Sponsored: New Red Mango Frozen Yogurt Smoothies

Hi guys! 

I have an AWESOME giveaway for you today! That is, an awesome giveaway if you love smoothies and frozen yogurt. So basically, it's an awesome giveaway, because who doesn't love those? 

Now, before I go further, I should mention that Red Mango compensated me for this post. But I would not have accepted the campaign offer if I didn't already know that I liked Red Mango's fro-yo and, as they always will be, all thoughts and opinions on the products are my own.

But first, some background. Yesterday, after taking a Barry's Bootcamp class with Ashley, I headed downtown for jury duty. I had forgotten my change of clothes that I'd laid out the night before so I was wearing workout clothes -- at least I'd brought a pullover! 

If you've ever served jury duty, you know it's a lot of "hurry up and wait," as you're moved from one room to another, waiting to see if you'll be selected or not. Finally, at 12 PM, we were given a two-hour lunch break. So I headed immediately to Red Mango to try out their brand new SuperBiotics Summer Smoothies!

Red Mango just launched 22 brand new probiotic smoothie flavors and approached me about trying out one and blogging about it. I said yes immediately. You may have detected the hint of a smoothie obsession around these parts, and I love frozen yogurt, so there was no way I could say no. 

However, whenever I work with a brand, I make it clear that I reserve the right not to like the product and either not to blog about it or to be honest about my dislikes. Thankfully, that wasn't an issue -- these smoothies are delicious!

I ordered the Strawberry Energizer, with an energy boost, and it was exactly what I needed on a hot and humid day after a 6 AM Barry's class and several hours of jury duty (with more to come). The smoothie was sweet, but not too sweet -- just tasty enough to feel like a treat. And at 220 calories, I could pair it with something else for lunch, which kept me going from 12 PM until 5:30 PM!

The girl manning the counter was extremely helpful and not only discussed the smoothies with me, telling me that yes, they're made with fresh fruit (yay!), she also told me about their new fro-yo flavors, including Wild Raspberry and Lucky Taro. I tried both and they were fantastic! At that point, I basically wanted to make fro-yo my lunch, but knew the resulting sugar crash would leave me napping in a courtroom. Not the classiest start to my legal career.

But I'll be back for those flavors! And to taste more of the smoothie types because my Strawberry Energizer was seriously tasty. It was full of strawberry and banana and didn't have that sometimes-chalky taste you get at chain smoothie places.

I also love that the smoothies are made with probiotics, live bacteria in yogurt that have health benefits. Red Mango has a great infographic about their particular probiotics here.

Red Mango has also introduced new boosts for their smoothies, in addition to the protein, energy, immunity, and multivitamin boosts they already had. I'll let them tell you about the new boosts:

• Metabolic Fit 360™: A proprietary blend of protein, calcium and African Mango which supports metabolic balance and promotes healthy weight management.
• Dark Chocolate Mate: Finely ground, Brazilian roasted maté and dark chocolate; a delicious, rich, low-calorie flavor which also supplies a nice dose of antioxidants.
• Tropical Hibiscus: Finely ground, premium Nigerian hibiscus blossoms infused with natural pineapple and lychee; a bright and tropical low-calorie flavor and antioxidant boost.
• Green Tea Acai: Finely ground, premium green tea with açai berries, the Amazonian superfruit; a low-calorie antioxidant boost made with the best ingredients.

Giveaway!
Now for the giveaway: THREE of you will be winning $25 gift cards to Red Mango to try their new smoothies and fro-yo! 

You have four different ways to enter!

1. Leave a blog comment telling me what your favorite fro-yo topping combination is.
2. Tweet about the giveaway, using the following: "I want to win $25 to @redmango from @jensbestlife! bit.ly/14MeW5F" AND leave me a comment telling me you tweeted.
3. Follow me on Twitter AND leave a comment telling me you followed me.
4. Like my Facebook page AND leave a comment telling me you liked it.

The giveaway will end at 11:59 PM on July 9, 2013, so you have a week to enter.

And everyone gets to enjoy a discount to Red Mango that they have going on from now until July 5. All day, every day till Friday, Red Mango is offering their Super Biotic Smoothies for only $2 plus tax for the regular size. No coupon is required, just pop into your local location and try them out!

This post was sponsored by Red Mango. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Current Obsessions: Picky Bars, Spaghetti Squash, and Evolution Juices

Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement about my Chicago Marathon announcement yesterday! Five people have already donated. You guys are amazing!! Getting emails throughout the day notifying me of donations kept a permanent smile on my face. Thank you! (And if you haven't donated but would like to, here's my fundraising page).

"Nope, not waking up and going outside in sub-freezing temperatures. Why do you think that's a good idea?"

After a Refine Method class yesterday morning followed by pro bono work for an hour, I helped fill orders over at Erica Sara Designs International HQ. She was a bit swamped after a feature in US Weekly showcasing her custom name rings. I spent the afternoon packaging up beautiful custom name rings and race bling. Gotta say, it's pretty awesome to be surrounded by all that love being sent to people, and I really enjoyed seeing how the jewelry is made.

Erica polishing a name for a ring - how cool is that?

Apparently all this made me very tired because I got home, ate dinner, and completely passed out on the couch with Mason for two hours. Sourabh came home from school to a conked out girlfriend (and possibly an empty hard cider bottle -- it was definitely Mason drinking that, not me). I somehow woke up enough to do some legal research for the charter school I volunteer with before finally passing out for good in bed.


But no blogging happened last night. Hence the late start this morning. Whoops.

Anyway, today I wanted to share three things I'm completely obsessed with lately. Yes, they're all food. Don't laugh.

Picky Bars

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I ordered these two weeks ago because I'm trying to work on my run fueling and get that strategy down before the NYC Half. I'd heard amazing things about Picky Bars from Ashley and Liz (and generally the whole Twitterverse), but I didn't want to spend $20 on a package of them.

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 Well I finally bit the bullet and ordered a pack of Smooth Caffeinators, described as "hazelnut mocha goodness." That basically sums it up. These things are good.

Their tagline is "it's freaking science, dude," and they're formulated to have a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio, ideal for recovery. They're vegan, locally sourced when possible, and have minimal soy content. Oh, and they taste delicious. I've been using them when I'm running a few hours after a meal, or cut in half as pre- and post-fueling for a shorter (<5 miles) run.

Aaaand I'm ordering a multi-pack now to try more flavors. I'll let you know how I like them!

Spaghetti Squash

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I love eating pasta with a good spicy, vegetable-filled marinara sauce. But if I'm not fueling for an ultra marathon (hint: I am never fueling for an ultra marathon), I don't need to eat all that pasta.

Enter the best vegetable ever: spaghetti squash. I only started making it a few weeks ago after reading Michelle's crazy easy guide to making it, but it changed my life. Sure, it's not identical to pasta,  but it mimics the texture and basic taste really well and allows me to eat a giant plate of "pasta" without needing to break out the sweatpants.

(Who am I kidding, the minute I get in the door the sweatpants go on.)

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And in case I haven't raved enough about Michelle's blog, Lace and Race, you seriously need to follow it for the great run-fuel veghead recipes. Vegetarian shepherd's pie? Come live with me and cook for me, please, Michelle!!

Evolution Juices

This isn't a new obsession considering I would always head to a Starbucks to find a green juice immediately after landing in Seattle. But they've just come to NYC! Here's the thing with Evolution Fresh juices, though: most of them are your typical juice calorie bomb. But the Sweet Greens is a fabulous green juice with only 80 calories and it's made from celery, apple, cucumber, spinach, parsley, romaine lettuce, lemon, lime, wheat grass, clover sprouts.

"But Jen," you cry, "I thought you didn't care about calories!" No, I don't count calories. I do care if something I'm drinking has 30 grams of sugar and 300 calories and it's not a protein shake that's a replacement meal.

The fact that I can run into any Starbucks and grab a green juice now is extremely awesome. Obsessed.

Have you tried Picky Bars or Starbucks's new juices? Ever made spaghetti squash? What are you currently obsessed with?