I Am

I am going all elementary on you with this but bear with me.

I am… someone who sees and uses humor in everything. Who is stubborn as heck. Who complains but knows how to pull herself out of rut. Who loves blogging more than anything for probably all the strangest reasons. Who is a distance runner at heart and knows her balance. Who prefers pavement over gym. Who seeks to help others. Whose language drips with sarcasm. Who fights hard for what she believes. Who wants to bring pleasure to others but struggles to find that pleasure for herself. Who would live in a tshirt, shorts and sneakers till she died if she could. Who sometimes falls flat on her face both literally and metaphorically.

I am NOT… a foodie blogger (something I just recently came to realize). I am not a big blogger name and probably will never be. I am not a heavy lifter even though I dream one day I could find that joy in strength training. I am not a lover of all things healthy although I do love my produce. I am not a pushover. I am not confident in myself a lot of the time. I am not dishonest or insincere. I am not fake and will never be.

It boils down to this. I gave something a shot and it didn’t work. If I sat back and never tried I would never have realized that. That being said I finally know what I want. I finally feel ready to tackle it.

1. I am unplugging for a full day. No phone, twitter, Facebook, blogging for a full day tomorrow maybe even Monday. I was sick of hearing myself and that can only mean all of you were sick of hearing from me. A true day off.
2. Snack attack is ending. Don’t get me wrong, I seriously appreciate the trust companies put in me but I was getting stressed, overworked and tired of doing the posts. I miss my normal blogging, the randomness I had. I was not the typical blogger and I had no desire to be. That being said, today you will get a Snack Attack dump and then another next Saturday to finish out the series. None during the week, just today and next Saturday. I am not saying I will never talk about a product but it will be out of the blue, wow I found this type thing or a random review I may stumble upon.
3. I was talking to my mom today and she knows I have been missing her. What made her worried was that at home I was so happy, like so content to be home. I have never been that way, I used to hate going home and got so sick of it. For the first time, I seriously did not want to leave. On top of that, I haven’t been calling her as regularly because it makes me super homesick. All these factors made her mom instincts jump. We decided I am going to find a therapist here. I haven’t seen one in over a year but I think it is time. This is not because I am slipping, don’t think that. It is because for the first time I am embracing recovery, at a healthy weight, enjoying life ED free BUT I need my mind to be challenged. I know that is difficult to express but my mind is holding me back, a lot, from fully just letting go. I am ready for that next challenge.
4. I am taking back the blog. The Run Within is something I want to inspire me and for me to be freaking proud of. I see so much inspiration from blogs around me and I want this blog to be my own. I want to read it, I want others to read it and find it as a place they like to come to. I love my readers, I love my voice I can express through here and I love how much this blog has helped me. Revamp is in the process and I can’t wait to see what happens.

We try things, they don’t work, we move on. I am ready for the next step and I couldn’t be more content.

Snack Attack (second to last) Don’t forget the Angie’s giveaway that ends Sunday! Also, at the end you will see my overall, would I buy this again. As I said, I shared a lot of these products with my neighbors. They seriously love me because they got so many goodies, I just couldn’t keep them all.

I am a kale fan but struggle to make my own kale chips. They just normally taste like nothing or I burn the living daylights out of them. A snack I have seen at Whole Foods and a few health stores are Rhythm Superfoods Kale Chips.

Rhythm Kale Chips are a nutrient rich alternative to the standard chip. They are delicious, raw, vegan, gluten free, contain no cholesterol and non GMO. But what wins these over for me are the killer flavors. That flavor I look for in a snack, the flavor that makes a snack actually taste good rather than just eating bird food – these bad boys had.

Before you start drooling like I did, let me tell you the flavors. Their flavors include Kool Ranch, Bombay Curry, Zesty Nacho, Texas BBQ & Mango Habanero. I mean seriously, kale chips that actually don’t taste like a vegetable that is good for you? Let me at em!

My personal favorite was the Zesty Nacho, give me cheese and spice and you have my heart. You could see the flavoring on each kale chip and my favorite ones were the clumps that got stuck together. These snacks made me feel good when I ate them, not greasy, not too heavy, just perfect. Did I mention these were hard to share? I wanted them all!

I will be buying these again and am hoping to try their sweet potato chips I learned about through their website. Check out their website, Facebook page and Twitter!

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Cocomo Joe has a mission that is very similar to the healthy living blog community, they want to make high quality organic food that helps us from the inside out. They work with some of the best ingredients to make that possible.

My favorite sample had to be the Cocomocorn. This was caramel corn that knocked my socks off. It was so deliciously sweet with an ingredient list that didn’t make me shudder. It is made with organic air popped popcorn, organic coconut nectar, organic coconut sugar, organic virgin coconut oil, sea salt, organic vanilla extract and baking soda. The sweetest is all natural but melt in your mouth goodness. Each popcorn piece seriously just melted when it hit my tongue. For 160 calories a bag, I would so grab this for a snack!

Their granola again prides itself on its all natural ingredients. I was just sent the Chocolate MILK granola but their other flavors include Cranberry cocomo granola, egg NOG granola, ginger APPLE granola,  and salty CHOCOLATE granola. If you are a granola fan, you will love this. You expect with such natural ingredients the taste would not be there but each crunch had the flavor spot on.

For my bar lovers out there, they have some kick butt bars. Their flavors include cocoa JOEBAR, baby bars, coffee JOEBAR, cranberry JOEBAR, fig JOEBAR, green JOEBAR, and mango JOEBAR. You could see the ingredients in each bar in their full and finest form.

I said I would always be honest with you all – as you know I am not a huge fan of granola or bars, so I would pass on those. Personally, I would probably only go for the popcorn, I know a lot of you out there, however, are always looking for bars on the go. These have some powerful health benefits that no other bar can beat.

Check out their website and Facebook and follow them on Twitter!

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With work being crazy, I have been struggling to get that motivation in the kitchen. I have been turning to frozen vegetables and vegetarian meat patties to kind of fill that void at the end of the day. But boy was I getting sick of it. Garden Lites have opened my eyes to such a delicious option. 

Garden Lites offer a healthy, all natural vegetable based product that is celiac friendly, diabetic friendly, heart healthy, weight management, vegetarian, vegan options, lactose free options, casein free options, soy free and produced in nut free facilities. Each 7 oz soufflé has two servings of vegetables. One of the best parts is that they are available nationwide through many retailers so are not that hard to find. 

Their flavors include Roasted Vegetable Souffle, Zucchini Souffle, Spinach Souffle, Butternut Squash Soufflé, Broccoli Soufflé, Cauliflower Soufflé, Carrot Raisin Soufflé, Southwestern Souffle, and Pizza Soufflé. They come in an individual package that you can heat in the microwave or put in the oven.

Now I loved these. No joke. I couldn’t believe how delicious a frozen soufflé could be. The Zucchini one was bomb, I do love my zucchini though. Each one was so moist and not dry like you would imagine. You could see and taste the vegetables. I did not share these, no lie. They all remained in my freezer for some amazing goodness.

Check them out online, Facebook, and Twitter.

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I lack nuts in my diet, which is kind of a bummer. I know they are so good for you but I am just the last person to truly enjoy eating a handful of nuts. Even eating food where I see nuts I am usually turned off of. However, I have found an option where I can feel like I am fueling my body with some good stuff. 

Go Raw is 100% organic certified, vegan, sugar free, gluten free, soy free, nut free and kosher. I was shocked when I saw nut free but this is the only packaged snack food in the world that can honor if you plant it, it will grow because it is made from sprouts, not nuts. They start with the highest quality confectionary grade 100% organic seeds but even then there is still a chance that impure seeds, rocks, glass and other foreign particles have slipped in. So they have a state of the art sorting machine that purifies it. To go even further to ensure the highest quality, they have an x ray machine that scans for foreign particles. Their custom dehydration system is what makes these sprouts stay at their best when they are produced.

Their line has been jacked up. It now includes bars, mini bars, granola, cookies, flax snaxs and even chocolate. The girl who doesn’t like chocolate TOTALLY digs these little squares of chocolate. I need to find more. Like now. 

The bars had the most unique flavors that were so good. I still have trouble believing I liked these because normally I would not touch something this healthy. The bars came in the bigger bars and then mini ones. Their flavors include Live Pumpkin Bar (drool, so good!), Banana Bread Flax Bar, Spirulini Energy Bar, Live Granola Bar, and Real live apricot Bar. 

I was a huge fan of their Flax Snax as well that came in Pizza Flax Snax, Sunflower Flax Snax, Spicy Flax Snax, and Simple Flax Snax. I got to try the Pizza and it was so spicy with a kick that left me reaching for more. Their new Super Cookie Line totally intrigued me as well with pretty much the same nutritional stats as the Flax Snax. Even better! They came in Lemon, Masala Chai, Carrot, Ginger, Spirulini, Chocolate, Pumpkin and Original Super Cookies. I freaking adored the Lemon and Carrot. The flavor was spot on, it was like eating a mini flat lemon cookie but with a heftier serving size and way better for you. Total Win! 

I am telling you, these have a close place in my heart now. I will be finding these and hoping to get my hands on more. Check out their website! (Warning it is under a bit of construction but still gives some good info!)

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When people hear I am Celiac, there is always one cracker that I as referred to. Crunchmaster Multi-Grain crackers have certainly made their name in both the gluten free and non gluten free pantries. Their crackers are made with all natural ingredients like pure California grown rice, sesame, quinoa, amaranth and flax seeds. They do not have any artificial flavors or preservatives. 

Their Multi-Grain Crackers come in Sea Salt, Roasted Vegetable and White Cheddar. So I could easily say ya, Sea Salt is a cracker. I had never had the other two flavors but quickly fell in love. Wow, the Roasted Vegetable had a spicy kick I was not expecting. The White Cheddar actually had the cheddar taste (I hate when crackers don’t have enough and just fall flat). These were amazing, I kept licking my fingers for more. 

I also got to try some of their Multi-Seed Crackers that come in Original, Rosemary & Olive Oil, Roasted Garlic, and Toasted Onion. So I had no idea there was a difference or that they had this other line. When you look at them though, you see the variety of seeds and the taste is definitely different. Let’s just say I started no close conversations because I could not get enough of the Garlic and Onion flavors. Yummy! 

In regards to gluten free crackers, I have always been pretty disappointed. They didn’t have flavor or had no crunch. These were total opposite. I tasted the flavor, saw the health benefits and actually liked better than most gluten varieties. Check out their website and Facebook and Twitter because they even have Multi-Grain Crisps now!

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How could I end today’s series without bringing it back to my popcorn addiction? Oogie’s has seriously stole my heart. This was a brand I had never tried before, I actually had not really seen it around at all. Well let’s just say that will change when I put in some store requests about these kick butt flavors. 

Oogie’s is all-natural, trans fat free, low sautéed fat and no cholesterol. It is even Kosher and Gluten free. This popcorn is kettle popped and lack no personality in their abundance of flavors.

I am going to ask you all to get a pen and paper because you are going to want to make note of these flavors. Their flavors include Classic Butter, Cracked Pepper & Asiago, Spicy Chipotle & Lime, Smoked Gouda, Sun Dried Tomato & Parmesan, White Cheddar, Hatched Chili Con Queso and Classic Kettle corn. Oh gosh having me pick a favorite flavor is pretty tough. For starters, if you like your spice like me, grab that Hatched Chili by the horns. Woof, delicious. The cheese lover side of me could not get enough of the Sun Dried Tomato & Parmesan. I felt like I was eating Parmesan by the spoonful. For 150 calories for 2.5 cups, I mean it couldn’t get better. 

Popcorn lovers you can rest in peace after these. Check out their website, Facebook and Twitter. You will not be sorry.

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So let’s recap shall we?

• Rhythm Superfoods: In the Kale Chip category, I would choose these over some of the other brands I have tried. Not a weekly buy but something I would buy again.
• CocomoJoe: I love their company passion, but I just not a bar girl. Would not go out and buy these on my own free will.
• Garden Lites: So up my alley. I can see myself buying these weekly for a few add ons to my dinner. Especially when I see a buys work week ahead and no time to grocery shop. I need my veggies!
• Go Raw: These are something I want to make myself buy more often because I need these higher protein type snacks. The little bars are so convenient. Um, that chocolate I need to find though. I want to always have that on hand.
• Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers: I think I see these as in a similar category to Rhythm Superfoods. A first pick for a gluten free cracker but probably not a weekly buy.
• Oogie’s: Well, if I can find these kick butt flavors I would be all over it. Until then, I will dream of this delicious tasting popcorn.

Have a great rest of the weekend my friends! I seriously appreciate all the support around my decisions. I blog because I love it. I love connecting with readers and letting them see my true passion.