Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop Healthy Eating Challenge!

I like to eat. A lot.

I am a snacker, a grazer, a little-bit-here-and-there eater. I used to snack on really unhealthy things…like candy, cookies and brownies. When I made the decision to get serious about eating better and getting healthier in January, one of the first things I did was go through my pantry and throw out all of the candy and junk food.

It makes a big difference in how I snack – if it’s not there, I can’t eat it. When I am craving sweets now, I have to actually go in the kitchen and bake it!

Of course, just because I got rid of the junk food doesn’t mean that I am not still snacking. I replaced all that junk food with fresh fruits and low calorie snacks like mini bags of popcorn, rice cakes, nuts and low calorie prepackaged treats. The problem with those things is that sure, they are low calorie…but they are small and I am not satisfied with them. So I eat two…or three. Which means that while I am eating low calorie stuff, I am really not accomplishing anything because I am still going over my daily recommended calories!

When I heard about the Healthy Snacking Challenge from Orville Redenbacher, I knew that this was perfect for me and my family!

What is the Healthy Snacking Challenge? 

It’s simple! Just replace your junk food with Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! popcorn!

A new study from ConAgra Foods has shown that snacking on 100-calories of low-fat healthy popcorn, like Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop!, leads to less hunger and more satisfaction versus other snacks like almonds or pretzels – and it tastes so good, you won’t even miss those other snacks! And because 6 cups of Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! only has 100 calories, I don’t have to worry about rationing my snacks, I can actually eat the entire SmartPop! bowl and have just about 100 calories.

We’ve been eating Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! popcorn for a little over a week now, and I am already a fan. Instead of having a snack and then going back into the kitchen and looking for something else, I am eating my popcorn and then…I am done because I am actually full! The reason I am feeling more full is because Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn provides three times more fiber per 1-ounce serving than other snack foods. As we all know, fiber is what fills you up!

Angeline likes to eat something as soon as she comes home from school, and it was a great being able to just pop a bowl of the SmartPop! popcorn and not worrying about her having too many calories for the day. Instead of going for potato chips, she just has popcorn and we both feel great knowing she’s eating something that tastes great and is less than 100 calories! And because popcorn is a whole grain, we also have the added benefit of knowing that we are getting an entire serving of whole grain in three cups of SmartPop!

In addition to snack time, we also enjoy eating our SmartPop! popcorn while we watch television in the evenings, and of course on weekends! And just like when we got to the movie theater, we have to have our popcorn when we watch movies on movie night in the Quillen house!

We have always been fans of popcorn, but it’s usually so high in calories that we would just save it for movie night. What I really love about Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! popcorn is that while it is super low calorie, it actually tastes fantastic. It’s not as buttery as regular popcorn, so it doesn’t leave that gritty, greasy feeling in your mouth after you’ve eaten it, either!

I’m loving the Healthy Snacking Challenge; being able to eat popcorn every day and knowing that instead of ruining my diet, it’s helping me stick to healthy eating habits is win-win!

You can check our more about Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop popcorn and the Healthy Snacking Challenge on their website, and like Orville Redenbacher’s Facebook page to get a $1 off coupon and play the fun Pop Cam Game!

And…you can enter to win one of 10 boxes of Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! popcorn right here on The Rebel Chick!

How to Enter:

Just tell me what you love about popcorn!

 

Contest open to US residents and ends at midnight on May 31st, 2012. 

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Orville and received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation.