A
couple of weeks ago I had mentioned on Twitter that I had an AMAZING
opportunity to work with a great new company. One of the best things
about blogging is being able
to showcase new products to your readers and share your thoughts and
opinions on them. Today I am not going to be talking about Sephora’s
latest gift set, but something else that’s new and intriguing – body wraps!
Most of
you are probably thoroughly confused right now. Body wraps? They are a
hot new product in the world of weight loss and fitness. Companies are
developing nutrient
enriched wraps that adhere to different body parts and give amazing
results. The wraps are meant to tone, firm and reduce the appearance of
stretch marks. If you are someone like me who has been losing a
substantial amount of weight, you know that it’s hard
work maintaining your tone and definition, and those stubborn stretch
marks are always going to pop up unexpectedly. Even the most active
adults still experience skin loosening up on areas like their thighs or
mid-sections. But there is something we can do
about it!
I had the opportunity to work with Reita, of wrapsbyreita.com, who specializes in creating these wraps along with a full range of
products that seek to tone, tighten, define
and reduce inches and stretch marks. She was gracious enough to give me
the opportunity to try out the legendary It Works Ultimate Body Wraps,
along with the cooling Defining Gel. In conjunction with the body wraps,
the defining gel helps to firm and tighten
while adding definition to the body.
Let’s talk about how they work…
From wrapsbyreita.com - When combined with the Defining Gel, the wraps seek to:
-
Tighten, tone, and firm in as little as 45 minutes!
-
Reduce the appearance of cellulite and varicose veins.
-
Look younger with improved skin texture and tightness.
The
body wraps are simple, you can apply them to various areas on your body
including your thighs, back, stomach, arms, whatever you feel needs a
little shrinking! I chose
to use the wraps on my stomach, because that is my number one problem
area. Due to my previous weight gain, I had some embarrassing stretch
marks around my hips and several that were still a little noticeable on
my lower stomach. On top of that, losing 120
pounds definitely made me smaller, but left me with constantly trying
to keep my stomach toned. Rapid weight gain and/or loss can cause skin
to be loose, however I was pretty lucky in that I wasn’t left with any
loose skin, just a little left over “chub”,
as I like to call it. The stomach is probably one of the most stubborn
parts of the body. Your weight tends to come off the quickest in every
other area (ladies, I know it’s disappointing but the chest is gonna
shrink a little!) however it likes to stay as
long as possible in the stomach. That’s the reason why I chose to use
the Ultimate Body Wraps on my stomach.
Let’s look at some before shots… I cannot believe I'm doing this, give me props here! :)
As you
can see, my stomach remains my one area of concern. It seems like no
matter what I do I always am working on my stomach. I do attribute it
too that my diet isn’t
that fantastic all the time, and my family is notorious for having
their weight dispersed around the middle.
Now… time to wrap!
In
order to have the wrap be most effective, you need to wash the area you
are wrapping and make sure it is completely dry. You want to ensure that
throughout this entire
process you are drinking LOTS of water. Reita recommended that I drink
half my body weight in ounces of water. I weigh 135 pounds, so I tried
to drink around 70 ounces of water. I did drink more than that the first
time I wrapped, but the second time I only
made it to about 60 ounces. You are going to apply the wrap to your
area of concern, and then leave it on for 45 minutes. The first time you
wrap, it’s important to not leave it on too long, as you want to test
your skin sensitivity to the product. The second
time you wrap, you can leave it on for up to eight hours. With my
second wrap, I put it on before I went to sleep and left it on all
night. To make sure that it kept in place, I wrapped my stomach in
plastic wrap, followed by several Ace Bandages to keep everything
tight and immobile.
Let’s see how it looks!
In
total, I didn’t see a dramatic change in my inches. Reita let me know
that the average loss is 2-4 inches per wrap, so ideally I would have
lost about 4-8 inches. Now
this obviously will vary with everyone. Everyone’s body reacts
differently to products. In total, I lost 3.5 inches after both wraps.
But that wasn’t the best part. The best part was the stretch marks! They
were dramatically lighter than when I started. Even
my husband noticed that right away! I am always curious as to new ways
to get rid of them, and I’ve tried everything, even $80 creams that are
supposedly miracle workers, but it wasn’t necessary. The body wrap
definitely helped my stretch marks disappear,
and I don’t doubt that if I continue using the products that I will be
stretch mark free. Or at least pretty close!
I am
definitely planning on keeping up with the products that Reita has let
me tried out. I believe that they are definitely worth the try. I would
suggest definitely checking
them out as well if you want to maybe cut a few inches or reduce any
stretch marks that you may have!
There’s
no doubt in my mind that I will always need to keep up on my ab
exercises. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of the people that were born with a
flat stomach, and that’s
fine. I have come a long way, and I am proud of all I have
accomplished.
What will you accomplish with the wraps?
xoxo
Claire
