But before I start, a little quote I said to my hubby this morning as he was munching down a few chocolates -
"You know how you've got your chocolates as your little treat...? Well I've got my egg whites as mine".
Immediately as I said it I had to laugh at myself, as that sentence was not something that would've ever left my mouth even 10 days ago. But I had been thinking of the unnecessary money we spend at the supermarket, and how chocolate is really not required as such, but he buys it anyway just bacuase it makes him feel good. Well my egg whites are equally as expensive with the amount I'm going through (6 a day) and I am damn well going to buy them anyway too, and not feel guilty about it. It's a much better treat to me (in the spirit of treating my body to something good) than chocolate.
A quick update on this week's progress in the Jamie Eason Live Fit 12 week programme - I think I may have forgotten to mention last week that a miracle happened - I was able to do 3 sets of 10 wide arm pushups ON MY TOES!!!!! The week prior to this I had been able to do maybe 7 on my toes for one set, then would have to finish the reps on my knees, then the next set maybe 5 on toes followed by 5 on knees, then maybe a 3-7 split for the last set. So to be able to do three sets of 10 on my toes, no messing, I was so pleased I can tell you! And I didn't think I'd particularly worked my chest enough to gain that much strength, so it just shows what a few weeks work can do.
The past week I have stradily tried to put the weights up, the most successful upper body increases being for the shoulder press, deadlift and bicep curls, and for the lower body I have put up the weights for the squats, lunges and leg extension. So all in all although I was tired this week and got pretty fatigued half way through the week, I've had a good run really. Only 2 more workouts on week 4 of this programme, then I'm onto Phase 2. I haven't printed out the exact workouts I'm to follow for this next stage, but I have the overall program and it looks like I will be introducing cardio 3 times a week as well as doing weights 5 days for the next couple of weeks. I'm not the biggest fan of cardio if I'm honest, I like to do 10 minutes but then I get a bit bored and want to move onto the next thing, so I may have to come up with a sort of cardio circuit to keep both my body going and my mind from being numbed. Watch this space.
Training aside, I really have only one thing to talk about this week, and it's not something I had even heard of until about 3 days ago. Let me get to the point.
I was at the Health Store on Wednesday evening, getting my usual dates, almonds etc for making my healthy bars, and was also asking about Adrenal Support tablets - I'd been advised that I should take something like this to support the stress on my body whilst weightlifting and also if I wasn't getting enough sleep (which I'm not!). In the end, I spotted this other product, which drew me in by it's lovely tropical-feeling packaging first, and then by the promise of an energy boost due to all the vitamins & minerals in it. This potion, in the rather large bottle, is Nature's Plus 'Source of Life', shown below.
This liquid is a deep tree-green, very thick and tastes a bit like passion fruit, so it's quite drinkable. I have now been taking this for 3 days. But that's not it. Just as I was paying for the above, the lady who owns the shop was again thanking me for inspiring her to make healthy snacks using the fruits & nuts, and was giving me her own recipe for some rather yummy tasting flapjacks - she mentioned that she added coconut oil. I immediately asked her for some, as I'd only recently seen Tosca Reno (of The Eat Clean Diet fame) raving about the very same. So with my purchase of energy boosting drink and coconut oil in hand I toddled off home. This is the jar of oil that I bought.
And this is where the amazing revelations began...
I looked up coconut oil on the internet (where else), and came across the following information on eatingcleanworks.com
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Coconut Oil Benefits
While coconut oil is a saturated fat, there are some things to understand about it and its benefits. You may wonder how can it be beneficial as a saturated fat? The fat in coconut oil is made up of medium-chain fatty acids, which are metabolized as soon as consumed. It isn't converted into cholesterol or body fat the way the bad saturated fat is.
Coconut Oil Facts
- The oil is extracted from the meat of matured coconuts.
- Various applications in food, medicine, and industry.
- Heat stable (smoke point at 360°F) so it makes an excellent cooking oil.
- Slow to oxidize and resistant to rancidity.
Coconut Oil Health Benefits
The following are some of the possible health benefits of using the oil.- Weight loss
- Help with diabetes
- Hair growth
- Dry skin, psoriasis, eczema, & dermatitis
- Prevents premature aging
With all these health claims and the fact that the oil is immediately metabolized rather than being stored in your fat cels, I was already interested in learning more, as you may now (hopefully) be!
That night I made tea for myself and my mum & dad and used the oil instead of extra virgin olive oil to stir fry some pre-cooked brown rice, some cooked & cubed sweet potatoes, a finely chopped onion and a few sweetcorn. I was so impressed with the way the sweet and delicate coconut taste complimented the sharp onion and worked so well with the sweet potato, that I began asking my Facebook communitiy for recipes or other ideas on how to use it. I also continued to research the health benefits of this beautiful tasting oil and these are the claims that kept coming up - some are quite unbelievable but I am totally taken in by it and actually believe these people's stories:
Memory Improvement - now I'm over 40 I could definitely do with a bit of this! But seriously, people are talking about their 'brain fog' clearing and just feeling so alive again.
Weight loss - by adding 1 to 3 tablespoons of coconut oil to your diet each day, it aids weight loss - this is because is speeds up your metabolism.
Thyroid improvements - for people with an underactive thyroid (like myself) who currently take drugs to mimic what the body is no longer able to do itself, if they add coconut oil to their diet they may be able to cut down the amount of medication they need to take.
Diabetic improvements - coconut oil improves your circulation so the benefits to people with circulation problems, such as diabetics, are tremendous. Watch this video if you're interested. http://youtu.be/dckWiJ5x6K4
Alzheimer's disease - slowdown or reversal of symptoms - this is quite amazing and I am going to put a link to a YouTube video that I watched here, see for yourself if this is something you're interested in. http://youtu.be/mMw3d3ohx_s
Anti-ageing and skin care - coconut oil is often used along with other products in skincare creams & potions, but one lady did an experiment where she used coconut oil as her sole moisturizer in the evenings and withi 2 weeks her forehead wrinkles had totally disappeared. Gimme some of that! (I started this regime last night, particularly concentrating on my delicate under-eye area where I think I have most visible signs of ageing - updates to come in future posts!). You can also smother your hair in coconut oil for a great intense conditioning session. Or just use a little on the ends to prevent dryness and encourage growth.
So as you can see, there seem to be numerous benefits to taking this oil as part of your daily diet. Whilst I'm no doctor and I can't vouch for any of these people's claims, I do believe in this oil and I am going to continue trying to incorporate it into my diet every single day, and just see what happens. If I happen to drop down dead in the next week and you don't hear from me, drop the oil people!!!!!
Lastly I'd like to share some ideas for using the oil in cooking that I have tried since Wednesday (not long I know but I have been going at the jar like it's going out of fashion!).
Porridge - add a teaspoon (or more) to your oats & milk before you put them in the microwave and it creates not only a lovely mild coconutty taste to the porridge, but also a gorgeous creaminess. Try it!!!
Stir fried veg - very simple - just replace your usual cooking oil with coconut oil and fry away, it gives a very mild addition to the taste but of course if you add other things like balsamic vinegar or sauces to the stir fry then the coconut taste will not be very noticeable.
Pancakes - fry your pancakes in coconut oil for a lovely fragrant crispy pancake! Yum! Serve with fresh pineapple on top for a totally tropical taste!
Coffee - I haven't tried this one yet but apparently if you add a teaspoon of coconut oil to your coffee you get a lovely tasting drink. I don't think it's too greasy but I'll have to reserve judgement on this until I've tried.
Cakes - replace some or all of the butter or other fats in your cake or cookie mixtures with some coconut oil instead to give them an extra depth to the taste. (I'm just about to go and try this!)
That's pretty much the end of my rant on coconut oil. I'm a definite proponent of it now so what are you waiting for - go get some! It's available in the International foods section of larger supermarkets or at health stores, or online, but wherever you get it from, make sure you get ORGANIC VIRGIN coconut oil to gain the health benefits, the rest is rubbish.
Janice.
