Post-Workout Hydration & Cocozia Coconut Water

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Welcome to FITNESS FRIDAY! Today we are going to talk about a drink that is great for post-workout hydration, and WAY better for you than any sports drink... coconut water!

Coconut water has always been considered a rather "hippie" thing to drink, but recently it has been adopted by fitness gurus and athletes and the best drink for natural muscle repair after a workout. An 8 ounce serving of coconut water has 470mg of potassium (for comparison, a banana has 422mg of potassium) and 15 times more potassium than your typical sports drink. All of this potassium helps to maintain fluid balance in your body and ease possible muscle pain post-workout. 

Click HERE for more facts about coconut water. 

Another great thing is that coconut water is low in calories, which makes it great for mixing in fruit juices if you don't like the flavor of coconut water on its own. I don't love the flavor by itself, so I mix mine into other juices. 

Another great way to use coconut water is to make coconut water ice cubes! There are perfect for adding an extra health blast to orange juice, or for blending in a smoothie or shake. Or, why not make a healthy pina colada using coconut water?!

I was recently contacted by Cocozia and asked to review their coconut water. Cocozia is 100% organic and all natural.

I was sent one case (25 bottles) of the original Cocozia. As you can see from the picture above, they have a variety of other flavors as well - I'm interested to try the coffee & chocolate  varieties!

As mentioned before, I don't love coconut water. However, this was one of the best coconut waters I have tried yet. It tastes like it came straight from a fresh coconut and provides an authentic coconut flavor. I mixed mine in orange juice - it was like taking a post-workout recovery trip to the islands!

If you love coconut water, I would recommend trying this next time you grab a glass. To find out where you can buy some Cocozia in your area, check out the Cocozia website.

Tasty Tofu: 5 Yummy Ways to Include More Tofu Into Your Diet

Hey guys! Below is a guest post for you from Virginia Cunningham, all about the different ways you can ease tofu into your diet! I think she's got some pretty nifty ideas, so check it out!

When many think of tofu, they may not see it as having much personality, but it's bland appearance makes it deceptive!

Pressed curd extracted from ground soy beans, tofu has an almost endless variety of applications. It's high in protein -- more than 2 grams per ounce -- for some varieties, and contains an abundance of healthy fats. Besides the more common dishes tofu can be used in, like stir fry, it can be used in salad dressings, tacos and quesadillas, pesto, curry, marinade, desserts, smoothies and so much more! It's also an effective thickening agent, which makes it a great substitute for cream, eggs and cheese.

{Wanna learn a cool way to press tofu? Click here to see the pressed tofu I made!}

Here are some unique and simple ways to incorporate tofu into your diet:

Pumpkin Tofu Curry

I absolutely love pumpkin season and this recipe is delicious! To make this dish, saute an onion in olive oil then add 2 cups of vegetable broth, a can of coconut milk, a can of pumpkin (15 ounces), 2 tsps of both cumin and curry and pepper to taste.

Afterwards, mix up the cubed, sauteed tofu and enjoy. You can also add carrots and potatoes or any other veggie you’d like and serve over rice. Mmm delicious! This looks gorgeous, and really yummy, especially presented in an empty pumpkin shell, and it's also amazingly simple.  

Tofu Quesadillas

 No matter what time of the day it is, a warm quesadilla is a meal or snack I always crave. To make this, marinate strips of tofu for several hours (the marinade can be anything you like; I prefer to use olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, pepper and a splash of soy sauce), then broil (flipping once) until the edges are crispy. Throw them into a tortilla and add your favorite cheese, heated black beans (add some cumin and hot sauce to heat things up), then fold it all up and heat in an unoiled frying pan until the tortilla gets crispy and the cheese is melted! Absolutely delicious, and loaded with protein and fiber!  

As an alternative to marinating strips of tofu, try chopping it up into tiny tiny pieces, then saute at high temperature with onions, garlic and other spices. The consistency will end up resembling taco meat, which works incredibly well in a quesadilla or burrito.

Marinade

 Another one of my favorite ways to add tofu into my diet is to use extra firm tofu. Once you have pressed all of the water out, you can then make your own marinade with fresh pressed ginger and garlic, soy sauce, and a splash of spicy szechuan sauce. An easy way is to just pan fry it with veggies and sometimes veggie dumplings (I like the ones from Trader Joes... but will learn to make my own someday).

Tofu Fingers 

(similar to chicken fingers)

 For this snack, I use tofu that's been frozen. Once it’s thawed, slice it into triangles, rectangles or whatever shape you prefer. Next I dip them in egg, cover them with bread crumbs, cumin, garlic and onion powder, or whatever flavor I'm in the mood for, then bake them in the oven until the edges turn into a nice brown.

They taste great dipped in barbeque or honey mustard sauce or whatever you prefer. They have the texture of chicken fingers and are extremely tasty!

Salad Dressing

 This is one of the easiest ways I've found to use tofu. Purée silken tofu with basil and a clove of garlic, then drizzle on your salad and you're done!

The examples used above are great ways to incorporate this protein packed food into your diet. It absorbs the flavors of the ingredients it’s paired with, and works in a variety of cooking methods. It's amazingly versatile and adaptable nature makes it one of my favorite foods!

Virginia Cunningham is a health enthusiast and mother of three living in Southern California. As a health writer, and in collaboration with NorthWest, she loves being able to share recipes, fitness tips and educate others about their personal wellness. 

WIAW #33: Whole Foods Edition

Hey WIAW friends! Wow, it's been ages since I've done a WIAW. 
All I can say is that it's great to be back! 
To be totally honest, I kind of forgot about the blog, and I was busy doing a million other things: job searching, volunteering at church, reading, hanging out with friends...blogging slipped my mind for a while. On top of that, my dad had an unexpected quadruple bypass surgery a couple weeks ago. Although that was kinda nuts, I'm definitely inspired now more than ever to live and eat healthfully. But now I'm back and ready to dive back into the blogging world! 

This week, I'm gonna share some of my favorite finds from Whole Foods today. I found a lot of really great stuff, and I'm highly impressed with Daiya & Earth Balance for all the new products they put out this year. I was overwhelmed and wanted to try everything!

Let's start with these: Hail Merry Miracle Tarts! They have the chocolate almond butter and Persian lime flavors. I've been wanting to try these for years, but my Whole Foods never carried them before. How AWESOME that they finally carry them and I get to taste them! I'll let you know my verdict when I actually dig in to this scrumptious looking thing. I'll probably love it, because I love anything lime flavored.

Cashew butter! One of my favorites. And I love that it's in a squeezable pack.

I LOVE JUSTIN'S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS. Their dark chocolate is my favorite, but this white chocolate variety is seasonal, so why not try it?! I can't wait.

So, I tried the So Delicious greek coconut milk yogurt a while ago and wasn't a huge fan, but now they have greek almond milk yogurt! I'm pumped to try it. Also, the strawberry banana yogurt was new to me!

I love Tofurkey. And it was WAY cheaper than regular chicken sausage, which is what I was originally looking to buy. It's healthier for you, too.

I think the new EB packaging is stellar! I love that they are all square containers now instead of circular tubs. I usually buy the whipped variety, but I thought I'd try to new Omega-3 variety this time around. 

Aren't these nifty? They are like fruit leather, but this is VEGETABLE leather! Never heard of it before, but I'm curious to see what they taste like.

I also bought some Earth Balance mayo and miscellaneous other groceries. I'm ready to get back to a largely vegan diet, minus some occasional dairy and meat. The healthier the better - I never want to go through the surgery that my dad went through! 

That's all for now, loves. Talk to you soon!

Journey to Health

Well, friends - it's about time I stopped eating so much junk food and got my healthy eating habits back in order.

I've been eating so much junk food recently - pasta, burgers, mexican, fries, chocolate, candy - if it's bad for you, I've probably been chowing down on it. Needless to say, it's time to eat more salads and whole foods.

I think I've also gained some unwanted pounds, so I've decided to buckle down and work to get rid of it. I'm starting something I'm calling 30 Days to 130 Lbs. - meaning I'm giving myself 30 days to work hard towards a goal weight of 130lbs. My ultimate goal is to be 125 lbs, but I think that's a bit unrealistic to do in 30 days. I even made myself a nice calendar on my wall to keep myself on track. See?

I'm hoping to workout twice a day while doing this. I want to get the best results that I can.

I'm kickstarting my journey by doing a week long juice cleanse. Today is day 2. I'm striving to drink only fruit and and vegetable juices every day for the next week - except for a small cup of protein powder and coconut milk after I work out (for protein). Ideally, I think I should be drinking a minimum of five times a day to help keep my metabolism up and running. Hopefully this juice cleanse will kickstart my weight loss journey. After this week, I will weigh myself and see where I am (I'm too nervous to weigh myself prior to starting the cleanse). I will take that weight and use it to see how much weight I lose each week following. Wish me luck!

After the juice cleanse is over, I hope to keep eating healthy, lean, clean, and green. Lean protein and lots of veggies and fruits. Lots of salad and foods that are low in fat. I'm tired of being the weight that I am and I know I can do so much better!!

So far, it has been going pretty well. Yesterday I was extremely hungry, so I ate a couple of crackers. Today I'm feeling pretty good - I think that has a lot to do with the protein I drank after doing my new kettlebell workout.

It was pretty good and definitely had me sweating - Bob has a love for squats. My legs are always extremely sore after a Bob Harper workout, and this one was no different. I also bought another Bob Harper kettlebell DVD:

I'll let you know what I think about this DVD later! 

See you guys soon - hopefully with good results from my cleanse!,

Much love, 

Product Review: La Tortilla Factory Soft Wraps

GUESS WHAT? Are you ready for some exciting news?

This is my first video review of a product - and really, my first video blog about anything! Yay! I'm excited to try this out and look forward to making more videos. Please ignore the awkward face I am making in the image that YouTube decided to freeze. Super awkward. 

In general: I was sent the entire line of La Tortilla Factory's new Soft Wraps to review - both full size and minis. I absolutely loved both. The wraps contain no aluminum in their baking soda/powder, no trans fats or hydrogenated oils, no lard, and no high fructose corn syrup. Seriously, they are awesome. And extremely low in calories too. What could be better? 

Click here to see the review of La Tortilla Factory that I did a few months ago when I worked with this company for the first time! 

Note: be sure to turn up your volume. I'm speaking kind of quietly in this. 

Thanks La Tortilla Factory! 

The Daisy Rating

5/5 daisies

Let me know what you think of the video and leave any comments you may have! :)

Much love,