This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness.
My mother was a stickler about what went into our refrigerator and our mouths. Growing up in the 1980s there was a whole slew of fantastically processed foods out there that I wanted to get my sticky, little hands on. Slices of cheese perfectly wrapped in plastic, fruit that had been sugared and pounded and wrapped until it resembled more of a jump rope than anything else...
I wanted it all.
No, no and NO, my mother said over and over again, as we wheeled right by all of these brightly packaged goods at the grocery store.
The funny thing is that for her it was less about being health conscious and more about just eating good food. My mother was a gourmand. She was obsessed with food and restaurants and chefs and she would be the first to tell you that fruit roll-ups were not food.
And even though I ate my fair share of processed cheese and other forbidden items in the homes of my friends, my mother's feelings about food stayed with me, and most of my life I've refrained from indulging in heavily processed foods.
It was in my twenties though, years after my mother had died, that I really starting foraying into the world of natural foods. I was living in Los Angeles and found myself surrounded by co-ops and Whole Foods and tiny, independent health food stores, and suddenly I felt like Alice falling through the rabbit hole into a whole new universe of organic foods, meat substitutes and sugar alternatives.
The more I learned and the more I tried, the more thrilled I became. These days, six or seven years after my initiation into such a healthy world, I am not only vegetarian but I put a great deal of thought into just what goes into my mouth and my fridge. What you put into your body is so important.
This is why I was happy to give Crystal Light's Pure Fitness a try. Unlike a lot of drinks on the market, there are no artificial sweeteners or flavors in Pure Fitness -- instead it uses a stevia-based natural sweetener. If you're not familiar with stevia, it's a completely natural plant-based sweetener that is sooo much better for you than some of the other stuff out there.
Anyway, let's do this, Internet. What's your favorite health food? Leave me a comment telling me what YOUR favorite healthy snack is and you'll be entered to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.
Here are some rules:
- No duplicate comments. (In other words: NO CHEATING)
- You may receive an additional entry by linking on Twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
- This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older.
- Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
- You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
- Contest ends 7/4/2010
You can read the official rules here. There are also 4 other bloggers giving away $100 and as well as a $1,000 sweepstakes on the round-up page!
So let's do this! Let's win some free money! Tell me: What's your favorite health food?
