IT Works: A Review from a MAJOR Skeptic

Seriously. This is NOT A SCAM! I thought it was, of course. Because losing inches in 45 minutes sounds absolutely bogus, especially for someone like me who is in grad school getting a Master's in Exercise and Nutrition Science. 

My friend Kelly (shout out!) sells IT Works body wraps and of course I was intrigued as soon as Micah popped out of my...belly. 

In all honesty, I had to be the biggest skeptic of all because I truly believe in eating clean and exercising. But the more I researched and looked into it, the more I thought that it could possibly be something that worked as an added bonus to a healthy lifestyle. 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

* Your skin is the biggest organ in your body and has an amazing capacity with absorption

* EVERYONE has something called "adipose tissue" directly underneath your skin (epidermis if you want to get all technical). In layman's terms, this is FAT

* We need some fat to survive, for a little cushioning, and as an emergency backup in case of famine

* Most of us have too much of that adipose tissue and have a lifetime's worth of toxins built up in each fat cell

* YOU CANNOT LOSE A FAT CELL. Once a fat cell is created, it is there forever. Our bodies can make fat cells endlessly, but they will never go away. Scary, I know. Explains a lot too :)

* YOU CAN SHRINK A FAT CELL. This can happen in many ways. Exercise and diet being the best way

* These wraps work by being absorbed into the skin and shrinking the fat cells by flushing out the toxins  in each individual fat cell. 

* YOU MUST drink water if you do these wraps. Maybe you'll get results if you don't. But HELLO? Water flushes out our system and we all should be drinking water anyway. 

Here is a picture of my results

The second photo was after the second wrap. Mainly because the other picture I took was blurry. I lost two inches from each thigh!!! Actually, I probably lost more than that but I was so skeptical that I didnt' mark where I took my measurements like I was supposed to. 

I'm not going to make this blog super long and go into details about the ins and outs. If you want to know that...google it yourself. Be prepared to find people who say its a scam. And those people probably didn't drink water and eat like crap. Just sayin' :) But also prepared to see some awesome results!

And the question you ALL have in your heads right now..HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

* A pack of 4 costs $99. So about $25 each

* OR you could go the route I did and become a "loyal customer". Promise to buy something once a month for 3 months and you get 4 for $59. 

Got questions? Go ahead, ask. I'm not selling them....yet. I probably will be soon because as far as I can see, this produce is pretty AMAZING

30 Day Shred Review and Results

Most of you all know who Jillian Michaels is yes? The lady on the TV show "The Biggest Loser" who makes someone cry every season. In case you didn't know, she has some workout videos. One of them is called the 30 Day Shred. Last month I completed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon (YAY!). 

This was taken before the mile swim, 26 mile bike ride and 6 mile run. Trust me, you don't want to see the after picture!

However, I was SOOOO done with working out 1-2 hours 5 days a week. I wanted a quick workout so I could just be done! Several of my friends have been talking about Jillian's 30 day shred so I figured why not give it a shot? It's only 25 minutes a day so that didn't sound so bad! 

                                                 

MY BEFORE PICTURE: AFTER DAY 1 OF 30 DAY SHRED

MY "AFTER" PICTURE: AFTER DAY 23 OF 30 DAY SHRED

(I have had amazing results and still a week left to go!)

I've still got a week left and already lost an inch off of each arm, lots of definition in my stomach, and feel stronger. I will admit that the first week I was a bit confused and LITERALLY did the workout for 10 straight days! With NO rest day. After some research I found out you are supposed to do 2 days shred, 1 day cardio, 2 days shred, 1 day cardio, 1 day REST. Much more doable. :)

MY REVIEW:

PRO'S

- Quick workout- only 25 minutes!

- Fast results- I lost an inch from each arm in the first 10 days

- Can do the workout at home- you do need a pair of dumbells. I used only 3 pounds (sometimes 5)

- Each level is on YouTube!- this means you can do it for free

- She has modifications of nearly every exercise- I did the modified version on nearly all of them. 

CON'S

- 3 girls with "perfect" bodies working out in front of you. Making it look easy peasy

- NO break. You literally go for 25 minutes straight. You gotta push it! Push it real good!

- There's not nearly enough stretching at the end. Make sure to stretch longer after you finish the video

It's been real fun Jillian, but I honestly won't be sad to say goodbye to you next week and HELLO to a new workout regimen! 

Which reminds me to remind YOU....Remember to switch your workouts!!! Your muscles have memory and this is where you begin to have that plateau if you're not careful. Happy Working Out!

What the Kale?!?!

Lately I've been obsessed with adding kale into my diet. The hubster is very glad my asparagus kick is over (at least for now). Up until a few months ago, I thought kale was the weird yucky stuff restaurants add as a "garnish". 

We all love Pinterest and that's where I decided to finally branch out and try kale chips. Since I love potato chips (I know, I know...unhealthy right? Nope! Moderation is key peeps). All I had to do was rinse the kale, toss with olive oil and salt, and then pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes. So easy! And they tasted great!

The kale chips inspired me to venture out further. This past mother's day, my husband took me to The Wild Cow, a vegetarian restaurant in East Nashville. It was there when I fell in love with...garlicky kale!  I had to learn how to make it myself. Turns out it was pretty easy :)


Just mince some garlic and start to saute!

Add a HUGE bunch of kale. It looks like a lot but it will cook down to not very much. 

See???

Of course, I wasn't going to just eat this by itself. Its good to add to cooked quinoa or pasta. Speaking of pasta, that's what I chose to add to make a complete meal. I was exhausted after work and we had leftover Annie's Organic pasta. Soooooo....it was a spluge kind of night. Doesn't this look good? 

BON APPETIT! 

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cloves freshly minced/pressed garlic

* 2 cups organic kale (kale is on the dirty dozen list so buy organic if you can!)

*1 Tbsp EVOO

* salt as needed

DIRECTIONS:

* Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the garlic. Then add the kale. You may desire to add more olive oil at this point. Up to you. Now add to a dish or eat it as a side. YUM!