It has been over a week since I have been back from Orlando and boy did I have lots of fun those few days I was out there! I enjoyed my time at the Wow Summit conference, my press trips, and I couldn't resist I had to do a little shopping and stop by Downtown Disney.
The reason why I went to this conference although it has nothing to do with my niche, I was invited to go for free, plus it was in Orlando and who can say no to that (Florida is like my second home)! My goal is to start eating right anyway so this conference was a good way to help me get started.
The conference started on Friday, November 7 starting off with registration and a Poolside Cocktail Party. I didn't arrive to Orlando until Saturday afternoon and I missed out on a bunch of stuff.
While at the conference, I mainly went to the workshops since there were some interesting topics I wanted to learn about. I only caught the ending of one keynote speaker talking about avoiding using anti-bacterial soaps, buy organic products, filter your tap water, and more.
The workshops I visited were:
Label Reading 101- Hosted by: Jess Kolko, Registered Dietician and Senior Research Analyst at Whole Foods Market.
During this workshop, Jess taught how to decode tricky food labels and find the information we need to know in order to make best choices for my family.
My takeaway from this workshop was I need to start really focusing on the ingredients in my foods. Even though the packaging say fat free and organic that may not even be the case. Also, if the first 3 ingredients says any type of sugar avoid eating that product.
Oh boy....I'm in some serious trouble because I know my foods are filled with sugar. I'll admit, I do glance at food labels but never really took the information to heart but after this workshop I'll start reading my food labels more and reducing eating out all the time too.
What was a complete shocker was when Jess said to avoid using coconut oil for cooking since it is high in saturated fats- ummm what the heck? I really thought that coconut oil is good for you. *Shoulder Shrug*
How to Protect your Family this Cold and Flu Season- Hosted by FluNada
During this workshop, FluNada uncovered all the details surrounding the dreaded cold and flu season, including how the viruses are spread and the preventive measures to take to protect my family.
I have a confession to make; my family and I have never taken the flu shot and never will. We all have never caught the flu before and we rarely get sick (knocks on wood), maybe twice a year. Now, if we feel a cold coming we quickly take a cold medicine and that usually does the trick for us.
The ladies from FluNada said their spray is a homeopathic throat and nasal spray formulated to provide relief from cold and flu-like symptoms naturally without zinc.
The whole time while in this workshop, the ladies from FluNada had people testing out the spray. I chose not to do it and just sit back and watch. Seems like one of the FluNada ladies been spraying way too much FluNada in her mouth and nose because she was so giggly and laughing out loud the whole time (don't get high off your own supply lady, LOL)
GMO, OMG!- Hosted by: Nature's Path EnviroKidz
I got the scoop on genetically modified organisms- what they are, where they are, and how to avoid them.
Did you know that there is about 70% of foods sold in supermarkets contains GMO? YIKES! I guess it is better just to grow our own foods then.
We were given a DVD of the award-winning documentary GMO OMG and I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, once I have some down time I will. I also won a book for twitting about the GMO workshop and I haven't had the time to read that either.
For Bloggers: Build Your Blog with Social Media- Hosted by: Amanda Boyarshinov and Kim Vij, Educational Bloggers
Almost everyone has a Pinterest account, but very few pinners have 1.5 million followers. Educational bloggers Kim and Amanda shared need-to know tips on how to take your blog to the next level with the help of platforms like Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I didn't really takeaway much from this workshop since I pretty much knew the information they were providing. Having beautiful pictures is the key with your blog and on social media and that is why I went out and purchase myself a camera earlier this year which was the best investment I have ever did! My Pinterest needs a little work and I need to start joining apps like ViralTag to pin my posts throughout the day. But I did learn that Pinterest is kind of like Facebook and they both like authentic posts that you post yourself, not from using programs that post for you.
When I didn't see any workshops I was interested in I used that time to talk to different brands and go taste testing. We sure did come out with a lot of samples to bring home. Our favorite snack was the Thinster's Cookiethins, gluten-free and non-GMO cookies- these cookies are sooooo delicious! We found ourselves eating the whole bag!
I don't drink soda but here is the booth for Zevia Zero Calorie Soda since I have been reading good things about them through other blogger's blogs.
Suja, is a nutritious certified organic, non-GMO, cold pressured juice/smoothie that is really good! Taste like it's freshly juiced from a juicer.
When the conference was concluding Sunday afternoon with a blogger luncheon we didn't stick around although I did sign up for it. We wanted to enjoy our short time in Orlando. We got our swag bag, which by the way was filled to the max with goodies! I feel bad for those who flew by plane because checking that bag in would've cost a pretty penny.
Although my experience with my first conference at Type-A was bad, this conference left me thinking about the foods I'm putting inside my body. During my time in Orlando I did eat very poorly but the conference did keep crossing my mind and made me feel guilty every bite I took.
I'm very happy I took this trip to the Wow Summit conference; it gave me a new perspective on ways to live a much healthier life. I think for now on I need to start stepping outside the box and go to conferences that are not really catered for me so I could learn something new and put it to use. And hey, I may even start blogging more about healthy living.
This looks very fun and informative!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun conference especially the vendor area with samples :) I am glad you had a better experience with the WOW conference.
ReplyDeleteThanks Paris! There were a lot of great vendors at this conference.
DeleteSounds like you were able to enjoy yourself and learn a lot that benefits you and your family! As an asthmatic I have to take the flu shoot and would hate to not take it and get the flu for 3-5 weeks. However, I totally agree with you about GMO's! It's amazing how much they effect us and eating organic and natural foods can really change your health outlook.
ReplyDeleteWow 3-5 weeks of the flu! That is not good. I always heard horror stories about the flu shot that it was giving people the flu so I always bypass on it.
DeleteI just can't believe how much GMO is in our foods, very scary!
It is always awesome to learn outside of your comfort zone. I would lI've to know how the GMO movie is!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about doing a review of the movie, it looks really good and informative.
DeleteGreat review, I too need to start eating healthier, but the Sweet Red Wine is my downfall!
ReplyDeleteSugar is my downfall. I love sweets and it is hard to give it up, it's addicting.
DeleteIt looks like you had fun. I would have enjoyed the GMO workshop. I've read about that since I began blogging over a year ago. One of my giveaway sponsors, NestFresh Eggs, are Non GMO which is why I started reading up on it. There is so much to learn when blogging!
ReplyDeleteThat is the beauty of blogging, you learn something new everyday!
DeleteI love a great information conference but I would have left here like "I'm doing life all the way wrong". I use Teflon all the time because it's so easy to clean. I try not to stow things plastic but there are not pesticides here so things go bad quickly if don't freeze it. I think I have anti-bacterial everything. See, I'm doing life wrong.
ReplyDeleteGirl I feel you, I'm doing my life wrong too, SMDH!
DeleteI had never heard of this conference! There are so many out there now. It sounds interesting, and I would have come away feeling so guilty about how I eat! Glad you had fun though. Love the pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks LaShawn! Yeah you do feel guilty about the foods you eat but this conference really does help you make life changes.
DeleteI've been hearing about this conference and I hope to attend it some time in the near future. I'm glad you walked away with info on living healthy and a lot of swag! ;) #productreviewparty
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely attend this conference in the future, it will give you a great takeaway about changing your lifestyle to a healthy one.
DeleteOoh, this sort of conference would've been right up my alley. Thanks for posting in such great detail, Lou. I love how you incorporated the Disney Slideshow... it made for a very easy-reading post. You made me laugh about the giggly flu-shots!
ReplyDeleteThanks Celeste I'm glad you enjoyed my post. LOL at the giggly lady, she was laughing so hard the whole time and I could even hear her down the hallways!
DeleteYou should attend this conference someday, it is really worth attending.
I would love to attend conferences like this and maybe next year I can plan ahead and attend. I love the Suja products by the way.
ReplyDeleteYou should make plans to go, it was a great conference and learning experience. I love the Suja drinks now, I drink them every week!
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