tinytea giveaway!

You've seen it all over my Instagram and Twitter. You've heard all the fitness and health gurus rave about it. And now, it's time for you to try it!

YourTea, has, quite simply, been one of the biggest blessings of 2013 for me. I had no idea that the simple idea of drinking three cups of natural, organic and yummy­tasting tea for a couple of weeks would have such a great effect on my lifestyle. YourTea believes in the power of natural ingredients in their unique tea blends, that serve to enhance your lifestyle and physique. Derived from traditional Chinese medicine principles, YourTea boasts a wide range of tea blends to cater for everyone. Here are some short descriptions of the following teas they offer: (skip straight to the TinyTea summary if you're pressed for time!)

ManTea: For all the guys reading this: the ManTea teatox is designed to enhance muscle growth and promote a lean frame. This tea blend is free from sugar, chemicals and preservatives, and you may continue to consume supplements and exercise as you would normally, as the natural tea blend won't interfere with any of that. ManTea contains Green tea (to burn fat, increase metabolism and maintain muscle mass), antioxidants (to curb inflammation and allow for greater muscle growth), Camellia Senensis (helps muscle tone and increases energy levels) and Licorice Root (for harmonizing all herbs).

HerTea: For regular, everyday use ­ girls: if you're retaining a lot of fluid, feeling sluggish and energy deprived and looking to get rid of some excess fat, her tea will reduce fluid retention, heighten your mood, improve your skin, manage bloating issues and aid digestion. Contains Oolong tea, ginger, chrysanthemum, lyciumchinese (goji berries), and additional Chinese Medicine Herbal ingredients. 

Anti­C Tea: For anyone who feels that cellulite and toxins have set up camp on your booty and thighs, never fear… Anti­C tea is here! It contains Fu Ling, Camellia Sinensis, Dandelion root and additional Chinese Medicine Herbal ingredients to help you combat excess fats on your body for a leaner, meaner figure. 

Fertility Tea: For anyone planning to conceive, Fertility tea will become your new best friend. It optimizes your ability to become pregnant by nourishing your reproductive, digestive and emotional health. The Fertility Tea blend has been hand selected with precision by natural fertility specialist Natalie Kringoudis. It's safe and perfectly balanced to naturally support hormones and regulate your menstrual cycle to maximize fertility potential. It contains goji berries, peppermint tea, dandelion root, camellia sinesis, which each target a different body part to ensure the maintenance of a healthy reproductive system.

TinyTea: The most well­known of all YourTea's products, the famous TinyTeatox (14 and 28 day teatoxes available) is the one I've been drinking for the past month. It's for everyone who feels bloated, lethargic, and for those who want to make aesthetic changes to their body. It performs an intensive cleanse and nourishes your digestive system to assist with weight lost, fluid retention and toxin removal. Unlike other detoxes that contain laxative ingredients to momentarily flush out toxins, the herbal ingredients found in TinyTea gently and thoroughly cleanse your system. Your digestive system is the most important part of maintaining a healthy weight, and this tea supports that system for optimum aesthetic results. This tea dries phlegm, reduces waste and assists digestion. Drink TinyTea three times a day, half an hour before mealtimes for optimum results. Do note that upon initial consumption, TinyTea can cause slight stomach upsets, minor skin breakouts and cramps as it gets to work. However, these symptoms do disappear very shortly, and after a few days you should already be feeling the benefits of it! According to YourTea, you should see a reduction in body fat, fluid retention and cellulite, as well as clear skin and more natural energy. TinyTea contains Camellia Sinensis, Catsia, Lotus Leaf, Crataegus Pinnatifida and additional Chinese Medicine Herbal ingredients.

Check out these Instagram pictures from fellow TinyTea enthusiasts!

Phew! So now that you've read about all the amazing benefits you're SUPPOSED to receive from consuming YourTea ­ TinyTea in particular, I'll now tell you a bit about my own experience with the teatox. I've received a countless number of questions about this and I'm sorry for not answering a lot of them; I only ignored them because I knew I'd be publishing a much more comprehensive review of my experience here for you all to read! Anyway, it's always nice to hear about someone's personal experience (and as a disclaimer, YourTea has not asked me to write anything in particular about their product, so this is all from the heart!), so here goes! After drinking TinyTea for 28 days (and I have to admit I wasn't strict enough with myself on the timings of my consumption; I ended up drinking 4 cups some days and 1 cup on other days!), I felt a lot better in many ways. I hadn't really changed my diet and exercise patterns from what they were like before, so the tea definitely had a slight slimming effect ­ nothing exceptionally noticeable, but my stomach did feel a little tighter as a result of less bloating. The tea did an excellent job of cutting out my bloating entirely, which both looked and felt great. One of my favorite benefits of the tea was the fact that it also gave me tons of energy. I'm someone who needs a LOT of sleep, and even when I get loads of sleep I'm still very drowsy and yawny in the late afternoon; my tiredness hits me like a train at around 3pm and I find it hard to stay focused towards the end of the school day. Tinytea provided me with plenty of amazing natural energy, and it's not even caffeinated! I felt so much more productive and awake and was better able to make the most of my day. Furthermore, it helped with my metabolism and food cravings a lot. I still wanted my chocolate, I'm not gonna lie, but it served as a moderate appetite suppressant and over time I began to feel less hungry. Because the teatox forced me to consume three to four additional cups of tea each day, I felt a lot more hydrated because of all the water I was drinking. By the end of the 28 days, the pattern of eating less and "expelling" more waste fell into place, and that slight imbalance of losing more than gaining (aka a slight net loss of food in the cycle of food consumption and waste production) was what made me feel so thoroughly cleansed out. Slight improvements in my skin were noticed too!

All in all, I didn't lose weight and my appearance didn't change that much, but I'm okay with that. I felt so much better on the inside, so much so that it began showing on the outside a little! This is not something you should consider if you're aiming for a dramatic difference in body shape and looking for something that will shed off your excess fat. Through making me less bloated, clearing my skin, cleansing my digestive system, suppressing my hunger/cravings and forcing me to consume more liquids and stay hydrated, I came out of the 28 day teatox feeling better than ever ­ and the fact that it showed on the outside a little was just a bonus! Please remember that this tea doesn't contain laxatives and is very gentle, so it won't violently drain the fat/weight out of you. It's nourishing, organic and a healthy addition to your existing lifestyle!

Check out the following snaps from @TinyTeaTox's Instagram!

What I want to also mention is that for the first week and a bit of drinking the tea, I made an extra effort to work out loads and eat healthy, and for the short time that I did, I saw some great results appear on my body. However, I am still human (and a human undertaking the IB, mind you), so unfortunately I had some slip­ups here and there and fell slightly out of this healthy lifestyle rhythm, but I'm okay with that! I'm no fitness junkie and health guru, and I'm still learning :) Therefore, the benefits I described above will probably apply more to those who maintain the same lifestyle while drinking the tea, but as I discovered in just a week of drinking tea and exercising, Tinytea is even more effective and excellent when paired with exercise and a healthy diet. The one complaint I have about the tea is the fact that it caused me some tummy pain and cramps on the first two days, but they disappeared quickly and were very minimal while they lasted.

Now, enough with the rambling. This Christmas, YourTea and I have paired up to bring this transformational Tinytea experience to YOU! I'm giving away TWO 14­day Tinyteatoxes for you to try, each worth USD$35! To enter the giveaway is super easy; each step is worth one entry, so the more steps you complete, the better chance you have of winning the tea!

­ STEP 1: Like "Seven Inch Stilettos" on Facebook

­ STEP 2: Comment on this picture the reason why you'd like to win a 14 ­day Tinyteatox.

­ STEP 3: Repost this picture on Instagram, tagging @yourtea,
@veenamccoole and #SISxTinyTea (worth 5 entries!)

­ STEP 4: Tweet the following (I can only see your tweets if your account is public!): "I've just entered the 1st #seveninchstilettos #xmas giveaway to win a #tinyteatox from @veenamccoole! Check it out: bit.ly/INm5gj

And there you go; four simple steps that'll score you up to 8 separate entries for the giveaway! Contest is open internationally and winners will be selected randomly. I will announce the winner via any of the social media platforms they have entered on (e.g. if you tweeted and instagrammed, I'll mention you on both platforms). Winners have 24 hours to respond/confirm before I randomly select other winners to take their place, so stay tuned to your Twitter/Facebook/Instagram on the 21st of December when I announce the two lucky winners!

Giveaway closes on Midnight (Singapore Time) of the 21st of December, so get entering ASAP!