Fitness - Pocketful of Joules

Reviewing Fabletics

I’ve been working out on the elliptical for a couple months now and it’s been hard to keep myself motivated. First, I gobbled up every single season of Alias and was super upset when it was over. Now, I’ve recently started watching Orange is the New Black, which I love.

I’m kind of sick of my workout clothes though, so after seeing a ton of ads for Fabletics I decided to try it out. I figured that even if I hated everything, I could share my review with you in case you were thinking about trying them too.

Fabletics is a membership-based online company where you fill out a lifestyle quiz and then are shown exercise outfits that you might like. When you are a VIP member (which is just a fancy way of saying a member), you get the outfits for a “discounted” price.

Most of my workout clothes are super old, with any new-ish ones coming from 5k races or Marshalls. According to all the buzz out there, Fabletics would not only be more stylish, but of a higher quality than I was used to – more like lululemon or Athletica.

I signed up for the membership, checked out the website and decided to order an exercise outfit set called the Apse. It was three pieces: a t-shirt, an exercise bra and a pair of cropped pants. My total cost was just under $40, which is probably equal to what I would pay at Marshalls for similar items.

Here’s how it looks on the model:

I wasn’t expecting the outfit to magically give me abs… but it would be pretty nice if it did!

My package arrived a few days after it shipped and unlike Stitch Fix, Wantable or Citrus Lane… they put absolutely no thought into their packaging. It was like I had ordered something from Gap or Old Navy.

Then, I tore open the clothes and tried them on.

The Samana Sports Bra
I love the orange color of the bra and the fact that the straps are adjustable. However, unless you have a super small chest, this bra isn’t holding ANYTHING still. I don’t even know why they bother to make this exercise bra in a size larger than extra small, because it’s pretty much worthless. However, when I run outside, I like to double-up on my exercise bras and this can work as one of my layers. I could also wear it around the house, as long as I don’t try to go up the stairs too quickly.

Havana Coverup
Instead of getting this in the white that is pictured, I chose the grey version of this top. In the picture, it appeared to be a soft cotton t-shirt with some runching by the shoulders. I liked the look of it and thought that I could even throw it on with a pair of shorts in the summer. Then, I saw it in person and realized it had an open back. Um…what the hell?! Yes, it’s soft. Yes, the grey is nice. But I wasn’t intending to show everyone my tattoo. I don’t know… is this top cute or just a little trashy? I probably wouldn’t leave the house without a tank top underneath… and I HATE having to wear more than one shirt in the summer (layering doesn’t work for me on 90 degree days).

Here’s the shirt over the orange bra:

And here is the back view. I mean, I guess it’s kind of sassy. Right? As an added bonus, here is the first glimpse the internet has ever gotten of one of my tattoos — not too bad looking for being 17 years old!

Zanzibar Crop
I was most excited about these pants. In the description they said that they were fitted through the hip area and loose through the legs. What they DIDN’T say is that they are also loose through the crotch area. Like MC Hammer loose. Even if I hike them up and fold them over, I could still fit a diaper under my pants.

Because that’s the look that every girl is going for.

In my imagination, these capris were going to be super flattering and soft. But in reality they are cheap, scratchy sweatpants. I’m going to throw them in the wash a few times to see if I can shrink them and soften them up, but right now I pretty much hate them.

In fact, I did a photo interpretive dance on how I feel about these pants. I call it, “What the heck is going on with my crotch?!”

So, the question I always ask myself… was this service worth the money?
NO.

I don’t think that the shirt, exercise bra and pants were worth the $40. I absolutely don’t think that they were worth the “true retail price” of $79.95. I could return them, but I’d have to pay a $6.95 restocking fee, so I might as well just keep them. It’s just sad to pay $40 for three totally cheap pieces that I could have bought from Walmart.

After I initially placed my order, I read some other reviews and a lot of people had issues when they tried to cancel their membership. If you don’t cancel promptly, they will continue charging you for every month. Since I pretty much disliked everything in my package, I called up about 15 minutes after it arrived in my mailbox to cancel.

Even though I had to call (they do not accept online cancellations) and listen to the entire customer service script, I was able to cancel in less than 5 minutes. Only time will tell if they try to charge my credit card next month. If they do, I’ll be sure to post an update.

Have you tried out Fabletics? Do you think $40 was a fair price for the outfit I received? Are you jealous of my diaper pants? Did you giggle a little at my interpretive dance photos?

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by Fabletics and I paid for my purchase with my own hard-earned money. They did provide me with a special referral link, where if any of you signed up I’d earn credit towards my next purchase. I did NOT post the link or ANY links to their website because I would not recommend this company.

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A Quarterly Check Up

In an effort to actually accomplish something this year – instead of looking back and realizing that I’ve broken all of my resolutions by January 3^rd – I decided to give myself a list of goals. To hold myself accountable, I posted my goal list on the blog in January. I also hung a copy on my office wall so that I’d be reminded of them every time I sit at my desk.

When I wrote my goal list I felt really energized and excited. I felt like for the first time in FOREVER, I might be able to actually accomplish them.

So to keep me on track, I figured I’d do a ¼ year check in!

Goal #1: Use my camera more and my iPhone less.
I made this goal because even though I have a super snazzy camera, I tend to just grab my iPhone to take most of our candid family pictures. I’ve improved on this a little bit over the last few months and had made an effort to throw my camera in my bag when we go out to fun places like the aquarium and birthday parties. However, my day-to-day shooting is still mostly done with my phone. For the rest of the year, I’ll need to work harder! Score: 2 out of 5

Goal #2: Make a workout habit.
I really wanted to figure out a workout program that works well with my schedule so that I could start (and stick with) a new healthy habit. I’m really happy to say that I’ve been doing really well so far! My DietBet kicked my butt into gear and I figured out that I can stick with a workout program if I jump on my elliptical right when I wake up (while everyone else in the house is sleeping). I’ve lost 15 pounds since the start of the DietBet on January 28^th and I’m continuing to work hard to get down to my goal weight! Score: 4.5 out of 5

Goal #3: Eat out less and home more.
The DietBet really helped me with this goal too, because it’s much easier to keep your calories in check when you make your food at home. Since the beginning of the year, I have been packing my lunch about 90% of the time, which is a HUGE improvement over 2013! I realized the other day that I actually have not eaten at McDonalds since January, which is pretty much unheard of since I love my Quarter Pounder value meals. Although I have been making more dinners at home, I still need to experiment with new recipes and try to do some group cooking with my friend. So, for this goal I’d say I’ve been doing better but there is certainly room for improvement. Score: 3 out of 5

Goal #4: Take Jack somewhere new each month.
This has actually been one of the most difficult goals for me so far. With all the cold and snow, it has been tempting to just stay inside until the weather gets nice again. However, for the past three months we have had the chance to take Jack someplace new.

In January, we met my friend and her daughter to ride the choo-choo train through the mall. And yes, we waved to all the mall-goers like we were sassy Miss America contestants. Jack is looking quite serious in this picture, but I swear he LOVED it!

In February, we attended that same friend’s daughter’s birthday party at a place called Rolly Pollies and we had SO MUCH fun bouncing around on the trampolines and bouncy houses! And yes, not only was I the only ‘grown up’ in the bouncy house… I took a bouncy selfie.

In March, we took a family trip to the aquarium and Jack had a blast pointing out all the fish, dolphins and turtles.

On our list of fun places still to visit is the Baltimore zoo, the Smithsonian museums in DC, a pool for swimming lessons, and a local petting zoo! Score: 5 out of 5… now I have to keep it up!

Goal #5: Be more like the ant.
Saving money is really hard, but I’ve made a few adjustments to our bills that have really helped things along. We’ve increased our monthly vehicle payment and hope to have our truck fully paid off within the next few months. Once that account is closed, our goal is to put that monthly payment amount into our savings account. I did have a small success of filling out all the paperwork to open Jack’s college savings plan. It seems crazy to open a college account for a two year old, but if you can believe it the payments are still quite hefty even starting this early. Hopefully when I check back in, our truck will be paid off and our savings account will be starting to grow! Score: 3 out of 5

Goal #6: Be the best blogger I can be.
I have had an incredibly lucky few months with my blogging. BlogHer has featured three of my posts and even syndicated one (meaning I get paid). I was nominated for a 2014 Bloggies Award for “Best Writing of a Weblog” and also had my three year blogging anniversary. I think part of the reason I’ve been successful is that I’ve let go of the competition and jealousy. I obviously still have bad days where I’m incredibly jealous of everyone doing better than me, but I’m keeping it in check. I just keep writing what is in my heart and am lucky to have the BEST readers anyone can ask for. Can you believe that in three years of blogging I’ve only had one terrible, hateful comment?! That is pretty darn wonderful. Score 4 out of 5

As you can see, I still have quite a lot of room for improvement, but I think this is the first time I’ve done so well on any time of personal goal or yearly resolution.

Did you make any resolutions or goals for 2014? How are you doing so far?

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My DietBet: Did I Win?

In case you haven’t been following along with my DietBet, you can catch up here:

Post #1: Challenging Myself with a DietBet
Post #2: My DietBet: The Halfway Point
Post #3: My DietBet: The Final Countdown

For those who want the short & sweet version: I bet $30 that I could lose 4% of my weight in 4 weeks. At the end of the DietBet, the winnings in the pot would be divided between all the winners (after they take their fee out). So, in addition to losing some pounds, I had a good chance at winning some extra money too.

My personal goal was to lose 8 pounds. It’s a little more than was needed for the DietBet, but my scale wouldn’t do increments of pounds. I didn’t follow any specific diet plan, I just used the app MyFitnessPal and tracked my food intake. My calorie goal was 1,200, but I was able to earn additional calories by exercising.

I started off strong. I didn’t restrict myself from eating any of my favorite foods (there was still birthday cake and marshmallows in my diet), I just reduced my portion sizes and increased my water intake. I had gotten a bit out-of-hand with sodas, so I mostly went cold turkey for the four weeks. I did have a glass of wine here and there, as well as a couple hard ciders. Because, YUM!

For exercise, I stuck to my elliptical machine. I had planned to throw in a couple double-up days where I would do an extra work out of the Jillian Michaels Shred DVD, but after one day of that I decided that I’m just not THAT hard-core.

At my DietBet halfway check-in, I was down about 4 pounds. I kept going and made it to my goal weight of 8 pounds down the Saturday before my bet ended. Then, I had a couple bad meals that weekend and on Monday my weight was back up.

Going into the weigh-in week, I was 2 ½ pounds away from my goal and I was totally beating myself up about it.

Frankly, I was having a terrible week anyways and normally I would reward myself with food and drink and more food. Four weeks of eating well was apparently just enough to get into that new habit though. I was able to resist stuffing my face. However, I really didn’t think I was going to make my goal. I posted something whiny on my Facebook page and honestly everyone’s support was what really helped me push through.

During the last few hours before my final weigh-in, I drank a TON of water and ate light. When I approached the scale, with my phone in hand to take that final picture, I felt like I had done it.

I took a deep breath and tentatively stepped on… camera ready.
And I gained 8 pounds in one day.

WHAT THE F*&K?!

I jumped off the scale, absolutely horrified. Then, in disbelief I stepped back on and got a totally different number. And that is when I realized that my freaking scale was broken.

I cleaned the dust off the bottom of the scale, turned it off and on a couple times and stepped on again… and my weight was 8 pounds down.

I WON! I WON my DietBet!

I quickly snapped my pictures and submitted them to the DietBet app. As soon as I received my confirmation email back, I could finally relax a bit… because I was finally done. And I WON.

I can’t even tell you how good that made me feel. How much I NEEDED that win. You know what else felt good? When I got an email a day later saying that I’ll receive $49.88 for winning my DietBet!

My weigh-in was last Tuesday and I’ve relaxed my diet a little bit, but I plan to keep on with what has been working for me. Oh, and I bought a new scale, because apparently mine was a sadistic butthole.

Now that I figured out how to work exercise into my busy schedule, it’s much easier to stick with it. And I am incredibly proud to say that as of this morning I have lost 11 pounds. I am now only 3 pounds away from my pre-baby weight from THREE years ago. I’ve never lost 11 pounds in my life (besides when I popped a baby out…), so it seems almost surreal that it’s happened.

I really have all of you to thank. Your comments, emails and Facebook notes have really helped me reach my goal. Which, of course, means that I now have a new goal… and I’m only 10 pounds away.

Have you tried a DietBet? What works best to keep you motivated to eat healthy and exercise? When you’re having a crappy week do you want to eat EVERYTHING in the world?

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