Nutty for Coconut Oil

It all started innocently enough...on Pinterest. If you are like me, crazy things happen when start pinning things: recipes, makeup ideas, home decor, crafty picture frame making out of newspaper and old buttons, ect. You know, you've probably been sucked into that time trap known as Pinterest! Anyhoo, here I am searching away for healthy stuff. I find coconut oil. Innocent.

So, a month later, I am now putting coconut oil in my cappucino and coffee, in my shakes, in the skillet when I cook, on my eyes to remove makeup, on my skin to moisturize, on my hair to condition... The list goes on. Below are some FAQs I've answered for friends recently who have recognized my love of coconut oil (and may think I'm just nuts).

 

What are the possible benefits of coconut oil? It may help with digestion, metabolism, skin condition, hair growth and repair, immunity, help stop tooth decay, among many others. The list is actually quite long.

Does coconut oil taste like coconuts? No, it doesn't. It really doesn't taste like anything. There is just this faint coconut smell. I can mix it in anything but not taste coconuts, which is actually a little disappointing as I love coconut!

Doesn't it make you greasy if you put it on your body? Nope. The interesting thing about coconut oil is that it is a liquid above 75 degrees. Once I scoop some into my fingers, it starts to liquidize. It isn't greasy, and smooths onto skin or in hair easily. 

How much do you consume? For me, personally, I have 1-2 Tbsp a day. I've read that you really need 3 Tbsp to reap the benefits. 

What have you experienced? I love how shiny and soft it makes my hair and how silky it makes my skin. My husband has very dry, irritated skin, and I've noticed his skin is finally starting to heal. AS far as internal health, I haven't noticed any differences, but I love the richer texture it adds to my coffee and shakes. It seems to fill me up too. 

Verdict: It is not causing harm so I'm going to keep using it and expanding my uses of it!

Bite Me, Thursday!

I have dear friend...Lose It! This little app is such a pal, helping me track the good, bad and ugly. Yesterday was mix of all 3 of these nasty little adjectives. I'll share with you the details. Unfortunately, I can't do a screen shot with my Droid, so you really have to visualize here. And...why does it feel like I'm standing in the middle of a room full of strangers in a swimsuit? Hmmm...

Thursday June 7, 2012 Calorie Budget of 1,551

1,416 (consumed)-147 (burned)= 1,269

Breakfast: 

morning sugar free cappucino with half and half (bad)

quaker oats with cinnamon (good)

Snack: 

Greek yogurt (good)

Lunch: 

1 organic cheese enchilada (good)

handful of baby tomatoes (good)

Snack:

spinach/pineapple smoothie with almond milk and chia seed (good)

Dinner:

2 corn tortillas (bad?)

grilled chicken (good)

bell pepper and onions (good)

cilantro lime light sour cream (not sure)

Snack:

1.5 T natural peanut butter (can be both good and bad)

And...the ugly. Half of a red velvet cupcake. BUT I did just eat half! And boy, did I take my time! I call it "making loving" to my food lol. Kind of a silly joke around the house. When it comes to desserts, which I LOVE, I eat them slowly, savoring each sweet bite. My husband...he does something else with his. Let's just say he can eat a whole cupcake in a minute. ;)

My goals yesterday were to eat smaller portions and spread them out over the day so that I have 3 small snacks and 3 "regular meals." I tried to balance it, but there is a lot of improvement. Below is a picture of the breakdown of nutrition. I record food-related things on a white board that hangs on the pantry door. 

In the top pic, you can see what my basic goals were. The grams are off a bit. I'm trying to really figure out what the balance really is. In the bottom pic, I've documented my breakdown. Blue indicates that I was in the range I was aiming for. I put it in red if it was not where I wanted it to be. Obviously, I need less fat and more protein. That's my goal today!

Scary Changes to Fresh Changes

The last time I really saw myself as a truly, all-out unhealthy person was back when my drawers were full of size 18 matronly, dowdy garb, my pantry was full of Little Debbie, and my idea of working out was 5 minutes of sweating through a dvd warm-up and then sitting on a stability ball the other 40! Not a pretty picture.

I saw myself that way again. And not in the mirror. It was reflected in my blood work report from the lab last week. I saw everything from macrocytic anemia to a toxic liver to high cholesterol (and not the good kind). I was convinced that it was a mix-up. Then I knew that was unlikely, and I cried. Finally, I really looked at my diet the past half a year. Back in January, I made a drastic change: I went on the Belly Fat Cure.

Now, I'm not about to talk smack about BFC or Jorge Cruise. I loved the plan. The science behind it made sense to me, and I was tired of counting points ala Weight Watchers and figuring up calories and fat grams. BFC sang to me because it was different! I jumped on it and didn't look back. Until now.

My current issues may be totally unrelated, but having gone from years of healthier, lower fat eating to low card, low sugar eating with higher fats and then seeing, for the first time ever, these issues just tells me that the common sense, balanced, "clean" eating is the best. I didn't want to think about common sense. I wanted a quick fix to drop 10 pounds when I started BFC. 

I'm going to continue to watch my sugars and add back in complex carbohydrates while focusing on whole foods, natural foods and cleaner, less processed foods. I realized as I looked through clean eating recipes how much my body has been craving fruits and other pure foods, which I had pretty much abandoned. I just haven't been listening. It has my attention now!

So I traded my Belly Fat Cure books for a Clean Eating cookbook. I've thrown my meal plan for the remainder of the week in the trash and am starting over. I'm not sure what I am going to do with the 2 cartons of eggs, the heavy whipping cream, the bacon, ect. Trash, I guess. Better there than wasting away another day in my body. 

I urge everyone to be really careful when making eating choices. I felt good! I felt healthy! I work out almost daily. I journal everything I eat. It looked like I was doing "the right thing." I'm 35 with high cholesterol?! It could happen to anyone. 

The good news is that I can change it. And that fresh change starts today.