Coconut Water Recipe And How To Open A Coconut (Video)! Plus Weekend Sale Goodies.

Coconut water is certainly one of the latest health fads, especially if you like to sweat it out at the local gym or yoga studio like I do! But food/hydration trends aside, what us girls all really want to know is whether it’s okay to drink coconut water if you’re trying to get leaner. Am I right?

And the answer – I say – is a resounding yes!

Both Elle McPherson and Miranda Kerr have been regularly quoted as being coconut water fans (Miranda says she drinks it daily, at least 250ml), and both those ladies are undeniably gorgeous and healthy.

Of course I have put more thought into it than simply following hot Aussie supermodels though 🙂

If you look at the nutritional breakdown of coconut water you’ll see that it is chock full of important minerals and electrolytes – including potassium and sodium, essential for post (sweaty) workout recovery. Even Charles Poliquin is a coconut water fan, saying this –

“Coconut water is naturally found inside young coconuts, and it contains a wide variety of minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, amino acids, and enzymes. Coconut water also provides a nice dose of vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, arginine, alanine, lysine, glutamic acid, and other micronutrients and enzymes that are anti-inflammatory. In 100 grams of coconut water, there are about 5 grams of carbs of which half is glucose and half is fructose.”

sugar/carbs in coconut water

When coconut water was first popularised I wasn’t such a fan. This was because everytime I read the label on the stuff it seemed to have up to and even over 30% sugar – which packs in at a whopping 75 or so grams for a 250ml serve! My theory is that the manufacturers initially assumed nobody would buy it without a ton of extra sugar added 🙂

These days, most bottled coconut water is the pure stuff. It’s still smart to read the label of course.

But 100ml of pure coconut water contains typically between just 5 and 6 grams of sugar, 1/3 of which is from fiber. The sugar in coconut water is half fructose and half glucose. We know that fructose is sugar which cannot readily be metabolised, and is therefore quite easily stored as fat. But we’re talking mere specks of the stuff here, and with so many wonderful nutrition benefits in return.

kat’s favourite coconut water recipe – the green smoothie!

My favourite way to use coconut water is as a base for making a green smoothie. I tend to make about 1.5 litres at a time, as it keeps easy for a few days and I also use it to make green smoothie icy poles, which Alyssa loves. (Okay, me too :))

The above green smoothie is such a simple recipe – I included half a bunch of kale, 3 stalks celery, 2 cucumbers, 250ml coconut water, fresh squeezed lemon and lime, and tumeric (excellent detoxifier!)

Anyway, the thing I soon realised after introducing green smoothies as part of my fat loss nutritional regime is that I don’t really like using bottled coconut water. I wanted to use the real thing! (The ‘meat’ is soooo yummy). Unfortunately my early attempts at this were thwarted by the fact that I’m a bit of a girl about smashing things with a knife.

So much so that I failed miserably and ended up with 3 half hacked coconuts sitting lonesomely in my fridge for a week before I admitted defeat and brought in some manly assistance.

And I figured, I’ll bet I’m not the only one who has trouble – or perhaps hasn’t even dared – getting one of these hard little nuts open. So I invited Fat Loss Coach Tim Neal – who wrote The Woman Incredible Look Great Naked Fat Loss Smoothie Collection – down to the Woman Incredible headquarters for a little coconut opening how-to.

Watch the video – it’s kind of embarrassing (I am such a girl about this!) but it’s a great how-to, and Tim also provides some fantastic tips about how and why to use coconut water. After you watch my attempt my PA Malisa jumps out from behind the camera and shows how it’s really done. She is kind of scary with a knife!

the look great naked fat loss smoothie collection – on sale now!

To celebrate my (eventual!) coconut opening success, Tim and I are running a short 3-day sale on the Woman Incredible Look Great Naked Smoothie Collection.

Here’s a little about the book, which I bullied Tim into writing after he raved to me about what a difference daily green smoothies had made for him personally in shedding those last few layers.

Would you like to burn fat better, detox your body and balance out the high protein and fat in your current diet?

Most of us aren’t getting nearly enough greens each and every day even when we are diligently following the Look Great Naked Clean Eating plan. I mean c’mon – be honest. Do you truly work your way through multiple cups of greens with nearly every main meal? If you do, kudos to you 🙂

Green smoothies are a fantastic and convenient way to get a load of your greens in without the hassle. Done properly they are simply jam-packed full of goodness. In fact, our green smoothie recipes will give you a hefty dose of:

• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Antioxidants
• Fibre
• And all with MASSIVE taste. Massively GOOD taste, we should say, at least when you follow our recipes 🙂

The Woman Incredible Look Great Naked Fat Loss Smoothie Collection includes 10 simply brilliant fat loss smoothie recipes, all super quick and easy to make in your blender at home. No juicer needed! Here is a ‘taste’ of what you’ll enjoy –

• Flat Tummy Green-ness
• The Lean Legs Smoothie
• The Ultimate Bodyfat Detoxifier
• The Insulin Sensitive Greenie
• Strong Bones Greenie
• Belly Fat Burn Smoothie
• Spicy Metabolic Greenie

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