Mallory posted these adorable pictures of her pup Santana helping my brother do pushups! Read the background story about this here!

So cute I can’t take it. I miss that young boy and the baby puppy.

FullBar

A few months ago, I had saw commercials for FullBar and was intrigued. A bar that fills you up so you don’t go crazy eating everything in sight at mealtime?! Sign me up! Well, not exactly. What stopped me from considering buying them, after reading the information online, was the fact that one bar has about 150 calories. I figured that for those calories, it would be more practical for me to just eat a filling meal. Of course, I am probably not their target audience, since the commercials tried to appeal to people who might even be considering bariatric surgery or looking to lose some serious weight.

Here is some information about Dr. Snyder, one of the leading weight-loss surgeons in the country. He has performed more than 1500 primary bariatric surgeries:
After years of working with people who are seriously overweight at his nationally recognized Bariatric Center of Excellence, Dr. Snyder wanted to do more for the majority of people with weight issues who are not candidates for surgery or who would never consider surgery. He also wanted to be able to help people who had been disappointed by their previous weight-loss efforts. That’s when the idea of FullBar was born. Dr. Snyder wanted to help people feel that same level of fullness in a non-surgical way. It seems simple. And it is.

But then I got an email from the generous people at FullBar. They offered to send me some samples to try out! I have no problem eating anything if it is free. I was very excited when the boxes arrived and saw that the flavors of the bars were Cranberry Almond and Peanut Butter Crunch. They also sent me AquaFull powder in Berry Bliss and Zesty Lemon Tea. These powders only contain 15 calories!

So here’s how it works. You either eat a bar and drink 8 oz of water, or pour an AquaFull packet into 19 oz of water and drink it 30 minutes before a meal. When you eat your meal, you will get full more quickly than usual.

From the website:

The Real Secret to Losing Weight… Eat Until You’re Full!
It’s true. This is what makes weight-loss surgery so effective. You eat until you’re full, but because of the surgery it takes a lot less food to make you feel full. With FullBar, you can achieve the same results without the surgery!

Created by Dr. Michael A. Snyder, a leading weight-loss surgeon, FullBar is all natural and delicious. Simply eat FullBar with an 8-ounce glass of water 30 minutes before your 2 biggest meals of the day. For added fullness and flavor, drink Aquafull with your FullBar. By meal time, you’ll eat less and your hunger will be completely satisfied.

And when you eat less, you lose weight.

Simply put, FullBar and Aquafull will help you feel full! No special diet. No calorie counting.

Now, there are no special secret ingredients here. The product is more of a crutch for people who might not be familiar with — or might have a hard time practicing — basic methods in how to keep full. Many of us know that if you eat something high in fiber, it will likely keep you full longer. If you drink water throughout the day, that will keep your belly full as well. And lastly, you need to give your body time to recognize it is full, which is why eating slowly and waiting after you eat to determine if you are still hungry is important.

FullBar takes these concepts and conveniently packages them into one product. You eat the high fiber bar with a tall glass of water, or you drink the high fiber water drink. You wait 30 minutes to let your body realize that there is food in your belly and it doesn’t need much more. Of course you won’t be ravenous during your meal.

I should have checked the ingredients before accepting the offer of the FullBars, because when they arrived, I noticed they each packed a whopping 5g of fiber. The AquaFull packets have 4g. That is wonderful for most people. But with my tummy problems, it would really hurt me. I spend all day trying to eat the lowest fiber foods I can find so that I can hopefully feel okay.

What I would love to do is give you guys a real review of FullBar. I would love to tell you what my meal experience was like 30 minutes after eating one of these. Unfortunately, I can’t do that, since I can’t eat 5g of fiber at once. What I CAN  do is tell you what I  thought about the taste of these products.

I am able to take a little taste. I did this a few times for each bar, and just now for the AquaFull packets.

Here are my taste only, NOT effectiveness review of FullBar products:

FullBar

Cranberry Almond – At first taste, I was reminded of the cereal Smacks with cinnamon. At second taste I got a cranberry flavor. I really enjoyed it! In fact, I was tempted to break it into pieces and put it into a bowl of milk! It tasted like a yummy, delicious cereal. Flavor recommended. Product effectiveness not known.

Peanut Butter Crunch – I love peanut butter, as a general rule. I love peanut butter candy such as PB Twix and anything Reese’s. Recently, I fell in love with the Banana flavor of the kids Larabar, JamFrakas. When I tried the Peanut Butter flavor of that bar, I was very disappointed. So I wasn’t sure what the FullBar would be like. I took a taste yesterday and a taste today. I’ve gotta say, I am not digging it. I bite into it and taste peanut butter, but that taste is quickly overempowered by something else. Something like stale butterscoth. I would not want to eat an entire bar of this. Flavor not recommended.  Product effectiveness not known.

AquaFull

Zesty Lemon Tea – I admit I went into this flavor with a bias. I hate lemon. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted it. The drink tasted like tea with just a hint of lemon. Flavor  recommended.  Product effectiveness not known.

Berry Bliss– Blech. Sorry. But that is the best word. I had expected to like this one. When I smelled it, it reminded me of Triaminic from my childhood. But I was still optimistic. Then I tasted it. Sorry, not good. Strong, phony tasting flavor. Flavor not recommended.  Product effectiveness not known.

My suggestion:
If you’re curious about FullBar products and whether they work, my advice would be to pick up a Cranberry Almond bar. It was, no question, the best tasting of the products. If you want a lower calorie option, try out the Zesty Lemon Tea AquaFull. And let me know what YOU think of the product’s effectiveness — now I am curious!

Note: I just read further into their website and Cranberry Almond, the flavor I loved, is not listed on there!The FullBar flavors on the site are Cocoa Chip, Caramel Apple Crisp, Peanut Butter Crunch and Berry Bliss. I wonder what happened to it! The only AquaFull flavor on the site is Zesty Lemon Tea. I’m not sure if the other flavors just aren’t currently on the site or if they are no longer. Interesting! I bet Caramel Apple Crisp would be good.

Kinespirit

On Monday, Missy and I attended a Gyrokinesis class at Kinespirit.

“Kinespirit is a unique group of wellness studios committed to guiding you to personal fitness goals through the practice of Gyrotonic exercise and Pilates.”

I’d done pilates many times, but was not at all sure what to expect with Gyrotonic exercise. Here is some information:

Gyrotonic trainingis three-dimensional exercise taught on unique weight and pulley based equipment (pictured at right). Founded by Juliu Horvath, in the principles of yoga, dance, tai chi, and swimming, Gyrotonic training is a series of circular and fluid exercises that works the entire body through muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular stimulation.

   – Promotes strong, lean muscles
   – Increases flexibility, coordination, and balance
   – Enhances joint mobility and articulation
   – Frees the body of pain and restrictions
   – Increases circulation of blood, lymphatic fluids, and energy
   – Strengthens the nervous system
   – Compliments/supplements physical therapy and other rehabilitative body work
   – Helps prevents osteoporosis
   – Helps to slow the aging process through mental and physical stimulation and regeneration

I would have loved to try a class using the equipment (think: torture chamber) but the schedule worked out better for me to try a class called Cardio Gyrokinesis. Click hereto read all about this particular class. The class employes the same principles as Gyrotonics, but without the machines.

When I walked into the studio, I saw all the Gyrotonic machines on my right, with people getting personal lessons. On my left were the pilates reformers, which I have used before. On the far left was a small, open area. This is where the Cardio Gyrokinesis class takes place.

The class began with us sitting on individual benches. The class consisted of the instuctor, Missy, one other person and myself. At first I thought the other person was also an instructor because she knew everything and knew the instructor, but it turned out she was just a student who has taken it before! We practiced rounding our backs and then did movements where we moved our arms in certain flowing positions, in a constant stream of movement. There were 4 or 5 different arm motions we learned, and each has a name.

From the site,

Bench Work
In the seated position, the class moves through a series of fluid movements that mobilize the spine. These movements include arching, curling, bending, twisting and spiraling. The same patterns are expanded upon as the class leaves the benches and proceeds to floor work.

That explained it better than I did. When we finished with bench work we folded our benches up and learned standing movements. We employed the same arm techniques from the bench, and practiced them standing in a circle while doing lunges and squats. Eventually we learned the leg component as well, and we did fluid movements using our arms and legs. We learned a transition move so that we could go from one movement to the next without stopping. The instructor seemed very impressed with how quickly we caught on, but I didn’t think it was exactly complicated. But maybe I’m just quicker to pick things up than I realize!

Some of the arm movements had swimming names, which made sense since that is what it felt and looked like! Swimming in air.

Once we finished this section, we got mats that have 4 sides to them and did floor work. From the site:

Floor Work
Encompassing a variety of positions including kneeling, seated, and standing, the floor work releases and strengthens the entire body. Focus is on a variety of joint and muscle groups including hips, knees, hamstrings and abdominals. Corresponding breathing patterns stimulate the nervous system, open energy pathways and oxygenate the blood.

We did leg movements that all started out with us putting one leg up and bent in front of us while balancing on the mat on our arms. Then we moved that leg back into an arching movement, and back forward again. The intructor would announce when it was time to switch legs, and we would do it in one swift movement to keep the continuous motion going. We turned over and did ab work in the infamous C position. It burned.

After that we stood up and this was the only part in the class that seemed at all “cardio.” We did nonstop lunges and leg lifts, over and over, each leg, no stopping. My heart rate went way up. I felt my heart pounding!

I was hoping that movements like this would go on longer, but once that ended class was finished! We did some relaxing standing with our eyes closed, and when we opened them (after being advised to blink repeatedly and notice how it’s easier to see out of the corner of one eye than the other — true!) class was finished.

Pros: The hour went quickly. Nonstop movement makes for good exercise. Nothing was particularly hard (although maybe it becomes harder once you are more advanced). Nothing hurt.

Cons: I didn’t feel like I was being challenged enough. While it was nonstop movement, my heart rate didn’t go up until the last set of movements.

The site boasts the following as the benefits of this class:

   – Promotes spine and joint articulation and mobilization
   – Increases muscular contraction, extension, flexibility, and coordination
   – Increases circulation of blood, lymphatic fluids, and energy
   – Improves elimination and absorption
   – Compliments traditional cardiovascular activity and cross-training
   – Provides a mobile workout that can be easily performed while at home, office, or traveling
   – Increases body awareness

I can definitely see how this is the case. I’d like to spend my workout time challenging myself a bit more, though. I am very curious about the gyrotonic tower now! Maybe I will head back over there at some point to try that out.

All in all, a wonderful experience! I am so happy I tried this class and live in a city where opportunities like this are abundant. Thanks again to Melissa for giving us the passes! I also need to thank Melissa for introducing me to Girl Talk. The boy and I love listening to it and it really is perfect workout music. And while we’re talking about Melissa, tonight she is joining Missy and I at the Nalini Method! I had told her how much I loved it last week and begged her to try it out with me today, since I would love to hear what she thought of it after attending Physique 57 and Core Fusion extensively. Read my Nalini Method review here. Your first two classes are for the price of one, so it’s a good deal.

I am currently icing my shoulder in preparation for tonight’s class using one of these:

Speaking of good deals…. I am still considering joining  Core Fusion for a month (haven’t had time to get there yet) but first I wanted to try an Open level class and make sure I like it. But today Rue La La, an online boutique that usually sells designer items at a discount had an Exhale sale and they offered 10 Core Fusion classes at a discounted rate — just $15 a class! Normally a class is $35. So I purchased it, figuring that I can use it to attend class whenever I feel like it at a lower price once my month there is up and I am back at my own gym! If you want an invitation to be a part of Rue La La’s incredible sales, let me know and I will be happy to send you an invite. I have purchased a number of items from this site — I promise it is worthwhile!

Update: The boy just forwarded me an email someone sent him saying that I might be interested in the Core Fusion sale at Rue La La, not knowing I already purchased it myself. I am always on top of things.  🙂

HAPPY HENRY DAY!!! Henry Day wishes to all.

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