Puma Workout Tanks

I got a couple Puma workout tanks from Hautelook to try out, since they were only $16.97 a piece!  I had actually tried on a couple things from the workout line at the Puma store before, and thought they were not bad.  It's always hard to guess what size to order while shopping online, and I always struggle between S or XS.  But in my memory, the Puma stuff run a bit on the small side, so I got both tanks in size S.

I got this cute mesh gym tank (actually accidentally ordered 2... any takers before I return?) in a darkish red called cerise.  I think it's super cute.  I think if I had gotten a XS, it would have worked as well, maybe even better.  The S is kind of baggy on me, particular the side view.  But I rather wear something that's a little bigger than a little smaller.  And I think the baggier look works fine for the style of the tank, so I'm going to keep it and wear it for sure!

Here it is on me... it's on the long side, which I like:

 

Little Puma logo on the lower left front:

The second tank I got is the Studio Yogini tank in athletic gray heather.  It's got subtle darker gray prints all over it.  This one is made of polyester and cotton blend.  But it feels more like cotton.  Definitely looks like the material would show sweat very easily.  Maybe it's better for less sweaty workouts, as the name of the tank suggests.

This tank has got a little cowl neck.  It also dips rather low in the armpits, like a muscle tank style.  So it shows the entire side of the bra under it.  The bottom has a cinch tie, so you can adjust the length.  I like the color, and I think this style is pretty easy to throw on and would work with pretty much any bottom.

The Puma logo is super subtle, which I like.  It is on the upper left chest.  But it's in the same color as the rest of the tank, with a little bit of a sheen.  Since the tank has a subtle pattern, the logo is really camouflaged.  Can you see it?  Lol.

Anyway, I'm actually quite happy with these tanks for the low price I got them for.  Definitely curious to try them out, especially the mesh one!  It seems like it would be pretty nice for my high intensity workouts.

Read More

Loving Joe's Jeans!

I had been wanting a couple pairs of "normal" jeans to add to my collection.  I've been buying kind of novelty prints/colors, and I realized that sometimes you just need a good ol' pair of blue jeans.  I have tried many different denim brands, and I just think Joe's Jeans fit me the best.  My very first pair of Joe's Jeans were from yeeeeeears ago, and the style was honey booty boot cut.  Then I got the white honey skinny fit at the outlet a few months ago.  They are just better than my other jeans, I don't know what to say other than that.  They are supposed to be for more curvaceous figures.  I think they are a bit higher rise on the back than regular cut, cuz you know, you give you more coverage for the bootay.  =P  For some reason, it just works really well for me.  I can wear them all day comfortably and I never have to worry about pulling them up.

Anyway, they were on Ruelala for pretty decent prices (most of the styles were selling $69) so I took the chance to stock my closet with 2 more pairs!  I got one pair in dark wash and one pair in light wash.  I'm pretty much all set now!

The dark wash is actually called "curvy skinny".  I'm not sure what the difference between "curvy" and "honey" is.  Although I can only find "curvy" style on their website.  So maybe "honey" is the older name?  Maybe it's only available at the outlets now?  I know for a fact that when I bought my honey jeans, they were at Bloomingdale's.  I'm not sure what happened in the last few years since I haven't been following the brand (I got into workout clothes lol), but I find the curvy and honey styles that I got this time to be pretty similar.  Other than the booty fit, I also really like that they are not super tight fitting around the ankles.  They are more like skinny straight leg.  I got them both in size 26.

Here are the Niyah Curvy Skinny jeans:

Here's what I meant by the slightly looser fit around the ankles instead of being super form fitting all the way down.  Oh yeah, I also had folded them up a couple times because their inseam is like 33 inches long and I'm only 5'5.  I think it also looks good to leave them unfolded and scrunched up though.

And these are the Honey Skinny Kali jeans:

Same fit around the ankles here:

I don't see Joe's Jeans that often on these flash sale sites, so I'm glad I was able to get these!  I've actually already worn both pairs a couple times on the weekends.  This is also good timing weather wise, since we are finally seeing the temperatures cool down a little.  I can't wait to be able to wear them with boots!

Read More

Sunday Funday!

So I made big changes this week with my training program.  I finally stopped training with my online trainer.  While I learned a lot, and made a lot of progress (can be seen here) with him, I had been training with him for a year and a half and I felt I wasn't getting as much out of it anymore.  At least it's good to take a break and do something different for a while.  I am the kind of person that needs a plan in order to push myself.  That's partly why I stuck with him for so long.  I like his training program, and I like the biweekly check-ins with him so that I could hold myself more accountable.  I know that if I don't have a training program, I would just be lost at the gym.  At best, I would probably end up wandering around and not using my time effectively.  At worst, I wouldn't even feel like going to begin with.

So, this week I have started on the Get Glutes program with none other than the Glutes guy himself - Bret Contreras!  I've been subscribing to his blogs and videos for quite a while now, and I really like him.  I didn't know he had this program until my friend mentioned it to me.  Otherwise, I probably would have jumped on board sooner!  It's such a good deal too - it is $19 per month, or 18 months for $179 which is like $10 per month.  It's SO worth it!  He gives you a week's worth of strength and conditioning workouts each month.  You do the workouts for 4 weeks, then you get a revised workout plan for the next month.  For each exercise, there is a detailed video where him and his co-trainers show you how it should be done.  They also give you tons of other options if you are unable to do an exercise the way it is written, or don't have the equipment.  There is also a forum where you can ask the trainers and other members questions.

I've only done the first week's workouts, and I love it so far!  It's actually quite tough even though the number of sets/reps and frequency are lower than I was doing with my online coach.  For the first month, there are 3 strength workouts and 3 conditioning workouts.  You can workout anywhere from 1 or 2 times a week up to 6 times a week.  You can choose between the combination of strength and conditioning workouts.  I've opted to do 5 times a week so far, which would be strength 1, conditioning 1, strength 2, conditioning 2, and strength 3.  The strength workouts are full body workouts, although with emphasis on the glutes of course.  They take about an hour to complete, and the conditioning workouts take only 15-20 minutes.  So you could do the conditioning after strength, although it is not recommended.  They also don't really recommend that you do additional cardio on top of this program, since it is a strength building program.  I think I'll drop my 3 cardio sessions per week for now and see how it goes.  May add some back.  But I'm hoping the conditioning workouts are going to be enough.

This week I had a weird incident where I really strained my neck/shoulder muscle during chin-ups.  I don't even know how it happened.  I've been doing chin-ups and pull-ups for a long time, both negatives and assisted/unassisted versions.  So I don't know how I managed to strain my muscle this time during a regular unassisted chin-up.  It was pretty bad for about 2 days though.  I could barely turn my head without being in a lot of pain.  I did a lot of heat padding, and rolling the muscle out.  But it also took me out of commission for about 3 days.  Because of that, I didn't get back to the gym until this weekend and I combined strength and conditioning workouts on both days to make up for lost time.  I definitely don't plan to do that often!  I'm already very sore from yesterday's workout alone.

Monday 10/27 - Rest day

Tuesday 10/28
What I did:  The first strength workout.

What I wore:  Lululemon swiftly racerback in space dye fuel green with free to be bra in very green under.  Lululemon Mod Moves crop, and Nike Free 5.0 TR Fit 4 in venom/turbo green.

Splits59 Venus jacket as to and from:

Wednesday 10/29 - Rest day due to neck/shoulder strain

Thursday 10/30 - Rest day due to neck/shoulder strain.  It got way cooler here towards the end of the week (about time!) and I got to pull out my tights!  Lol.  I was excited, so here's what I wore to work:  Ann Taylor Mod Scarf print dress in river blue with Gabrielle Rossi cashmere one button blazer in navy over it, and Vince Camuto Dacoma pump in hurricane gray pearl patent.

Friday 10/31 - Rest day due to neck shoulder strain

Saturday 11/1

What I did:  Finally was able to get back to the gym!  I did my second strength workout, followed by the first conditioning workout.  Not gonna lie, but I was kind of done for the rest of the day.

What I wore:  Since it was so "cold" here, I pulled out my "winter tights" lol.  Lorna Jane Mosaic full length tight!  Worn with Lululemon Water Bound Singlet in bruised berry, and Lorna Jane Sunrise bra under it.  Nike Free 5.0 TR Fit 4 shoes in hyper cobalt/bright mango.

I liked that the laser cutout of the tank with the bra under it very much resembled the cut out details of the tights!

I wore my Nike Dri Fit Epic crew in deep night as to and from, but I actually kept it on for the first couple sets of my workout.  Then I got too hot.

I've been making good use of my Ann Taylor Drapey pants.  I wore them out on Saturday again after the gym, in full on fall mode!  With Gabrielle Rossi cashmere cross front sweater, as well as the Armani Exchange faux fur knit jacket and French Connection Maria wedge sneakers.  

I love this cooler weather!  We even got a little rain on Halloween.  But unfortunately, I think it will be in the high 80s next week again.  =(

Sunday 11/2

What I did:  Last strength workout + conditioning workout.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in wee are from space white/barely pink, Lululemon free to be bra in power purple under.  Splits59 Nova Capris, and Nike Free Bionics in purple.

Lululemon Swiftly 1/2 Zip in power purple as to and from:

Well, combining workouts means less outfits for this week!  So this is a rather short one.  Looking forward to experimenting with my new training program again next week.  But since I worked so hard yesterday and today, I am most looking forward to tomorrow being a rest day.  =P

Have a good night everyone!

Read More

Heidi Klum for New Balance 420 Sneakers

I don't normally buy sneakers for casual wear, because well... I almost never wear flats when I'm not at the gym lol.  I just love my heels!  But when I saw these cool Heidi Klum for New Balance 420 sneakers, I just had to get them!  I can never resist cool snake prints for some reason.  These come in 3 colors and I actually wouldn't mind all 3.  But I went with the multi-colored black ones because I think they look the coolest.  I got them from this website called onlineshoes.com, because they are on sale for $86 (from regular price of $99) and the site offers additional 20% off.  I had never heard of this site before, but they shipped pretty fast.

These are the black ones I got:

The bottom of the sole says "The Burn is Beautiful".  Kind of cheesy and stupid, I'm glad no one will see it... lol!  I'm probably in the minority, but I find cheesy/motivational sayings too much to handle.  Makes me want to roll my eyes.

The other two colors they come in are Combat Green and Oxblood.  I think they both look very cool too!  If I were sneakers a lot, I'd seriously pick up all 3 pairs.

So I bought these shoes in size 6, my normal size.  They fit well I think, with a little bit of toe room still.  They seem to be pretty comfortable too.  I really love the way they look - it's exactly what I expected!  The colors are iridescent and they just have a cool urban vibe!

So my pictures are showing these under a pretty bright light.  I think under normal lighting circumstances, they look darker.  So they can still pass for mostly black shoes.

I am pretty stoked about these!  They will definitely make me want to give up my heels once in a while for a more casual look!  I also wonder if I can wear them to the gym.  I wouldn't wear them for cardio, but they seem to provide pretty decent stability so I can probably do weight lifting in them, even lower body exercises.  They would go well with my Splits59 Nova Viper capris with python print lol.

By the way, Macy's also carries them and they are on sale for $89 there.  Here's the black ones and here's the green ones.  =)

Read More