Between you, me, and the FCC: AmericasNutrition.com sent me two products to review for free. Together they cost less than $11. Consider yourself fully informed.
I ignore 99% of the emails I get from marketing people. Half the time they’re pitching a product that doesn’t appeal to me (I’m looking at you, scary “all natural” diet pills) and half the time it’s abundantly clear the marketer is only interested in plastering this site with ads. And I don’t do ads.
But my experience with Stephanie from America’s Nutrition? Awesome. Beyond awesome. True, America’s Nutrition sells lots of products that don’t appeal to me, including diet pills (boo), but Stephanie read through my archives before she emailed so she could get a sense of who I was and what I might be interested in. And her suggestions were great. She even sent a handwritten note with my package of goodies.
image via AmericasNutrition.com
The idea behind this product is pretty simple. There’s a small index finger-sized ice pack that hangs down into the center of the cup to keep the beverage cold for several hours, depending on what you put in it. Inside my air-conditioned office my water stayed cold for more than four hours; in the car (during a horrible heat wave) it started getting tepid in half that time. One of these days I’m going to get brave and use it to pack milk with my lunch.
It’s inexpensive ($4.99 + shipping) and easy to clean. I put mine in the top shelf of the dish washer (minus the ice wand, which I rinse off in the sink). Added bonus? The bottom of the cup unscrews so you can store protein powder or a snack, if that’s your thing.
image via AmericasNutrition.com
I’m trying to get into the whole protein shake thing, mostly because it’s an easy way to get a some breakfast before my early gym visit without filling up on food. I still haven’t found the perfect shake recipe yet (chocolate? vanilla? It’s a work in progress) but this bottle is pretty slick. You pour in your water or milk, toss in your protein powder and the little wire ball, and screw on the lid.
Then you shake the shit out of the bottle. And the little wire bottle breaks up all the clumps of protein powder so your shake is nice and smooth. My shakes still don’t taste amazing (recipe suggestions welcome!) but they haven’t been remotely clumpy. The 20 oz bottle costs $6.50 plus shipping and can also go in the dish washer (top shelf).
Other thoughts? America’s Nutrition sells all kinds of products (imagine if Dicks and GNC had a baby) and some are better and more healthful than the rest. If you focus on the Vitaminder line or fitness gear you can probably score some deals.
That blender bottle sounds awesome to me. I run a lot and drink Accellerade after any run over about 15ish miles. I have heard that the formula is less effective if it’s pre-mixed, and I know the recovery/refuel window is kind of short (esp with stretching, etc. taking time), so I have the powder in a 16oz. plastic water bottle until I finish running, then add water and shake. And then gag at some point when I get a clump. My question — what do you do with the wire ball after you shake? Do you have to take it out before you drink? Do you wash it? If so, in the dishwasher? Any risk of fragments of the ball breaking off or something?
I leave the wire ball in until I’ve finished my shake (I forget it’s in there) and when I’m done I toss it in the dishwasher. So far my wire ball seems damn near indestructible. Imagine if a wire whisk and a ball had a baby.
That’s it. Not digging in my shake to pull it out, washing it in the dishwasher and it being indestructible are all the final words I needed. I’m ordering one this wknd! Thanks! It was worth leaving my first comment!
My experience with protein shakes is that they are only awesome when blended with ice in a blender; then they taste like milkshakes! Does that still count as a protein shake? Anyways, as far as recipes, you can get so creative with them. Chocolate protein powder with almond milk, soy milk, or regular skim milk, a banana and some peanut butter (or peanut powder so its less fatty) tastes awesome! Or vanilla protein powder with your choice of milk, banana and berries is great. Sometimes I add a little plain greek yogurt to my protein shakes and it makes them taste so decadent! Good luck!