I Love Coconuts!

Aside from chocolate and chia, there’s another food-love in my life: coconut. From low-glycemic coconut sugar to healthy cold-pressed/extra-virgin coconut oil to soysauce alternative coconut aminos, coconut is truly the [Southeast Asian] tree of life.

Back in the Philippines where I grew up, extra virgin coconut oil, or EVCO for short, was already quite popular for weight loss and glowing skin, and heart health, among other things. Heck, there were even flavored varieties! So imagine my surprise and delight when I saw coconut oil gaining a following here in the United States. Now there are a lot of brands out there, but I must say my top choice is Tropical Traditions.

I first heard of them from a classmate at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, when we were talking about healthy fats. Then my assigned mentor talked about Tropical Traditions having expeller-pressed coconut oil which doesn’t have the “coconutty” taste. So I look online and imagine my surprise and pride at discovering that their coconut products are from the Philippines: represent! I got all nostalgic when I saw that they even have atchara (the Filipino kimchi: so good on roast suckling pig, or lechon in Filipino). I am further impressed with their top-of-the line Gold Label, which undergoes the traditional style of cold-pressing, at the same time, providing a livelihood for Filipinos in that community where Tropical Traditions started.

Another classmate told me they were doing a blog review of the Gold Label line, and I’ve always wanted to try it, but just never got around to it, so I took this chance to try the stuff. Let me say wow: the Gold Label extra virgin coconut oil is super silky and almost sweet, plus it doesn’t have a cloying coconut/”pina-colada” taste. And it has this soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture: even better now that the weather is warm enough for the oil to be liquid! Yum!

I love extra virgin coconut oil: we use it to cook with and bake with, we also put it in our morning oatmeal, and smoothies; I even give some to our poodle for its anti-bacterial and energy-giving properties!

I love coconuts, and even better, I love supporting businesses that have a good ethic, and even better, source from the Philippines, from home. Thank you, Tropical Traditions!

Working Out Again

Day 1 of Beachbody Challenge done, Shakeology late lunch post-Brazilian Bum Bum done. I find it neat that as I look at my "before" a.k.a current photos of myself, instead of feeling frustration, because of the support from my coach and challenge group, I feel hope: yes I see the stuff that needs work/definition, but now, I think that I can do this. Now too, there's almost a pattern to look forward to in my day: whereas before it was just time revolving around baby, and some time I would randomly carve for myself, now there is a concrete tangible thing I NEED to set time for myself for, and that's pretty awesome. So thank you, Team Beachbody! And instead of spending ALL of my son's nap time running around doing stuff, I still did stuff-- I exercised with Brazilian Butt Lift Bum Bum for the 1st time, checked e-mail, had a late Shakeology lunch, and washed dishes, BUT then I stopped and spent the remainder of his nap in bed with him. It was delicious seeing him wake up to me. Thank God for long naps as they are few and far between, but hey, this is me resting! I'm sure other mamas can relate ;-)

Day 2, I woke up sore and groggy this morning...had to have some extra kombucha to get me through, lol. I was biting at the bit to work out, and I did! It's almost like this craving, but a healthy one, isn't that awesome??


To stay on track with health, why not revamp your kitchen?
And for skin, why not DIY, as our skin is the largest organ of our body,
Because of this scary reality
Speaking of, gluten-free isn't always healthy, but eating whole foods is!
So why not make something healthy AND yummy? I might add some Shakeology to this too!

In other news, I got featured here!

Live your BEST life! Live happy and healthy!