Benefits of Coconut Oil

I am so behind on my "regular" blogging that I've not even updated on my latest healthy quests....and one is trying coconut oil.

Source

I've read so many articles on coconut oil over the years and thought I'd give it a try.  Tropical Traditions offered to send me a jar to try but I was under no obligation to write a review.  I had already ordered some coconut oil for the dogs.....I know...right?  Order for the dogs first? lol  It was cheap, what can I say...... :)

Anyhoo...I got my jar of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil and have been putting it in my morning smoothies.  I had a lot of other plans but with my work schedule and our building a house and moving, just haven't found the time.

So...what have I noticed, if anything?

First......my Pekingese Sweety itches MUCH LESS........I had ordered it for them just thinking it would be healthy.  I had no idea it would help her itching.  So that is a huge plus.  I know it is the coconut oil because we ran out and before the new one got here, her itching incessantly returned.  We put it in their dog food morning and night - we run hot water, mix a small amount of wet food with their dry food and add in the coconut oil and stir it really well.   Both dogs eat it as if there is nothing different about it.  For them, we do NOT use the Gold Label!  lol

Then for me....I didn't notice anything huge at first.  It was slowly that I realized my skin was less itchy...my "spots" healed and are now gone....no more dry patches on my arms....

Then, out of nowhere almost, I had a cycle.....not sure if I am in peri-menopause or what (diagnosed recently as Premature Ovarian Failure, which explains being infertile since age 26....but anyhoo), I never know when I'll have a cycle.  But within 2 weeks of starting the coconut oil, I had one.  That was interesting!

My appetite is less, my hair seems healthier, my skin is much better....I have decided to keep this in my diet and health routine and just wanted to share in case you were interested in trying it.






Disclaimer:
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.

Hungry For A Change?

Are you tired?  Sluggish?  Moody? Cranky?  Achy?  Sleep all night but never feel rested? Skin sallow?  Wrinkles?  Acne?  Hair lifeless?


Guess what....this isn't a post about the latest "MLM - multi level marketing product you must have....don't get me started on those...."
I haven't had time to talk much about it on here, but I have been back on

Green Smoothies 

for months.  I got to looking back at photos when I looked SO much younger, much less wrinkles, healthy vibrant skin and I remembered - that was when I was on Green Smoothies!

So I got back on them and it has been amazing, just like last time.  I basically drink a large ( and I mean LARGE) green smoothie in the morning and evening, and eat what I want for lunch.  Literally.

A coworker has now started Green Smoothies and she is doing great too.  I believe this trailer and this movie is going to help explain WHY are bodies are fat, tired, sick......you can do something about it, but it starts with getting OFF anything with ASPARTAME  (Equal, Nutrasweet....) ASAP (with I knew how to put a red circle with an X through it for DANGER...)....I got off Aspartame a few months after first ingesting it when I realized the cause of my short term memory loss and massive headaches that had a sudden onset started around the time I started putting Equal in my tea....and folks, this was in the 90's!!!  (I've talked about our food diary experiences....and it trains you to pay attention to what you just ate/drank to connect to what is going on in your life negatively.)

Finally, we must all wean off sugar...I'm not there yet but have seriously decreased my consumption.  Strangely enough, drinking pure nutrition (greens, vegetables and some fruit - NOT the next multi level marketing "product" for health.....)...actually curbs many cravings....it is awesome how it works.

If I can do it, you can do it!

Lot Progress

Well,  here come some exciting photos.....HA!  This is simply to keep our long-distance family updated..not because I find this incredibly stunning photography.  LOL

Since it is taking forever for our land to dry out, a block and fill foundation was decided on.  (Normally monolithic...).  Digging the footing now.

Post holes are dug in to reach solid ground to support the footing.  Ours are 3 to 10 feet deep.

This is concrete that has been poured into some of the post holes.  The footing will be laid on top of this.

I accompanied my husband to see him at lunch, but can't say I had a thrilled experience.  He, on the other hand, did.  lol

In other news, we have 62 more hour long episodes of Star Trek:  Enterprise and I'm actually enjoying it now.   Would never have guessed.  lol

P.S.  I am back to drinking "green" smoothies....but I am doing a better job of mixing it up and having different flavors.  I put "green" in parentheses because these are mostly NOT green....purple, red....lots of colors!    I am feeling FANTASTIC!  Also adding Acai powder, Cacao Nibs and Chia Seeds....whoa, talk about feeling full!





 

Green Smoothie Details

Thought I would show detailed photos of another Green Smoothie in the making.  I have started pureeing the greens with water ahead of time, and wanted to show just how MUCH I use and what it looks like.

Yes folks, THIS is how much green lettuces I consume in 2 days!!  Yummy!  If you notice in prior posts, I used much less.  Over time, you body will crave more and more greens and less and less fruit.

Here is what it looks like after being pureed with the water using the "Whole Juice" button on the BlendTec blender.  That is about 21 oz, hard to see due to some foam.

I then add all my other goodies (in this case, 2 tomatoes, 2 bananas, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 cup grapes, 1 avocado, 1/3 cup frozen raspberries):

 

I pour them into 2 containers.  The one of the left is what I drink that day.  The other container is for the following day.  I don't know how many ounces this is, but the cup is quite large, although is distorted in this photo.

How happy would YOUR body be if you ingested THIS MUCH amazing nutrition from God every morning?  It's like an energy shot, I tell you!

Pretend I have a nice green mustache and imagine ...........Got Green Smoothie?  lol 

Have a glorious day!

Green Smoothie Goodness

Today's concoction is so yummy, I just had to share!  Don't let this lovely color detract you.  You can always put more fruit in your smoothies in the beginning to transition your taste buds.  But the more greens, the better.

1/2 cucumber, peeled
2 Roma tomatoes
6 cups spring green lettuce mix (organic, from Sams)
1 cup water
1/2 cup grapes
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
2 bananas
1 stalk celery, including leaves
1 Tbl. local honey


I put the 6 cups greens with the water in the BlendTec and pushed the Whole Juice button.  I have found this works so much better than mixing all ingredients together.

This photo was taken in August and we now have over 300 uses.  (The screen keeps track of how many uses.)

When this was done, I put in the rest of the ingredients and pushed the Smoothie button.  In a minute or so, I had this very green but YUMMY drink.  I drink 2 glasses of this at a time, and the above amounts created 4 -5 glasses worth of goodness.  This gives me 2 days worth.

I woke up today feeling puny and spent the majority of the day in bed.  I did manage to get a shower and cleaned up before hubs came home from work. lol  So for dinner (and basically the entire day's nutrition), I drank 2 glasses of this smoothie, and had a piece of mango banana pie.  Pure raw, pure nutrition.

Give it a try - you won't believe how awesome you feel!

Another reason to drink GREEN SMOOTHIES in the morning! This woman just won "Sexiest Vegetarian over 50" and she is 71 years old!!! Born in 1938!!! Wow! Even more motivation to continue drinking my green smoothies EVERY morning!!

Resolutions for 2010

Kelly at Kelly's Korner has a Show Us Your Life - 2010 Resolutions party going on!

Do you take your health for granted?  I know I did.  It would never happen to me, right?  And if something ever did happen, I believed I could get treated and get better.   And then I took an unplanned trip to the world of Intractable Pain, a world I had only barely heard of, but had no idea what that even meant, or what daily life was like for folks who suffer the kind of pain most people will never even feel for one minute.  But for others, they live it 24 hours a day.  And I was inducted quickly and unwittingly into this special group.

Click Here for The Intractable Pain Patient's Handbook for Survival by Forest Tennant, MD, DrPH

I admit I haven't worried about any resolutions since 2005, when my pain crisis hit.  Each year has just been putting one foot in front of the other, just trying to survive.  Quite honestly, worrying about my "regular" or "traditional" girl things just isn't at the top of my list.  Surviving IS.

But now, with one year behind me with my SCS - Spinal Cord Stimulator - I DO have reason to expect I can get more of my life back, or at least much more than anyone thought possible.  My back is finally stable (after the last of 3 surgeries within 12 months between 2005 and 2006) and the nerve damage.....while absolutely horrid......IS in a holding pattern.  The SCS is a Godsend because it sends electrical signals in my spinal column and blocks/thwarts the pain signals from reaching my brain.  I personally walk around feeling like I have a massage chair on the inside, with my hips to toes tingling just like those massage chairs.  Amazing!  The photo below is an example what I have implanted in my back.  That pulse generator is in my upper right buttock/hip and I use a remote control to turn myself on or off, up or down.  When the pain is really bad, like today, I have my self turned REALLY really high to where I can almost not feel my feet.  But I have a choice to make - turn it up so I can do things today (and be super careful about walking) or just get in my chair and recline all day long.  So I choose to turn that puppy up!

So........my resolutions for 2010 are to:
1.)  Be More Authentic - Who I am, truly?  I vow to take down the actress mask and be honest about how I am doing.  I will continue to work on accepting my situation while continuing to hope for a cure, for a new device or procedure........something to stop this daily torment.  Only when I can share the TRUTH about who and how I am, will I truly begin to heal, either physically, emotionally or spiritually.

2.) Drink at least 16 oz. of Green Smoothie at least 6 days a week.  Currently I am drinking it every single day, sometimes as much as 32 oz.  I really recommend others adopt this - great nutrition!!  Here are some posts from last year - I've been enjoying the Green Smoothies since June, 2009. 

3.)  Read at least 1 book a week.  I'm currently averaging 2 books a week, and I LOVE to read.  I rediscovered my love of half-price books while down in Dallas, and I bet I purchased 18 or so books while we were gone?  Sounds crazy, I know, but I've already read 3 of them!  My favorite books involve health, marriage and family, enhancing our intuition, and embracing what we truly desire and watching it manifest.

4.)  Continue to explore meditation and incorporate it into my life.  I have run across so many inspiring stories and websites and I KNOW this will help me manifest less pain on a daily basis.

and finally....

5.)  Stay on this amazing journey with Andy, my love, and seek each day to bless his life, in whatever small or big ways I find.  Having a strong, deeply committed marriage brings such joy into my life, and is a blessing to our children.  I heard a story on the radio the other day about a family reunion in which members got up to dance to a song  "We Are Family".  Looking around, however, it was noticed that only one family out of many were actually dancing.  The caller then realized that her family was the only one in which the original parents were still married.  One cousin walked up to her cousin and said, "You know, you are lucky that your parents loved YOU enough to stay together".  That really impacted me and hasn't left my mind.  I vow to continue giving this gift to my children.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2010!

BlendTec Blender and Green Smoothies Again

We purchased a BlendTec blender a few months ago and we have had a blast using it!! Here are some photos - this blender is amazing!! We got ours at Costco and got a better price than is listed on the website. And a 7 year warranty (you normally get a 4 year warranty, but with Costco involved, they increased it to 7 years.) Also, if we had gotten home and not like this for any reason, Costco would take it back no questions asked. There was a demonstration one day, and that's when we saw it. We were in the market and considering a Vitamix until we saw this!

Here is a close-up of the buttons. You just push one button, and the blender does it thing. It speeds up, slows down, whatever is needed. Unlike the Vitamix, where you have to push different buttons during the blend process, this blender does it all for you.


The number on the display you see - 170 - is the amount of times we have used this blender since July!! I've made soups, dips, shakes, ice cream, sorbet and the most by far is the smoothie.

In my previous post, I showed the ingredients at that time. It is recommended that you trade out your greens occasionally, and change out the flavors for variety. This is my latest "favorite". One great thing about the green smoothie is that you can "drink" anything you really don't want to eat!! This smoothie is PACKED with nutrition, and drinking it in the morning is like drinking several energy drinks. You would really be amazed at how great you feel and how much energy you have. Your body is thrilled to have all this "live" food to assimilate!

What exactly is a green smoothie? It's a fruit smoothie that includes a big serving of dark green leafy vegetables.
Green smoothies are an excellent breakfast choice for many, as they provide healthy carbohydrates, along with an abundance of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and chlorophyll. Green smoothies are also an excellent source of fiber.

My current recipe:

Grapes
1 frozen banana
1/3 cucumber, peeled
1/8 cup frozen raspberries
1 plum
1 Roma tomato, cored
1 or 2 Tbs. local honey (good for allergies)
3-4 cups of spring mix greens
1/2 to 1 cup water, to taste and texture desired

Here is a list of 70 Green Smoothie Recipes:

Green Smoothie Recipes


Here is a photo of the greens I've been using. This is Spring Mix from Sam's, organic and already rinsed. This first photo is how much I had in the container when I started. The next photo is how much was left. That is HOW MUCH lettuce I put in the smoothie!!! BTW, this is a type of lettuce I would NEVER want to eat in a salad.




The ingredients without the lettuce. With the Blendtec, we push the "Whole Juice" button and it blends it perfectly. First at slow, then faster, then it pulls "down" and blends everything, while most blenders push "up".

Here is a website for Blendtec. Click Here Be sure to check out the recipes. Recipes Demonstration Videos

Here is a Smoothie Video - Click Here

And have you seen the "Will It Blend?" videos? That is the Blendtec! Watch these to check out the power of this blender. Warning - don't do most of these at home, but they are fun to watch.

"Will It Blend" Videos?

Will It Blend an IPhone?

OK, be forewarned - with all those colors, this smoothie is NOT green. It is actually sort of brown. When you mix all those colors and that much purple, the brown color is common.


This is actually delicious!! I put it in this clear glass to show more detail.


But in reality, I drink it in this Oklahoma Sooner cup, all 32+ ounces. Each and every morning. You talk about nutrition!!


I have lost 25 lbs, my complexion is glowing, my energy and mood are excellent. And my cravings for sugary foods has been greatly decreased. It is the weirdest thing! And on mornings I skip this and eat something else, I feel like a slug. I happily go back to my green smoothie breakfast and enjoy the energy!

You really must try this - your body will be very happy. Mix and match any fruits and greens you want. Do not add starchy vegetables such as carrots, beets, broccoli stems, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, egg plant, pumpkin, squash, okra, peas, corn, green beans, and others to your green smoothies. Starchy vegetables combine poorly with fruit and may produce some unwanted gas. I also recommend using organic whenever possible.

To your health!

Green Smoothie Challenge

On another site, someone started a Green Smoothie Challenge. I LOVE smoothies and juicing, but don't always keep my eating healthy. I was all for this challenge and thought I'd document as I go.


So here we go! The recipe I am using is the following:

2 bananas
1 orange
1 white peach
1/3 English Cucumber (seedless)
1 cup water (or more)
2 cups greens (most people use spinach, I used green leaf lettuce)
2 TBS. honey or to taste - local honey is best (for allergies, etc.)

Peel bananas, orange, and cucumber. Chop greens very small. Blend until extremely smooth. I have a regular blender. The best overall is the Vitamix - on my wish list! I use only 1 cup water, but the original recipe called for 2 cups. Chill and serve. Enjoy!



Look how much it makes! I drink 8 oz in the morning, and the rest later throughout the day. It really does taste very good and sweet! Hardest thing for me is actually the color. lol


Results so far: I usually drink at least one glass of sweet tea each day. For the last 2 days, that tea hasn't been as appetizing, as if I don't really want it. Yahoo!

Have a great day!

Cheri