Reusable Menstrual Pads and Pantyliners

I decided to take the plunge and try out some more reusable menstrual products.  I have been a long time Diva Cup user (see former blog here) and decided that I wanted to shift my eco-friendly lifestyle ambitions to eliminating all disposable menstrual products.  With a little online research, I discovered several very appealing products that I felt would be a perfect fit for my lifestyle. 


Product List

1. Lunapads Performa 5 pack pantyliners $59.95
2. Hesta Organic Cotton 5 pack pantyliners $34.99
3. Love My® Antibacterial Bamboo Fiber 6 pack pantyliners $14.95

Product Reviews Research


All the products are well received by their respective reviewers.  The products seem to do the job they are intended for.  Some of the particular considerations I paid attention to in the reviews that helped me solidify my decision were the following:

• Price
• Pad movement during basic activities such as walking
• Quality of product - did it fall apart immediately or have issues after washes?
• Leakage - did anyone complain of leaks in their reviews?
• Temperature complaints
• Ease of use
• Bulky bunching product- does it create a visible panty line through clothing?

My intent for the product use was to replace disposable pantyliners used for spotting or light days in my menstrual cycle.  I currently use the Diva Cup menstrual cup as an alternative to disposable products for my menstrual flow days so my research was restricted to the thinner pantyliner options.  After a lot of back and forth between option 1 and 2, I ended up purchasing the Hesta Organic Cotton 5 pack pantyliners from Amazon.




Product First Impressions 
The pads are soft, thin, and easily usable.  They snap together around the underwear using buttons.  My first month using them I experienced some pad movement.  On my second month of use, I remedied this issue by doubling up on underwear or wearing a pair of boy short style underwear over my underwear that contained the pad.  For cleaning purposes, I have been using the wet pail method of soaking the used pads in a bucket of cold water then hand washing with mild detergent and hang drying.  I picked up a PRESSA 16 clip hanging octopus dryer from IKEA to use for my drying method. So far after two months of use, I am really enjoying using the reusable pads and am a point of considering purchasing an additional set of five pads.  I'm also experimenting with cleaning methods.  I prefer the hand washing wet pail method and will try different detergents and recommended cleaning products with future use.  Overall, I am feeling very good about my continued progress towards a greener menstrual cycle. 

Fitness Tracker Change Up

My Fitbit Flex was working fine for the last 23 months- until it wasn't.  It stopped syncing to the app and was determined to be officially dead.  I did a little research on the current fitness trackers on the market offered through Fitbit so I could take advantage of the 25% off discount code they sent me. However, none of the trackers were very appealing to me for both features and price.  I'd been a previous Jawbone Up Move user and I decided to return to using my all time favorite tracker once again.  I ordered an Up Move tracker from Amazon.  In the meantime, to stay on track with my Employee Wellness Program goals of 10k+ steps per day, I downloaded a free pedometer app to my phone.  All I really need in a tracker is to be able to keep track of my step count.  An additional bonus to using a tracker for me is the sleep tracking feature and exercise log.  I really enjoyed the user friendly device that Jawbone offers.  I am hoping my new tracker will live up to the quality of my previous tracker's experience. 


I received my tracker quickly after purchasing from Amazon.  Everything worked wonderfully fresh out of the box.  Last week I was browsing fitness trackers online and it occurred to me that not many people use the Jawbone trackers anymore since their peak in popularity just three years ago.  It was then that I discovered news articles from mid-2017 stating that Jawbone had gone out of business.  While the tracker I have is still working, I wonder how long the app will continue to function and the tracker will continue doing what I need it to do? So for now, I am going to continue to enjoy using my tracker until I am no longer able to.  It's such a shame because I really like the product.  It just appears that for whatever reason, Jawbone couldn't keep up with the competitive demands of the fitness tracker market.  So far, the tracker lives up to the quality I had previously experienced as a Jawbone user.  I will continue to keep my eyes open in the meantime for a similar simplistic device that does not require me to wear on my wrist for my inevitable future tracker purchase.  So if you're in the market for a cheap short term fitness tracker, then it appears the Jawbone Up Move tracker may be just for you. 

#FortheLoveofPole February Challenge

I'm hosting a pole challenge on my Instagram for February.  I was tired of being a in a pole rut- I had not touched the pole since July. 😲 I couldn't believe it'd been so long.  The challenge is quite simple. Pole every day in the month of February for at least 15 minutes.  Going into this challenge, I foresaw most of my entries being quick freestyle warm up type dances.  Which was fine by me.  I wasn't trying to impress anyone, I just wanted to get back into dancing with my pole.  I also didn't have any expectations of how many people would participate.  Like I said, this was more about doing something I'd been wanting to do for quite awhile now which is also one of the goals I touched base on in my 2018 Fitness Goals blog post..  It was an overdue process of getting reacquainted with my pole.  Just three years ago when I was a studio owner, I did pole EVERY day.  I felt like my body was in a lot better shape then so it only made sense that if I could do one thing to get back into better physical shape that it would be to bring pole back into my life. 

How I'm doing the challenge.

Day 1 was a lot of awkward freestyle movement.  I turned on my Pandora Radio app and tuned into to the Amy Winehouse channel.  I set up my camera to record some of my progress for sharing purposes and set a timer for 15 minutes.  Then I just danced. I danced around the pole clockwise and counterclockwise, did body rolls, forward bends, danced through the Pandora commercials, and even played a game of fetch with my dog that kept bringing me a stuffed toy- ALL while I danced.  It felt good to spin and move.  A lot of muscle memory still exists but the movements felt rough around the edges. Surprisingly, 15 minutes felt like an awful long time for continuous movement.  I event checked the time with 4 minutes to go thinking the timer had failed me and I'd been dancing for 30 minutes.  I'm looking forward to continuing this challenge throughout the month and will hopefully come away with putting pole back into my regular fitness rotation.

Day 1 #fortheloveofpole challenge! Pole dance every day in February for at least 15 minutes. I actually worked up a sweat during my 15 minutes. So good to get back on the pole- even if it was for a warmup freestyle type dance. #polechallenge #polefitness #poledance #poleharmonyblog #poleharmony #fitnessblogger #fitness

A post shared by Pole Harmony Blog (@poleharmony) on Feb 1, 2018 at 5:45pm PST

My Fitness Goals for 2018

I have a lot of ambitious goals for my fitness journey in 2018! I'm really excited to lay these plans out and start working on these goals for the new year.  By sharing my goals with my readers, I'm creating accountability. So here are the list of goals I'm looking forward to for 2018.

• Complete 14 day online Do Yoga With Me challenge.
• Progress in my Trapeze skills. Be able to create a routine.
• Perform in an aerial showcase.
• Complete an Instagram challenge for pole fitness.
• Kayaking
• Hiking - visit Cascade Falls, Jug Rock, and other local hiking trails/parks
• 10K steps/day
• Employee Wellness Program activities
• Sailing lessons
• Ride my bicycle more within the city and less driving the car/take bicycle grocery shopping

What are your fitness goals for 2018?  Let me know in the comments or share with my on my Instagram or Facebook!