coconut oil weekly weight tally-week 1

3/22/10 177.4 (start)

3/24/10 177.0 (down .4 lbs)

3/25/10 176.4 (down .6 lbs)

3/26/10 175.4 (down 1 lb)

3/27/10 174.6 (down .8 lbs)

caustiously optimistic

It looks like I'm dropping anywhere from .4 lbs. to 1 lb. a day so far. Yesterday I was 175.4 and today I am 174.6. I weighed last night and I was 175.0 after being 175.4 in the am. OK, that NEVER happens to me-weighing *less* at night after eating all day. It definitely seems like something miraculous is going on here:) I didn't exercise again yesterday. I only had a small amount of time and had to pick between art and exercise...so naturally, I chose art. I sure hope this weight loss continues. Only time will tell if I've finally found the answer. I'm cautiously optimistic. It certainly seems that something different is happening. I feel like I'm doing better than when I ate every other day (alternate day fasting). High metabolism may explain why my husband eats the most fattening stuff he can get his hands on and never gains. I think our bodies need fat too. Not the trans/hydrogenated crap that is in packaged junk food and fast food, but good healthy fats like coconut oil. I did try to eat fats before following Sally Fallon type eating for awhile because it totally made sense. I didn't really lose weight, but now I think the missing link was the thyroid boosting coconut oil and thyroid supplement. Still not sure which one is doing the most or if it's both of them working together. All I know is that I have high hopes of being able to eat like a normal person and not gain 10 extra lbs. every decade.

Coconut Oil!!

Well, I've come to the conclusion that fasting slows my metabolism. I know it works for some people, but I've come to believe that I have an under active thyroid aka hypothyroidism. I have so many of the symptoms. I had my doctor test me and my results came back "normal"***...whatever that means. Well, it means they aren't going to help me and I will have to help myself-same old Western medicine story. That's how I came back to coconut oil. I've known about coconut oil for years. I love it and use it for oil pulling and it's many topical healing properties. I knew it was supposed to help with weight loss but was afraid to start eating 3 tbsp. of oil a day. I just didn't trust that I wouldn't gain weight. After hitting a wall with fasting-it seems like my body just adjusted to the less food and my weight started going up (slowed metabolism), I decided to stop before I was never able to eat again. After quitting fasting and resuming normal eating, my weight bounced up to 177.4. That was horribly depressing and I had fears of my weight climbing out of control to an all time high of 180 or more! I had to find a way that I could eat normally and at least not gain. Here's how my weight looks after starting coconut oil 3x a day:

(I am 5'6")
start (after giving up fasting) 3/22/10 177.4
3/24/10 177.0 (down .4 lbs.)
3/25/10 176.4 (down .6 lbs.)
3/26/10 175.4 (down 1 lb.:) **weird thing here is that I ate salt the night before (sea salt on my popcorn) and I didn't exercise that day...

2 lbs. in 4 days...not bad. Not sure if it's just a fluke or if it will continue. It seems like every time I try something new, I will lose a few lbs. and then it levels off. I guess only time will tell. I have also added 60-90 minutes of biking 3-5 days a week and a thyroid supplement called Thyroid Strength that is supposed to support your thyroid-that could be helping too.

I actually like the coconut oil, so it's not that hard to fit in. In fact, it seems like my body was craving fats because I crave buttered toast etc. I love being able to have fat on my food. In the am I have whole wheat toast with 1 tbsp. coconut oil and 1 tbsp. all natural peanut butter. A little oily, but very satisfying. The coconut oil keeps hunger at bay. Last night I had popcorn with 1 tbsp. of melted coconut oil and sea salt. Pretty good and I actually lost weight the next day-even after the salt!

***I have read that people's thyroid tests come back "normal" even if they are only functioning at 30%. So, people are told their thyroids are fine and are left to suffer with their symptoms.

I heart Kale

I found a way to cook Kale that has made it my new favorite vegetable. I bought some to try and get some leafy greens in my diet besides romaine lettuce. I cut it up, sprinkle olive oil on it and then bake it @ 425 for about 10 minutes, enough to make it a little crunchy but not wilt it. It's really good. It tastes like broccoli but better. I'm so thrilled to have found a way to make Kale delicious because it's has so many health and beauty benefits and is full of nutrition.

Crappy St. Patrick's Day

I feel like crap today:( It never helps how I feel when my weight goes up but it's just an all around feeling of crappiness. I tried to do some art and it was just frustrating-nothing turned out right. I should know better than to try to do artwork when I'm in a bad mood. Some people think that's an outlet...I think it's a recipe for homicide (only kidding;). Hoping writing this out will get this off of my chest and make me feel better. So far...no. Today's a fasting day, it's 4:30 and I'm hungry. That's not why I'm in a bad mood, but it probably isn't helping. I have one more rant to get off of my chest. I HATE FACEBOOK!! Ahhh, that does feel better. I can't tell you how many times I have almost just deleted my fb page. Oh, life before facebook-I miss you. Oh wait, I do feel a little bit better now:)

Official Weigh-In~Week Two

Last weigh in 3/8/10: 172.0
Today's weight 10/17/10: 173.8

So, I'm up 1.8 lbs. :(


I'm kind of freaked out that IF isn't going to work for me now but my other thought is that weight is a funny/cruel thing and that it will bounce around. I know sometimes it takes a long time for losses to show up on the scale. That's kind of what I was expecting in the beginning-slow losses and not much to show up on the scale but then I got down to 171.8 and felt like I was making such progress that it's hard to watch it go back up. Hopefully it's just temporary. It seems like that happens to me a lot. I try something and the first week my weight goes down only to rebound and go back up. I'm not sure if it would go back down because I usually freak out and give up. This time I'm going to stick with it and give it a chance because I believe in IF. I'm getting used to my IF schedule and most of the time it's pretty easy. This kind of setback really brings out the fear in me that nothing will ever work but I'm going to try to keep going and be patient. Maybe I should only weigh once a month? I will think about it. I did do a couple things that might have gotten me off track. Last weekend I switched weekend days around. It should have been eat Saturday and fast Sunday but I wanted to be able to eat with my family Sunday and so I switched the days. That means I had two eating days in a row. I also ate during my fasting period one day. Not much, it was like a couple of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I don't usually do that but it's life, sometimes it's gonna happen. I hope this doesn't mean I have to give up my half and half. I'll wait and see what happens.

Seventeen Magazine Recipes

I'm at the library waiting for some downloads to finish on my computer. I was reading Seventeen Magazine because it was within arms reach. Wow, pretty interesting. Maybe I have the mentality of a seventeen year old. I found a couple of things I wanted to write down but don't have a pen and don't want to leave my laptop unattended while I go find one, so I'll write it here:)

1. Tropical Drinks

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
3 cups lemonade
1 cup seltzer water
4 lemon wedges

preparation:
Pour pomegranate juice into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. Put three or four pomegranate ice cubes in each glass. Pour lemonade over ice cubes and top with seltzer water. Add lemon wedges to garnish.

Wish you could see the picture. Looks really good. I must be thirsty:)


The second thing is for some homemade hair scrunching spray. I love homemade chemical-free stuff, so I'd like to try it out.

2. Get Beachy Hair Scrunch Spray:

2 tbsp. ground sea salt
8 oz. water
1/2 tsp. scented conditioner
+ spray bottle

Ok, this sounds fun too-Play wet Twister. LOL