Target Exercise Equipment Haul

Target has this wonderful $1-$3 section in their store that constantly pulls me in. One day while browsing through the store I spotted some exercise equipment. I know, you're probably thinking, exercise equipment in the dollar section? Yeah, I know ... but my coworkers and I are working on being more active at work since we have stationary jobs where we REALLY don't move much.

 

The yoga mat is thin, but it'll be perfect to lay on the floor in my cubicle and do some stretching exercises. It'd be great for my back since siting all day long does nothing for your frame. I'm not a yoga buff ... but I can pull some moves off Pinterest and give them a try.

 

Now the thing I'm most excited about is the weighted jump rope. I haven't jumped rope since I was a kid. In my kettlebell class a few weeks ago, my instructor did stations, where we worked on different exercises for a minute. One of those stations involved jumping rope and I found it to be so much fun. It's such a great way to burn calories without even realizing how much benefit you're getting out of it. Granted, I won't be able to do it in my cubicle ... but once this snow is off the ground I can begin doing so outside in my yard or even in the parking lot at work during the spring/summer/fall.

 

They also had little 3 lb kettlebells and weights for sale ... but I'm more of a 5-12 pound dumbbell and 12KG kettlebell person at the moment.

 

Not a bad investment for a whopping $6!

Conquering a new Exercise: Spinning

With the change of the seasons comes a new class schedule at my gym. Typically with each change to the schedule it's an addition of a new class - usually a some version of a cardio class or just a different instructor teaching one of the classes already offered. That is until the new schedule rolled around for this fall introducing Spin Classes!

 

Now I have never taken a spin class in my life before this experience. I have seen people taking spin on videos and I've seen photos/Instagram postings of people taking spin class. I've always heard how great of a workout it was, yada yada ... but in the back of my mind I always had a small inkling of "well, that's got to be slightly boring." Why would I think that initially? Well, my gym has stationary bikes in the gym out in the workout area and I've tried to workout on them and it's just SO BORING to me. Like, why do I want to peddle and stare at this carpeted wall in front of me?

 

Since spin is held in the aerobics room I signed up (my gym was hosting a full day of introductory classes) and made my way to the gym for a 7:15 class. I had no excuses, no reservations and I went in with an open mind. After my instructor set us all up so we'd workout properly without hurting ourselves .. I found I actually LOVE the workout!

 

The instructor got us (or me?) pumped and motivated to keep going. There were three different "speeds" (low, medium, high) and we could essentially go at our own pace. There's no competition, there's no right or wrong way (other than safe) and the one thing I loved was that it was very low impact and it was killer, killer cardio. I have arthritis in one of my knees pretty bad (I wear a knee brace to most classes) and it did not hurt my knee whatsoever. All I know is after 35 minutes I was sweating like I did 2 hours of high intensity zumba.  The only downside is the seat is VERY uncomfortable and will leave you feeling sore for a few days prior ... but other than that, I'm a spin-lover and plan on frequenting the Tuesday night class from here on out.

 

That was my "do something out of the box"  ... and I found something I actually quite enjoy and will continue to do! Now the only "hard part" about it is hoping to get a coin to get into the class because there's only so many bikes!

Gold's Gym Waist Trimmer Belt

My coworkers and I walk 2 or 3 times a day Monday through Friday. One day while on our walk, they had mentioned they were wearing their belts. Belts? I was confused and inquired ... that's when they told me they picked up these Gold's Gym Waist Trimmer Belts last time they were at Wal-Mart. Intrigued I filed the thought and decided to look them up online later on.

 

Now I have seen folks in my gym wearing these belts ... but I truthfully never thought anything of it. The belts are $4.96 at Wal-Mart and are quite a decent product for the price. The belt is moderately thick, with a smooth fabric on the outside which makes it easily concealable under your clothing. While the inside of the belt is this smooth neoprene/"rubber" type of fabric.

 

The idea is you put this belt on before you workout and it helps trim your waist, by essentially sweating out any of the bloat/water weight you'd carry in your mid-section. It's not going to necessarily make you lose weight ... but it will help you sweat out any added bloat in your midsection. What I can say is ... this thing makes you SWEAT. You can actually feel the perspiration building up beneath the fabric against your skin. It's quite amazing.

 

The one thing I will say is, this can cause some minor irritation if you have sensitive skin. I found I wore it a few times and after wearing it during some cardio and after taking it off I had a small patch of irritation on my abdomen. That when I scratched, I caused some inflammation. Moving forward when I wear this, I will wear a very thin tank top underneath the belt to have a small barrier between my skin and the waist trimmer.

 

If you're interested these trimmers are available, nearly everywhere that sells workout gear. Wal-Mart does have the lowest price (right under $5).

Haul: Weighted Hula Hoop Haul

A few months ago I was sitting in my Weight Watchers meeting and we were talking about activities we enjoy that’ll help us get up and move more. Someone had mentioned she really enjoys doing circuits with her weighted hula hoop. Initially I was like “weighted hula hoop?” My leader was saying how she loved it as an activity because it really gets you moving and you get quite a workout without even truly realizing it.

I was hesitant at first because I know I’m not a good hula hooper. I have zero rhythm particularly because I have 2 left feet and I dance to the beat of a broken rusty drum. I looked them up online and found they were a bit pricey but decided if I bumped it into at my local Target or Wal-Mart I’d check them out and possibly pick them up – especially since it’s supposed to be good for your core and toning. A few months after that thought I was meandering around Marshall’s and I stumbled upon a weighted hula hoop in their clearance department (I later found it was the only one left in the entire store – even not on clearance). Pulling up weighted hula hoops in a quick Google search I found the price of the hoop was far less than any of the other ones available online and/or in any local stores.

The hoop itself is 2 pounds and it’s got some nice padding to it, to potentially avoid “bruising” that may happen from continuous hooping.  The weather hasn’t been the greatest but once it starts to get nicer out (potentially this week since I just got home from vacation) I’ll give this a shot outside.

Have any of you tried a weighted hula hoop? If so, how do you like it?

Bulu Box Unboxing

I was sent a Bulu Box for review purposes.  In case you are not aware, Bulu Box is a new subscription service which is $10/month (which includes shipping). Bulu Box allows subscribers an outlet to discover vitamin, supplements and health products they may not be able to get their hands on or may be iffy to try out purchasing a full-size product. Subscribers also have the opportunity to earn 50 Reward Points (valued at $5) each month to use in the Bulu Box online store to buy a full-sized product of a product you’ve tried and enjoyed.

When signing up you can choose between two different types of Bulu Boxes: Bulu Box (focused more on health and nutrition with lifestyle extras such as DVDs, gift cards, etc.) or the Bulu Box Weight Loss (focused on helping you lose weight featuring products such as vitamins and supplements, fitness and healthy eating products).  The subscription options vary between monthly ($10), 3 months ($30), 6 ($60) months or 12 months ($110).  The price break down is different for each, so you have to be really sure you enjoy the service before signing up for an extended period of time.

The box I was sent was the original Bulu Box, not the weight loss box.  The samples received within my box are as follows:

-          Dream Water. This water is supposed to help you sleep better – it contains GABA, Melatonin and 5-HTP.

-          QSpeed CoQ10 100mg. This is a natural flavored orange, sugar free, fast melt tablets to provide heart health support, improve exercise performance and increase cellular energy.

-          Prolab Quick Fire. This is to be used to help surge your workouts by providing your body with nitric-oxide-induced blood flow for muscle contractions and promote vascular.

-          Redd Remedies atEAST PM. The natural pill is supposed to calm anxiety and nervous tension which may cause restlessness.

-          AeroShot Energy. This is an air-based shot of energy delivering a powder blend of B vitamins and 100mg of caffeine that are supposed to allow the effects to start right away.

-          iTrain Download Workout $50 gift card. iTrain offers downloadable workouts that can be loaded onto your mp3 player.

If you’re interested in signing up for a Bulu Box, do so through the company website as follows: http://www.bulubox.com/

Personally I don’t feel the Bulu Box original is something I’d be in the market to order on my own, but I am interested in seeing what the Bulu Box Weightloss has to offer since I am currently in weight loss “mode.”

QUESTION:

Have you signed up and received a Bulu box?

ActiveLink – WW’s version of the FitBit!

I purchased myself an ActiveLink at my Weight Watchers meeting this past week.  I’ve been wanting one for weeks but I was in an excuse mode where I wasn’t going to the gym and I’ve since screwed my head back on straight, so I picked one up for myself.  Before I go into explaining what this is, it’s Weight Watchers version (that they teamed up with Phillips to create) of the Fitbit.  The device measures all movement and aids in helping the user to push themselves to get a certain level of activity per day, while also helps push the user to reach higher activity goals over time.

According to Weight Watchers:  ActiveLink is an integrated activity experience consisting of a monitor, a personalized website, and tips and motivation brought to you by the experts at Weight Watchers and Philips. You wear the small ActiveLink monitor in your pocket or clipped to your clothes, and it tracks all of your activity throughout the day, Whether you’re walking the dog or working out at the gym, ActiveLink will let you know how many activity PointsPlus values you’re earning. The personalized site creates an activity goal for you, and provides information and motivation to help you achieve your goal over a 12-week period. And when you reach one goal, it will help you set, and reach, another.

Right now I am in an 8-day assessment phase where I wear my monitor all day and it measures a baseline of activity.  This baseline will be used to assess as to if my activity is lower and/or higher than what it was during that assessment phase.  Unfortunately during that assessment phase you’re not able to see the cool graphs that come with the ActiveLink but after the assessment is over I’ll be able to see my movement on my screen.  It’s super easy to use, you just plug the link into the USB portion of the computer and it charges and reads all your information.

I work with a few people who have an ActiveLink and they’ve enjoyed it thus far.  I’m hoping this will be the little push I need to help me continue to be honest and will help push me into continuing maintaining my healthy lifestyle – workouts included!

I paid $39.95 for the device itself and it’s a $5/monthly charge for the service.

Let me take a moment to introduce myself ...

I decided to make this blog because this is something that’s very near and dear to my heart. I enjoy blogging about health & beauty, but I’m VERY passionate about my path to a healthy lifestyle.  My name is Shannon, I’m a 27 year old young woman from New England who has struggled with her weight since as far back as I can remember.  Taking control of my own destiny I decided that I NEEDED to get healthy for myself.  My mind was in the game and my decision was made and I went full force towards that goal, no looking back.  It was one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself.  As I’ve become more comfortable (public speaking isn’t nearly as daunting as it used to be – but I still do get a little shy), I find I enjoy helping those around me work towards finding their courage and obtaining their goal.  I’m very open to speaking with anyone about their weight loss or how to help switch things up in their journeys.

Weight Watchers - It DOES work!

Now (July [yellow shorts] & August [blue dress] 2012): 

BEFORE:

                                                  November 2011:

I have struggled with my weight since I was a little girl. I was always the heaviest girl in my class. Sure, I was picked on, but it was something that made me stronger and made me not care what others had to say. Did it hurt at the time? Yeah it did, no one wants to be the odd man out. But if it weren’t for some of those struggles, I would not be the woman I am today. When I was 17 I joined Weight Watchers for the first time and lost around 50 pounds and ended up quitting because I was going with a family member and their schedule at this particular meeting didn’t meld any longer so we stopped. And I gained all my weight I loss back.

The middle of February 2010 I told myself that I had had enough and that I was going to do something about my weight. This was the first time in a VERY long time that I had the courage and the strength to do something to better myself. People around me had been telling me to lose weight, but if your state of mind is not into it, you are not going to do it. This time, I was ready and I was prepared. I found a Weight Watchers meeting which was in my city and I walked in on a Thursday night, shy and quiet and asked how I could sign up for Weight Watchers. I signed up and became a monthly member (which means the monthly fee is deducted from my credit card monthly and it allows me access to the Weight Watchers online E-Tools system).

I have been a withstanding member ever since. I look forward to my Thursday meetings and enjoy the comradely that comes from these sessions. I absolutely adore my leader (a leader is the individual who is a part of Weight Watchers, has lost all the weight they needed to be at goal – which is what your individual ideal healthy weight is and has maintained it), she’s incredibly helpful and she has helped me during some rough patches in my weight loss. The folks who are in my meeting are all friendly and we tend to talk before and after the meeting on Thursdays. We share recipes, tips, ideas, new products that are out in the market that are “point friendly”. It’s really a great bunch of folks and I cherish the relationships I have built with each of them.

Now I know I have been talking a lot about the program itself and I feel as though that’s very beneficial for anyone who’s new to the program, who doesn’t know about the program or just has incorrect knowledge passed on to them from others.

I just want to state this quickly, let me start this off by saying Weight Watchers is NOT Jenny Craig, it is not Nutri Systems, it is not the grape fruit diet, it is not the Subway diet, it is not the cookie diet, etc. What Weight Watchers IS is a lifestyle change for the better! With Weight Watchers you eat your own food – no we fellow Weight Watchers members are not tearing open a package of freeze dried “chili” and going to town (I mean, really?). Yes, Weight Watchers sells brand name foods in stores – but this is only as a helpful tool to members (or the general public) because there are times in your life where you’re on the fly and you need something to eat and you’re unsure. When this happens you can just snag a Weight Watcher meal and heat it up – the points are on it for you and it helps eliminate poor choices. We actually go out to restaurants, we can eat cupcakes/ice cream (and even together if the mood strikes), we can eat dips and chips, we can eat steak and cheese sandwiches, and we can eat pizza (among everything else there is food wise) – but the key is – we do so in moderation!

From the pictures, you can see I have lost a drastic amount of weight. From the last week in February 2010 to this date currently, I have lost 175+ pounds following the Weight Watchers program!

I still have a little ways to go before I am at my ideal goal weight, which would make me a Lifetime member! Incase you are unfamiliar, Lifetime members are members of Weight Watchers who have lost all the weight they need to and are considered to be at a healthy weight compared to their BMI. A bonus for Lifetime members is they do not have to pay a monthly/weekly fee, they will now have free access to Weight Watchers online system E-Tools, and they are able to go to as many meetings as they want (as they would also be able to do as a non-lifetime member). Lifetime members also weigh in once a month compared to the weekly that non-lifetimers weigh in.

Out of all the individuals who are at my meeting, I am the individual who has lost the most amount of weight. Many of the ladies and gentlemen I speak with tell me that I am their inspiration and that I inspire them to do better and to “get back on the wagon.” I never once thought I would inspire individuals to lose weight or to continue losing weight. But it’s a great feeling and I enjoy helping others with their journeys.

Incase you’re wondering, I lost the first roughly 80 pounds on my own by just eating healthy and watching what I was eating. This means weighing and measuring and tracking my food intake. After that I started to add in activity (zumba and general activities such as weight training and adding in the elliptical and treadmill into my routine). These days I hate the treadmill so I go to three zumba classes a week and find when I do that I’ve been losing roughly 2 pounds a week by eating healthy and exercising.

Once I hit my goal weight, I want to work for Weight Watchers as a receptionist and I hope to one day become a leader so I can continue to inspire individuals and share with them the wealth of knowledge I have learned during my journey.