the Chocolate Cherry Bliss, which only has 6 g protein). You can see the full nutrition information on the 22DaysNutrition website.

I tried the Cherry Chocolate Bliss first, and it is definitely my favorite. The Daily Mocha Mantra is probably my least favorite, but I decided that’s because I just am not a mocha fan–I love chocolate and I love coffee, but I don’t like the flavors blended together! The other two flavors were pretty good, but not as delicious as the Cherry Chocolate Bliss.

The one thing that holds me back from buying more is the price: $35.88 + $7.99 shipping for a full case of 12 bars. That works out to about $3.65 per bar. Yikes!

I do like them though, so I will keep watching their Facebook page for special offers!

Have you tried the 22 Days Nutrition Bars?

Do you have a price point that is “too much” for a nutrition bar?

Posted in Food, Product Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Tuesday Treadmill Workout: Repeats

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Coco

Last week I was not in the mood for yet another humid run before work. I was tired, and my first thought was that I would just take a walk. As I was getting dressed, I decided to do a solid workout on the elliptical, but by the time I had picked out my workout clothes, I had decided to hop on the treadmill.

I didn’t really have a specific workout in mind, but this is what I came up with:

Treadmill Workout–Repeats
0-5 min: walking warm-up @ 3.7 mph
5-10 min: running warm-up @ 5.7 mph
10-15 min: running warm-up @ 6.0 mph
15-20 min: running warm-up @ 6.3 mph
20-50 min: five sets of repeats: 5 min @ 6.7 mph/1 min @ 6.0 mph
50-52 min: running cool-down @ 5.7 mph
52-55 min: walking cool-down @ 3.7 mph

It was a good workout. For the last repeat I actually did 2 min at 7.0 mph and I think that’s where my next speed workout needs to be–especially if I want to track an 8:30 pace for the Army Ten Miler in October!

Do you have a race coming up?

How far in advance do you start training?

Posted in Fitness, Treadmill Workouts | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Product Review & Giveaway: Attune Probiotic Bars & Uncle Sam Cereal

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Coco

I first discovered Attune Probiotic Bars a few years ago, when I spotted them by the yogurt at my grocery store.

Rich, Dark Probiotic Chocolate Bars Infused with Essential Probiotic Yogurt Cultures

As decsribed on the Attune Foods website, each bar “delivers 6.1 billion CFUs of clinically supported strains of probiotics in tasty, natural and certified gluten free chocolate bars.” Of course, the dark chocolate is my favorite:

A truly healthy pleasure of smooth, antioxidant-rich dark chocolate with 68% cocoa content. Delicious, dairy-free, probiotic chocolate.

One 20g bar has 80 calories, 6 g fat and 30% of the recommended daily allowance for calcium. Most importantly, it’s chocolate I can feel good about! (I hope no one has trademarked that phrase for a different prodcut!)

The problem is, I have not been able to find the Attune Probiotic Bars in a long time, and a store locator search on the Attune Foods website confirmed what my unsuccesful trips to various grocery stores had told me: they really are hard to find around here. When I was whinng about this on Twitter, someone (@workoutmommy? @AttuneFoods? @DrugStoreDotCom?) pointed out that I could order them online from DrugStore.com. After the first shipment got melted on the UPS truck (thank you DrugStore.com for your amazingly prompt customer service!), I received a case in good condition. I shared some with friends at work and have the rest stored safely in my fridge.  I try to remember to pack one in my lunch bag every day, because they are the perfect pick-me-up to get me through that mid-afternoon slump!

I was Tweeting with @AttuneFoods about all this, and they sent me some coupons to try their products. Since I already had ordered the Attune Probiotic Bars, I decided to try some cereal. Attune Foods has other interesting products, like chocolate granola

attune Chocolate Münch Probiotic Granola

and graham crackers

New Morning Organic Honey Grahams

but I haven’t seen them in any stores.

This giveaway has ended!

I still have a coupon left for one free Attune Foods item, and I’d like to give it to a reader who has not tried any of the Attune Foods products yet. Since I’m giving away my own coupon, the entry rules are easy:

  1. Leave a comment and let me know what Attune Foods products you have seen (but not tried!) at your grocery store.
  2. Send this Tweet and leave a comment saying that you did:

Check out the @AttuneFoods coupon giveaway @Got2Run4Me http://wp.me/p131gw-BJ

One comment per entry, up to two entries per person. A winner will be selected from comment/entries received by midnight on August 14, 2011.

**FTC Notice** Attune Foods sent me coupons to try their products, with no obligation to write a review, blog, or Tweet about them. The review here reflects my own personal opinion of these products.

Posted in Food, Product Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

This Is My Prayer

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Coco

Romans 8:26 reminds me that I can still pray when I don’t know how to put my prayer into words:

We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Today, this is my prayer:

The knot in my stomach–Lord, this is my prayer.
The jolt of adrenaline–Lord, this is my prayer.
The loss of my appetite–Lord, this is my prayer.
The tears welling up–Lord, this is my prayer.

I offer all of this up to you, Lord,
And pray that “Thy will be done.”
I offer all of this up to you, Lord,
and wait for Your Peace–which passes all understanding–
to envelop me and the one I pray for in Your Loving Care.

Amen.

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment