Day 12 -- forgot my Slim Belly!

Today was unremarkable in Slim Belly testing land except I forgot to tote it into work so I had to do the lunch walk without it. I felt like I was getting shortchanged on my exercise!

So I HAD to do a two-a-day to make up for it. I did a round of KenpoX (one of the P90X workouts) with my friend after work tonight.

Is it working?
I didn't measure my waist this morning but, honestly, my tummy and hips look a little smaller when I am in my clothes (and out of them but maybe that's TMI).  And I lost a bit of my weekend weight. At this point I am feeling really good about the system. I have seen changes in my waist and belly for the first time in years. Years!

How does it work?
I am not the most technical or scientific person around so bear with me as I give you a simple explanation. The idea is that we don't get as much circulation in our fat as we do in other parts of our body. The belt massages the area it's around, increasing blood flow to the area which, in turn, increases the body's ability to break down the fat and carry it away in the bloodstream. 

There is some evidence, according to what I've read, that massage alone helps your body break down and eliminate fat. Here's an article about that -- but there are plenty more. But the experts at Slim Belly System say the way to make it work is to wear it while you're doing cardio exercise.

More information
In some of my previous posts I've added a link to a news story about the system and the official Slim Belly page.You can also like them on Facebook here. And YouTube's got a video about it here and it helps if you speak German, which I don't. But you can see the European system that's been in use for years. And you can find some testimonials from some people who tested the system at a gym in Philadelphia here. There are more links to info, news and testimonials about the program on the Slim Belly Facebook page.

KarenR

Day 11 - AGH!

Just a weekend away can torpedo my progress. I hate that! Stepped on the scale this morning and weighed 3 pounds more than I did Friday morning. 

Any readers who haven't hit 40 yet may find that hard to believe but the rest of us over-40-ers know the deal. Hard to lose, easy to gain. And, yes, just one over-the-top meal (or several little ones) can set you back a whole week. 

Fighting Back!
So today I fought back with a two-a-day workout. Walked at lunch and hit a 48-minute Insanity workout in the garage with a friend tonight. Wearing the Slim Belly the whole way because I am looking for maximum benefits from my efforts.

Onward and upward. Or rather onward and downward, in terms of the scale and the measuring tape.

KarenR

Day 10 - Back at it

This morning I woke up in the hotel and before breakfast or anything else, I velcroed myself into my Slim Belly and headed down to the (very nice) gym with my iPod and my iPad.We have Insanity loaded on our iPad so I set up the back of the workout room and made a spectacle of myself with ShaunT (the guy who does the Insanity workout, for those who don't know) and my Slim Belly.

I turn the sound off on ShaunT and turn my iPod up. I listen to my running/cardio music, which makes my workout much better. 

I'll weigh myself with a little trepidation tomorrow morning to see what a weekend away (restaurant food, alcohol) did to my "bottom line."

Wish me luck!
KarenR

Day Nine - A day off

I was a slacker today - a really happy, relaxed slacker. My husband had a conference over the weekend out of town so the boys and I loaded up with him and lolled about the lovely pool all day Saturday. No workout, no Slim Belly for me. 

I was great -- but the Slim Belly doesn't work unless you exercise, so one day off was all I gave myself.
KarenR

Day Eight -- humid run in the Florida sun

It's Friday but I am off today so I did a four-mile-Slim-Belly run this morning

and it felt great. I weighed 0.2 oz more this morning than I did yesterday. I know -- zero point two? It doesn't really count but I am posting it anyway in a spirit of total honesty. 

I also measured my hips/belly at it's biggest spot and it was 3/4 inch less than last Friday. So. Slim Belly? Coincidence? Too soon to tell? I don't know the answer yet but am pretty pleased to see that.

I have one friend who just keeps asking when the pants are going to come out. I'll have to check with Molly to find out. I think they're a year away? But I could be wrong.

KarenR

Day Seven - and even a little less this morning!

Down again!
Oh my. This is kinda exciting. I weighed a little less this morning. Wow. Again, too soon for me to make book on it but definitely positive results for me.

I swear, I wish this thing would work work when I am not exercising. I'd be sleeping in it even though the whirring and psssttting would probably keep my husband up all night.

Speaking of husbands, mine wore the Slim Belly again yesterday to walk our dog.

And I did my standard 3 miles at lunch today, belt humming and hissing the whole way.

KarenR

Day Six - this morning I weighed less than I have in about seven years

So, sure, maybe its a coincidence. But this morning I stepped on the scale, as I have done most mornings for years, and I weighed less than I have in seven years. No lie. Now I know from experience that I can fluctuate three or four pounds in a day. So we'll see what tomorrow brings. But still.

About my weight, diet and etc. I have been steady, steady, steady, holding on to the same 5-pound range for about four years now. Maybe longer. No changes despite how much I eat or don't eat, how much I exercise. It doesn't make a dent.

Food
I can't starve myself because I get a migraine. I know all the "rules" for healthy eating and I follow most of them. Mostly.

I eat a healthy breakfast every morning - usually fruit, yogurt and some Kashi on top. I bring my lunch to work about 98% of the time.  I don't drink alcohol often and when I do, I don't drink much. We don't eat dinner out very much.

But I stress eat what I shouldn't, when I shouldn't. I love sweets. I have 10-year-old boys, so kid food/snacks are all around me and, yep, I eat more of them than I should.

Exercise
As I wrote previously, I exercise more than most people. I try to do something every day. Sometimes I do two things a day. I hate weights (a major downfall for me) so I am lucky if I do a few machines once a week. But I love cardio - it gets my stress out and I feel better, sleep better and am a much nicer person for it! I run, walk, do a cardio class, and do Insanity in my garage. 

In all, I am not perfect but I am doing pretty well. And the belly won't budge. Or the hips or thighs. 

What I did today
Yep - I wore my Slim Belly on my walk at lunch. And then I did Insanity in my garage after work as well.

Like I said, I am in it to win it! And this morning gave me some really positive feedback.

KarenR

Day Five -- the tighter the belt, the better it feels

Tight feels right
I made sure to really get the belts on tight at lunch today, which definitely feels best. First of all, I figure the tighter it us, the deeper the massage-action will be. Also it keeps any bopping from going on with the battery pack on my back. 

I generally do something every day and, so far, I am sticking to my schedule. When I do a two-handed grip of my belly fat, it's still filling up my hands. Not diminishing yet. But I am watching very, very closely!  :)

Day Four - Pre-order your Slim Belly System and save money

You can get a discount

I just found out that the Slim Belly System will be available for shipment in mid-August. If you sign up now on the waiting list, you'll get a discount when you purchase your system.

Instead of $349 you'll pay $289.

If you're interested, go to their website (http://www.slimbellysystem.com/) and put your name on the waiting list.

http://www.slimbellysystem.com/

My Slim Belly experience today
I didn't make my lunchtime walk so I strapped on my belts after work and headed down into the tunnel system in the complex where I work. (I didn't want to go outside because it was raining and I didn't want to get my SB system wet!)

I work in a health center complex that's comprised of multiple large buildings and includes two tunnels that run under the road to buildings across the street. On the ground floor you can walk a loop for a mile without seeing daylight. My friends and I only "tunnel" at lunch when its too hot in the Florida summer to walk at lunch and return to work.

Anyhow I went down there in the evening which, although quiet, wasn't empty. There were some people around to hear my belt which whirrs and hisses as the lines alternately pump up with air and release. It sounds a bit like I am sporting a serious (and possibly painful) case of gas.  :)

But fortunately, I am quite comfortable making a spectacle of myself, even if there's no good reason to do so. Tonight, however, I had a great reason because I was staying on task with my Slim Belly. I listened to my iPod and let my ponytail swing proudly as I did my appointed rounds.

Feeling positive,
KarenR

Day Three - my first Slim Belly run

Wore Slim Belly belt for a four-mile run on a humid July morning in Florida. The belts are tight and snug enough that there wasn't annoying "bopping" going on but the belts did slide up a bit as I ran. It was easy enough to occasionally grab and slide them back down to make sure the all-important belly pooch was covered.

I was hot and sweating, of course, but no hotter than I'd normally feel. Also the system doesn't make me feel like I am running with extra weight.

All in all, a good run.  :)

KarenR

PS: Later in the evening my husband wore Slim Belly to walk the dog. So it's doing double-belly duty in our house.

Day Two -- Cardio Mashup in the Slim Belly

This morning I did my regular Saturday cardio class in the Slim Belly. It's an hour-long mix of punching, kicking, dancing, stations and, for some of us, singing -- whether they want us to or not!  :)

The Slim Belly belt certainly heated me up and I seemed to be sweating even more than normal but it created no restrictions in my movement, felt very secure, didn't bounce around or didn't impede any part of my class.

Naturally it's too early for me to discern any difference in my tummy and surrounding area. But you know I keep eyeing it from the side . . . watching . . . waiting . . hoping!

Day One -- I am ready for action

So here I go! I toted my Slim Belly system into work today so I could wear it at lunch. I walk with a group of ladies, generally about three miles. 

And then I did a round of Insanity this evening with my friend in my garage. It's a 38 minute workout, pretty much all cardio.

365 workouts
I am going to do my best to maintain a normal (for me) exercise and eating pattern over my first month with Slim Belly, so as not to skew my results. This is the third year in a row that I challenged myself to exercise 365 times in the year. I exceeded my goal in 2011 and 2012, and am on track to make it in 2013 too. 
 
I don't "kill" myself with it. A three-mile walk counts as well as any class, garage workout, etc. But despite 365 workouts or more a year, my belly ain't going nowhere. It hasn't made a dent. I am 48 years old and have twin boys that changed my body forever. It really seems that once you move past 40, as a woman, it's just harder and harder to lose any weight.

July 19, 2013

I am really hoping that the Slim Belly will work where nothing else has.

In it to win it
Molly (my friend and Slim Belly connection) texted me to ask how my lunch walk felt. I told her that it was warm -- it is. It really warms up your belly, partly of course because you have two wide belts around it. But also because that's the point of the system. 
Wearing it while walking brought no movement restrictions at all. There were a couple of bits in Insanity where it was hard to bend all the way down and touch the ground -- but no big deal. I also had full movement during stretching.
 
I am in it to win it and I certainly hope I do!  :)

My Slim Belly arrived today!

It's finally here. I was so disappointed because I was going for a run tonight but since the Slim Belly wasn't charged yet, I had to run beltless.

I've got it all packed up and ready to take to work tomorrow - will have it on for my daily walk at lunch. Not sure if fast walking is "cardio" enough to make it work but I'll find out.

And tomorrow morning I'll take my current belly measurements so I can compare the difference after one month of Slim Belly. Yay!

Feeling very hopeful,
KarenR

Waiting for my Slim Belly System to arrive!

I've been waiting to try the Slim Belly System since fall 2012 when I first heard about it from Molly Napolitano. Molly and her husband, Frank, are the North American distributors for Slim Belly, which has been used in Europe for several years. July 2013 marks the arrival of the system to the U.S. and I am pretty excited.

For information on what Slim Belly is and how it works, check out the links below.

Slim Belly System website
Slim Belly System Facebook page
A story about the first U.S. trial results on CBS Philadelphia


Full disclosure
Molly has been one of my closest friends since college in 1983. So, ya, I am probably a little biased in that I trust her and I believe she wouldn't be marketing a product that doesn't have proven results. But friendship aside, I promise to share the truth about my experiences in this blog. She would expect nothing less from me.

I am not paid or compensated in any way for doing this. And I am not making any money from sales of the product. I am just really excited about what Slim Belly is supposed to be able to do for my belly and I can't wait to strap it on and see what happens.

That belly pooch
Another full disclosure -- I have been four months pregnant for six years. Okay, well not really. But my little "early pregnancy" pooch sure makes me look like it. I even had one well-intentioned stranger ask me when I was due. 

I work out regularly, don't drink much alcohol and eat fairly healthfully. (Although I do eat more than I should.)

 European system - version one

The Europeans have Slim Belly already
The Slim Belly System has been used in gyms in Europe for six years but the U.S. system is a little different. The one used in Europe is attached to cardio machines (as in the photo left). So you can use it while you're using that machine, but not running, during a cardio class or if you're out for a bike ride. But here in the U.S. and Canada -- well I guess the company knew we wouldn't want to be tethered! So we're not. The new version is "stand alone," so to speak. 

It won't work for you unless you work 
The Slim Belly won't do your workout for you. You have to work your belly off yourself through cardio workouts. But the Slim Belly targets your workout in a way that helps burn fat from the belly and hips.

I tried it once
Molly was in town for a wedding in April and brought a Slim Belly System with her - the 'version two' that's not tethered. I wore it during a cardio class and I have been waiting for it ever since. I plan to do class, Insanity, walk and run in it.

I am waiting to cardio-off my pooch. I am waiting to be able to target my workout at my belly. I am waiting. And not very patiently. But  I am told my Slim Belly is coming soon. Stay tuned.


Karen R.