We absolutely love this time of year – The changing colours of the trees, cozy sweaters and the arrival of Movember all make for a great month!

Every year, Movember gets more attention and although we are thoroughly enjoying the trending moustache style that many men are sporting this month, Movember is about so much more than just facial hair.

Movember is a month that brings awareness to men’s health and focuses its attention on areas that many men aren’t always so comfortable talking about. With that, we are fully in support of Movember  and any positive light it may shed on the health of those we love while reminding us of how important it is to care for ourselves and be our own advocates of health.

In honour of Movember we have developed the Movember Green Tea Pomegranate Smoothie. Sounds good doesn’t it?! We promise you it’s not only good for your body but also tastes amazing.

This smoothie is high in antioxidants that work to protect the body against free radicals and cancer cells.

We wish you a happy Movember and cheers to a healthy month and year ahead!

Ingredients:

-          ½ cup of fresh pomegranate seeds

-          ½ cup steeped green tea (cooled)

-          1 tbsp lemon juice

-          1 cup Thirsty Buddha coconut water

-          ¼ cup ice

-          Optional – 1 tsp fresh ginger for some added kick

Directions:

1)      Prepare one cup of green tea. Let steep for about 10 minutes and cool.

2)      Add pomegranate seeds, ice, lemon juice, green tea, coconut water and ginger to blender.

3)      Blend until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated.

4)      Sip and enjoy!

The post Movember Green Tea Pomegranate Smoothie appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

Hello Thirsty friends! We have some very exciting news – we are growing!

Since Thirsty Buddha coconut water has been on the market, we have loved being a part of your day. Whether it’s helping to fuel your workout, hydrate your busy schedule or adding a dash of coconut love to your smoothie, we thank you for incorporating us into your day.

Our passion for developing quality products continues to grow and as a lifestyle brand that values our consumers, we have been inspired to create new lines of amazing products just for YOU!

As we have most recently launched our newest product line – Hungry Buddha coconut chips, our family of brands continues to expand and we couldn’t be more thrilled. With this expansion, we have created “Buddha Brands Company” encompassing who we are and what our product lines are all about in one online space.

For those of you who know and love Thirsty Buddha coconut water, the name remains the same and proudly stands next to its sister brand, Hungry Buddha coconut chips.  As our product lines continue to grow, they will be housed under the Buddha Brands Company website and social media handles. We look forward to the continual growth of Buddha Brands Company and thank you all for your continued love and support!

The post Introducing Buddha Brands Company! appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

In Thirsty Buddha’s coconut water-fueled world, health and hydration are primary concerns. However, we know as well as you do that time is money (these young coconuts aren’t going to harvest themselves) and the biggest challenge of staying fit is actually making time to stay active and get your workout in. Though there are definitely no short-cuts when it comes to fitness, anything that can make it easier to make the right choices is a major help to your healthy efforts! Enter: Lift Session, your new best friend/fitness app!

Many of us on the TB team travel around the world for a significant portion of the year in order to spread the gospel of the coconut water and ensure that we’re putting out the best product possible. With irregular schedules and habitually disrupted routines, sticking to a fitness plan can be challenging, to say the very least. Even for those of us whose lifestyles don’t usually involve globetrotting and jet-lag, making time and finding motivation to workout is often tougher than the workouts themselves! That’s where Lift Session comes in.

Its concept is simple: download the app, schedule a workout session with a personal trainer and video-chat with your trainer during your workout. Your trainer will tailor the workouts to your needs, correct your form and monitor your progress. We suggest giving it a try yourself, but here’s a quick synthesis of what you have to look forward to with Lift Session’s app (available on all platforms!):

Motivation: Your other fitness apps are great for giving you workout ideas, and following along with ‘P90x’ or ‘Insanity’ will get your heart rate up, but Shaun T will not break the fourth wall and correct your form in the middle of your workout. Not only will your Lift Session trainer be there to give you tips, correct you when necessary and ensure you’re not risking injury with poor form, they’ll also be there to encourage and motivate you to tackle your workout more effectively and efficiently.

Accountability: Negotiating with yourself to skip your morning run and snooze for an extra hour is easy. When you’re ready to opt out of your post-work gym session in favor of a Netflix binge, you’re the only person you need to convince. With Lift Session, talking yourself out of your workouts is harder because you’ve got your session booked and your personal trainer to answer to. Not only will they be there as an added incentive to actually do your workout, throughout the workout itself you’ll also be held accountable since they’ll be there to ensure you aren’t skipping reps or taking the lazy way out.

Convenience: If you’re home and without access to gym equipment, your trainer will prepare a workout involving body weight exercises. If you’re out of town but have access to your hotel gym, your trainer will utilize whatever workout equipment you have access to as part of your session. If you’ve got an injury or would prefer to focus on a certain muscle group, they’ll take this into account and make a plan that works for you. No matter the circumstances, you’ll have a custom experience that fits your schedule and utilizes the help of a professional to get the best results possible.

Check out Lift Session’s website for more details on how it works and, as always, don’t forget to drink some Thirsty Buddha as your post-workout recovery drink!

The post TB’s Tech Tips: Lift Session appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

Photo Credit apumpkinandaprincess.com

Tis the day after Halloween and most of us are recovering from an over abundance of ingested candy while wondering what to do with the pumpkin seeds collected from our Jack O Lanterns. Well, we’ve got the perfect solution.

Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Trail Mix – high in antioxidants, magnesium and zinc, this is the perfect recipe for a satisfying post Halloween healthy treat.

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds

½ cup Giddy Yoyo Chocolate Pieces

¼ Hungry Buddha Coconut Chips (Classic Coconut or Cheeky Chocolate)

2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds

Directions:

1. If you have not yet roasted your pumpkin seeds

– Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F on bake.  Cover your baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss seeds in a bowl with 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

2. Toss almonds, chocolate pieces, Hungry Buddha coconut chips, and roasted pumpkin seeds into a bowl and mix until all ingredients are incorporated well.

3. Tip: Great to add over oatmeal, yogurt or eat on its own as a nutritionally dense snack!

The post How to Use Your Halloween Leftovers – Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Trail Mix appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

Halloween is one of our favourite holidays! Who doesn’t love ghosts and goblins and the fun of dressing up?  There is plenty of excitement this time of year and with it comes the holiday candy craze leading to sugar highs and potential tummy aches.

This Halloween season, we’ve come up with a simple and fun recipe that steers clear of scary ingredients like refined sugar and artificial flavours. We guarantee this is a treat your family and friends will go Boonanas for!

For our healthy and delicious BOOnana Ghosts all you need is the following:

Ingredients (Serves 8):

-          4 bananas

-          1 bag of Hungry Buddha coconut chips (Classic Flavour for fun white ghostly colour)

-          Handful of raisins

What you will need:

-          Toothpicks

-          Food processor or grinder

-          Baking sheet

-          Parchment paper

Directions:

1)      Peel bananas, cut each in half widthwise.

2)      Pour Hungry Buddha Coconut Chips in a food processor or grinder and process until the coconut chips are a fine dust.

3)      Spread coconut chip dusting onto a plate.

4)      Take banana halves and roll them in coconut dust until they are coated.

5)      Take 3 raisins and stick two on the banana for the eyes and one for the mouth.

6)      Stick toothpick into the bottom of each banana halve and place on baking sheet with parchment paper.

7)      Place in freezer for one to two hours.

8)      Enjoy!

The post No Trick Just Treat Coconut BOOnana Ghosts! appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

You’re at the gym– you may be lightly jogging on the treadmill, or maybe you’re serenely using some free weights, breaking a light sweat, but nothing too uncomfortable. Suddenly you hear violent shouting and blaring music from the next room over. The aggressive shouting continues, and the beats make the walls shake. Don’t worry, you haven’t stumbled into some kind of savage house-music fueled fight club. It’s just spin class.

Though the intensity of spinning can be intimidating, once you get through your first class you’ll understand why so many opt to cycle as they’re berated, usually by a tiny woman in yoga pants as any number of songs featuring Pitbull play loudly in the background. Here’s what you should know about a typical class:

Get there early. Having the time to adjust your bike to fit your specifications can mean the difference between a miserable class and an amazing one. Fix the height of your seat, its distance to your handlebars and the angle of your handlebars to get them just right– it’ll help prevent injuries during your ride and ensure you’re able to accomplish everything the instructor throws your way!

Get ready to sweat. Spinning is a high-intensity interval workout that’s usually done for 45 minutes to an hour at a time. You’ll be riding at different inclines and resistances, meaning you’ll be getting your heart racing and your muscles aching. But it’s all worth it!

You’ll be extra motivated. For most people, fitness classes in general tend to be more motivating that working out solo, simply because you’ve got an instructor and other people in the class to push you. This is especially true for spinning . Instructors will shout to inspire you, up-tempo music will be playing loudly and you’ll be encouraged to keep up with the rest of the class and ride as a group, so slacking is not an option!

It’s always leg day. Spinning is an amazing cardiovascular workout that also engages your core. More than anything, though, it targets your quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. On average, a rigorous 40 minute session will have you burning upwards of 500 calories!

Now that you’ve been sufficiently briefed on what to expect, it’s time to go out and try it for yourself! As always, recovering from your workout is as important as the workout itself, so make sure you’re stretching to prevent soreness and replenishing the electrolytes you’ve lost.

Happy cycling!

The post Why We Love: Spinning! appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

It’s October, which means that pumpkin-spice inundation is officially in full-swing. If anything can be pumpkin-spice flavored, it will be. Coffee? Body lotion? Gum? Cookies? Toothpaste?  Yes all around. You cannot escape the pumpkin. So, in the spirit of embracing the season, we’ve whipped up a little pumpkin-spiced coconut water smoothie!

This recipe will satisfy your seasonal cravings with none of the guilt of those 200+ calorie pumpkin-spiced lattes! Apart from the deliciousness of the real pumpkin (not the flavoured syrup that certain coffee joints will try to pass off as legitimate pumpkin taste), this smoothie is full of fibre and will keep you feeling full well into your day! Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)

1 cup of Thirsty Buddha coconut water

 1 cup of unsweetened almond or soy milk

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping: sprinkled cinnamon, diced walnuts or Hungry Buddha coconut chips!

Optional: 1 medium banana (to add sweetness and cut the pumpkin taste!)

As always, feel free to inspire awe and envy in your social media followers by trying the recipe out and uploading it to your pages! Tag Thirsty Buddha on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and we might even share your post to our community of coconut-friends!

The post Seasonal Smoothies: Pumpkin x TB! appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

 Most of us can manage to stay fit and make healthy choices on an ordinary day, but what about our days that aren’t ordinary? Irregularity in our typical schedules can often leave us reeling when it comes to our health and fitness choices– so what’s to be done when your routine is altered?

Efficiency is Key: When you’re traveling or just on a tight schedule, you probably won’t have time for your usual workout but you’ll be able to squeeze in a quick session. In this case, you’ve got to make the most out of the time that you have. Doing short sessions of high intensity interval workouts are a great method of getting an effective workout in without spending too much time idling in the gym.

Use Any Means Necessary: Skip the elevator and opt for the stairs. Do leg lifts at your desk. Go for a walk on your break instead of sitting in the lunch room. All these are great and easy ways to sneak in some exercise when your hectic schedule and irregular routine is preventing you from hitting your usual workout of choice!

Go Easy On Yourself: With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the way, the temptation to eat poorly and in large quantities will be major. Exercise whatever will power you have, but know that it’s okay to make an exception and indulge a little bit. Try sampling your favorite guilty pleasures without stuffing your face. But, if you do end up eating your body weight in mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, don’t beat yourself up about it. Instead of dwelling on what you shouldn’t have eaten, focus on making exclusively healthy choices in the days that follow!

The post Dealing with a Disrupted Routine appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

On any given day, you can turn to this blog and expect to find information on how to stay healthy, what to eat and drink, what workout classes to try, what technological advancement can help your pursuits, and anything and everything else related to living your best life. The irony is that each time you visit this website, using some snazzy electronic gadget, no less, you’re exercising your privilege and taking advantage of the great life that you’re already living! For this reason, we’re giving thanks. 

Here are a few things that the Thirsty Buddha team are thankful for:

Coconuts: the glorious sphere that’s the source of our life’s work and a whole host of wonderful health benefits.

Health: Health and wellness are central to the Thirsty Buddha brand, and the team is incredibly thankful to be alive, well and constantly learning about how to improve our health further.

Puppies: Specifically, our resident office dog, Sadie the Labradoodle. We’re thankful for the mid-workday cuddles and puppy kisses, Sadie!

Sweater Weather: Along with pumpkin-flavored everything, Thanksgiving marks a time when scarves and comfy knits might as well be our official uniform– and we couldn’t be more pleased.

Leftovers: Almost as good as your family’s Thanksgiving feast is knowing that you’ll likely be leaving armed with tupperware full of enough turkey and stuffing  to keep the holiday spirit alive in the days that follow.

Now it’s your turn! Leave us a comment telling us what you’re thankful for in your life, or post a picture on your social media platform of choice tagging @ThirstyBuddha!

Note: Thirsty Buddha is a Canadian company, so we will be celebrating Thanksgiving on October 12th. We ask that all American readers kindly bookmark this page and refer back to it in November, or let this serve as a reminder to be thankful even without the holidays prompting you!

The post Giving Thanks appeared first on Thirsty Buddha.

GMO, or genetically modified organism, is one of those scary buzz-terms that we hear bandied about more and more, but that many of us remain in the dark about its true definition. What are they? Should we really avoid them? To what extent? Is this a fad diet like avoiding gluten is to some people? Well in honor of the third annual Non-GMO Month, we’re going to dispel the mysteries and tell you what you need to know!

Basically, a GMO food product is one that has been genetically engineered in some way as a means of changing the DNA of that item using biotechnology. This is primarily done to fruits and vegetables in order to make them resistant to pesticides or to produce their own pesticidal proteins so that they can repel insects themselves. They are also used in order to change the color, shape, size or any other trait belonging to a particular product, like modifying watermelons so they grow without seeds or oranges so that they are larger.

The problem with GMOs is that their safety has yet to be proven– in fact, they’re linked to health issues and environmental damage. For this reason, many developed countries have either banned them entirely or required that these foods be clearly labeled. In the United States and Canada, no such rules have been established.

To raise awareness about the implications of purchasing and consuming GMO foods, and to encourage our governments to follow the lead of other countries that are banning or labelling them, the Non-GMO Project has made October the official Non-GMO month! We’re particularly invested in this cause as we believe we should only consume the best foods that are sure to nourish and strengthen us. In fact, Thirsty Buddha (and Hungry Buddha, too!) are both in the final stages of receiving their official Non-GMO certifications!

Head over to the Non-GMO Project website to learn more, and make sure to shop wisely this October, but also all year round!

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