2016 NOW FOODS IMMERSION RECAP and HUGE GIVEAWAY!

June 9, 2016 -
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Happy Thursday, friends!! Last week was a whirlwind of a week with travel but so worth the tiredness.

First I was home in Pittsburgh for my bridal shower/bachelorette slumber party…which I plan to do a FULL recap on them! So so fun to see family & have all of my girlfriends in one room.
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At the tail end of the trip, I went from Pittsburgh to Chicago to be a part of the NOW Immersion.

The NOW FOODS trip was their annual #NOWgetfit Immersion that they host each year. I, as an influencer with NOW, had the amazing opportunity to go and join my fellow FitFluential Ambassadors for the trip! It was so good to see some familiar faces like my girl Katie, @HealthyDiva! xoxo

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I’m not going to lie…after such an awesome whirlwind of a weekend…I totally hit the bed & slept for 2 hours before I through some dry shampoo in my hair & changed my clothes for dinner! Your girl was SLEEPYCAKES.

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I instantly connected with Sarah from FreshFitnHealthy who is a genuine sweetheart. I knew her from social media but never met in person — let’s just say we are definitely meant to be twins.

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Also got to finally meet Laura from Sprint2TheTable! She is HILARIOUS and I had so much fun getting to know her.

We all headed to dinner where we were welcomed by the CEO of NOW. He gave us a little background on the company & we went over our plans for the next 24 hours while at their HQ.

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The food? AMAZING doesn’t even do it justice. So dang good.

Arugula & goat cheese salad for an app.

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Salmon with roasted potatoes & snap pea medley.IMG_6895 (1)

Drum roll please…flourless chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert. & yes..every bite was gone when I was done. #bodypeace
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Our bellies were full & throats were tired after chatting all night so we headed back to catch some Z’s before our 6am wake up call for a morning workout @ Lifetime Fitness!

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The workout was a Target inspired 45 minute HIIT workout with a 15 minute yoga ending. So awesome for everyone to train together to kick off the day.

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After the workout they had smoothies waiting for us in these awesome shaker bottles with a separate compartment for protein powder.

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From the workout we headed back to the hotel to change, freshen up, grab some breakfast, & then were on our way to NOW HQ.

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We were first greeted with one of the workers who gave us the background of NOW.

I’ve known of NOW for years as the company with the orange bottles and when asked to be a part of their team this year I didn’t even hesitate because they truly treat me not only me but their customers with so much respect.

NOW has nearly 1,500 high quality and affordable products ranging from skin care, to snacks, to vitamins & supplements, to a pet line, & organic oils.  We also found out that nearly  75% of their supplements are non-GMO!  It was very clear how much effort & time goes into their testing practices and how much they truly CARE about the products that they offer.
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We got suited up to take the tour (channeling our inner Lucy & Ethel). We got to see a behind the scenes look at their HUGE facility.

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I think seeing the belts moving with tons of product was such a highlight for me. Crazy to think where all of those are being shipped to.
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Saw one of my go to items — mag citrate. Helps whenever my bowels need a bit of assistance ;] along with their probiotics & digestive enzymes.

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We also got to learn about their pure quality standards for Stevia (one of my favorites!) which they title “better stevia” because it’s not bitter.

Their CEO said it best… “Our definition of value is the best quality product at best possible price.”

From the tour we headed to their HQ building for lunch (by Whole Foods – woo!) and a presentation by NOW Spokesperson, Dr. Wendy Bazilian.  (awesome last name..right!?)

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Wendy is SO sweet & I loved her presentation on “Food Tribes” A Food Tribe is a social group connected by a common set of beliefs that shape their food and lifestyle choices.

Her research was really interesting & her presentation skills were great.

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NOW offered some amazing snacks along with their Tea’s & Slender Stevia Sticks that I love!

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After Wendy’s presentation, we had a DIY workshop with NOW’s line of essential oil products.

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We made our own Disinfectant Spray & Bathtub Tea bags.

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My purse smelt AMAZING and still does after having these in there for trip home. Can’t wait to use them.

From the DIY workshop we headed to the NOW Kitchen for a NOW® Natural Foods Overview by Dave Rosenberg, Foods Brand Director and an Ellyndale Foods™ premium oil tasting led by Suzy Singh, R&D Chef.

Chef Suzy is dang ADORABLE. Her energy is so contagious that there is no doubt she is living her passion. Her story was also pretty amazing — after a short studying Neural Engineering she decided to follow her passion by going back to school at Le Cordon Bleu to be a chef where she then was picked for Season 2 of MasterChef, finishing in the top 5.  After MasterChef, she started her own samosa food truck which she said was the first South Asian food truck in Chicago.

Um, you GO Suzy!

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After we learned more about the products (that I seriously love so much) we did an OIL TASTING which was a total first for me.

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Apparently there is a whole approach to oil tasting that involves having the oil in your mouth and then making a noise that is VERY similar to whenever I had an expander in the roof of my mouth (oh, those years of braces).

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This helps the oil expand into your taste-buds and give you the full flavor of the oil.

My favorites were the macadamia nut oil, butter infused coconut oil, & garlic infused coconut oil.

With the oils we were given little containers to make our own dressings to add to our adorable MASON JAR SALADS for our travels.
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We were joking how people think that bloggers eat salads out of mason jars all of the time and how we prefer large bowls ;] but these were SO cute for traveling and made a perfect airport dinner.

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Events like these are so fun to not only learn so much about an amazing company like NOW but to meet some inspiring bloggers.

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Vivian from @Fitalicious.life who I’ve been following for years now. Such a sweetheart!

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And my GIRL Kelly Olexa who is always fab! She is a total Girl Boss & it was so great having her & her sister Jen at the NOW event!

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It was an awesome 24 hours in Chicago visiting with NOW and I can’t thank them enough for their genoriosty over that period of time. I am so proud to be on TEAM NOW and know that the products that I take and recommend are of the highest quality tested & created by some of the most passionate and talented chemists & chef’s in the US.
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I may or may not have slept in yesterday morning til about 1030am just catching up after an eventful week…listen to your bod!

NOW is being so great & offering one lucky reader a chance to win the swag bag that we all received at the Immersion!! Seriously guys this is LOADED with amazing products.

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HOW TO ENTER:

1) Leave a comment below letting us know why you’re excited to try out NOW products.

Optional Extra Entries (not mandatory): please leave a separate comment for EACH entry.

2) Tweet about the giveaway, “I am entering to win the @NOWFoods #GIVEAWAY from @Powercakes at https://powercakes.net/nowimmersion @FitFluential #FitFluential #NOWgetfit”

3) Re-Pin the Image I post today on Pinterest or post an image from the post & let me know that you did below!

4) Subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss a giveaway or post! Just sent out a NEW e-mail update today!

5) “Like” Now Foods & Powercakes on Facebook

6) Follow @NowFoods & Powercakes on Twitter

7) Follow @NowFoodsOfficial & Powercakes on Instagram

8) Subscribe to my YouTube Channel so you don’t miss a video!

9) Check out my Training Programs & Online Instant Downloads at KaseyArena.com & if it interests you at all, let me know below if you signed up for more info!

*This Giveaway is open to US only & will run until Sunday, June 12th at midnight.

Be true to you & GOOD LUCK!

xo Kasey

 

Also check out my twin separated at birth, Sarah and her awesome recap video!