Did you know that June is Men’s Health Month? It is! What a great idea to take the same time that we celebrate father’s and all that they bring to our lives, and combine it with an opportunity to promote and encourage men to take care of themselves.

When you are younger, you feel invincible. At least I used to, and I think Tim did, as well. But just last July, Tim had to be hospitalized for a blood clot in his arm (it was related to an accident he had a few weeks prior). While it didn’t point to any other major health problems, a blood clot is SERIOUS business. He had gone to the doctor for a checkup and just casually mentioned that his arm felt a little weird. A few hours later, he was in the hospital. Just like that. It was a scary moment for us both and gave us a lot of pause.

Turns out we aren’t immune to health problems, after all. That was a real wake up call for Tim to start taking better care of himself. He is (in my opinion) fortunate to have very fast metabolism. I know that I have always made the assumption that since Tim wasn’t overweight, that he was in excellent health. But that’s not necessarily the case. Whether you have some extra weight or not, your body still needs plenty of exercise and the right fuel to keep it performing at its best.

GNC is a store that you can find all over the nation, as well as online, and it is their primary aim to help you meet your goals for optimal health. If you are like me, then walking into a store like GNC can be pretty intimidating. There are SO many different products…how do you figure out what you actually need? One of the things I really like about the GNC website is that you can shop by condition or goal. This can help you quickly narrow down your search to the products that will best help you. For example, I just searched for allergy remedies, and saw some very cool products that I have heard work wonders (bee pollen!). Even though I had heard this was a good way to reduce seasonal allergies, it wasn’t something I was remembering to look for in the stores. I’ve just been heading straight for the Claritin! I’m excited to see some natural alternatives.

Tim has always been interested in finding ways to add a bit of mass (what’s that problem like?!), and when I searched for the term muscle, LOTS of stuff came up. So much so, that I’d think this is one product it might be good to purchase in the store, because then you can talk to an expert! They also have reviews of their products online, so if you don’t live near a GNC or just would rather place an online order, you can read what other people who have tried the products have to say about them.

Win it!: GNC is celebrating Men’s Health Month by offering one Stuff Parents Need reader a $100 gift card! WOAH! The contest will run until June 26th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please. If you won a gift card from GNC in 2011, you are not eligible for this giveaway.

Mandatory entry: You have two choices for your mandatory entry. Just pick A or B!
a. Follow GNC on Twitter and Stuff Parents Need on Twitter and leave a comment here.
b. Like GNC on Facebook and Stuff Parents Need on Facebook and leave a comment here.

Additional entries:
1. If you did A for your mandatory entry, do B and leave a comment. If you did B, do A and leave a comment.
2. Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS or email.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Disclosure: I received a gift certificate in exchange for my honest opinion about GNC, which I have provided.