An Anecdote on Oil Pulling

Last week Facebook was suddenly overloaded with a link to a blog talking about oil pulling and all the great benefits. It was a picture with someone holding a teaspoon of coconut oil and saying something like, "WTF is oil pulling + Why I'm hooked" and then listing some of the benefits. In fact, here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.fashionlush.com/wtf-is-oil-pulling-why-im-hooked/

A bunch of people were both freaked out and excited about it. Since I have been doing it off and on for about 2 years and regularly for 3 months, I got so excited to tell my friends that it is, in fact, AMAZING!! I don't know about ALL the benefits that people usually claim (e.g., draws toxins out of your body, relieves headaches & hangovers, helps you sleep better, etc.). I'm no scientist, so while I can't claim all of these miraculous results, I can tell you what it has done for you.

I started doing it regularly for a month before I had my first (dreaded) dental appointment since I had been pregnant. It had been almost two years in fact. When your pregnant, you are more likely to get cavities because your sending a bunch of vitamins and minerals to the little peanut growing inside you which can take away from the  vitamins and minerals that are usually meant to strengthen your tooth enamel. On top of that, many pregnant women tend to get really relaxed when it comes to the food they eat. Before I got pregnant, I was pretty strict paleo. Once I got pregnant, I eased up on the rules. I had wheat & ice cream (not regularly, of course) and was addicted to chips, stove-popped popcorn with coconut oil, watermelon, and white rice. Obviously, this diet was not exactly a teeth-strengthening regimen. In addition to that, I religiously took my fermented cod liver oil/high vitamin butter blend, chlorophyll, awesome probiotics, and magnesium. Supplements don't outweigh a bad diet, but I tried to get some of what I was missing in my diet for a few months (I went back to 80% Paleo later on in pregnancy).

So…after a month of oil-pulling everyday, as many as three times a day, I begrudgingly went to appointment. It's important to note that at the beginning of the month I had a very sensitive spot in the top back right molars. It was sensitive enough that I had to be careful when I drank certain things and my teeth ACHED when I would try to run or would move/shake my head a certain way. I had never before felt this, so I was extremely paranoid. I went over all the possible things I could say to my dentist about putting off getting my cavities filled.

As I laid down on the table and prepared myself for the worst x-rays and cleaning of my life, I was blown away when--after the X-rays showed no cavities--the hygienist kept commenting on how white my teeth are. She also told me that she could tell I was doing a great job with my flossing. Little did she know, I rarely ever floss. As she continued to check my teeth stating the little numbers when testing my gums--or rather, the pockets in my gums (0 is perfect, 4 & 5 are horrible and mean that you have to go to a specialist)--she reported that I had mostly 0s and 1s and only one 2! The last time I had this done I had one 1 and the rest were 2s (who's on first?). My entire cleaning ended up being around 5 or 6 minutes tops. Again, this was all after a pretty terrible diet, at least 1 year after my last cleaning, less/nonexistent flossing, taking some supplements, and oil pulling regularly for only ONE MONTH. I am not exaggerating when I say it was the BEST DENTAL APPOINTMENT EVER!!!! After my cleaning, I shared with the hygienist what I had been doing, and she was completely shocked and didn't believe me. I finally convinced her to try it, so I wonder how it's been for her now.

To recap, the benefits that I have gotten: healthier gums, whiter teeth, fresher breath, CLEANER teeth at the end of the day (I never have that hairy/fuzzy feeling at the end of the day), and…I've even had the dreaded and disgusting tonsil stones come out during an oil pulling sesh (one of the most disgusting things EVER). Better out than in, right? Since tonsil stones are obviously in the tonsils which are in the sinus network, I think oil pulling does help clear your sinuses, however I don't have actual "proof" other than the occasional nasal drip in the back of my throat while oil pulling.

That has been my experience with it. All in all, I think it's awesome. I've gotten some of my friends and family members to do it too, so hopefully with the recent attention from the blogpost on Fashion Lush, more people will start doing it too and will in turn be more open to the possibility of healing the mouth holistically (AND economically!).

ProcrastiNation

Man, oh, man, do I know how to procrastinate!

Why is it that I always wait until the last minute? Honestly, I do this in practically every single area of my life. WHYYYYYY???

Obviously, there is some major psychology behind it, and I have yet to figure it out. Rather than look it up today, I'll just check it out tomorrow. And when I say tomorrow, I mean six months from now when I'm forced to look it up because I'll be taking some psych class…or something.

Future goals, as in within the next 2 months, are as follows:

1. Apply to a college (once we find out where we are moving to…come on Oregon/Washington/Colorado!)
2. Finish Dream Job (I am way, way, WAYYYY behind on that)
3. Teach my son a few words to sign (which means that I need to teach myself those few words, too. Looks like I'll be headed to the library to find some ASL baby books)
4. Meal plan and follow through with the meal plan (this one is a toughie--I love to eat Paleo/Primal, but I also don't like to food prep. Time to change my frame of mind and start LOVING food prep)
5. Practice yoga/meditate regularly (5x a week)

Now for the things that I have been getting done on a regular basis and/or accomplished:

1. Paid off ALL my debt (over $10,000 worth!). I never knew zeros could be so beautiful.
2. Working out pretty consistently (at least 3-4x a week). Ballet Beautiful on Amazon Prime is absurdly hard. I see you, Mary Helen Bowers!
3. Doing tons of mystery shopping. I've made about an extra $100+ a month doing really easy stuff. For anyone looking to make some extra cash, this is one of my favorite ways.
4. Reading almost every day. Even if it's just a few minutes, it's been great.

Now all we're waiting on is if we get the word to move out to Oregon, or rather, anywhere out west. It's been real, East Coast, but I'm ready to move west.

Gluten-Free for a Month…or Two?

This not correct. Gluten was my bitch for about four months…and then my dad made prime rib with garlic bread. So I went for a piece of garlic bread…and then another, and then 4, and suddenly there were 10+ pieces of garlic bread inside of me…THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION. Then I had 6 chocolate chip cookies.

That was 2 months ago. Since then I have been bloated, fatigued, itchy, congested, and overall miserable. SO…today is the second straight day of making gluten my bitch again, before it makes me its bitch and sucks days/weeks/months of my life away rendering me completely miserable. 

Another food item that needs to be added to my "bitch list" is dairy. Man-oh-man, I loooove me some mucous-inducing dairy. There are just SO many wonderfully delicious things that are made with dairy. Mmmm. I've tried using the excuse that raw, organic, grass-fed dairy is fine. It probably is, but I've only had that kind of dairy once in my life when I went to this amazing grocery store in California called Berkeley Bowl. That place is my food heaven on earth. Anything you can imagine is sold there, and it's overrun with the quintessential hippy-dippy food that I love so much. Anyway, even when I had that dairy, I know I had a distinct mucous-y/gassy/crampy bodily response, but I continued to have dairy off and on. 

I continued to eat dairy even when it wasn't falling into all three categories (raw, organic, grass-fed) and have pretended that I am one of the lucky ones that can digest dairy without ANY problems. Yeah, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Now that it's day two of my gluten-free journey and my left nostril is completely blocked up, I've decided it is the perfect time to at least test out how being dairy-free will affect me. Let's see how this goes…

Awkward Red Hives

FINALLY did something that I've been having maaaajor anxiety about. I told my supervisor all the things that suck about my job.. Not complaining, not bitching and moaning, just told him the things that pushed me over the edge to realize this isn't he job for me. 

As I was telling him all of this, I literally broke out in hives and felt my face burning up and getting itchy. What can I say? I'm an open book...I'm not what you would call "awesome" at hiding my emotions. 

Anyway, we had a great talk, and I finally let go of a bunch of pent up feelings about the way leadership does things. At the end of it all, he actually APPRECIATED my feedback and told me that I do a great job, and he's really disappointed that they're losing me. 

Moral of the story: don't wait until you're at your wit's end to speak your mind! I'm super stoked to be moving on: discovering my dream job while raising my son and all my other future babies. 

Oh and PS...I'm about to be debt-free (apart from my car) in 3 months. HOLLLLAAAAA

Ramit and Ramsey

I have almost $23,000 in debt. Two of my three credit cards have an APR of about 23%. I pay almost $1000 towards my debt each month. Today is also the first day of my 21 day sugar detox that I'm doing with my best friend and my mom, and I've eaten fries, almost an entire chocolate bar, and 4 or 5 cookies.

So...not the best way to start off all my epic (ughhh, I HATE that word) goals for the new year, but hey now! Rather than waiting until the next day to start over, I'm going to start right this second, and that's perfect timing because out of nowhere I have become enthralled with paying off my debt as quickly as possible, with drinking TONS of water, and with working out on the daily.

Although it may seem like I've already let my "New Year's Resolutions" disappear in the first week of January like most people, I've actually just decided to start on the second week January.

I've been following Ramit Sethi's blog www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com and recently came across ol' Dave Ramsey's blog again.
I remember coming across Dave Ramsey a loooong time ago and thought that he was crazy. It's impossible to pay for a house with cash! That's ridiculous. I don't need a budget. I don't have "serious" debt, so what is the point of reading this old guy's blog about money. I'm fine. Psh, old people problems.

Then I came across Ramit in some email blast talking about his book aptly named I Will Teach You to Be Rich. I remember thinking that it was probably some cheesy self-help book with an even cheesier yellow cover. Laaaaame.  And now, here I am just a few years later at the ripe age of 23. I have an awesome husband, a beautiful baby, and some not-so-great DEBT. I don't remember how I even got involved with Ramit's or Dave's blogs again, but man-oh-man am I glad that I did.

Just from the few things that I've picked up, I am becoming so inspired, and for once in my life I am actually DOING something. I should be debt free in 8 months (I will keep you posted), I'm sticking to a diet and workout plan to get my post-baby bod in the best shape it has ever been in (stretch-marks and all), I'm scheduling time to get things done AND getting them done, I'm realizing that I am a huge nerd that loves self-help books and that there are others like me out there, and so much more.

Maybe it's just the newness of the New Year, but I feel refreshed and revived. I'm making major changes to how I live my life, and I'm so looking forward to reaping those benefits.

No Poo was Just the Beginning

 As soon as he said that, I cringed knowing instinctively that not only should I, but I HAVE to start a blog because it's one of those things that I really, really, REALLY do NOT want to do.

 Apparently back in August of 2010 I did the same thing. My whole line was about how it was the second day that I had not used shampoo. Very cheap and free of harsh chemicals, which is perfect for me because I am, in many regards, a cheapskate and somewhat of a hippy (at least that's what my coworkers, husband, friends, and family tell me).

Yummo! On top of the white gunk, I got really frizzy, static-y hair and more split-ends.

Then there was that one time where I just completely stopped washing my hair for about six weeks. I used to wash my hair every morning (and sometimes every night) and still ended up with a greasy mop by noon.

That was one interesting experience. Shocking, I know. When I finally DID get my hair washed, I did it at a hair salon. She probably had to force down her gag reflex as soon as she touched my head. I thought I was so clever telling her that I had just gotten done working out…HA. Yeah, totally had her fooled…right?

These days, I actually do shampoo my hair, but it's usually once a week, and I make sure I use a sulfate/paraben/gluten(?!)-free shampoo that I get from the supermarket for very cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap! Since I'm currently trying to make more money, save more money, and pay off more debt, I'm waiting to make a big hair care purchase: The Moroccan Method Shampoo set for about…I want to say $60ish.

Well, that's all for now. Are you?  Does it feel as deliciously awkward to you as it does to me? But if not, just grab some almond butter and put that on your apple slices and eat them. Toodaloo!