Unboxing: My first BULU Box and FREE Download from YogaDownload.com :)

Look it, look it! Ain't it purdy?!
So the box is cute and it makes me happy. WAY TO MOTIVATE ME, CARDBOARD BOX!

So lets take a little looksie at my very first Bulu Box! Truth be told, I didn't have high hopes for this box based on the reviews I've seen. But since I'm in the market for a fitness subscription box, I thought I should try it before I knock it. Also it's pretty inexpensive compared to others I've been checking out. Alright, let's do this!

Here's our first peek underneath the orange tissue paper.

They let you pick three samples and then they pick 2-3 additional ones for you. My picks were the Simple Being Sleep Beans because.. they're called Sleepy Beans. That just sounds very appealing to an exhausted person like myself haha!

It says  to take 1 or 2 capsules before bedtime with water. We'll see how this goes. I see 1 mg of melatonin on the ingredients. I've taken that before because my little sister is OBSESSED with the stuff, but I felt like it gave me crazy vivid dreams. Not necessarily nightmares but the excitement while I was sleeping made me feel like I didn't get any rest. I'm still excited to try out these beans. If for no other reason than that they are called Sleepy Beans lol.

My next choice was another Simple Being product: Slimming Smoothie portion pack in Vanilla Bean.

26g protein/1g carb/0g fat. Fantastic. Honestly, I have been just AWFUL about getting protein into my diet even though I've been lifting weights. And I do like smoothies in my little bullet-style blender. This says to mix with 6-8 oz water, milk, or beverage high in carbs. It's vanilla so I may blend it with some frozen strawberries or instant coffee and ice. Can't wait to try it!

Next up: Shredz

Now honestly, how much can you tell about this type of product with a sample? Not much. But, I can probably tell if I feel some kind of extra energy or buzz from it, which it what I typically feel with fat burners. They tend to be stimulants which is how they burn fat or kill appetite. I'll give this a shot Friday before I lift. It says 1 capsule with breakfast and 1 in the afternoon or preworkout. Well I workout at 5am fasted so... maybe I can just take it two days in a row? Maybe one tomorrow morning and one Friday? I'll let you know!

Alright. Now for my extras. They give 2-3 and I got 3 woo hoo!

So the first thing I see is Dream Water

This excites me in the same way as the Sleepy Beans. What about it sounds bad? Drink me and have rest! A win! The bottle says to have a drink 30 minutes before bed to get some restful sleep. This also has melatonin although it doesn't say exactly how much on the bottle because it's listed as an ingredient in the "SleepStat" blend. So... we'll give it a shot soon. The thing about the sleep aids is I refuse to try them if I have to be up in less than 8 hours. So as soon as I get in bed soon enough, I'm trying them. Also, I've got a new app on my phone that tracks my sleep patterns and it may just collect some interesting data for us about these sleep aids :)

Next surprise is Raw Meal Vanilla Spiced Chai. It looks like a protein shake situation. I seem to have misplaced the picture. It looks like a square. Mix half a packet with 8 oz of water for 155 cal/2g fat/17g protein/16g carbs. Alright so it's decent in the protein department but also high in carbs, at least compared the the stuff I buy specifically for protein. Still, it's an interesting option. The packaging looks like the hippie stuff you find at natural food marts run by communes lol.

Finally, N.O.-XPLODE. This I know about, I learned about it when I used to work at a gym.

It's a pre-workout with lots of caffeine in it. SCORE! I would have been happy with a box of just this! That's not true, but I do like trying pre-workouts and I love caffeine because I HAVE AN ADDICTION, SIR! And it's watermelon. The last watermelon thing I had was SciVation Xtend. It was delicious. I'm excited to try this! WOOT!

Alrighty so.... overall. Meh. I mean I like most of what I got but not enough to pay for it. These seem like samples that SHOULD be free. Not deluxe size, not enough to try a few times to get a feel for them. And nothing particularly special or valuable. But I will be using everything in the box and I'm glad I gave it a try.

And since YOU gave this post a try, here's a little something for you!

YOGA DOWNLOAD
1 FREE DOWNLOAD with code Bulu1Free during checkout
Enjoy!

Rewards for Weight Loss (Besides the Obvious Health Rewards)

I came here to post this and totally forgot and posted something else!

So I have a bit of a reward system for myself. It's tacky, yes, and probably a terrible habit that I need to get out of. But I want to reward myself for losing weight. You know, have some kind of motivation waiting for me on the other side (besides the health and looking great, G? Pfft, okay). I know! Looking and feeling better should be a reward in and of itself. And it is! Trust me, it is. But I'm a girl who loves to be spoiled so I'm going to do this anyways.

My first big goal is to get to 154 lbs. Once I reach this goal I will order myself some Luxy Hair extensions which I have been drooling over for some time now. They're pricey, but not crazy pricey. So when I drop the extra weight, I will reward myself with these extensions. :)

Beyond the 154 lb. benchmark, I'll have other fitness goals that I'll share with you. Things like run times and weight lifted. The rewards for those things would probably be like a facial, mani/pedi (don't get those anymore), maybe a laser hair removal treatment or something (yes, I've done it! I'll tell you about it later!). Oh and one that I'm pretty excited for, once my waist size is <30" and stays that way for at least a month, I'll add a new subscription to my current repertoire! I've had my eye on the Golden Tote subscription but I just can't bring myself to spend money on it without knowing that I can happily fit in and wear the stuff they send me.

So there you have it. Things I'll drool over until I get myself fit! :) I can't wait!!

Hum Nutrition

Hum Nutrition is a company I discovered recently. They claim high quality ingredients in personalized vitamins. And they have a ton of different formulas. I had a tricky little time figuring out which I wanted to try, but finally settled on Red Carpet and Skinny Bird. I'm shopping around their site and looking for what to order next. Pretty excited!

 

Red Carpet seems to be their big seller. Per the website: Our Red Carpet formula is high in GLA, 150mg to be precise. Supporting healthy hair and skin, it makes life for all of us so much easier…At HUM our dietitians only recommend what you need and what works, so think of this bottle as a key building block to a healthy lifestyle.

And Skinny Bird is supposedly 3 times more effective than diet and exercise alone: A good body is like a long-term relationship between diet and exercise. Skinny Bird can make this relationship a happy one as it can help you reach your weight goals faster. It contains 7-Keto, a metabolite of DHEA that has been clinically researched in humans and been shown to be three times more effective in reducing weight than diet and exercise alone.      


I'm excited to update you on how these work out for me!

The Plan

Ugh the plan. I mean, I'm all for constant improvement and making myself a better person but just...ugh. Having to lose weight blows. Let's never do this again, okay?

My plan comes in stages. The first two stages are focused primarily on weight loss. The second stage will incorporate low standards of fitness. The last, like, 8 stages will be working towards athletic performance goals including both bodyweight fitness, running, and weight lifting.

Because I am in a hurry to lose weight I am allowing my athletic performance (if you can really call it that at this point) to suffer. I am overweight by a good 25-30 lbs. And over fat as well. During Stage One, if I feel inclined to exercise I will. I won't lift more than the bar, and I'll take it easy if my body is telling me to do so. No pushing it. This is because I am drastically cutting my calorie intake. Details on that to come once this is all over with. Hopefully Stage One doesn't take forever. I'm estimating it to be about a month.

During Stage Two I'll up my calorie intake while still being below maintenance to continue to lose weight while allowing myself to work out. I'll be working on running, push-ups, and sit-ups. Basic stuff. Still probably only lifting the bar.

Beginning in Stage Three I may or may not eat below maintenance. It just depends on if I want to continue to lose weight at that point. But my focus will be primarily athletic performance at that time. I will also begin to focus on my macros here, making sure I'm getting the proper balance of protein, carbs, and fat. Prior to Stage Three I will consider a calorie to be a calorie regardless of nutritional value.

Before I move into the next stage I'll be certain to give details of how everything went, and the detailed plan of the next stage. :)


So that's it! Initial stats to follow!