Tropical Traditions

I've done it now. I've gone and signed up to participate in the May NaBloPoMo. YIKES! What WAS I thinking?! The good news is that you do NOT have to post something related to the month's theme, which is play. You just have to commit to writing a post every day this month. You can still sign up! Just click the button on my sidebar!

So, because Tropical Traditions coconut oil reminds me of a fun, playful time in Hawaii, I'm going to host a giveaway to get this playful month started!

I adore Tropical Traditions products! If you've never had the opportunity to try their coconut oil, or even if you have, you can WIN FREE COCONUT OIL!

That's right! Today is your lucky day! One wonderful follower will win 1 quart of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!

Y'all know how much I love me some coconut oil. And this Gold Label Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions fast became my very favorite! I love the way it feels (silky), tastes (glorious), and smells (coconutty).

Need more information? Try these sites:

Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil page

Tropical Traditions Home Page

 OR, check out this video:

Not sure how to Use Coconut Oil? There are hundreds of uses you can check out the Tropical Traditions webiste!

Need more info on how to buy Coconut Oil? Try: A guide to buying coconut oil online 

Still want more info? Try this:  What is Virgin Coconut Oil?

Just fill out the Rafflecopter and you'll be entered to win a quart jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil! Sorry, US and Canada only.


Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Oil Pulling

Yep, you read it right- Oil Pulling. But, what is it, exactly?

It's when you put a tablespoon of oil (Sesame, Sunflower or, my preference, Coconut) and swish it around in your mouth for 20 minutes without swallowing. Just swish. Then spit it out, rinse your mouth with a cup of water with a little baking soda and salt in it. And that's about it. (Although you REALLY NEED to read the information at the end of this post before you try it). 

Simple. But, why do this, exactly?

I started just to see if it really worked for detoxing. And for improving energy levels. And whitening my teeth.

It does. Surprisingly.

I thought it was a bunch of hooey at first. But then, because I was on this health and fitness path, I decided to go ahead. Why not? It might not help with anything, but it wouldn't hurt.

Here are a few things from my notes that I noticed the first couple of weeks (we started on March 1):

• Day 1: ICK. Not fond of this. Kept it in for only 5 minutes.
• Day 2: Not that much better but kept it in for 8 minutes. 
• Day 3: Getting used to it. Up to 10 minutes. 
• Day 5: I was able to swish for 15 minutes and noticed tremendous increase in energy and whiter teeth- not brilliant, but whiter. Also felt a little loopy, or goofy--probably not from the oil though.
• Day 6: I actually felt a little craving for it and experienced feelings of clean and fresh as well as energized.
• Day 7: Feel the habit kicking in; 15 minutes passes quickly now. 
• Day 11: Totally forgot to pull oil this morning. Hadn't noticed much more in the changes realm until this happened- lacked the same energy level and had a headache from allergies (my allergies, which are usually so bad they lay me out, have been barely noticeable). 
• Day 12: Switched to coconut oil and the initial benefits were noticeable all over again!

Most discussions state that Sesame or Sunflower oil is best for oil pulling. I couldn't find any cold pressed Sunflower oil so we started with cold pressed Sesame oil. I wasn't fond of it but, after a while, I was able to pull the oil for up to 15 minutes.

Hubs noticed way more differences than I when we began-even with his ability to focus (which is HUGE as he is ADHD). However, once I decided to try coconut oil, I noticed my big differences. AND I was able to pull the coconut oil for 20 minutes with no problem.

We are still pulling oil every morning.

Will it work for you? I have no idea. As with any new practice, it's important to readreadread and researchresearchresearch before beginning. Some of the information varies as to how long, where to spit it out (because of the toxins the swished oil contains), what to rinse with, etc. I just went with the one that made the most sense to me. The differences are slight anyway. I started my reading here: Divine Health (and here) with Lydia. She provides detailed explanations regarding the whowhatwhenwherewhyhow's of oil pulling and also has a few links if you want more information. You can also look up oil pulling on YouTube. There are a couple of good videos there.

This is the fifteenth day of the A-Z April Challenge. I thought I might try a theme this year and focus on my personal journey to health and fitness, including weight loss.

Today's letter is O and my word for the day is OIL PULLING.

 
Just a reminder about my pop-up problem yesterday: Ok, discovered the pop-up problem on the blog. If your blog is getting something like this: the page at http://atat.ro/ says: Would you like some iGoogle widgets? Go here: http://www.google.com/ig/directory?type=authors&itemstype=gadgets&url=portal.romanesc%40gmail.com&start=0 and search the gadget list. If you have any of the ones listed, go to your blog and delete them. The pop-up will stop popping up! It was the daily calendar on Empty Nest.

Coconut

The only thing I used to know about the coconut is that my grandmother used them to make her fabulous coconut cakes from scratch. She would drill a hole in the coconut to get the water out and then crack the entire thing open and shred the meat. Those were some amazing cakes!

Along this health journey of mine I have, through readingreadingreading and tryingtryingtrying, discovered that there are health benefits of coconut products.

For example, coconut oil does not release toxins when heated and, when mixed with a bit of lecithin, nothing sticks to your pan. I also use coconut oil for my daily oil pulling, baking, moisturizing, hair care…As a matter of fact, I buy coconut oil by the gallon from Tropical Traditions!

I use coconut sugar, flour and oil for baking as well as coconut milk---be careful when buying coconut milk, the stuff in the dairy section in milk cartons IS NOT coconut milk but coconut drink. Coconut milk comes in cans.While I have yet to master the art of baking with coconut flour, I have found that I can substitute coconut (or palm) sugar in any recipe that calls for refined sugar or brown sugar--my favorite thing to do is use half coconut sugar/half Turbinado in these recipes. Coconut milk is easily substituted for cow's milk--or soy, almond, etc. milk. 

Just leaving white, refined sugar behind made such a difference in my mood, focus, clarity, energy…but I had to leave the substitutes behind too. And the difference became even greater. And more so once we left the gluten behind- but that’s for another post.

I have also starting buying other coconut products for use such as insect repellent, shampoo, deodorant, etc.

Ah, the coconut. How did I ever live without it?

My favorite sites if you want to readreadread and find some amazing recipes:

The Coconut Mama

The Spunky Coconut

Organic Facts

Coconut Research Center
Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

For products and more recipes:

Tropical Traditions

This is the third day of the A-Z April Challenge. I thought I might try a theme this year and focus on my personal journey to health and fitness, including weight loss.

Today's letter is C and my word for the day is COCONUT.