My Slendertone Abs Journey: Week Four

Day 1 (left) of using the Slendertone System Abs Belt and Day 28 (right)

             Today, I have reached the one-month marker of using the Slendertone System Abs Belt! This will also be my last post charting my abs journey, but that does not now give me an excuse to start slacking. I plan to continue the good work that I have started and will see to it that I stay on track for the next two weeks. That will make for the recommended period of six weeks in total.

             Thank you all for joining me on my abs journey. If you missed weeks one to three, you can find all of those posts located on this page (or at their direct links: Week One, Week Two, Week Three). This past week, I continued to use the belt six days a week, with one rest day. I moved up from program four (Expert) to program five (Pro). The highest intensity level I reached while using program five was 99 (the maximum!) for the left side of my waist and 99 for the right side of my waist (compared to 90, 90 last week). Program six is undeniably a lot stronger than program five and the highest intensity level I have managed so far is 25 for the left side of my waist and 25 for the right side of my waist.

             I am very pleased with my results, especially considering the short duration I have been using the Slendertone System Abs Belt. I revel in pushing my body to its limits and gain immense pleasure from achieving those results. In all of the photos I have presented in my posts, I have not tampered with my stomach area through editing. What you see is what you get and I didn’t suck my stomach in (I promise!) either. Besides, that would be cheating anyway! Scattered throughout this post, I have included several photos to show you different angles of my abs, some with flash and some without. I have always had a love for crop tops, but now I have the perfect excuse to wear them!

             The Slendertone System Abs Belt is not a “miracle” product and nor does it claim to be, but it does add that extra “oomph” to your workout regime. When used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle involving regular exercise and good eating habits, the belt acts as a helping hand. While I was browsing fitness inspiration online, I stumbled across a mantra that particularly caught my eye: You Earn Your Body. Nothing that is worth having comes easily. Your body is a miraculous thing that can be trained, toned, and morphed, but it takes your dedication to get it there. Make something a daily occurrence and eventually it will become a habit. Today is just as good a day to start as any!

It all starts with you, photo courtesy of Pinterest

             You can browse and buy all Slendertone products from their official website here and additionally at Amazon, Argos, Boots, and Littlewoods. The lovely people at Slendertone are offering you a 10 percent discount when you enter the promo code GOLD10 online at the checkout, so get clicking and good luck on your Slendertone journey!

My Slendertone Abs Journey: Week Three

Day 1 (left) of using the Slendertone System Abs Belt and Day 21 (right)

             Three weeks down, one to go; I have almost achieved an entire month of using the Slendertone System Abs Belt! Chart my journey during week one here and week two here, or just scroll down this page! For today’s update, I thought I would inform you that I am still consistently using the belt six days a week, with one rest day. The highest intensity level I have achieved on the belt has bumped up to 90 for the left side of my waist and 90 for the right side of my waist (compared to 70, 70 last week), using program four (Expert).

             Based on the before and after photos above, I feel that I am now starting to gain some definition in my abs, which are steadily becoming more outlined. I have also noticed that my waist looks visually slimmer. Patience is a virtue (one that I do not possess) and following anything through until its completion has very rewarding results! It can be tempting to give up if you’re feeling despondent about a lack of glaringly obvious improvements, but even bodybuilders had to start somewhere!

             It’s important to keep in mind that three months is the minimum amount of time you should give yourself before you start witnessing results. Slendertone recommends four-to-six weeks of consistent use (five or six days a week) for the System Abs Belt. After that, you can drop your sessions down to two or three days a week.

             My trusty workout DVDs are still taking this journey with me and I am continuing to eat healthily, while walking as much as I can, whenever I can! Working out doesn’t have to be a chore. It can actually be enjoyable (Zumba, anyone?)! I’ve found that listening to music that pumps me up throughout the workout is really motivating. Find what works for you, whether that be buying workout gear that makes you feel good (neon colors are so fun!), setting aside a specific time to exercise each day, or even bringing your friends along for the ride.

             There is an actual science behind working out. Regular exercise has been proven to reduce stress, keep feelings of anxiety and depression at bay, boost self-esteem, and improve sleep. It also increases energy levels, which leads to a more productive you! A Nike attitude is essential and one that personally really helps me. If you work out as soon as you get home or as soon as is convenient for you, you’ll feel much better knowing you didn’t put it off. The likelihood of not wanting to rally yourself around later is extremely high, so “just do it!”

 Photo courtesy of Nike

             That’s what’s so good about the Slendertone System Abs Belt as well. You feel like you’ve achieved something after each session, which has a domino effect. You use the belt, which spurs you on to exercise, which makes you want to eat better - all of which aids the toning process. Now, go release some endorphins!

             Join me next week as I mark one month of using the belt in my final progress post. Let’s make it a good one! You can browse and buy all Slendertone products from their official website here and additionally at Amazon, Argos, Boots, and Littlewoods.

My Slendertone Abs Journey: Week Two

Day 1 (left) of using the Slendertone System Abs Belt and Day 14 (right)

             Things are getting pretty serious between my Slendertone System Abs Belt and me. I’m hoping that we’ll make things official in a couple of weeks. Let me not get ahead of myself here though. We’re still in our honeymoon period and today marks our second week anniversary. We have both stuck it out thus far and I have to say that it has been a very healthy and conducive relationship! If you’d like to chart my journey during week one, simply view the post below or find it here.

             I am continuing to use the belt six days a week, with one rest day to allow my muscles to recuperate. I definitely think that my abs are starting to take shape and that my stomach area is becoming leaner. In the before and after photos above, you will see that I am beginning to slowly but surely arrive at visible results. The highest intensity level I have achieved on the belt has bumped up to 70 for the left side of my waist and 70 for the right side of my waist (compared to 50, 50 last week). I have also moved up to program four (Expert) from program three (Advanced), which increases the toning power. Bring it on! 

             Using the belt has slotted into my daily routine nicely and knowing I’ve completed a session for the day also helps me to make healthier eating and lifestyle choices. I walk to and from my university campus (weather permitting) and I am continuing to use the cardio and body sculpting DVDs. I tried out the abs and hips, thighs, & buns workouts for the first time this week, so my yoga mat has been receiving its fair share of attention as well! Pairing the belt with an additional abs workout left me with some muscle soreness the following day, but it was certainly thorough! As I said last week, nothing substitutes good old-fashioned exercise. Remember: don’t just focus on toning one part of your body, or else you’ll end up violating the general principle of a major workout code…

Avoid making a workout no-no and apply this philosophy to all of your body, not just your legs! Photo courtesy of Pinterest

             Well, I’ve reached the halfway point on my abs journey and I look forward to sharing the next two weeks with you! Make sure to check back next Wednesday as I chart week three with the Slendertone System Abs Belt. In terms of progress, there’s only one way to go and that’s up! You can browse and buy all Slendertone products from their official website here and additionally at Amazon, Argos, Boots, and Littlewoods.

My Slendertone Abs Journey: Week One

 Day 1 (left) of using the Slendertone System Abs Belt and Day 7 (right); I will be charting my weekly progress for the recommended four-to-six week period

           In December, I wrote a post about the Bloggers Love Hub event (read it here), where I connected with some amazing brands. I usually run My London Dream as a lifestyle blog, but after collaborating with these brands, my blog has had a bit of a mini makeover. I’ve been injecting some product reviews, such as the Vita Liberata NKD SKN Tan Mousse post below (alternatively, find it here). Fashion, beauty, cosmetics, and overall health and wellbeing are of great interest to me. I always say that I would love to try my hand at makeup reviews and tutorials as well, but I simply don’t have the time! Hopefully in the future that can change!

             For now, I love trying new products from brands that I believe in and that’s why you’ll occasionally see me post about them. After all, part of living in London is about how you decide to portray yourself in the big city and how you stand out from the crowd. I am very excited to have teamed up with Slendertone, a company whose products are scientifically proven to improve muscle tone and body shape.

             The real world has crept up on me to put an end to my holiday overindulging. I just started back up at university this past Monday, but I am back on track with my workout regime. I will be charting my abs journey with you all and I have just completed week one using the Slendertone System Abs Belt.

The complete Slendertone System Abs Belt package, photo courtesy of Slendertone

             I was a bit skeptical to try this product to begin with, because I very much adhere to the philosophy that nothing can replace good old-fashioned working out and eating healthily. I was interested to try the Slendertone System Abs Belt however, because I’ll admit that I have been a bit lazy with my working out ever since last summer. All summer, I went to the gym almost everyday, with rest days in between. I had abs days, leg days, arm days, and running days. Working out produces the experience of being on a high and I felt good, about myself and about my body. It made me eat better and I cut sweets out of my diet completely, because I wanted to maintain all of my hard work at the gym.

             Then, I returned to London and life got in the way, as it normally does. That’s where Slendertone came in. I would like to first preface by saying that Slendertone does not promise weight loss through using their products and I don’t want to advocate that. Instead, they promote toning and shaping the body. You won’t be able to use a Slendertone product and see desirable results if you continue eating unhealthily or don’t exercise on a regular basis. What I have liked so far about the Slendertone System Abs Belt is that using it motivates me to maintain a healthier lifestyle. I have yet again cut out sweets from my diet and am working out with the help of some cardio and body sculpting DVDs. My yoga mat arrived in the mail just recently, which I fully intend to make good use of!

The Slendertone System Abs Belt in action

             For the next recommended four-to-six week period, I will write a post per week with before and after photos to show you my progress. 100 percent of users report firmer, more toned abs after four weeks! The product needs to be used five times a week across that timeframe in order to notice any visible results. After that time period, the product can be used two-to-three times a week in order to maintain the results. I personally have been using the Slendertone System Abs Belt six times a week, with one rest day for my muscles to recover.

             The way the belt works is through Electrical Muscle Stimulation technology. The technology is applied through pads, which are positioned on selected muscle groups. The pads stimulate nerve endings to create deep, comfortable muscle contractions in all of the surrounding muscles, not just those underneath the pads. Targeted and neighboring muscles then begin to strengthen and tone.

The outside of the belt (top) is very understated, while the inside of the belt (bottom) contains adhesive pads that use Electrical Muscle Stimulation Technology 

             The setup of the belt was very simple due to the step-by-step guide provided in the box. Three adhesive pads (one large square pad and two smaller oval pads) come with the product. Your waist size determines where the smaller oval pads are placed, with the belt providing three different options. When you position the belt on your body, it lies across your waist and across your belly button. This targets the Rectus Abdominus and Oblique muscles, along with the Transversus Abdominus, which is essential for obtaining a flatter stomach.

The smaller oval pads are positioned in relation to your waist size

             The muscles simultaneously contract and then relax, which mimics the regular muscle contraction experienced during normal exercise. As for the sensation, it is not an unpleasant one, but it is definitely noticeable. I feel my muscles contracting when I use the belt, which is what I want! If I keep myself occupied, I hardly notice the feeling at all. You are completely in control of the intensity level of each session. The unit that comes with the belt has different programs you can select, geared towards your personal needs. There are seven programs all together, which have different time durations, intensity levels (0-99), and toning power. You can increase the intensity levels for the left and right side of your waist separately.

             I have been keeping track on a notepad daily to organize my dates and to remember the program I used, for how long, and the intensity levels of each session. The way I have approached using the Slendertone System Abs Belt is when I feel that I have comfortably finished a session at a certain intensity level, I move the intensity level up during the next session. If I feel too comfortable during the session itself, I bump the intensity level up during the session. The highest intensity level I have reached so far is 50 for the left side of my waist and 50 for the right side of my waist.

The program and intensity level of each toning session is controlled via the unit that is connected to the Slendertone System Abs Belt

             The Slendertone System Abs Belt can also be used while you work out. It’s not invasive and works hand-in-hand to optimize the workout. I have tried the product in various situations so far: simply sitting down and using my laptop, a brisk hour-long walk through Kensington Gardens, and working out using one of the cardio DVDs. Although, I did get rather hot in the last example!

             Just as with any post-workout recuperation, I have noticed some muscle soreness, especially on rest days. No pain, no gain as they say! That’s natural, but if you are in immense discomfort, it’s important to lower the intensity level of the belt. Overall, after my first week of trying the product, my stomach area definitely feels tighter and tauter. I expect that the next few weeks will produce more visible firming results for me to show you. There is not too much difference in my before and after photos at the moment, because as with all exercise, it takes at least a solid month to notice any changes and improvements.

It's the final countdown...

             Make sure to check back next week as I continue to chart my journey with the Slendertone System Abs Belt! Slendertone produces a wide range of products for men and women to suit the areas you would like to target, including: abs, arms, face, and bottom. You can browse and buy all Slendertone products from their official website here and additionally at Amazon, Argos, Boots, and Littlewoods.

A Blogger Blogs: My Blogging Journey

An insider's guide to blogging based on a survey of fashion, beauty, and lifestyle bloggers, infographic courtesy of Farfetch. Browse their lush website here.

             This post marks my 51^st as a blogger, and coincidentally, I also have 51 followers now via Bloglovin’. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I’ve come a long way on my blogging journey, and with the help of an infographic, I would love to share it with you all. I started My London Dream in April of 2013, which coincided with the startup of my other (style) blog, A Stitch in Time. Creating a blog didn’t take too much effort, because it involves two things close to my heart: writing and exploring London.

'Tis the season for boots: you can check out my most recent outfit of the day post on my style blog, A Stitch in Time, here

             My very first post for My London Dream was about London Open Day and I actually wrote the piece for one of my courses at university. It just made sense for that to be my starting point and to go from there. If you look back through my archive, you’ll notice that I didn’t originally include many photographs. As I’ve progressed, I’ve learned that photographs are key to capturing the audience’s attention and to also accompany and complement the pieces. I understand that the world is a very visual place, so I wanted to take advantage of that. To replace a camera that I had used for years, I invested in a Nikon and was really pleased with the results (after I learned how to master it)!

I've come a long way (both in my writing and picture-taking skills) from my first post about my trip to a masonic temple for London Open Day. Travel back here.

             Blogging has become de rigueur, so it’s important to stand out from the crowd and to take the learning curves in your stride. This brings me to my next point: staying true to myself has been the most important guiding principle to keep my blog running. As I was browsing popular blogs, I noticed that there are certain key elements that are practically a given for good bloggers, such as the aforementioned quality photographs. I learned that early on and I quickly assimilated the knowledge so that I could improve my own blog.

If you want to know where to find me, try the Almeida Theatre in Islington! They very kindly invite me to their shows as press and I write reviews for them. Read my write-up of the play 1984 here.

             That being said, what (hopefully) makes my blog unique is that I write quite a lot. I know that people don’t read as much as they used to and that everyone is looking for quick fix answers. This is the generation of instant gratification after all. I came to terms with that fact and didn’t let it deter me from doing what I wanted to do with my blog. I am inherently a writer and always have been. Therefore, I don’t compromise the length of my written pieces. I like to capture the essence of a moment in its entirety and I would never omit an aspect of an event, for example, just to keep my word count down. I leave the restrictions of word counts for my university essays!

My favorite moment in London (as you can probably tell from my smile) was meeting Matthew Healy, frontman of the band The 1975. Chart the band's journey in order from unknown obscurity to superstardom across their various shows here, here, here, and here.

             I absolutely appreciate why blogging is a full-time job for some people, because the amount of effort put into it is immense and usually goes above and beyond what people do in their daily lives (myself included). As the infographic outlines, an average of 10.3 hours are spent blogging weekly, which doesn’t surprise me at all, considering I can attest to it! No, it would not be the end of the world if I forgot a comma, but attention to detail never goes amiss. Many bloggers post everyday, but I subscribe to the methodology that quality over quantity is always the better option. That’s why there might be gaps between posts, but I want to put out the best content possible and not rush any of my writing. I never publish anything that I am not proud of and I always check my work over once, twice, or even three times.

I always joke that I should have my own installation at the Tate Modern, because I am there so often! The Roy Lichtenstein retrospective was truly something to behold. Read my rave review here.

             Blogging requires a lot of hard work and dedication, but it’s incredibly rewarding. It also acts as an online portfolio of work that is easily accessible by anyone. I still find it fascinating that people all over the world can access my blog and that they enjoy reading it from, say, Poland when I am typing away from the United Kingdom! That’s not to say that I don’t feel discouraged at times, because there is an element of despondency that all bloggers probably experience at some point. It can be easy to slip into the mindset of, “Is anyone even reading my blog?” or, “What is the point of doing this?” Honestly though, I blog because it makes me happy and it contains such lovely memories for me that I can look back on fondly years from now. In addition, maybe I can shed some light on topics of interest to others in the process.

Beauty blogging: trying out the Umberto Giannini haircare range was so much fun! See the looks I created in my step-by-step guide here. 

             I first started out on Tumblr, messing around with HTML coding, until I made the transition to Blogger just this past summer. It proved to be a very advantageous move, because I quickly learned that Blogger was a community created for people just like me: writers! Tumblr is very image-based, so once I changed platforms, I felt like I had taken that “next step.” I also bought my domain name, had business cards printed, and commissioned someone to redesign my entire blog, so that the exterior matched my interior vision. Just going through those simple motions made me feel like a truly professional blogger.

Bloggers Fashion Week, hosted by Bloggers Love, is a great way to make new friends and swap business cards! Read all about it here.

             My blog is still in its early stages and I am learning all the time, constantly trying to figure out ways to connect with other bloggers and how to get my name out there. I think patience is key, because a successful blog is not born overnight. I am still in shock at all of the opportunities I have been afforded through my blog. I have conducted interviews with some visionary people, written reviews and received amazing feedback from the theatres or people themselves, and attended events to meet up with fellow bloggers - all with a few free goodies along the way! Perhaps the most touching thing about blogging has been the excitement I feel when I am approached to incorporate certain events, products, or write-ups. Just knowing that someone likes my work enough to be included on my blog really motivates me to keep working towards my end goal.

It was so inspiring to meet and interview Oliver Tomalin of beachwear brand Love Brand & Co., which donates five percent of all sales to help endangered elephants. Read about Tomalin's vision in his own words here. 

             Although I am a psychology major with a philosophy minor, my true love has always been writing. Maybe I tried to suppress this urge for a while, but it kept nagging and pawing at me, so I finally listened and embraced it with open arms. My ultimate dream is to become involved with fashion journalism, and even beyond that, my dream is to incorporate the three things I am most passionate about: writing, psychology, and fashion. There is definitely a niche in the market for this sort of thing, especially with trend forecasting. That’s my real London dream and I hope I can continue to chart my journey with you on my road towards that goal!

My love of psychology collided with my love of blogging when I visited Sigmund Freud's old home in Hampstead, where his famous psychoanalytic couch resides! Get your fix of psychological terminology here.

             My biggest piece of advice to fellow bloggers is to blog for the love of blogging. Followers may come and go, but if you abide by this, everything else will fall into place. Also, remember to keep it fun, because once blogging becomes a chore, you won’t enjoy doing it anymore and your readers will notice.

For the lowdown on the Spring/Summer 2014 Wolf & Badger London Fashion Week showroom, including an interview I conducted with designer Laura Smith, see here

             To all of my readers, your support and readership means so much to me! Even if only one person reads this post, it will have all been worth it.

Blogging has opened many doors, including meeting some very talented people, such as Oliver Proudlock (of Made in Chelsea) at his Serge DeNîmes pop-up shop on Carnaby Street. For what I thought of his cool clothing line and others he teamed up with, read on here.

             I would love to hear from you! If you’d like to share your own blogging journey or tips with me, please comment below or contact me directly. Happy blogging!

London can be very touristic, but it can also be surprisingly secretive, as witnessed with this Mexican restaurant which looks deceptively like a sex shop. Read about La Bodega Negra's scrumptious food (and how difficult it is to find!) here.