01 | April | 2014 | Chocolate Covered Race Medals

You guys I’ve got a new obsession that I want to share with you all. And it’s oil pulling.

That’s right oil pulling. If you’re anything like me, as of last week I had NO clue what oil pulling is. But after less than a week, I AM SOLD.

Here is a great snapshot and cliffsnotes version of Oil pulling:

Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic method for detox and rejuvenation. It’s a simple practice, with quite remarkable results. Many have heard of it, but never actually dove in to try it. It definitely has a mystical and exciting vibe around it, which made me eager to try. But what exactly is it? What does it do?

In a (coco)nut shell:

To oil pull, simply swish your choice of unrefined, high quality oil in your mouth; similar to the way you would use a mouthwash. My favorite is coconut oil. This can be done anywhere from five to 20 minutes. The process attracts and removes bacteria, toxins, and parasites that live in your mouth or lymph system, and also pulls congestion and mucus from your throat and loosens up your sinuses, which is amazing! With the help of your saliva, all these scary undesirables bind with the oil, ready to be disposed of. Pulling also helps re-mineralize your teeth and strengthen your gums by thoroughly cleansing the area

Source

This post from Ashley is actually what sold me on the idea of oil pulling, and if you are at all interested, you should definitely check out that post. It’s full of tons of GREAT info.

In 4 days, I’ve “oil pulled” 3 times, for about 20 minutes each day and am consistently impressed with the results.

After the first attempt, I swore that I had just gotten my teeth cleaned. It was amazing. And while it could have just been wishful thinking, I felt like my teeth were noticeably, albeit minorly, whiter.

I have been using high quality olive oil (because it’s what we have), but have read that coconut oil is the most popular, primarily due to taste.

Does the olive oil taste great? No. But the taste goes away. My biggest piece of advice is to distract yourself while you’re doing it. Each morning I’ve done it as a part of my morning routine.

I get up, get my workout in, and then get myself a tablespoon of olive oil and pull away while I shower and get ready for the day. Before I know it, it’s time!

A few pointers:

DISTRACT YOURSELF
Do it in the morning, swish with warm water after and then brush as normal.
Do not spit in your drain, as it can clog
Check out Ashley’s post for quick and dirty run down of how to get it done!

I’ve only been doing this for less than a week, but I absolutely plan to stick with it. I’ll be sure to keep you all up to date with my progress or if I notice any other changes!

Have you ever tried or heard of oil pulling?

Did anybody have any good pranks that they played or that they got played on them today?

April Fools is also my cousin’s birthday, so I grew up celebrating him on April 1st, but I know I’ve heard some pretty killer April Fools stories that always make me laugh :).

Workout Last Night

Just as I promised in yesterday’s post, I managed to get myself a great workout in yesterday after work.

I left work and hit the park near our offices right at 5 PM. The sun was still out and the temps were perfect, unfortunately the wind was KILLER and provided quite the challenge for my treadmill trained legs.

I started the workout with a quick but very hilly 5k that gave my legs just enough time to remind myself how hard I had skied the weekend before. I finished in just over 29 minutes and moved on to the next stage of my workout.

Hill sprints. I did about .10 mile of a hill (short but killer) SPRINTING, then would walk down. X5.

My pace for the sprints held right around 6:30, which I was pretty impressed with considering the hill and wind.

By the time I was done, my legs were CASHED and I was ready to relax and eat a good dinner.

Dinner

We had a fairly simple, but healthy dinner planned for the evening. Salads with chicken cutlets and sourdough toast.

Simple, but delicious and totally hit the spot. My salad was a medly of goodies: spring mix greens, sundried tomatoes, peppercinnis, mushrooms. Delish.

I ended the evening with a delicious cookie, once again 🙂 ❤