Hula Hoop of Ab Torture/Concussion Giver

 Pictured above or below or wherever Blogger decides to place it, is what I call the hula hoop of ab torture.  This one is obviously a knock off I purchased from Amazon as the real brand (Infinity Hoop) is upwards of sixty bucks.  This one was around thirty.  It had decent reviews on Amazon.  I have a friend that has one and she likes it.  I watched some YouTube videos and also read some articles.  Reviews are mixed.  Some think it is a gimmick as it gives the impression that you can spot reduce fatty areas, which you cannot. And others think it is great.  So I guess it really depends on your personal preference and what you got it for.    For me personally, I recently lost friend, and one of my coping mechanisms has been to unalive myself via exercise.  Thought I'd add this one to regimen.  It must be paying off though I'm down to 196 (not solely due to this).  

If you're like me, I could never hula hoop with a regular hoop.  I don't have any hips.  I mean sure I have the skeleton pieces hip joints and bones, but I don't have any real visible hips.  To hear my hubby tell it, I don't have a butt either lol.  But anyway, this is different from the regular hula hoops.  This snaps snugly around the waist.  You might have to fiddle with it to get it to keep from sliding when you first get it going.  I know I had to remove 2 more links after thinking I had already sized it correctly.  It fits tight.  Then you sling the weighted thing to one side and start moving enough to make it continue to circle around the hoop.  This part takes some getting accustomed to, so don't give up immediately.  Also, if you are a dude I'd highly advise either avoiding this exercise equipment or wearing a cup because you will get smacked hard in the dangly bits and bobbles.  I'm female and it swung around and hit me in my area and even as a female it was not the best feeling.  So I can't imagine being a dude and getting smacked with that.  And when I say wear a cup, I really don't know what the purpose of a cup is.  Is it to protect your parts or is it to keep them from flopping around kind of like a bra does for us ladies?  Just being honest.  

Anyway, I don't know or have anything to report on the claim that you can lose one link in thirty days.  You're supposed to do this for thirty minutes a day for thirty days straight in order to achieve this result.

I have a problem with this idea.  For one, from what I have read, you're not supposed to work the same group of muscles over and over and over repeatedly without giving them an opportunity to heal.  So right off the bat, I'm slightly skeptical.  However, I can tell that it does definitely work the muscles because I know my abs area is super sore the day after, so something is happening.  

Another thing is you have to figure out what to do with your hands.  For me, I cross them over my chest and rest them there.  You will also look like an idiot doing this.  I use mine outside as the only area large enough to do this is in a high traffic area of my house and I don't wish to give my family a concussion should they decided to be foolish and tempt the blue weighted ball of fate and concussions lol.  I pick a shady spot in my front yard.  My back yard is full sun.    It is definitely an interesting way to exercise.   It's definitely worth trying.  I guess I'll report back a while later after using it more.  Although, this is not my sole form of exercise currently.  I am biking, using this, and using 3lb dumbbells.    

Fitbit Charge 6

 

Up until February of this year, I have not worn a watch since well........ I cannot remember.  Possibly a couple decades at least.  I've heard about FitBits for years.  Then I heard about the Apple SmartWatch and several other types.  At one point I bought a cheap 20 thing off Amazon.  I wanted to see if it would be any benefit.  I was not impressed.  Just seemed like too much to keep up with. Hard to explain that, but if you know you know. 

So over the past couple of years I have found myself having a significant increase in the amount of panic attacks.  If you have never had a panic attack, it makes you think that you are having a heart attack.  It is not a pleasant experience by any means.  Many times I would find myself going to urgent care just to make sure it was not a heart attack.  I know that sounds silly.  I just needed the reassurance or my panic attack would get worse.  

I do not know what possessed me to look at FitBits specifically other than I was trying to come up with ways I could  bring myself down from the ceiling.  I had started having panic attacks at work to the point of an ambulance was called one of those times. One day I just said heck let's order a real one and see what happens.  So the FitBit Charge 6 was on sale on Amazon one day.  It just happened to be a payday so I ordered it.  The fact that I had to really pay for it (a lot more than a 20 dollar knock off) made me decide to wear it religiously.  The only time it is not on my wrist is when I'm in the shower (it is water proof, but I don't want to take many chances) or when it is charging. 

I won't really go into all the details on how I use it to bring me down from the ceiling.  And I will say that it does not always work for that as it depends on how far gone I am.  If I catch a panic attack at the beginning I can use some of the features of it to bring me down.  I realize that most people do not use it for that.  

I'll be the first to admit that I do not understand all of the features nor do I understand all of the graphs that go with the app.  

Let me tell you about some of the features that I do like.  

It constantly monitors your heartrate.  
It tracks your sleep...... now this feature I like.  It will tell me exactly how much I slept.  It will even monitor your O2 rate while you are asleep.  It tracks stages of sleep as well.  I can log into the app and see the stages of sleep.  It will give you a rating of how well you slept.  The picture posted above has my sleep listed as fair.  I can tell you that is because I currently have the crud.  I do not sleep well when I have the crud.  I know how much I sleep on average as well.  During the work week I average 5 to 6 hours of sleep most nights.  No wonder I"m always dragging lol

Another feature I like is Google Maps.  You connect the Bluetooth on your phone and pair it with the FitBit.  There are a couple of different ways to use this.  You can be in your car and have the GPS directing you on your phone and it will come through the watch.  I have not tried that feature yet.  What I have used it for is in the exercise mode it will track how many miles you walk/run/bike.   I can connect it to Google Maps and hop on my bike and know a lot of data instantly such as distance, speed, etc.  This is good for me because I was looking at Google Maps and trying to do math to figure out my distances.  If you know me, you know I do not like to math!  Yes, I turned math into a verb. 

It does many other things.  It can take an EKG, YouTube Music, stopwatch, alarm, track exercises, step counter. receive text messages, do voice calls, and Google Wallet. I'm probably missing something.  I have not used all the features as of yet.  

So far I only have 3 cons

-  It has to be charged.  Call me old school, but I liked having an actual battery in a watch.  This is just another charging cord to keep up with.  

-  While it can receive text messages, it will only show a portion of the message if it is a long message.  

-  It does not have an exercise setting for recumbent exercise bike.  It has all these other things, but not that. 

From what I have used it for, I really like it.  I can use it to tell if I have a good or a bad Monday.  The more steps I log on a Monday means a bad day because I'm having to chase people down for timesheets and therefore logging more steps lol.  

Ayr Saline Nasal Gel

 I hate pollen and pollen hates me.  I saw someone post this product on Facebook.  I thought what the hey, I might as well give it a shot.  I have nothing to lose.  The one major thing I hate about allergies is being a mouth breather.  I don't know about you, but I am not comfortable solely  breathing out of my mouth.  I don't sleep well or function well at all.  I have a variety of different things I use like nasal dilators, and Vicks Vapor Rub just to name a few.  I typically use them in tandem with one another.  Typically, it works. However, it did not work this time.  I don't know if I got some super mutant ninja  pollen (eh just a joke there) or what.   Every now and then I feel as if I'm going to hack up a pine cone through my nostrils.  So I thought I'd give this a try.  Full disclosure, I bought this the last time I was sick, but never opened it so I don't remember how much it cost, but I remember it being relatively cheap at the time.  

So basically it's a watery gel like substance.  Not to be dirty minded, but it has the consistency of a water based lube.  *shrugs shoulders*.  According to the directions you can dab it on the outside of your nostrils or put it on the inside of your nostrils.  So what the heck.   Let's git er done!  I dabbed some on the inside of my nostrils.  It was a pleasant mild citrus (think lemon) scent.  And for a brief moment it was if the clouds  parted the heavens and the angels sang.  I could freaking breathe!!!!!!!!!!!!  That moment was short lived though.  I mean it lasted about thirty minutes or so.  But what a glorious thirty minutes it was lol.    

I don't really have a pros/cons list for this.  The only real con is you have to be careful not to squeeze too hard or you'll get more than you wanted.  

Totally worth adding to your allergy/cold aresenal.