I have made a humongo dent in my HLS swag bag this past week. I don’t usually spend too much time reviewing products but since I ate all of these, I figure I might as well throw out some thoughts for those who are curious. It’ll be short and sweet.…just like me 
.
I’m not sure if I need a disclaimer but just in case….I got these products for free at HLS, but these thoughts are all my own.
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Vega Shake & Go Smoothie–the item I was the most excited about trying. I had been meaning to buy smoothie/protein powder for weeks but I was hesitant to shell out money on a big tub.
Just in time, Vega!
The idea of this smoothie is that you don’t need a blender or any other foods–just shake ‘n’ go. However, I added banana and spinach for some extra fruits and veggies. I think the powder tastes alright on it’s own but I like it a lot with the addition of banana.
The powder is dairy-free, which makes my tummy happy too.
SNAX
Unlike traditional pretzels, the Mary’s Sticks and Twigs were a bit tough and fibrous, but I’ll take ‘em given their amazing ingredients list. They were quite filling!
I tried these Luna Protein bars a couple months ago. You can read my thoughts in this post.
I’ve eaten about 2 Attune chocolate bars every day since I’ve been home. Chocolate cravings have been up the wazoo lately. Attune chocolate bars have 3-4g of fiber each, which is pretty awesome in my book. I don’t taste the probiotics at all.
Good thing I have chocolate in calcium form as an excuse to eat even more chocolate. You know I love my candy vitamins! I actually used to buy these Adora Discs from Whole Foods a lot. I went through them too quickly though and they were digging a hole in my wallet. Although, I suppose it’s only a bit more expensive than buying regular ol’ chocolate (and I certainly think of them as just chocolate when I eat them). I can’t taste the calcium in these chocolates whatsoever. Does calcium even have a taste? I think not.
In all seriousness, can you overdose on calcium? I don’t have more than two or three 500mg supplements a day (chews and/or chocolates) but ya never know what could happen….
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Mary’s Gone Crackers Cookies!
They certainly weren’t buttery, indulgent cookies but they did have a hearty, chewy texture that I found oddly addicting. Their ingredients list put a smile on my face too. Out of the three flavors (including the N’oatmeal Raisin), I’d say Ginger Snaps was my favorite.
[END OF HLS SWAG SNAX]
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Guess what I ate for the first time in my life?
A pluot (plum-apricot hybrid)
Not allergic!! Weeee!
Does this means I’m not allergic to plums either?? I guess we’ll just have to find out .
I got a Lifeway Kefir Bar from Starfruit to try since I had never seen these in stores. It was pretty much a yogurt covered Larabar-like bar, but with some other ingredients. I like anything with a yogurt coating but this bar was just okay. I would definitely eat this bar again, but I’m not sure if I would buy it again. Ya know what I mean?
I would choose frozen kefir over this any day .
A Lost Wallet
Before I go I want to share with you something that happened last night. On our walk back from Trader Joe’s, I found a wallet on the street. My mom and I took it home with us so that we could find the owner (a lady) and return it to her safely. I told my mom, ‘I trust myself more than I trust anyone else.‘ In other words, I trust myself to return the wallet the way I found it. We could have gone into TJ’s and given it to them, but who knows if they would have taken the extra step to find her (or the many many steps in this case). Good thing we took it with us because she didn’t even know she lost it there!
She had everything inside her wallet including credit cards and her driver’s license but there was NO phone number to be found anywhere–not in her wallet and not online. My mom called her bank/credit card companies to leave our phone number hoping they would contact her so she could contact us back. They didn’t. We searched high and low on Facebook, LinkedIn and a million other sites. We even sent a message to who we thought was her daughter (who she confirmed WAS her daughter–go Momma!).
The lady didn’t even realize she lost her wallet until this morning. She called her bank/credit card company and it took 20 min. to get our phone number to call us. She came by to pick up her wallet and was ever so gracious. I don’t know about you, but I’m keeping my phone number in my wallet now. Who knows if whoever finds my lost wallet will go the extra step(s) to return it to me.
Dairy Free for a Day!
On Friday, I had NOT ONE LICK OF DAIRY!!! Well, besides chocolate but that doesn’t count. Whenever I think about eating dairy, my stomach starts to clench as if it’s warning me to go easy. Like I said before, I’m not going to cut it out completely, but I think my traumatizing experience last week in Chicago was enough to make me think twice before ingesting my beloved dairy (even though the experience was non-dairy related). It probably helps that I don’t have Greek yogurt in the fridge to tempt me!
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Do you have any lost/found wallet stories to share? Good or bad?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
*Presents medal to Allie for being a good samaritan* – go you! I’v4e never found a wallet, but I’d do the same thing
Ohh I feel for the poor old Sticks and Twigs – I LOVED them but no-one else seems to!? Shame
As for calcium – I think you can have too much, but on the Adora packet it says 3 max, so I reckon you’re fine
I don’t think that you can overdose on calcium unless you eat wayyyy too much.
I love pluots! They seem a lot more plum than apricot to me.
Have a great weekend!
Amanda–
I agree! I was bummed they weren’t more apricot-y since I love them to death.
girl1 these reviews are amazing im definatly taking them into consideration1 i thought i was lactose intolerant like a week ago since dairy seemed to be the culprit, i limited my dairy and actually cut it out, and ive missed it way to much to stay totally away from it! i just eat lesss and my stomach feels alot better1 i cant live my life without my beloved yogurt messes! sounds like a good challenge! i love pluots by the way! there delicious with sunbutter! have a great day <3
Ashley
Too much of anything can be bad. Kidney stones are usually calcium oxide which can happen from excess calcium in the diet. I don’t think calcium is water soluble (like say, vitamin B12) so it could be easier to get too much. Just be careful!
Allie that is so great what you did with that wallet! I know I also trust myself more than others (sad to admit that sometimes) — and I would rather take it upon myself to find the owner.
I’ve never tried a “shake and go” powder that actually worked! I hate finding a clump of powder in my drink, so I always blend them up. And I agree with you about putting a banana or something with it, fruit always makes a shake so much better!
Crystal–
Thanks so much for your comment! Good to know….no more than 3 calcium candies a day for me! Since I’m cutting back on dairy, I think/hope that’s okay.
they teach in med school that symptoms of hypercalcemia = “bones, stones, abdominal moans, and psychiatric overtones” . . . meaning kidney stones, body aches, abdominal pain, and mood issues. however, i don’t know how many adoras you’d have to take to reach that point! your kidneys probably would flush out most of the calcium, since our lovely parathyroid gland works nicely to regular our total body calcium levels, but i imagine that TONS of adora disks could then set you up for some unpleasant stone action.
That was so nice of you to do that for the woman. I probably would have taken it to Trader Joe’s but you are right, it is hard to trust people these days.
I am so glad that you are doing better without dairy. It can really put a monkey wrench in things some times! Those Attune bars are crazy good aren’t they?! I hope your belly continues to improve!
Dr. Sarah–
I’m calling you if I get problems!!!
I will tell you this: If I ever lose my wallet, I want YOU to be the one to find it
Wow you’re so lucky you got to try out all those things!
One time I lost my purse in high school and it got returned to me in the middle of class almost three weeks later. I was positive it was gone for good and started crying when it was returned to me! Not so much because of all my cards but mainly because it had all my ticket stubs from Broadway shows in it that meant a lot to me! I still don’t know where or how I lost it but so thankful to my school security who somehow retrieved it and brought it back
I really want to try out those Adora discs! I’m a bit worried I don’t get enough calcium, and what better way to get it than with chocolate?
That was really sweet of you & your mom to take all those measures to contact the lady! I never even thought about putting my phone number in my wallet. I’m going to make sure to do that!
So much chocolate! All that swag looks amazing. You and your mom are such kind people, by the way. I’m putting my phone number in my wallet right now… though I doubt that a Chinese thief would return it.
Hey, sorry to be the Debbie Downer here, but I would watch how much calcium you’re ingesting. I was put on calcium pills in high school to help with a sports injury, and it ended up giving me a kidney stone (on my Sweet 16…brilliant). I’m sure your chews aren’t THAT high in calcium, and if you’re cutting back on dairy, you should probably be taking them, but just something to keep in the back of your head…
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