Detox? Nah....no thanks :)

As a follow-up to my first Universal Contour Wrap last Sunday, I decided to do a mini-detox which involved cutting down on soft drinks (I can't totally give up my diet Pepsi/diet Irn Bru), drinking more water and completely cutting out coffee.  

The first couple of days were fine, and were helped by an enjoyable couple of days off work, however by the time Wednesday arrived I was like a bear with a sore head - literally, as the headaches were unbearable - and was an agitated, anxious wreck.  Everyone who knows me, knows that I'm normally a very laid-back, calm and cheerful person but even my boss noticed that I was "flat" and she thought my depression was back again.  No, I told her, I'm just detoxing! 

By yesterday (Friday) I'd had enough.  At 8.30 last night, I fired up the coffee machine and everything was ok with the world again.  I'm still cutting down my soft drinks intake and drinking more water though, and with the temperatures finally dropping a couple of degrees I'm back on the exercise regime.  With 7 weeks to go till our next holiday, it's time to start paying in sweat.  Once again.  

But firstly....it's coffee time :)

Summer fragrance...

This is a catch-up as I just remembered that I hadn't done my usual summer fragrance post.  Summer fragrances are limited-edition lightly fragranced perfumes which are only available during the summer months.  I've been a massive fan of Escada's summer fragrances over the years and as is an annual event, made my way to the Perfume Shop a couple of months ago to buy their 2013 edition, Cherry in the Air.

It's all in the name: a summery, lightweight scent of cherries, which is one of my favourite smells anyway.  I wasn't so keen on "Sexy Graffiti" which I bought last year, as the initial strawberry scent gave way to something more reminiscent of a household cleaner or a washing-up liquid.  (!)

Cherry in the Air has been perfect for this lovely warm summer, and as a fan of all fruity/citrus smells I would thoroughly recommend it.  The only negative thing I can say is that, as with all summer fragrances, the smell doesn't stay around for very long,   I've checked out some online reviews and this perfume doesn't really appeal to everyone, but I like it anyway. 

Wrappers' delight!

As a follow-up to my last post, I had reached the point where drastic measures were required.

I'd been thinking for a while about trying the Universal Contour Wrap to kick-start my inch loss regime.  This is a treatment offered in many beauty salons and involves being smothered in clay and wrapped up in bandages, then when they are unwrapped after an hour or so, you should have lost some inches as all the horrible toxins are removed from your body.  So far so good, however it has to be said that in these times of reecession and watching your money, the cost of around £200 for 3 treatments is a bit steep. 

Happily, there is another, cheaper way to do this treatment - at home.  The Universal Contour Wrap people sell a "Self-Slim Kit" which includes all the equipment you need for approximately three treatments, and it only costs £40.  One other thing you need for the treatment is a "sauna suit" which is a top and pair of trousers made of silvery metallic-plastic material, which you put on after wrapping up the bandages.  This costs £35 from the Universal Contour Wrap people, however you can get it at the moment from Argos for £6.99. 

So, I ordered the Self-Slim Kit and bought the Sauna Suit, and was ready to transform myself yesterday morning into a spacesuit-wearing bandage-wrapped mummy, all in the cause of inch loss.  You must measure the areas where the clay is being applied before the treatment, and note the measurements so that you can compare this with the results after the treatment.

The 'Slim Clay' is applied first.  This is rather runny, so it's a little bit more difficult to apply than expected.  The bandages are soaked in warm water then the water is squeezed out and you proceed to wrap the bandages around the area you are treating. After applying the bandages, it's on with the "spacesuit" and lie down and relax for 60 minutes. 

After the 60 minutes, it's off with the spacesuit, unwrap the bandages, wipe off any extra clay and then the moment of truth - measuring time.  You need to be very careful that you are measuring the exact same area before the treatment to get the correct result.  Over the waist and thigh-to-knee area which I treated yesterday, there was an inch loss of - are you ready? - 8½ inches in various places.  The skin is so much smoother and there has been a definite reduction in cellulite. 

Of course this treatment is only a quick-fix, and long-term results are only guaranteed with a healthy eating/exercise regime.  As it is a detox, it is a good idea to keep the nasty toxins away for a while, so I'm having a few follow-up 'healthy days', drinking lots of water and avoiding coffee and cola.  Which is a major challenge as caffeine is my drug of choice.  However, it is a small price to pay to get started on what will be a long task ahead.  This time there are no goals, no targets, no deadlines.  I'm focusing on inch loss rather than weight loss this time round, and not becoming a slave to the scales. 

My big fat summer

Who'd have thought it? The summer of 2013 has been a surprising revelation.  More or less, since the end of May, the weather up here has been, on the whole, dry, warm and pleasant...and the last couple of weeks have given us continental temperatures which are more Greece than Glasgow.  Holiday clothing (and all the horrors that brings) has replaced the usual anoraks and umbrellas which symbolise the relentless rain and low temperatures which characterise our Scottish summer.  Usually, if we get a couple of dry days, that's our summer.

But having a few weeks of sunshine, dry weather and clear skies has completely changes our lives and given us a glimpse into what life could be like if we actually had proper, defined seasons.  People are smiling more, they're in a better mood, they're being nicer to each other.  We're all happier. 

For the first few months of this year I struggled, not just with my usual winter blues/SAD but also with stress and anxiety, and completely lost my confidence.   (One particular benefit of this nice summer has been the vast improvement in my mood and getting my confidence back, particularly at work, which has helped me through all the challenges presented by a heavy workload and staff shortages).

However, in the first half of the year, I turned to comfort/binge eating, gaining a stone over a short period, and my physical health plummeted.  Where I previously power-walked uphill to work, it became a struggle to even power-crawl.

You will know from previous posts that I did try to get the weight off, but these were only very short-lived with no commitment.  Over recent weeks, the realisation about what I've been doing to my body became very apparent, firstly going on holiday and then during the recent hot spell.  All those summer clothes hanging in the wardrobe, which can't be worn because they don't fit any more.  Going into fitting rooms and not recognising the person staring back at me.  How did I allow this to get so bad?  It has finally given me the motivation to do something about it. 

Sc-hot-land!

And before you ask, this isn't going to be one of those posts complaining about how hot it is (but just a tiny, tiny request - could you please turn the temperature down to about 21/22?).

Compared to the last couple of years, we've actually had quite a decent last few weeks which probably constitutes "summertime".  From May into late June, the sun remembered to come out, the rain actually remembered to go off, and the temperatures were just perfect - for us, that would be the 21/22 degrees as stated above.

Then we were plunged into winter again, and even had to resort to central heating.  In June!

In recent days however, the real hot summer has arrived, with temperatures heading up to 30 degrees.  Now regular readers will know that Scotland is not known for its good weather - a "good spell" is two dry days in a row. So as you can imagine, it doesn't take much for all the "weeds" to come out - and I'm not just talking about my much-neglected back garden here - as the parade of fashion disasters hits the streets.  I'm still in a state of trauma from the guy with the 9 months pregnant belly and the dangerously low-slung shorts who was walking in front of me all the way down the road on the way home yesterday.

Being the pale-skinned impersonation of a milk bottle that I am, I take the same precautions at home as I do abroad: cover up and slap on the factor 50+.  So please excuse me if I don't want to join in the sun-worshipping.  But a few more weeks of dry, reasonably warm weather, would do nicely.