My name is KT and I’m Karen’s daughter. I’m 13 years old and am also home-schooled. I’m writing on my mom’s blog today to review Lunapads. What are Lunapads? Well, they are cloth menstrual pads that can be washed and used again. They have lots of different ways they can be used because the pads, which come in different sizes and have nylon in them to prevent leaks, can have a special liner on them or they can be used on their own. There are also ones made of only cloth for very light days.

I had already had two periods and used disposable pads when my mom found out about Lunapads. I decided to try them because the disposables were very uncomfortable for me. Lunapads are way more comfortable then disposables, and they don’t get sticky and hot. They also don’t crinkle and make lots of noise like disposables do. I hated thinking that my friends could hear my pad crinkle when I walked! They are, in the long run, cheaper as well because you don’t have to replace them every time they get dirty.

An average woman uses 12,000 pads or tampons in her lifetime! And these can take 40 years or longer to biodegrade. Lunapads can be re-used again and again. That’s why they’re less harmful to the environment. They are also easy to clean, just soak them in a little water and put them in the washer. Then air dry them and they are as clean as new!

Not only are they better for me, and the environment, they are just really cute! They come in all kinds of cute fabrics and colors and that’s way more exciting than just plain boring white.

Best of all, I feel so much better about my period now!!

My mom wanted me to write this review so that I could encourage other teenagers to try them. I really like Lunapads and I think you should try them too. If you want to learn more go to Lunapads. There you can find a FAQ, testimonials, and a list of their products.

Maybe you can be nice to the environment and yourself at the same time!

Hey, this is Karen here. I thought I’d chime in and give you my perspective on this whole thing. I first heard of Lunapads when I visited the blog Fair Love. I clicked on the link and my very first thought was, “Ewwwwww, that is so nasty.” But something in my mind must have been curious and I kept clicking the link. And kept clicking the link. And the more I clicked, the more I started to become open to the idea. Just about that time, KT started her periods and used disposables like practically every other teen who starts their periods. I always worried about her….would they be comfortable? Will they leak? Will she be embarrassed by the crinkling sound that you’re just sure everyone within a 100 yard radius could hear? Would she freak the first time she had to change her pad in the public bathroom and worry that everyone else would know by the tell-tale sounds that she was ripping a pad out of her underwear? Yes, I’m a worrier like that.

So I started to wonder if she’d like the Lunapads better. But then I started to worry about other things. Like what would she do with the used pad if she had to change it in public? How in the world would I ever get the stains out? Would she think it’s weird to do something that none of her friends do? I called the Lunapads gals with some of my questions and I encountered one of the nicest customer service people ever. She answered all of my questions and walked me through the whole process of using and cleaning Lunapads.

In the meantime, I did Google blog searches every single day to see what people were saying. Sure, Lunapads has testimonials on their site, but I always wonder if companies just conveniently fail to publish the bad reviews. Surely if I looked elsewhere I would find lots of people who tried them and hated them. But I couldn’t. There wasn’t a single person who didn’t like them. Of course, there were a ton of people who hated them and thought they were disgusting and gross. Interestingly enough, these are the people who had never tried them! They had my initial “ewwwwww” response, but never thought any deeper about it. I didn’t give them very much credibility. Of the people who tried them, they all loved them!

I thought I’d let KT decide what she wanted. So I showed her the website and told her to look it over carefully and think about it. Shortly after that she came to me and was excited. She wanted to try them! She had picked out her favorite fabric colors and products! So we ordered a bunch.

They came and it was like being a kid on Christmas day. We were so excited to open them and feel how incredibly soft they were. We played with all the different combinations of pads and liners and then tucked them away until the next period rolled around. And, just like clockwork, it did and KT started with her Lunapads. Every night, coming home from play rehearsal, she would go on and on about how wonderful they were! My favorite line she said was, “I feel so much better about my period now!” Ok, if switching from disposables to reusables is what it took to have such a drastic shift in attitude, then I’m so glad we did it!

Stay tuned tomorrow for some exciting contest information in which YOU, my readers, can have a chance to win a Lunapads Intro Kit!!! If you’ve already tried Lunapads and just need some more pads, I’ll also have some coupon codes for discounts!

More in the Lunapad series:
Lunapads…These are not your grandmother’s pads (this post)
Lunapads Contest and Coupons
Lunapads Care

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Don’t forget…..only one week left to enter my Tastefully Simple Contest!!

And I’m extremely excited to announce TWO MORE contests coming up very shortly! Keep checking into Pediascribe for more information! You are going to love these prizes!

Whoa, Nellie! After a phone call from a Tastefully Simple rep stating my contest be stopped IMMEDIATELY, I had to prematurely end it. So for all of you who didn’t have a chance to enter, I’m sorry. It’s beyond my control. We’ll be contacting the winner of the contest shortly.

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Ok, I had a stroke of genius this weekend. Or maybe it was just some bad beef. Whatever it was, I think it’s going to help. The thing is this…..I play mind games with myself and it sabotages my progress. I’m sure that’s not new to many of you. And really, it’s not new to me. I just never knew how to counteract it before, but I think I have a plan.

Let me give you a bit of background on a non-weight-loss related issue but definitely something people avoid…..flossing. Yes, flossing your teeth. See, I used to get yelled at each time I went to the dentist. The lecture was always the same, “You need to floss.” And I’d try. I’d make it about 3 days, maybe 4, and then I’d just quit. Six months would go by, another dentist appointment would be scheduled, and I’d have to sit through the lecture again.

So finally I decided to do something about it. But I had to play a mind game with myself to accomplish it. I made a deal with myself, and ultimately with my gums and teeth. I decided that I would ONLY floss Monday through Friday. That’s it. I would not have to floss on the weekends. That way, I could start flossing and when day 3 or 4 came along, I could say to myself, “No, you can’t skip flossing today because it’s not a weekend. Floss today and tomorrow and then you can have two glorious, wonderful, delightful days off.” And I’d floss.

Of course, I went in six months later to the dentist and the hygienist asked me if I flossed every day. Stupid me, I said, “No, but I do floss Monday through Friday….blah blah blah.” She told me that wasn’t good enough. But for me, it was. It had to be. Otherwise I would give it up totally.

And guess what happened? Flossing became such a habit that now I can’t imagine not flossing my teeth every.single.day! My teeth feel ick without flossing.

Light bulb moment–why not translate that stragegy to exercise? So last week I began exercising on Monday. I did 30 minutes of interval training on the treadmill. Ah, felt good. Tuesday, I dusted off an old Walk Away the Pounds video and did a two mile walk. Wednesday, I did the 2 mile walk again and this time the kids joined me! Thursday I started to do the walk, but my daughter was heading up to the shower and she wanted to walk too. So I waited until the afternoon and did it then. Bingo….FOUR days in a row. I could do this because I knew I didn’t HAVE to exercise on Saturday and Sunday!! As long as I could make it Monday through Friday, I was good. I had played a mind game with myself.

And then bad news hit. Friday morning I woke up and felt sick. My throat hurt. I was achy. I was tired. So I lounged around all day. I didn’t exercise. Saturday, same thing. I felt blah. Not only did I feel blah because I was ill, but I felt blah because I had failed. My mind games were telling me that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep up with an exercise schedule. Not even for one lousy week!

And then another light bulb moment happened. Who said I needed to kill myself exercising? Who said I needed to do a 12 minute mile or do every single move in a Walk Away the Pounds DVD? On days I feel icky, I can still exercise, just not as vigorously!

So here is my new, and improved plan. I will exercise Monday through Friday. If I want to skip a day, I will tell myself, “No, you can’t skip today. Remember you have Saturday and Sunday off from exercising.” On exercise days I will give it my all. I will incorporate good, heart-beat-raising workouts into my day. Thirty minutes. Sweat producing. Invigorating.

And on those days where I feel sick, or blah, or I come up with a million and one reasons NOT to exercise, I will at least get on the treadmill and walk a slow walk. Even 30 minutes at 2 miles an hour is better than nothing! Then I’m not failing my plan. I can honestly say I exercised! And when the illness or the blah has passed, I’ll kick it up a notch again.

I am ALL over this. I CAN do it!

Update on my stats…..I am now 161.4 lbs which is down 1.2 pounds from last week and 1.8 pounds total.
I had my 60+ ounces of water every day.
I worked on healthy, planned dinners.
I didn’t eat after 7:30 except the one night when we had dinner at 8 so we could watch the ball game and last night when I got home late from play rehearsal.
So far this week I have exercised Monday and Tuesday! And I have NO excuse to not exercise today!! Especially since I’ll get this weekend off!

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This post is part of BlogMommas 3 Word Post Project. Check out the project details here.

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This is what I’m dealing with over here folks. Besides homeschooling, and cooking, and laundry, and housework, and the blog, my calendar this month looks like this:

Can you see all of that chicken scratch on there? Ok, so no big deal. That’s October’s calendar and it makes sense that by the time October 22nd rolls around it’d be pretty full.

But here is November’s schedule:

Of course it makes sense….since it’s almost November, then November should be pretty booked up.

But this is December:

To be this booked up two months in advance is overwhelming. When am I supposed to get things done? Like cooking, and cleaning, and laundry? What about Christmas shopping? Ack! It’s bad enough I’ve just realized that I’ve totally forgotten my nephew’s birthday. It was last Friday. He turned 19. No big deal. I’ll catch him next year. After all, that’s a bigger milestone, right?

What you probably won’t be able to tell is that December’s schedule includes days when I have to have the kids at two different theaters at the same time. And Nick’s play will finish, but KT’s play will still be running. So, do I let Nick sit on the curb? Or leave KT’s play early? Decisions, decisions. Maybe this is the reason that even though I take two Benadryl before bed, I’m still not sleeping well! Hmmmmmm

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