A quick recap of the incredible NOWFoods Influencer Immersion Event in celebration of NOW’s 50th Anniversary!
This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of NOWFoods. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting Hungry by Nature and the brands that make it possible!
Last Thursday and Friday I had the incredible opportunity to travel to the suburbs, eat lots of healthy and delicious food, meet two of my online friends in real life, and learn about NOWFoods – a company that I have been purchasing from for years!
I was thrilled to be accepted to attend and am so grateful to FitFluenial and NOWFoods for this insane opportunity.
Before I jump into all the fun activities that were planned, for anyone who is not familiar with NOWFoods, they are a natural products manufacturer and are celebrating their 50th anniversary!
They produce all kinds of products:
They are headquarted in Bloomingdale, IL – not too far outside of the city (about 25 miles) but a good hour+ drive because Chicago traffic is bananas. Luckily, they sent a limo (YES – I felt like a celeb) to come get me and drove out for the two days.
On Thursday night we set out for Cooking Skills Academy for a night of learning, food, and FUN! As we arrived, we were greeted (by name!) by the CEO of NOW, Jim Emme and Dan Richard, the son of NOW’s founder Elwood Richard. They gave us a deep look into their company, their products, and we celebrated their 50th anniversary!
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Then Kasey gave us a protein donut cooking demo and we competed in a Iron Chef style challenge! It was so fun to get creative in the kitchen and try out products I had never used before. And after all that, we finally sat down to dinner – everything was gluten free and dairy free and I was in heaven!
The following morning, the group met and headed over to the fitness center for a HIIT class. Dang. I hadn’t done a HIIT class in a while and I was beat. Luckily, class was followed by and epic smoothie bar and a presentation on the NOW sport nutrition products. I added a bunch of NOW goods into my smoothie including their pea protein powder, a little MCT oil, cacao powder, and lots of frozen fruit, spinach, and avocado.
And because I was still hungry, Kelly, Dana, and I took full advantage of the breakfast buffet back at the hotel before getting ready for the rest of our activities!
Working out first thing in the morning is what I have found to be best for me. So it was awesome to start the day on such a sweaty note and then refuel with really nutrient dense food!
Next stop: NOW plant tour! Oh. My. Gosh. YOU GUYS. I cannot even describe to you this plant. It was
- Giant. Like so so big (and it is 1 of 9 in the US!)
- Immaculate. Like squeaky clean.
- and full of top-notch quality.
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Honestly, my biggest takeaway from this entire trip, but especially this plant tour, is NOW’s dedication to quality. They test their products at every stage – ingredients upon arrival to assure the base is at their standard, and then at every stage throughout the manufacturing process, and again at the end. And much of the testing that they complete is not even required by the FDA! They just do it because they are freaking GOOD people who run a high-quality stand-up company that cares about their buyers.
After the plant tour, we were carted off to the NOW headquarters for lunch and a fun DIY project! Tina Tews, a brand manager for NOW, talked to us about their health and beauty products – it was so interesting to learn more about their essential oils and how you can make your own bath soaks and cleaners!
And after all of that, we relaxed with a sound bath lead by Leslie. It was such a tremendous way to wind down from a crazy two days.
Just like that, the whirlwind NOWFoods Immersion was over. (Cue the tears!) I headed back to the city – and Kelly joined me – with a wealth of knowledge, lots of goodies in hand, and a deeper appreciation and trust for NOW, their products, and the incredible work that they do.
And NOW — (get it!?) For one lucky winner, NOW Foods is shipping you the same products that we were given (and it’s a LOT – over $500 worth!). Just head over to my Instagram and enter on this post!
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