Acai Juice

I’m not talking about those “lose weight with wonderfood acai” ads you’ve seen, I’m talking about regular acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) juice.  I started drinking acai juice about 2 years ago and I really find it healthy and beneficial for my body.  There are mixed reports about its benefits, but it seems generally accepted that it is a great antioxidant, it has healthy omega fatty acids (monounsaturated healthy fats), and has protein and fiber.

Be Careful

If you haven’t tried acai and want to, start by purchasing it from a store.  Don’t buy anything off the web because there are way to many scams out there that send you a “free” trial, but really sign you up for a recurring shipment and then end up charging your credit card if you don’t cancel.

Also watch out for powders and pills.  You really can’t tell what is in them and there are reports that some powders are mainly filler and have very little acai in them.  Since the whole berry doesn’t transport well, the best form to get is juice or pulp.

Responsibly Grown and Organic

Look for organic and sustainably grown acai.  Since it is grown in the rainforests, it is extra important that it is grown sustainably and is not grown at the expense of the rain forests.  Again, organic is important so the rainforests are not being polluted with chemicals.  Also if a product has been certified organic it has a much better chance of being a decent quality juice without fillers added so you get more of the acai itself.

My Favorite

My favorite brand I have found is Sambazon.  Their juices are organic certified and they consider it their mission to protect the rainforest and to help the people who live there.  My two favorite flavors are pictured at the top – original blend on the right with the purple cap, and rio energy on the left with the orange cap.  The rio energy has a bit of guarana which gives it a noticeable kick of energy.  I love drinking these before a bike ride.

Parting thoughts

The acai berry has a slightly bitter taste and it is definitely not for everyone.  Give it time and it will be an aquired taste.  Also, the blends like Sambazon offers help to cut the bitter edge of acai with additional flavors and make it much more tasty.  My kids tried some of the acai juices and hated it – around my house “daddy’s juice” is referred to with disgust (i.e. what would you rather eat, a bowl of mud or daddy’s juice? – and usually the mud wins!).  If you want to get kids or other people to try it, I recommend the Sambazon smoothie flavors.  Even my kids like the strawberry smoothy flavor.

So remember to watch out for scams, buy organic sustainably grown products, but definitely give acai a try and let me know what you think about it.

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As I discussed previously, I got up over 210 pounds at my heaviest.  I started eating better and excercising and lost a few pounds here and there.  Then I made one change and proceeded to lose 10 pounds in two weeks time.  What was that one thing?  Simple.  I stopped drinking canned soda.  My company – being a hip development shop – provides free soft drinks so we have refrigerators full of soda.  I used to drink 3+ cans of soda a day and in an effort to get healthier I had cut back to only one can a day.  I figured that was ok and I could still lose weight, but boy what a difference that final one can of soda made.  I decided to completely cut out that last can and switch to drinking only water and the occasional juice.  I couldn’t believe the impact!  The pounds melted away!  I was so struck by the difference that one can of soda made that to this day I still don’t drink soda at work.  I drink exclusively water, VitaminWater, and the occasional juice.  I do still drink soda occasionally when I go out to eat, but not on a regular basis.

Also, I discovered a great soda made with cane sugar instead of the high fructose corn syrup crap in regular soda.  It is called Jones pure cane soda and I get mine at our local Target store.  Check them out at www.jonessoda.com.  I like the cream soda flavor.  Be careful because they also sell soda with aspartamine, which I think is terrible.

On that note – before you suggest diet soda, I hate any and all diet sodas for two simple reasons: 1) they taste terrible and 2) the “artificial sweetners” they use are harmful and toxic.  Sounds like a good topic for a future post!

So, my Logan Challenge for you today is to completely cut out soda for a week, a month, or more.  See what the impact is on you and report back here in the comments or email me at logan@loganpaulson.com.

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I got in the habit of eating for comfort and eating because I felt like it.  Over the course of about 6 months, I lost over 35 pounds and got back down to 175.  Since then, I have successfully kept the weight off and now manage to stay between 175 and 180.  Adjust the numbers for your own height and body type, but I can share with you how I managed to lose my weight and keep it off.  I found a nice, simple ideal weight calculator at this site.

Over the next few posts, I will share several of the best tips of things that have worked for me, including the one thing that I did that helped me shed 10 pounds in a matter of a few weeks.  Also, I have some great observations on what has happened to my body and how it can traslate to helping you lose weight and keep it off.

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