I found an interesting flow chart that helped a lot in flushing most of my exercise excuses down the drain. It gives the best reasons why one should stop saying they can't by highlighting the benefits of being able to move around while brilliantly ridiculing the most popular excuses for putting exercise off.

        Flow Chart design by Sparxoo 

It's a quick and worthwhile read to boost your fitness willpower and I hope by the time you get to all points in the chart, you're as ready as I am to start moving more. Let's start the week right by busting all that unwanted fat, ladies!

I woke up one day to realize that more than a handful of my slacks and jeans are already too small for my hips and thunder thighs. The only pants that seemed fitting was this Plains and Prints beige number. 

I panicked. Whose thighs are these, awfulgawd! And then it suddenly dawned on me ...

If it weren't for my retarded potato binging, I wouldn't be this problematic on hauling new bottoms! 

I prey on Pringles and french fries in response to stress, you see, and this week alone, I managed to finish up 1box+1tall can of Pringles with bouts of McDonald's french fries whenever I feel like it.

Potato overdose is really bad for the health. I know I better figure out a healthier way in response to stress --- the anti-jiggly arms exercise will definitely not work for my huge logs, errr, legs.

It's been a little over a month since I've been taking Pretty Model Slimming Capsules. I initially planned to write a review after the 3rd month, but I feel that I'm already seeing plausible (and non-pleasing ones) results that I decided to share my thoughts on this product.

Pretty Model Slimming Capsules, 450mg each pill, taken 2x/day

Buy Authentic Pretty Model
Slimming Capsules HERE

These pills are designed for weight loss, skin whitening, and reduction of unsightly fats in the arms, legs, abs and buttocks. Only a week after taking these pills, I was already astounded at what the bathroom scale reading gave me! These dirt-cheap pills are surprisingly effective.

Product Info:

Pretty Model Slimming Capsules' main components are: glossy ganoderma, Chinese watermelon peel, ginseng, lotus leaf, aweto and chitosan

Product claims that it...

• Improves skin quality and diminishes acne
• Reduces fat accumulation at waist, abdomen, arm and thigh
• Does not result to diarrhea, anorexia, and rebound side-effects
• Is suited for those who repeatedly fail in fat reduction
• Eliminates toxin accumulation, preventing fecal impaction (coprostasis) 
• Is suited for those who want to reduce fat 13 kilograms in a month 
• Provides physical sculpting in common problem areas. It softens the waist, flattens abs, firms up butt, slenders arms, thighs and calves

Pretty model slimming capsules are appetite suppressants to be taken twice a day, 30 minutes after breakfast and lunch/dinner. Each capsule contains 450mg of potent slimming ingredients.

This weight loss supplement is PROHIBITED to children, pregnant women, and those suffering from serious health conditions (the pamphlet did not categorize 'serious').

Impression

I lost 7lbs after a week. It effectively worked as an appetite suppressant since my usual strong food cravings significantly nosedived to zero. Perhaps too effective that I was only eating ONE decent meal a day during that week! In trying to address this, I reduced dosage to 1x a day, 30mins after lunch and got 'healthier' results.

Pretty Model Slimming Capsules are sold in boxes containing 2 pouches, containing 1 blister pack each

Pretty Model Slimming pills gave me this frequent dry, metallic taste in my mouth. This could be the reason why it suddenly became a challenge for me to want to gobble up anything.

Taking into account this weight loss supplement's claims, the only thing I can vouch for is its ability to rapidly let you lose WEIGHT (not necessarily fat). It was also good that I drank ample amounts of water during the day (due to the the dry, metallic taste side effect) because I used to not meet the 8-glasses-of-water-a-day rule.

Other Side Effects

Apart from dry mouth and the lingering metallic taste, I also experienced:

• moderate headaches that lasted minutes (days 1-4)
• extreme mood swings (days 2-7)
• lightheadedness (days 1-4)

Other users of the pretty model slimming capsule have also reported breast pain, difficulty in breathing and sleep problems. Some attribute the difficulty in breathing to chitosan, one of the main ingredients. The BF, who's extremely allergic to seafoods, takes these pills too but never reported any allergic reactions.

Availability

Pretty Model Slimming Pills are available through local resellers in multiply.com, ebay.ph and sulit.com. Price ranges from P180-450/box. These are sold in sets of 20 capsules per box. 

Pretty Model Slimming Pills ranges from P180 to P450 per 20 caps
10 capsules per blister pack

Authenticity

There've been rumors that there are circulating boxes that are fakes. Fake ones are said to not have the holographic marking on the box. Also, make sure that your box contains: (1) a pamphlet (in Chinese and English), (2) 2 plastic pouches containing blister pack each, and (3) 20 pearl-like capsules.

Authentic Pretty Model Slimming Capsules box
Surface when struck by light + box has a textured feel

Part 2

To prevent this review in becoming such a drag (look how lengthy it's become! *rolls eyes*), I'll be writing about this weight loss supplement at another time. There's still a lot you should know about.

I'm such a bad writer for being unable to write concisely. And since I can hardly address that problem (reviewing in an epic way), allow me to section this fitness review, so please stay tuned for the installment on Pretty Model Slimming Capsules! :)

You know that I stopped taking in glutathione tablets (tathion307) for over a month now to fairly conclude how my affordable and local obagi works on my skin.

I've tried two of the best glutathione brands in the market, ph338 and tathion307.  I previously ended my whitening bout with ph338 because of weight gain issues.  Tathion307 didn't make me gain weight for the first few months (well, i'd like to think that).  I gained weight despite taking the tabs just once a day (recommended dosage: 3 tabs daily for both brands).

Photo Source

I weighed myself a while ago.  I lost 5lbs!  From 108 lbs, I'm now down to 103!

Some users say that there are no weight gain issues with oral whitening stuff.  Too bad for me that I did encounter it.  I'll have to stop taking it, I guess.  Or should I take it according to its dosage recommendation to avoid weight gain? Ugh, I don't know.  I'm just done with glutathione products for now.

Let me share with you what I do daily to fight back the natural tendency for a woman's upper arm to be  jiggly.  The Triceps Curl:

Photo Source

Except that I stabilize the area immediately before the elbow joint and not near the armpits like how it's shown above.  Using your dumbbell-free hand, support the area below the elbows, like so:

Photo Source

It's better if you support the elbow region by gripping onto it rather than using your fingers (the model looks awkward don't you think?)  My free arm would usually slide back from my head just so I can properly stabilize the forearm.  Joint stability when doing the exercise is very important to make sure that you are targeting the correct muscles and to avoid injuries. (It's just so hard to look for photos with the right exercise position)

I also use a medium-size mineral water bottle (filled with water) instead of my 1lb weights.  I do 20 repetitions of the movement (see first photo), rest for a few seconds, and do 2 more sets of 20 after that  (I'm doing 60 triceps curls with 2 rest periods in between).  I do this whenever I can during the day: during breaks in class, while watching TV, etc)

Photo Source
Exercise now before it leads to this!

1. This exercise can be done seated or standing.  Please make sure to keep an erect posture all throughout the routine.  We don't want additional back problems, do we?
2. Holding the mineral bottle (or 2-3kg dumbbells/weights), raise the arm overhead (keep elbow straight)
3. The other arm slides at the back of the head to support the exercising arm's elbow region.
4. Do the curls as shown in the first photo. 

If you are a beginner, you may want to start with a brim-filled small mineral bottle as weights, do 10 repetitions of the movement, 2 sets.  You can progress by changing the bottle size, bottle's water levels, the reps and the sets.

Thankfully, I have never suffered from flabby arms at this point. :)  Triceps curls exercise is among those I do daily to avoid flabby arms.  I hope this tip can help you, too!

P.S.  If you are already suffering from jiggly arms, there will be more exercises to keep the fat out and tone the arms (aside from revamping your diet). Doing the triceps curls alone will not suffice.

I've done a little experiment with dry brushing to check if it truly deserves an additional few minutes to my already long bath time.

I tried dry brushing for a week.

And then another week sans the procedure.

And then this past work week with it in my routine again.

The verdict: it's a must in my bath routine. Why? Primarily because I noticed how my skin looked softer and noticeably fairer when I combo-ed it with my fave moisturizing products. Dry brushing CAN boost my kikay products' effects!

Related effects of this healthy pre-bath procedure includes:

• Removes dead skin cells allowing you to see a finer skin texture
• Results to firmer and more radiant skin since it stimulates microcirculation beneath the brushed areas.
• Ample amounts of blood distributed in these areas via microcirculation will mean more oxygenation. Imagine how much spas and salons charge us for oxygenation procedures!
• Can serve as an adjunct to an alkaline diet program + regular exercise to ward off ghastly cellulites.
• Stimulates the detox process that stimulates the lymph canals to drain toxic muccoid matter into the colon.

You may want to check how I do dry brushing.

Hair-free=Flawless.

Laser hair removal is one of the breakthroughs in epilation. Over the years, a bunch of medical literature have proven its effectivity in the long-term removal of unwanted hair. Take those on the pits for example.

I've always been less confident about raising my arms ultra high because I feel like my pits are so darn ugly. Blame genetics and the media for my insecurity, but I always minded reaching my arms up in public. I was always on the look-out for the right tools to keep my pits as flawless as it can be, but I grew tired of the fact that I always have to tweeze (haha, lazy me), plus the fact that my neck gets stiff because of it. Hence, my experiment with laser hair removal.

My first session with the procedure gave me results that I noticed a week after. I know that there are girls who've had instant results, but I wasn't that sure I noticed something instantaneous after leaving my derma's clinic. 7 days post-treatment, I noticed that it made the growing hair less black, thin and frail, like it was so easy for them to tweeze off my kili-kili (haha, remember that Rexona commercial: "It's like a spa for my kili-kili"). And indeed, it was! I tweezed em off in a jiff and I must say I'm impressed. The other thing I noticed was that it took some time for my underam hair to grow back. I just love skipping my usual 2x/week tweezing sessions (lazy talaga!)!

I can't wait till my next session. I'm hoping to see even better results soon.

Some Laser Hair Removal FAQ's:

What are the mecahnics in Laser Hair Removal? Laser hair removal made simple:

The principle used is selective photothermolysis (rooting em out: photo=light, thermo=heat, lysis=break-down/destruction). Laser can damage and destroy specific areas by its heating properties. Since laser is actually light (LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulatted Emission of Radiation), and light gets easily absorbed by dark objects, LASER is the perfect killng machine for melanin ( the dark appearance of both the skin and hair). LASER is selective since it only chooses to target our melanin.

How many sessions does it usually take to permanently stop hair growth?

4-8 sessions. Rarely, some people get to their 12th session.

After-care instructions?

Common MD orders are: deodorant application can be done a day after the procedure, not to rub or exfoliate the pits in between treatments, and not to freak out when you see your pits reddish and a little swollen post-treatment (they will disappear in afew hours). There are also anti-inflammatory creams that can be used.

Treatment interval?

3 to 8 weeks.

Factors affecting the number of laser hair removal sessions needed to get our pits looking gloriously flawless:

skin color & coarseness of hair (Coarse hair on light skin is easier to treat vs. Light hair on dark skin)

How much does it cost?

The lowest Laser hair removal for the pits that I've heard of was around 2k/session (~$35/session). Usually, it costs around 3,500 to 5,000php/session (~$60 to $90). There are also packages you can avail of that allows you to save thousands of pesos. I know my derma offers an unlimited package for 20k until you get the results you want (lifetime package, as she calls it).

What are other permanent hair removal techniques?

There are: topical and oral medication (requires continuous use), electrolysis, flashlamp, and photodynamic therapy (still on its experimental stage).

Intriguing, eh? Why not give laser hair removal a try?

My MD, a fellow Thomasian: Sixta Foronda , M.D.

6F Aesthetic and Anti-Ageing Center
14/F Medical Plaza, Amorsolo St., Makati City

Royally yours, Bleak

Anti-cellulite creams and gels never tickled my fancy. I've experienced having those ghastly cottage cheese-like whatzits on my tummy and thighs (gawd, they're ugly!), but I never mooned over slathering on any of the anti-cellulite stuff. Why? Because I'd rather exercise and eat healthy. Thank God I got into a medical course that opened my eyes on how IMPORTANT these two are! It may sound so cliche-ish, but it remains a fact: a healthy lifestyle is the only way to go if you wanna look and feel good.

Truth #1: CELLULITE ISN'T AS SUPERFICIAL AS YOU THINK

How does cellulite form? It happens when your fat cells distort the connective tissue underneath the skin. If there's one good thing about cellulite, it is the fact that you are not alone. Everyone's bound to have them. Try pinching your thigh and you'll see the awful truth! Anybody can get them, and most people do, so don't feel like you're the only gal going through the blobby stage. Cellulite gets pretty ugly when they become visible (without pinching your tummy/butt/thigh) and it just totally ruins your look. This is a result of full-blown fat cells, and they're so huge that they're distorting your skin. Fat tissues are on a deeper level and not on a superficial note.

(Photo credits to: TheInsider.com)
Even the charming Kate Hudson has 'em, too!

Truth #2: GIRLS HAVE A BILLION MORE FAT CELLS THAN GUYS DO

Yep, we have more fat cells than you could even imagine. That's why in med school, we choose to dissect the male cadavers not because we, giggly girls, would love to see that dangling organ called the penis, but because female bodies are harder to dissect because of the chunk of fat.

Truth #3: OUR FAT CELLS ARE FIVE TIMES LARGER THAN THAT OF THE MALE'S

First, we have more fat cells than the dorks, now we have these things larger than ever! Hurrah! Now that you know how blessed we princesses are for being more prone to cellulite, it's time to accept that we are bound for that orange-peel look. Knowing these

stuff can help us get a clearer mind about issues instead of freaking out and doing dumb things we think will help us get rid of the problem.

Yes, they can effortlessly ruin your look

Truth #4: YOUR FAT CELLS ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!

The only way for the full-blown fat cells to go down the drain is to get into an invasive medical procedure. Get a lipo if you have the money and the drive to get some serious beauty down-time. If you don't have both, then SHRINK 'EM FAT CELLS! Yup, shrinking them is the best thing if you really want to get a divorce with cellulite. Ya think those anti-cellulite gels and creams can seep through the skin and extract the excess fat? Think hard before you gimme an answer.

Truth #5: CELLULITE FORMATION IS GREATLY ATTRIBUTED TO BEING OVERWEIGHT.

I hope to see the experts bask in the glory of smoothing on these anti-cellulite creams and gels and claim that they're targetting to shrink some fat cells. The root of this cellulite problem is full-blown fat (that disrupts the tissues 'neath the skin). Fat cells are on a deeper level and your common topical prods will have a hard time giving you that sexy bod if you're plainly depending on 'em.

These are the awful truths about cellulite. It's either you get rid of the fat cells or you shrink them. Anti-Cellulite prods only serve as adjuncts to a healthy lifestyle in order to battle the ugly cellulite issue. Planning balanced meals and exercising regularly are your best swords for shrinking the fat cells, believe me.

Royally yours, Bleak