The Many Uses of Coconut Oil

Coconut has become one of my favorites. It has so many uses, it's kind of like duct tape. I always buy several jars at a time, so I never run out completely. Below I’ve listed my main uses, and the benefits of it, for you guys, but feel free to comment below if you have uses you think other readers might find useful.

Eat it.

Assuming you don't already have a heart condition, coconut oil can actually have heart health benefits. Any recipe calling for vegetable oil can be replaced with coconut oil. It has a high heat tolerance, so it’s great for stir-frying. It’s also great for baking, or as a dairy-free replacement to butter.

You can take it as a supplement for daily energy.

Add to your coffee as a dairy-free creamer.

It’s high Lauric acid and MCFA content helps boost metabolism and to utilize fat for fuel, it can help improve cholesterol ratios and insulin levels, it’s an immediate source of energy when eaten and isn’t stored as fat, it improves brain function, and it has been shown to increase absorption of calcium and magnesium.

Body lotion and facial moisturizer.

Rub coconut oil into the skin as a basic lotion. It actually helps to increase sun tolerance and avoid burning, and it has a naturally occurring SPF of 4. It can help prevent stretch marks during pregnancy, help skin heal faster after injury or infection, and relieve sun burns, poison oak, and bug bites.

As a facial moisturizer it can help reduce the signs of aging, heal acne, and can lighten age spots. I use a facial moisturizer with a higher SPF during the day, and the coconut oil at night as a deep moisturizer.

It also works to protect a baby's bum from diaper rash, by creating a protective barrier.

Eye-makeup remover.

Place a couple drops on a cotton ball and rub onto eye lids. It will help break up the makeup so you can then wash your face without adding the harmful chemicals of store-bought eye-makeup remover.

Oil pulling.

It’s weird, but it works. The whole idea is that the oil is able to cut through plaque and remove toxins without disturbing the teeth or gums.

Take 1-2 Tbs and swish in mouth for 20 minutes. No more, and no less. (I usually do it when I’m in the shower). Spit oil (and toxins) into the garbage, rinse mouth with warm water, and then brush teeth.

Your hair.

Put a tiny dab in your hands, rub together, and smooth through hair. It will help get rid of friz and prevent split ends. You can also use it as an incredibly intensive natural conditioner. Rub it into dry hair, put a shower cap on, leave for several hours, and then shampoo and condition as normal.

XOXO -

JULES

How to De-Bloat Quickly

So you over-indulged… Now what? The last thing you should do is feel guilty, or punish yourself with brutal workouts and/or severely restricting food. I happened. Time to move the hell on.

It happens to everyone, even us fitness pros. You go on vacation, attend a wedding, celebrate your birthday, and you don’t stick to your nutritional plan (because you’re human, and life is meant to be enjoyed), and now you’re feeling bloated, lethargic, and gassy. Well, I have good news.

I can help.

I’ve got a few strategies to help you overcome the nutritional debauchery you engaged in. You can use just one, or intermix them, it’s really going to be based on how you feel while doing them.

Fast.

I know, a few lines up I literally said not to punish yourself with severely restricting food, but intention is everything. That bloat you’re experiencing is due to digestive discomfort. You probably ate some foods that were irritating to your digestive tract and now you’re suffering the consequences. Fasting, in this sense, is not meant to be a punishment, but as a way to give your poor body a break from digesting altogether. You can safely fast for 12-36 hrs. If you’re new to fasting, start small. If you have a bit more experience, and already know you feel good while fasting, go for the longer time.

Fasting should make you feel more aware and lighter. It should be a pleasant experience. If you can’t keep your mind off food, are having headaches, and not feeling well; it’s time to break the fast and eat.

Stick to liquids.

This is not my attempt to plug some idiotic juice cleanse. I absolutely do not recommend doing them, (Adam Bornstein sums it up nicely here).

Again, digestive discomfort. Food in liquid form is MUCH easier for your body to digest. I recommend using a high quality protein as your shake base, and then add whole, nutritionally dense foods; fruits, veggies (avoid the cruciferous stuff; broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts), ground flax seed, coconut oil, and cacao nibs.

You’ll be eliminating the irritating foods and giving your digestive system a little help by giving it a liquid diet, rather than actually eating the whole foods.

And hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. The more water, the better.

Helpful supps.

Glutamine and probiotics can both be helpful with bloating. Glutamine has been seen to actually help heal an irritated digestive tract, and the probiotics bring the good bacteria back to your gut, which will help get things moving again.

Cut the crap.

Stick to foods you know make your belly feel good. Any foods you know cause distress, you should avoid as much as possible, but at the very least, for the next few days after you overindulged. Keep your sodium intake to a minimum as well.

I hope you find these strategies useful, as travel and wedding season are upon us. Go out there, eat clean, train hard, and enjoy your indulgences when they occur. Don’t let them set you back.

XOXO –

JULES

SLEEP - The Missing Link

When people think weight loss, they usually think about exercise, proper nutrition, drinking water, taking supplements, etc. What most people forget to look at is sleep. Your quality, and quantity, of sleep plays a HUGE role in you health and fitness goals.

BENEFITS OF SLEEP:
Your body does the most recovering during sleep; recovery of your muscle and brain. Working out actually causes muscle damage. Sleep is where the muscles repair and you make strength gains. It is a significant stimulator for growth hormone release, which is a natural agent for cell growth and reproduction. Sleep also appears to improve muscle memory, with the most benefits after 7 hours of sleep.

Individuals who get in extra sleep are more likely to perform better at work in workouts, and/or at their sport, have a better mood, and have increased alertness.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION:
When deprived of sleep, our level of cortisol (the stress hormone) raises, which interferes with tissue repair, growth, and increases fat storage. Lost sleep has also been show to affect the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for focus, concentration, decision making, reaction time, and more. Once sleep deprivation has reached a certain level (differs from person to person), it has been shown to hinder cognitive response, similarly to what's seen with intoxication. (If you normally sleep 8 hrs, but you only get 6, the impact is roughly comparable to a 0.05 alcohol level).

When looking at performance, it looks as though sleep deprivation may affect your body's ability to metabolize glucose efficiently. This causes the time it takes for you to reach exhaustion to lessen and increases the perception of how had you're working, because your body does not have the energy to work at it's normal capacity. Fatigue also masks your exertion level. You "max out" well before you actually should.

Sleep deprivation is cumulative, and it takes time to fix that "sleep debt". Many individuals accumulate large sleep debt by not obtaining their nightly sleep requirements. You should try to extend nightly sleep for several weeks before any kind of athletic event to help reduce sleep debt. If nerves keep you up the night before, don't stress, that's normal. What's important is your regular sleep habits. The greater your training intensity, the greater your sleep needs. And if you're not sleep deprived, studies show an extra hour may help increase your athletic performance.

When tired, form goes south. This can lead to injuries and forming bad habits in your movement patters.

SLEEP TIPS:
Unplug at least 30 minutes before bed. You want your brain activity to slow down. Try meditation, or some gentle yoga, which may help you unwind for better quality sleep.

Minimizing light and noise level is key to quality sleep. Your body will absorb the smallest amount of light, which will reduce your secretion of melatonin (natural sleep hormone). Close your curtains, block the light from appliances, even the light from your alarm clock can inhibit your sleep. If you can't minimize noise, try a white noise machine for soothing background noise.

My caffeine rule: NONE after 2 PM. Even chocolate. Caffeine has a half life of up to 7 hours, so if you consume it too late in the day, it has the potential to greatly affect your sleep.

Alcohol has also been seen to inhibit your deep REM sleep, so try to limit your alcohol consumption.

Consumption of cheery juice, before bed, has actually been shown to increase melatonin production. This allows individuals to fall asleep faster, and achieve a better quality sleep.

Early risers tend to be more active, because they have longer daylight hours to be active in. It's actually been shown that, comparing work in the early hours of the day, to work completed in the late night hours, work done in early hours is more significant (larger projects), whereas late night work is more menial (minor tasks).

EXERCISE. 

Any level of exercise seems to make for better rest, but vigorous physical activity enhances deep sleep.

Now get out there and sleep like a champ.

XOXO -

JULES

The Power of Walking

Yes, you read that title correctly. The days of walking being reserved for older adults, parents with strollers, and dogs are over.

Brisk walking has a multitude of benefits, including:

• It burns a ton of fat, and virtually zero muscle.

• It speeds recovery.

• It helps ease stress and anxiety, reduces depression and imparts a positive kick-start to your day. It improves your self-esteem, charges up the mood and helps to keep you energetic, positive and happy throughout the day.

• It improves brain function. Walking stimulates blood flow, and provides oxygen to the brain. This leads to improved functioning of the brain and better ability to recall.

• And it may help slow down the aging process.

You don’t hear a lot about brisk walking because, well, it’s just not that sexy. Kettlebell circuits, track workouts, battle rope intervals; these are much more exciting, and they certainly have their place, I’m not discounting them one bit, but brisk walking is the one thing you can (and should) do everyday to reach your fat loss goals, and feel better about yourself.

People make the mistake, if fat loss is the goal and they're not getting there as quickly as they'd like, of doing more intense exercise. But this will only ever lead to one thing... burn-out. 1-3 days per week of intense metabolic conditioning is more than enough to reach any fat loss goal, with a clean diet and plenty of brisk walking. And most of all, it’s sustainable.

I do my best to get, at the very least, a 30 minute walk in everyday. It’s my favorite way to catch up with a friend, but I also enjoy going it alone. Sometimes with music, sometimes a podcast or book on tape, and sometimes I just get into what’s going on around me. Just focus on being very deliberate about it. Walk at a pace as if just someone is following you and you want to maintain distance.

Now get out there and walk my friends, I promise you won’t regret it.

XOXO –

JULES