Live Well Now – A Love Letter to GNC

After going gluten-free, I’ve learned that all sorts of things are filled with gluten-y poisons. Example: every single snack that I want to eat, some of my medicines, protein powders, etc. It’s a whole new world that I never thought I would have to research. (Imagine my reaction when I discovered that my preferred toothpaste had gluten. Actually, don’t. Yuppie whining tantrum in the middle of Whole Foods, complete with angry texting.)

During these troubled times, some treats appeared from GNC and Ostrim.

Yes, GNC, I want to Live Well NOW. What do you have for me?

First, Vitapaks.

First off, I LOVE any type of Vitapak. Traveling is a huge pain for me because I have to take 5 (not kidding – there are 5) pill carriers to accommodate all of my vitamins and supplements. Pre-packaged vitamins are awesome because that knocks out 3 of the pill carriers.

In this instance, however, I made a dumb move. I got the Active brand. It was an aspirational purchase. Because I want to be more active. There is an energy pill, and I thought I could skip that since I can’t have energy boosting stuff. After a couple of days, I wondered why I was a little on edge and tense. Turns out that there were energy boosting supplements in another pill that I hadn’t noticed. Not good.

I am usually very careful about my labels. And while I was careful to avoid all gluten-y poisons, I wasn’t careful when it came to the energy supplements. (With my heart rate already super jacked up from my thyroid meds, it simply doesn’t work. I have been caffeine-free for about 15 years and I promise that you prefer me this way.) After doing some additional research, I think the ideal Vitapak for me may be the Wellness Vitapak. No energy boosting supplements. A beauty booster (sadly, no Botox with enclosed syringe). Doses of a lot of stuff that I like. The only piece that I’m not sure about is the mood booster. Because, let’s be honest, I’m on some pretty serious meds for that. I must be diligent that my supplements do not interact with my prescription meds. So I will talk to my doctor about it next week. I’m glad that I did some additional research and found a Vitapak that will work better for what I need. This will be incredibly handy when I travel early next month! I can throw two Vitapaks in my bag and two pill carriers. Way easier than the 5 carriers (which always came open in my luggage).

Also in my GNC box, I got Chia Seeds. Brian, of course, asked where the ceramic creature was. Sigh.

Flax seeds are VERY popular in our house. My husband and I both love them. Due to the gluten-free diet, I have discovered coconut milk yogurt. Add a banana and some chia seeds to the yogurt. What an awesome breakfast. Since I always need more protein, this is a perfect option for me. I’m not one of those girls who can just throw a spoonful of nut butter into my yogurt for breakfast.

Now, let’s talk about Ostrim. When my box of goodies from Ostrim arrived, I thought, perfect, meat for Brian and chocolate for me.

So, the Gimme became known around the house as “healthy M&Ms.” They are chocolates with a nutritional boost. So clever. Except they may contain wheat and I couldn’t determine if they bothered my stomach, so I was hesitant to eat too many. I can tell you that I shared with some coworkers and my stepkids and they were very well-received. (The ones that I ate were very tasty. I wanted all of the rest.)

Getting me to eat protein isn’t the easiest feat. I will happily eat cereal with almond milk for every single meal. Occasionally, I will look for ice cream, but that’s all of the variety that I need. Well, that I needed. Because now, I am obsessed with Ostrim. Specifically the Beef and Ostrich Jerkee in pepper flavor. I hid some of them to make sure that I had extras. The meat sticks are delightful too, but the jerkee is incredible. There was a hurdle at first – getting me to willingly eat something that I knew was ostrich. After I realized that it was like the best Slim Jim on earth times 1,000,000 minus the mechanically separated chicken, I was in love.

I wasn’t the only one. My husband declared his love for Ostrim on his Facebook page. He won’t tell me that he likes our cats, but he publicly declared love for meat snacks on Facebook. I don’t know if Ostrim understands that they are pretty much going steady now. My stepkids also loved it.

For the gluten-free masses, just remember to read. Gluten-free 101 includes no teriyaki because of the soy sauce. I wasn’t paying attention and I ate some teriyaki jerkee. Oops. That definitely caused some pain. But it was clearly labeled that it had soy. I was just so eager for the meat treat that I wasn’t paying attention.

When I think of GNC, I tend to think of an experience that I had at another health store. I went in looking for something that I no longer remember. Instead, I remember walking in, dealing with this super big fitness guy who spoke in a foreign language and feeling like I couldn’t navigate the store. (And as my former habits demonstrate, I am not a timid shopper.) But that wasn’t a GNC. Now, I realize that my ideas about GNC were totally wrong. They have a huge variety of items. Especially gluten-free (search the website – I need to try some of the protein powders). Most importantly, it’s not an intimidating atmosphere. I am going in this weekend to pick up my Wellness Vitapak. (I am not afraid of holiday shoppers on Christmas Eve. That’s when I typically do my shopping. Everyone is getting meat snacks for Christmas!)

Disclosure: I am the Chief Marketing Officer of FitFluential LLC. GNC is a client of Fitfluential. I received the products described in this post at no charge. All opinions are my own. We are seriously that into meat snacks. Ostrim is that good. Ostrich. Who knew?

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