Coconut Oil Experiments.

As a pinterest addict I've found a few interesting things during my hours of browsing. I don't usually do them, just repin and forget, however there were a couple of things involving coconut oil that I found particularly interesting. One of which was oil pulling. A process in which the participant, swishes oil in his/her mouth for 15-20 minutes in order to pull toxins out. The thing I was most excited about doing was using coconut oil as a hair treatment. I'm a hair conditioning treatment addict due to some adventures in hair color and other style processes that stripped my hair of all it's sheen (story below), so when I saw this I was very interested. My dad bought me 2 enormous glass jars for my birthday. Now let the experimenting begin.

<<<<Back story on addiction to hair conditioning treatments: Over the summer I had a color correction session which went quite well but my dumb ass rinsed out a deep conditioning treatment in bath salt water (= big vat of "beach spray") and poof went my hair, fried, it felt like puffy dog hair. After two weeks and some more deep conditioning treatments it was more normal. So a word or two of advice, 1) DO NOT EVER rinse your hair out in the bath if you've used bath salts, especially if your hair is already compromised. 2) don't do anything requiring a color correction session.>>>>

Today I decided to give these two things a whirl.

Here is a cute picture of me swishing my oil!













The swishing (pulling) rules are as follows:
1) Swish for 15-20 minutes
2) DO NOT SWALLOW- spit in the toilet. If you think you're going to swallow it before the time is out or need to spit it out for some reason, just spit and then get new oil and swish for remaining time.

....I guess those are all of the rules. I set a timer on my phone that would let me know when my swishing was done. I did have to spit out my first mouthful about 3 minutes in due to needing to cough from a dry throat.

This is my first swish session, so we'll see how this goes as a daily thing. Hopefully I'll remember to do it everyday and won't choke in the process.

I figured swishing during my hair treatment would help the time go faster.
Here's my greasy hair

 

 

 

For the coconut oil hair treatment, don't worry about melting the coconut oil before hand it will melt in your hair. The stuff I bought was solid when I got it. I read on the label that it stays solid below 75 degrees. Also, this is a pre-washing treatment, to be applied to dry hair. Leave the treatment on for 30 minutes. Shampoo rise repeat etc. throw some conditioner on it.

After about 30 minutes the oil really soaks in,  I just added some shampoo to it and made sure I really washed it out. Let me tell you, my hair hasn't felt that good in a VERY long time. I put some conditioner it, mostly out of habit but it does need to be conditioned. I found that I needed to shampoo thoroughly or twice to make sure I had all the oil out, especially if you rub the oil into your scalp, which is a great treatment, just make sure you thoroughly wash it out then condition.

I would recommend doing what you usually do to your hair after washing it normally. I thought I could get away with skipping my products and I was wrong.  Here's how my hair looked dry!



 

One of my friends even commented that my hair looked a lot healthier too.

Since I've had a plethora of this stuff around I've found that it makes a great moisturizer after you get out of the shower, although I will say it doesn't dry quickly. I suggest leaving it on for a little bit then blotting excess with a towel or if you have time just chill out while it does it's work.

Cellulite

Yup that unsightly cottage cheese that lives under your skin. There are A LOT of things out there that say they will get rid of cellulite. I don't believe most of them. One thing I will say that I've found helps make your skin smoother is stimulating the skin. If you think about your cellulite and where it is, is that an area of your body that doesn't get much action? I know mine is. Its on the side of my thigh going toward the back of my leg.

I've read up on this a little because I didn't really know that body brushing was the thing it is. Apparently what you want to do is dry brush before you get in the shower. Brushing upward.
This promotes circulation which gets blood flowing to your skin to remove toxins that have built up there. Your skin should feel smoother and the appearance of cellulite should go down. I know that mine shows the most when I sit cross legged. It's very unsightly but with doing the brushing it helps my skin feel smoother. According to one of the blogs I read it takes about 5 months for serious cellulite to go away. Happy brushing!

Bikini Season

Oh yes I know the temperature here just started teasing us by hitting the 70s and you're either hoping they canceled bikini season this year. If not you're already starting to think about it. I  recommend thinking about it if you don't want to wear a miu miu all summer.
I've been thinking about it since I'm going to Vegas in June and I realized I needed a little help toning up because it isn't just bikini season, it's Vegas pool bikini season.

For this I'm featuring another blogger, LifePlusFitness.COM and Michelle Freeman. She runs a fantastic fitness blog. I found this workout on it and wanted to share it with all of you.
It's called Brazilian Butt Workout. It's the BEST butt workout I've ever done. I noticed it toning my rear the day after I did it. I'm telling you, add this workout into rotation or do it for awhile and your tush should pass the pencil test (if you can hold a pencil under your bum while standing you fail the test).

KEEP GOING.

I found this photo when I was scrolling through Pintrest (#latestobsession) one day. I know that when you're working toward a weight loss or fitness goal it can be very disheartening if the scale doesn't budge or if you don't see a difference in how you look yet. If you look back on how it was when you first started you'll see a difference.

I believe that I've previously mentioned I began running this year. The one major fitness hurdle I hadn't been able to clear. Sometimes I'm still not sure that I've cleared it, still can't figure out breathing. But I can look back and see a difference. I know my body is changing even if my scale still reads 138. whatever. I didn't use to be able to run for even a minute with out stopping to take a break. But I KEPT GOING. Now I'm running and doing interval training for 45 minutes.

The biggest key to success in fitness or whatever venture you have here, is to KEEP GOING. For once in my life I just kept going. I kept trying to run longer and even if I couldn't run for more than 30 seconds, when I got my wind back I'd run again even if it was for 30 seconds. I kept doing it. There is so much persistence in fitness. I know realize why the people who lose 100s of pounds on the Biggest Loser feel like they can do anything. It's through that persistence to keep going while working out, the discipline in eating healthy foods when that cheeseburger looks so good, which has taught them to be that way in all areas of their life. In effect they CAN do anything because they've developed those two characteristics and strengths.
Even if you don't have 100s of pounds to lose and, like me, you just want to accomplish something you've never done before, do it with persistence and discipline! KEEP GOING.

So my phrase for the day, GO FORTH AND CONQUER.

Slim Sh*t

Ok so after taking the slimquick caffiene free pills for 4 days, not only did they change my mood to poopy, I also did just that after everytime ate something, and to top it all off they made my period start a week early. I've had enough problems with birth control messing my period up I didn't need diet pills that bad.
My review, yes they will make you lose weight, but God help anyone around you because they will change your personality. I say steer clear of these ones ladies it's just not worth it.

I'm sticking with the fact that old fashioned diet change and exercise are the way to go.
SlimQuick challenge terminated.

Project Slimquick

I'm beginning a review project on the product Slimquick (caffeine free).
I definitely agree that the best way to lose weight is to eat right and exercise. Hands down best way to lose weight and keep it off (watch Biggest Loser, that is legit). Having always just worked out one way or another to be in shape I never ventured into the world of diet pills for a few reasons.

1. I was too young to buy them
2. They were barely legal with uppers in them that I was pretty sure would give me a heart attack
3. They didn't work and were a gimmick
4. That was the equivolent to crash dieting and therefore a waste of time and money

I've realized as I got older that I'm allowed to try things and make up my own mind. So when I was at a grocery store the other day and saw Slimquick was on sale I decided to give it a whirl. Like I said I've never ventured into this world before so I'm just curious to see what happens.

Contrary to what you may believe I really am not using this to lose weight. If I do that's fine but only to a point. If I drop below 125 pounds I'm going to quit taking them.
My starting weight is 138.6 pounds. The first bottle of Slimquick that I bought was Slimquick Caffeine free. I found a deal online and bought several boxes of the Slimquick naturals. So this may not be super consistent but we'll see if there's a difference between product.
I have been on a reduced calorie diet since the beginning of January. I've also been running 2-3 times a week for 20-25 minutes.
To record my calories and progress I've been using the site My Fitness Pal. I have an app for it on my smartphone so it's very convenient. About 99% of the food I look up is in there. If not you can always add something yourself. This has helped me plan what I eat and really makes me think about what I want to eat or how something will make me feel after I eat it. This program is available online also http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ . There is a community section where you can participate in online discussion boards etc if you so desire.
I'm also following The Runner's Diet I found this extremely helpful since my cardio is running and the 1200 calories My FitnessPal suggested never seemed like enough. A tip with My Fitness Pal, don't eat back your calories. I know its tempting but what did you accomplish if you eat them all back? Also, go by what you calculate on The Runner's Diet not the calories MFP says.

Introduction

I wanted to introduce this blog a little before I got started.
I've been weight training for quite awhile on and off. I recently got into running. I grew up eating mostly healthy. As I got older and had more freedom in what I could eat I didn't always know if I was eating food that was good for me or not.  I always had an awareness of how eating sugar effected me but it wasn't until I got out of high school that I realized how certain foods affected me. Like red meat feeling like it sat in my stomach for what seemed like days.

I have a few friends who are trying to eat healthy and some who just plain want to lose weight. I thought this would be a fun way to share some fitness/weight loss tips that I've learned over the years or share new ones I've found.

So whether you're trying to stay fit or you want to lose weight, there's something here for you.

Some sites I like:
Fitness Magazine - I like this one because they send me a lot of emails for recipes or new workouts.
My Fitness Pal - Keep track of your calories and progress
The Runner's Diet - Figure out what your calories should be, even if you don't run.