Holiday prep

A couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend and I booked a long awaited late deal holiday. We had discussed it for months, just not committed to it. So finally, we found a 5*, all inclusive to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The hotel we've booked is currently ranked 20/200 odd on trip advisor, so can't be bad (fingers crossed!).

Now, those who know me will know that organisation is the key. I'm a worrier by nature. I will worry about every possible realistic and unrealistic situation. I've already had a dream that we missed our flight. So to keep the worrying at bay as best I could, preparation had to start immediately.

Our hotel

Bikini body

First up; getting in shape. I will be honest with you, I am a size 8 or sometimes 10 depending on the shop or the day. BUT I do have cellulite on my thighs and bum. This is probably to do with my love of all things sweet; cake, chocolate, cake, chocolate cake, etc. This has always bothered me, but I am even more aware that it's about to be on show to everyone poolside. 

I have been doing two things to tackle this. Firstly, I have been doing Jilian Michael's 30 day shred DVD every other day, building up to every day the week of the trip. I have also been using the My Fitness Pal app to keep track of what I'm eating. It has been quite a learning curve for me as I have discovered that although I often keep within my calorie limit, I tend to eat more "fat" than my recommended daily allowance, and often not enough protein. So I've been trying to cut down on fatty foods and increase my protein intake opting for boiled or poached eggs at lunchtime and chicken for dinner. To be brutally honest, it has been hard and I've pretty much been hungry for a week. But today I noticed that my stomach looks more toned, and yesterday I could have sworn my shirts were looser. I will keep working on this until I leave, and I hope to pick it back up again on my return as I know I do need to eat more healthily.

Part of this also involves me getting my nails done. I can't be doing with nail varnish on holiday. I will book an appointment for the day before we leave for either some french tip falsies or gel nails, depending on how good my nails are at the time.

I've also booked a hair appointment for a trim and a blow dry the day before we leave. I'm loving my long hair, but its been about three months since I last got it cut, so most of my layers have grown out. I'm hoping that having a little trim will help make it more managable. Also, my hairdresser does a beautiful blow dry, so my hair will be looking it's best as we travel out there.

Shopping
I've have searched the highstreet twice and the retail park once, with little luck, so I moved over to online shopping. A bit of ASOS, Missguided and New Look did the trick. I'm taking dresses, shorts, skirts and nice tops for the evening.

I also bought some of the holiday essentials - suncream, after sun, insect repellant, waterproof mascara.

Packing
Today I've had a marathon dress up afternoon. I tried on lots of different outfits for evening wear with different shoes and bags and have narrowed down what I want to take. I say narrowed down, but to be honest, it's probably not that narrow.

Tomorrow I need to make a list of what I want to take and start the serious packing. This also means a trip up to the loft for my travel adaptors.

Next week, I'll show you some holiday outfits.

Trying to be fit!

This month (March) will see me trying to get fit. I know a lot of people make new year resolutions for exercise, but I can't face it in the cold winter months. But now spring is arriving, the days are getting longer and hopefully the weather is improving it seems like a great time to get into shape for the summer.

Last night I went to the gym - the first time in a year! Strangely I really enjoyed it and realised I had missed the buzz you get from doing some good old fashioned exercise. 

This morning my sister sent me this ... 

... The March ab challenge. 

I shall be trying to stick to this as well as doing the odd bit of gym work, occassional exercise DVD and maybe even an outdoor run or two.

The only downside is that my gym wear is rather outdated. Best head over to Primark this weekend as they have quite a good fitness range. Yayyy for shopping! And yayyy for getting fit!

I wanna quit the gym!!

If you are an avid Friends fan like me, then you will fully appreciate the title of this post. :)

Click here to see Friends clip!

 
Anyway, I want to quit the gym. The reasons are four fold really:

1. I'm moving up the property ladder so my mortgage payments are going to be higher
2. I got a promotion at work last year so I work later on more nights now and find I'm too tired to go to the gym after
3. I don't do all that much other than cycle in my workout now since a knee injury, so I could either get an exercise bike at home or a real bike
4. If we get the house we are trying to, then I'll live an extra couple of miles away from my current gym.

I've heard it can be difficult to end your membership, so I thought I'd document my experience and see how long it takes. I'm with Fitness 364 after they took over the Fitness First in my local town.

Friday 1st March 2013
I went to the gym after work and as the receptionist scanned me in, I asked her about cancelling my membership. She said that the guy who deals with that (one guy?!) is not in until Monday. So I've written my name and number down for him to ring me on Monday. We'll see.

Tuesday 5th March 2013
I didn't get the phone call I was promised yesterday so I chased them after work today. The lady I spoke to on the phone told me that I needed to give a months notice but she will put that through today. So my last payment will be 1st April and then I'll be able to use the gym until the end of April and then my membership will be terminated. I did ask if I needed to give my notice in writing and she said no.

If it really is as easy as that, then well done Fitness364.