Loving the skin you're in

A friend of mine who has been religiously going to the gym every week since last year (and managed to gain weight not loose) has now decided to REALLY up her workout programme instead just of posing at the gym, do you hear me laughing? Her goal is to loose the belly she gained from drinking way too much beers and the pounds she has packed on from eating whatever she wanted, thinking going to the gym and doing cardio for 10 minutes was sufficient exercise.

Anyway, I wish my friend luck as I am really in no position to laugh at her too hard and too long. Being on a vacation last year put me into a serious lazy mode, and the cruise plus the sojourn on SOBE did not help either! While I enjoyed the constant availability of food on the cruise and sampling all the late night restaurants and clubs in SOBE I paid for it by gaining extra pounds as well.

Christmas I tried to be as good as ever and not indulge, which was hard but I stuck to the no carb rule, the vodka though did me in! So come January and 4 weeks to Carnival the impossible goal was set to loose X amount of pounds before February 4th ( I am fooling myself to think I am dieting until Carnival Monday). The weight loss plan has been going pretty ok I must say, I drastically cut my calories, eat very little carbohydrates and I have even done a detox! The caveat of cutting out as much carbs as I can is that the energy is simply not there to exercise and I am NOT going to the gym to fight up with the other people also thinking they can miraculously loose X amount of weight before Carnival.

So I am now working out at home, thank God for the treadmill, and my other exercise equipment albeit the biggest hurdle to overcome is to actually use the tools that I have. In that respect I have good days and bad days. Some days I feel like running on that treadmill forever other days I am tired after one minute. The moral of this whole ramble is that I think I have reached the stage where I look in the mirror and I love the body looking back at me. Sure, it may not be perfect but you know what it ain’t all that bad! The diet and exercise routine will continue until Carnival, of course, and the resultant weight loss will be appreciated if it happens but according to my friend who has cursed dieting, the face and boots will be looking so FABULOUS anyway who has time to check out the jiggle?

All of you ladies trying to reach that goal in two weeks keep trying!!! If anything you will have gained lots of stamina for the road and it is possible to shed pounds between now and Carnival (though it might only be water loss). To those who have reached the “f*it” stage and feel like giving up, remember not to throw in the towel too far and still watch what you eat, it is only a two week sacrifice, though you may not loose anymore weight, you do not want to gain either. The best mentality we can all have at this time, those of us who do not look like the costume models on the website that is, is that no one is perfect. We really have to stop stressing over perceived imperfections and learn to work with what we have!! Illusion is the name of the game!! Every woman should know exactly how to conceal cellulite, stretch marks and even a tubby tummy. Anyway, I leave you with a photo of a Jcrew model that one of the bloggers sent me, she said if this chick/model could be showing her stretch marks big and brave she will be jamming down the road, sans stockings, with HER stretch marks showing as well!!

p.s. I am going to hit the treadmill there!! Hey, I never said to throw in the towel eh, fight that battle down the last!! lol.