Oil Pulling: DAY 2

SUCCESS!!! On day 2 of oil pulling, I was somewhat concerned as I was just going to be oil pulling while watching TV. I decided to try it without taking a shower as I have today off and wanted to do a couple things before showering.

No gagging whatsoever! And I used sesame oil plus my germ fighter, of course.

The 20 minutes was a lot harder to not focus on when not doing something simultaneously, but was a lot, and I mean a lot, easier than yesterday. This gives me hope.

As of now (9:00am), I do not feel any nausea. I oil pulled from 8:06am to 8:26am, so I will still see, but yesterday, the nausea set in immediately.

That's pretty much it! Successful journeys on oil pulling everyone!

Oil Pulling: DAY 1

To improve my health, there's been all these things that I've wanted to try. I'm not unhealthy or anything, but I feel like I can always do something just a little bit better to improve my body - I should really workout daily, but as I'm renovating a house, I prefer sleep instead. 

I vowed to try THE PLAN, which they call the Anti-Diet. I have my schedule ready and the book has been read, but I'm just waiting for the time to really stick to it. So, because I can't do that, I then happened upon oil pulling. 

Read more about oil pulling! Basically, it's practiced in Ayurvedic medicine and the thought is that swishing a carrier oil in your mouth for 20 minutes helps remove toxins from your body. 

The procedure is fairly straightforward:

1. Find a carrier oil you want to use - sesame oil and sunflower oil are the preferred oils; coconut oil is in there too, though the texture and the fact that it is solid at room temperature may deter people - also, coconut oil may not be as effective as the aforementioned oils

2. Take 1 tbsp. oil and swish around in your mouth for 20 minutes (no more, no less)

    *Some say that a few minutes less is okay, but that 20 minutes is the most beneficial/effective

    *You may add an essential oil to the carrier oil - tea tree oil, on guard (germ fighter), oregano, clove,

      Frankincense, geranium, grapefruit, lemon, lemongrass, myrrh

    *DO NOT SWALLOW OIL

    *DO NOT GARGLE AND RISK SWALLOWING

3. Once the time has passed, spit oil out and rinse mouth out a few times with warm water

4. May use a tongue scraper to rid tongue of bacteria

5. Brush teeth with (natural) toothpaste

6. May use mouth wash afterwards

The most important parts of the whole process are to swish oil around for 20 minutes and DO NOT SWALLOW OIL, as it will contain all the toxins you are trying to rid your body of - hence spitting the oil out. 

MY EXPERIENCE

Day 1:

Not having used too many oils, I am only really familiar with olive oil, vegetable oils, and fish oil, so I researched and opted for one of the most recommended by the ancient Indian medicine - sesame oil. When I received it in the mail, I doubted my choice, as the scent is strong. I do have coconut oil, but the idea of me having to melt it in my mouth before swishing also turned me off, so I opted to give the sesame oil a chance. 

I did buy some germ fighter essential oil (a mixture of oils) so I added 3-4 drops into the tablespoon of sesame oil. I decided to swish the oil while I took a shower, not only to get my mind off of what I was actually going to be doing, but to hopefully make the time go by faster. 

I put the oil into my mouth and immediately wanted to gag. I apologize for the detail, but I feel it is important to detail what happened so that I can hopefully see this behavior lessen with time and warn those interested in this practice. 

I am not sure if it was the act of swishing oil or the scent of the sesame oil or both (I am leaning toward both), but before I got into the shower, I gagged a few times. It took a minute to figure out how to swish, breathe, and not swallow any oil, and how to keep from spitting it all out. 

Once I got into the shower, the hot water and scent of the shampoo/conditioner and soap seemed to lessen the scent of the oil, thank heavens. I continued to swish and swish, fighting back the urge to spit it out, checking my phone timer from the shower every few minutes. 

*I did set my phone timer so that I would know exactly how long 20 minutes really was and to make sure I didn't shorten or lengthen the process. 

Needless to say, it was the LONGEST 20 minutes of my life! A couple times, at around 5 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 2 minutes, I was tempted to spit it out and leave it at that for the first day, but then I said, "Suck it up and just do it already." I made it to the 20 minutes and preceded to gag as I spit out the oil into the sink and vigorously rinsed my mouth out with warm water.

I bought Dr. Tung's tongue scraper, so I used it after I was done with the oil. All that came off was a white film. I scraped a few times, not sure what I was supposed to be getting off, and when I felt it was "clean," I brushed my teeth with regular toothpaste. I also used a mouth wash, which I felt was necessary to get the sesame oil taste out of my mouth. Literally, the thought of the oil makes me gag, but I think I'll be doing it again tomorrow.

THE RESULTS

Day 1:

I usually wake up with a stuffed nose and lots of post-nasal drip (again, sorry for the detail), so, in order to get rid of it all, I usually have to blow lots and lots, let the steam from the hot water in the shower loosen more, and then blow and blow again. 

About 7-10 minutes into the oil pulling, my nose was dripping with nasal discharge and my throat was clearing of the same. Luckily I was in the shower because trying to figure out how to blow my nose into a tissue and swish oil in my mouth simultaneously would have been a feat and surely would have cause a gag reflex again! Basically, I blew my nose in the shower and my sinuses were cleared almost instantly!

Showering is definitely the right decision when it comes trying to take your mind off of 20 minutes of oil in your mouth. It also makes you more efficient and I love efficiency. 

Afterwards, since I read that it was supposed to make your teeth whiter, I asked the hubby what he thought and he said that they looked a little whiter to him. Whether or not that is true is still up for debate, but since I forgot to take a picture of my teeth before the first oil pull, I took it after and will be comparing further days of oil pulling to this first picture. 

They do say to do this for 40-50 days straight, then as you need. They also say it is best done in the morning, before you have had anything to eat or drink. You want your stomach to be empty. I added the germ fighter, as I felt like I may or may not be getting sick - couldn't hurt right? 

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Almost immediately after I spit out the oil and brushed my teeth, an overwhelming feeing of nausea came about. I thought that maybe it was because I had an empty stomach, so I ate a banana, two pancakes with only a little syrup, and drank lots of water. The feeling continued. We drove to our house so we could do a little more work and hours later, I felt the same way. We had lunch and the feeling lessened, but there was still that underlying nausea that wouldn't quit. 

I did read that this could happen because this is a detoxification process. SURPRISE! Haha, I was unaware that this could result, so I was unprepared. I just have kept drinking water all day and the feeling has lessened, but this is definitely something to know before you try. 

I also read that people work their way up to 1 tbsp. of oil. I am one of those "Go big or go home" types, so I just went for it, but I could see why people would work their way up to the desired dose. You can start at 1 tsp. or 2 tsp. for a couple days and slowly increase the dose. Maybe the nausea won't happen, but I have a high tolerance for discomfort, so I'm just going to stick to the tablespoon.

Also, I read that rather than melting coconut oil in your mouth, place it in a cup and put hot water in the sink with the cup to melt the oil first.

I'd say I have experienced a lot for my first day of oil pulling, some good, most bad, but in a way that I feel like it's working. I am intrigued by this medicinal practice and will be trying to get to the 40-50 days. WISH ME LUCK!

I will keep everyone updated as I had been looking for some reading on other's experiences and really couldn't find anything. 

We bought our FIRST home!

It's been a busy year already and I finally found something to write about!

My husband and I (and our dogs, of course) bought our first home! We've been searching and searching and searching for a year and finally found one. 

We actually closed December 31, 2012 - what an awesome New Year's present, and we are still not in! Since we got such a fantastic price on the house, we decided to start renovations right away. I'm starting to realize that Jason likes to demolish things and once he's started, it's hard to get him to stop!

It is, as you have noticed, March, and I'm just writing about this now. Construction projects are SO stressful and time-consuming and budget-draining. Every weekend, when I'm not working, or every free day we have is spent at the house trying to complete another project - we've already installed two skylights, French doors, and two windows ourselves and by ourselves, I mean our family and their helpers. 

We've finally gotten the electrical mess under control and just had the new panel installed - what a beauty! To realize how excited I get about things like this, I must be in the middle of a renovation. But just look at that OLD one! Terrible...

Also, we are filming for the HGTV show called House Hunters Renovations! I know, like we needed more stuff to do...but this happened to fall into our laps and we ran with it. 

It seems surreal to have a house of our own and to be renovating it. I never really understood what surreal was until now. I still don't feel like it's ours, even though we make decisions based on the fact that hopefully soon we will be moving in this house so that we can live there. I think when the dry wall goes up, it'll feel much more real - at least I hope so!

More updates to come...

Welcome to the Family

While it's been a almost a year and a half since I married my best friend, I feel like (hopefully) soon, our lives will start changing in great ways and I want a way to document and share it.

While I have not yet changed my last name (GASP!), it is in the works and I will officially be a Fernandez by the end of 2012! Let's just say the name changing process is long and complicated (for me) and has a lot of paperwork involved, not to mention a lot of governmental agencies that I'd rather not deal with.

We hope to share our greatest life moments with all of our family and friends, as well as show our crafty and fun-loving side through other adventures and activities. And of course, our two Siberian huskies will probably grace the pages more than they should, as their momma loves them so...after all, they are our fur-children.

So, welcome to the family and hold onto your butts!

With Love,

The Fernandez Family

P.S. Jurassic Park is coming out in 3-D soon - isn't that awesome?!!! We never get tired of watching this classic! The ride at Universal Studios knocks our socks off too!