battle of the coconut water

A while back, I dedicated a post to my love of coconut. Later on, I shared my paleo find when I discovered that Trader Joe's carries zico coconut water. Well, after actually tasting the zico product (and finding out that instead of it being actual coconut water as the old label read, it's actually coconut water concentrate; I've only tasted the natural and NOT the other schmancy flavors), I have to say that it's not one of my favorite things. Granted, zico can be found everywhere and it's probably better than gatorade (but don't take my word for it). However, it just doesn't taste that great. But in a pinch, I guess it's okay. I can see how folks are all about the different flavors and stuff. But if you look at the label, it reads: "100% natural coconut water from concentrate, natural flavors." The chocolate flavored reads: "100% natural coconut water from concentrate, cane sugar, coconut cream, cocoa, vanilla, carrageenan." From concentrate? Plus there's other stuff in there too? Sorry. It's not my thing.

Zico coconut water found at my local Trader Joe's. Not my
thing and not that tasty. But if you like flavors and need a
quick fix, I guess this will do it.

Yesterday, while shopping at Trader Joe's I noticed that they started selling their own coconut water - NOT from concentrate. This piqued my interest, so I forked up the $3 for the bottle. The final verdict? Well, it's slightly better than zico and it isn't from concentrate and doesn't have other ingredients except the coconut water itself. Yes. In a pinch, it'll work. However, I'm not forking up $3 anytime soon for the stuff. And I'll tell you why...

Trader Joe's now has their own brand of coconut water.
Again, not my thing, but cleaner tasting than Zico.

In my book, nothing can replace the goodness of an actual, fresh young coconut. As mentioned before, when I lived in the Philippines, my mom drank 1-2 coconuts per day. It was easy, since local street vendors sold these (the water and the meat) cracked and peeled, ready to drink/eat in a plastic bag for less than fifty cents. My mistake was not joining her in doing this. Over the three months, my mom's feet and legs didn't swell as much. Now that we're in the US, she's back to the swelling. However, she takes virgin coconut oil in her food and rubs it on her feet, which again, helps with the swelling.

After some serious thought and research about the coconut, I decided to start buying them from the local Asian grocery store, crack it open myself, and eat them. In fact, I include coconut water/meat in my latest concoction of my daily green smoothie. Also, if I have any to spare (this depends on how much room I have in the fridge), I have a coconut after a tough WOD or run. It really is yummy and refreshing. Plus, the meat is to die for! AND for the environmentally conscious, the coconut is completely compost-able (no more bottle/can waste).

If you've had your coconut this way, you can never go to the bottled stuff. I swear! If you're wondering how to get these suckers open, check out this video. Fresh, young coconut can cost as low as 99 cents to almost $4 (depending on the store and season). Personally, I buy mine from Seafood City in Union City. I find that they're the cheapest there. Note: should the prices of the coconut suddenly shoot up and the availability go down, I'm blaming ALL OF YOU! Okay. Enjoy:D

Young coconut from the local Asian grocery store.
In my book, this is the only way to go.

Today's Small Victories
I did yoga and I ran back to back. Yay!

Warm-up
1 hour of yoga

Today's Workout
Run 5K

Notes (to myself) about this workout: Late afternoon yoga is hard. Period. It's challenging and refreshing, but it kicks my butt. I had about an hour break before doing the run with Miss Lori. We did the interval 4:1 run. It was good. Slower than usual, but it was good. Yay.