As an athlete, I was always looking for that magical food source that could give me a competitive edge. I found that magic in coconut oil and during the course of researching this incredible product, was amazed to discover its versatility.
More than that, I was thrilled when it helped me loose eight pounds in just 6 weeks and at the same time increase my energy levels. Eight pounds may not seem like a lot, but considering I was lean to start with, it was huge for me. In over 25 years I seldom managed to get more than a pound or two under my usual 150 pound competitive weight. As a distance runner it would be a real advantage to lost 7 or 8 pounds and still maintain my energy level. To put it more simply. Imagine running a marathon while carrying an 8 pound bag of rocks. Just think of the advantage if you didn't have that weight and at the same time had more energy. It would make a huge difference. If it could do that more me, it could do wonders for someone who has even more weight to lose.
VERSATILITY
Its pretty special when you can use a natural product such as coconut oil in your hair, as a massage oil, to suntan with or as a wholesome healthy addition to your tossed salad. You can probably use it to lubricate that noisy hinge on the bathroom door as well. It will maintain its solid form in the refrigerator or will easily liquify when needed. Over time, simply leaving it at room temperature will convert it from a solid to a liquid or you can simply melt the solid coconut paste over heat as you would butter.
AVAILABILITY
Coconut oil is available in most parts of the world on a year round basis. In North America, your best bet would be just about any natural food market or vitamin supply store. It is reasonably priced, with an organic version available at a higher cost. Of course if you don't have a supply source near to you, its as simple as typing "coconut oil" into your favorite search engine and you will find plenty of online sources for the product.
HOW DOES IT PROMOTE WEIGHT LOSS?
One thing I've discovered over years of trying almost every competitive diet out there, is the fact that you need to eat fat in order to lose fat. High quality fat that is. For years I used EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). As a matter of fact, I still do. EVOO has proven to lower bad cholesterol and increase the good. So that in itself says quite a lot about including high quality fat in your diet. Coconut oil has the same fat burning qualities. Quite possbily on a bigger scale. I read once that its been proven that if you want cattle to gain weight, you feed them vegetable oil. If you want them to lose weight you feed them coconut oil.
The idea is to eat quality carbs along with the quality fats that you include in your diet. Quality "complex" carbs that is. Its the complex carbs such as whole grains, brown rice, yams, vegetables and pasta that burn off excess fat when combined with the clean burning fuels such as EVOO and coconut oil.
THE THIRD PART OF THE WEIGHT LOSS PUZZLE
So you know you need to eat good complex carbs and avoid the simple carbs found in all those tempting deserts. And you know that you need high quality fats to burn those carbs and do away with excess weight in the process. So what is the third element? Of course its exercise. Exercise is the one thing that pretty well every successful diet includes as a necessary component to weight loss. What exercise does is speed up the fat burning process that you've initiated by eating all the right food. It doesn't mean you have to be a star athlete. A good start might just be walking around the block every evening for a few weeks. Over time you can increase your physical activities as you begin to see the results in lost pounds. Around the block might well become a mile or two in the park one day.
COCONUT OIL IN THE KITCHEN
Well where do I start? I've used coconut oil in so many ways. The trick is to use 3-5 tablespoons per day. Personally I prefer to have it in its liquid form, so I just leave it sitting on the kitchen counter. I keep a fairly warm home, so in a day or two the entire container will turn into liquid. I've used it in smoothies in the blender. I toss a few tables spoons in with my pasta. I put it in salads. Usually I use EVOO and coconut oil together in salads because its a natural tendancy for coconut oil to want to solidify as soon as it hits something cold, so as a result, doesn't spread through the salad as well as EVOO. So I use them both in salads for that reason. Those two ingredients along with some red wine vinegar is all you really need for a tasty, nutritious salad dressing. There is no reason you can't use coconut oil to fry eggs or hash browns. Of course that would just be for a treat on occasion. Best to avoid too many fried foods for the most part. There are probably dozens of more uses. Experiment. Think of your own.
One thing is for sure. You won't have a problem thinking of ways to add 3-5 tablespoons of coconut oil to your diet. It is just that versatile.
You really have nothing to lose by giving it a try. Use it every day, stay active, and see what it might do for you. You just may be in for a pleasant surprise.
