June 29, 2015

Sponsored Review: Naked Juice Berry Almond Nut Milk Smoothie

This has been a fabulous weekend in Colorado with lots of family time. In addition to getting to see my own mom for the first time in almost a year, Adam brought his son and we all went down to Colorado Springs to visit his mom. It was really fun for our moms to get to hang out (they have a lot in common!), and of course, they were excited to get quality time with us as well.

Family_In_Colorado_Springs
Our only outdoor shot, since there was some crazy flash flooding as soon as we got to Adam’s mom’s house in the mountains 🙁

One thing that I was a little bit worried about this weekend was food. While I may not be very picky about what goes into my own body (I pretty much believe in everything in moderation, though try to avoid dyes/chemicals/artificial stuff where possible), I’m really particular about the food that we give to Adam’s son. I want to make sure that he’s getting the right nutrients to grow up big and strong, and that he’s developing a taste for all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I’ve been having a really tough time figuring out how to offer up fruits and veggies without forcing them, so I was excited to realize that he loves smoothies – and Naked Juice offers a great Berry Nut Milk one.

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Each bottle of Berry Almond Nutmilk contains 26 blueberries, 8 blackberries, 2 raspberries, 1 strawberry, 24 almonds, 1 3/4 apples and 1/3 banana.

Since it’s founding in 1983, Naked Juice has been committed to creating the most nutritious beverages. They have no added sugars or preservatives, which is a huge plus in my book! Sometimes when you’re on the go, it can be hard to fit fruits and veggies into your diet, so Naked Juice markets itself to those active and on-the-go individuals who don’t have time for the slicing/dicing/cooking but still want to get their daily dose of vitamins. As it turns out, they are also perfect as a quick snack for a picky four year old who likes sweet stuff – and I could feel good about giving it to him!

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Perfect afternoon snack on our way to the pool: smoothie and granola.

As someone who’s not a fan of supplements, I love that Naked Juice is a healthy way to “drink your vitamins”. The grab-and-go convenience makes it especially great when you’re trying to wrangle kids out the door, and it’s nice to also be able to take it with you and have it in the car if you don’t have time for a sit down meal. This morning, Adam’s son had some for breakfast and more as part of an afternoon snack with some granola bar bites. You know you’ve got a winner when it’s specifically requested (“Wauwa, can I have some more smoothie please?”). Most of the Naked Juice smoothies are a little bit high in calories/sugar to be part of my regular routine, but they are absolutely perfect for a pre-workout breakfast where I don’t want food settling in my stomach before I hit the trails.

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Naked Juice was part of our breakfast before this hike… and it enabled Adam’s son to do a 1.7 mile hike all on his own two feet!

From a practical perspective, it means so much to me that Naked Juice doesn’t add any sugar or preservatives to their products. This month, I’ve been trying to limit myself to just 24 grams of sugar per day, and it’s been tough going – but it’s made me aware of all the added sugar in things. To me, Naked Juice is the perfect example of something that is awesome for me but that I’ve been artificially limiting because of the terms of this challenge… and I can’t wait to get back to not avoiding natural sugar as soon as July 1 rolls around! I think it’s much more important to work to improve the quality of what you’re eating rather than obsessing over each micronutrient, and while some of the Naked Juice flavors have 25 grams of sugar in just one container, I think it’s important to remember where that sugar is coming from (all-natural fruit products) rather than equating it to a chocolate chip cookie just because of the number of grams of sugar.

Furthermore, I really like Naked Juice’s company values. (And, as I’m learning through a report I’m working on at my job about the workforce of the future, values are something that is increasingly important to workers and consumers alike.) They say:

“We know a healthy body doesn’t mean much without a healthy world to live in. That’s why at Naked we make sure that all our products make an impact that will enhance your life and the planet’s. From our fruit-sourcing partnerships and our LEED-certified bottling facility to our 100 percent postrecycled reNEWabottles®, we make our juices committed to the belief that wellness is about more than just personal health — it extends to the entire world around us, too.”

I can definitely attest to Naked Juice living up to their brand values. I had a great experience with Naked Juice in Boulder when I attended a workout class they sponsored in Boulder this spring. Now anytime I use their products, it reminds me of that fun event and my friend Paige who taught that killer workout – and that inspires me to perhaps hit the floor for a couple pushups. (Ugh, I am failing on the workout front in the last week, so as corny as it sounds, I really did just drop and do ten pushups. More later on how I need to pick up that game.)

All in all, Naked Juice is a brand that I can really stand behind – which is why I feel great about giving their products to Adam’s son, even if I’m conflicted when it comes to figuring out other foods he’ll eat. It’s the rare product that he likes to eat and I like to give him!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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4 thoughts on “Sponsored Review: Naked Juice Berry Almond Nut Milk Smoothie”

  1. These were totally a good option for on the go eating. I really liked the fact that this one had protein, which as you know, my son is also very conscious about. That said, I feel like they fit somewhere between “treats” and “health food”. But, certainly are an easier option than bringing along 23 blueberries in the car. Now, if I could just get him to stop spilling Naked Juice all over his shirt……

    BTW, Wauwa is the PERFECT spelling of your name. I’m going to go ahead and use that going forward.

    1. As a kid, I pronounced my name “Wawa” (the two syllables identical, unlike how he says the two differently), and my brothers nicknamed me Wawa Ann as a result.

  2. Just out of curiosity how do you handle the sugar goal you have when it comes to something like that? I know most of the naked smoothies have a decent about of sugar from fruits and like you said it’s not like it’s totally evil since it is from the fruit so I was just wondering how you factor that in.

    1. Funny you should ask that! My group of girlfriends got into a lot of debate about how to track whether you get a point for being good about sugar or not. Some people said no refined sugar or sugar added to foods (but what is refined sugar and how do you specifically define that?). I ended up just setting a goal of no more than 25 grams per day of sugar from any source, since that is what the FDA recommends. However, I found that even days where I ate only whole foods (and no fruit), I still sometimes went over my limit because even some surprising veggies (cauliflower and onions!) have a lot of sugar. For the purpose of this month’s challenge, I tried to max the points that I accumulated, which meant giving up those things 🙂 But for the purposes of healthy eating and what I’ll be doing starting tomorrow when the challenge is over, I don’t worry at all about sugar from fruit – particularly if I’m not drinking a smoothie multiple times a day.

      Clear as mud, right?

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