The impact of TTOM...

Well TTOM came and went, and with it about 1 kg... so what I read about oestrogen promoting fluid retention seems to be true... you tend to retain fluid (up to 2kg!) for the few days before/during your period, and also for the few days surrounding ovulation.

Of interest also, your metabolism slowly increases for your monthly cycle, starting from the first day of your period - it actually starts to drop back a few days after ovulation (day 16) so that it is lowest the few days before (and during) your period... but that is not necessarily corresponding to hunger levels, as women tend to be much much hungrier a few days before and during their period (the average woman eats a whopping 30% more calories during this time! and espeically fats and sugars, because of increased fats/sugar cravings...). So keep an eye out for that :)

I also did some research yesterday regarding coconut. I had heard a few months ago about the positive effects of coconut oil (a medium chain fatty acid - lauric acid) - but i was nervous about giving it a try, as i knew how high coconut was in saturated fat! But it can actually have a good, positive effect on weight loss:

www.prosperityorganicfoods.com/pdfs/abstract_coconut_oil.pdf

Coconut tends to improve energy levels by helping tell your body that you aren't starving, improving your metabolism and increasing satiety!
As I said before, I've ignored coconut for years and years cos I always thought it was terrible for me - but the above review indicates that coconut oil (and other Medium chain triglycerides, but especially coconut) are associated with lower rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and faster metabolism, better satiety, and improved weight control.

I'm not saying go out and consume a surplus of coconut oil on top of everything else... but if you can spare the calories, consider replacing your sunflower or olive oil with coconut oil!

I've lost about 5 kilograms in the last little while, and i know I'm about to have a bit of a plateau and hungry-hungry-caterpillar-time soon, so I tried replacing my 1/2 cup yoghurt (74cals, 1.4g fat) with 1/4 cup coconut cream (68 cals, 8.9g fat) with my oats to see if it boosts my metabolism a bit (almost exactly the same in terms of calories!). And wow -it's now 3 hours since i had breakfast, and although brekky was a lot smaller than usual (i only had 2 tbsp oats with the coconut cream, no seeds, no fruit - i was short of time this morning) - and I am really full and don't think i'll be able to eat for a good few hours. And what's even better is that I've been FREEZING cold ALL THE TIME lately, (yes it's been cold here in sydney recently - but i've been wearing about 7 layers, and still freezing my butt off...!) but today I'm fine in just 2 layers!!! Maybe the weather suddenly changed, but there was certainly a spring in my step this morning - I had much more energy than usualy. In fact, i didn't even need to stop for my usual coffee on the way to uni, i had so much energy! So if you are feeling really ravenous one morning, and freezing cold, - spare the fat/calorie worries, and give the coconut cream a try... you won't be disappointed! I'm thinking, though the coconut cream didn't taste so great (needs to be sweetened, but i don't like adding sugar to anythin...) so i might consider using it for lunch instead in a curry soup or stir fry's or something... The only thing is that I'd advise eating it in the morning (or earlier half of the day) - to get the maximum thermogenetic (energy-inducing) effects! So i'm going to have a bit of a think as to whether i can improve the taste, or just have it for lunch... I thought that maybe i could use coconut instead of coconut cream, but that has a lot less oil for the same calories, so it will have a lesser effect (i think its cos dried coconut contains more carbohydrates)...

One thing i've been trying to find out, however, is that: apparently, coconut oil is very difficult to damage with cooking (i.e. difficult to hydrogenate - thats what the 'trans fats' are all about, as the horrible hydrogenated fats are the ones that gets stored in a nasty fashion in your arteries!). Well looking at the coconut cream, the ingredients are: coconut, water, and emulsifier. I'm worried that the emulsifier (a chemical which makes oils and water able to be mixed together) might be hydrogenating the coconut oil... but I haven't been able to find out much about it on the net. Will have to keep looking.

:) NIkki