Update on the Healthy Thing

So, I made it through week 5 of Couch to 5K. That's my traditional dropping-out point, but I am determined to make it all the way through. On to week 6!

My energy is better and I'm sleeping better. All good. Summer produce deliveries and farmer's markets make it easy to eat fresh food (also, the homemade strawberry ice cream from the flat of organic strawberries I picked up. Oooohhh, it was good - and I used half and half instead of cream. Not exactly low-fat or low-calorie, but damn, it was good).

I also received some samples of some new products from Smart for Life and underWAY (see the end of the post for discount codes). You've heard of the Cookie Diet, yes? So they have a bunch of new, high fiber, high protein products designed to fill you up, lower your appetite and balance your glucose levels. Since I suspect I'm heading towards insulin insensitivity, if not there already, I was interested in trying them.

Some of the more appealing things about this product was that they are 60% organic, with no preservatives (which does mean you have to eat them within a short time of opening the package). What I can say is that they DO fill you up - you're supposed to eat either a cookie or a cupcake every few hours. They're small, but yes, they do kill hunger.

But how do they taste?

Chocolate Chip Cookies: These are small cookie squares that reminded me of Cliff Bars. They're not bad, just not really chocolate-y, which is fine. Kinda sweet, kinda granola-y.

Chocolate Mountain Cupcakes: This is more what I'm talkin' about. More chocolatey, nice texture, small but adequate for hunger control. These (and the carrot ones) were my favorite.

Carrot Sunshine Cupcakes: Again, nice texture, cake-y, not too carroty, but has a nice but not too strong carrot-cinnamon taste.

Cupcakes are also available through ThinAdventure a program cmore geared to kids. Figures my favorite items would be those designed for kids.

One of the great things about the cookies and the cupcakes is that they're very portable. I threw a few in a baggie, stuck them in my purse and ran off to gymnastics and swimming lessons. Kept me away from the snack bar!

SmartforLife Smart Crunch: Tastes pretty much like one of the cookies kind of crumbled up. It seems like a small portion, but it's actually enough to satisfy a snack craving.

underWAY appetite suppressant supplement: These are like flavored waters with fiber and it's also supposed to stimulate the brain to think you've eaten more than you have. I tried the Acai-Pomegranate and the Grape, both of which were sweet and tasted like melted popsicles. I liked the Acai-Pomegranate variety best, and honestly, I used them the same days I ate the muffins and the cookies, so I'm not sure they suppressed my appetite any more than the food did.

So the idea is that you eat the equivalent of a cookie 6 times a day, and then eat a healthy meal. The week I tried them, I lost 2 lbs, and definitely felt that my cravings were more under control.

So if you're interested in trying the products, use the 10% off codes MCUS10OFFUW at underWAY and MCUS10OFFSFL at Smart for Life.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of underWAY and Smart for Life and received samples of the products to review.