30 day Mind / Body and Abs challenge - WILL SHE DO IT?

Hi all,

I have been gone for a while from this part of my blog, and it's mainly been due to lack of hours in the day.

In an ideal world I'd love to be able to post here regularly, exercise regularly, eat sensibly all of the time, as I am only too aware of what happens to me and my body and my mood if I don't make the right choices.

I am not 100% happy with my shape at the moment, and although I fit into standard 8-10 clothes all over, I feel I am so un-toned and just *soft* for lack of better way of describing it.

I have personally always preferred to be toned and fit and have been known to have a six -pack stomach at various stages of my life an even though I have 2 kids I don't accept that as an excuse to myself for NOT looking my absolute best.

I have decided to part take in a "30 day Ab challenge" run by Melissa from 

thru the blue blog  

Melissa is a fitness fanatic (whom I used to work with in a gym many years ago) who ran half a marathon this year with a group of girls from Twitter formed by the lovely @BangsandaBun and when she tweeted about it recently I thought here's my cue to make the month of November the month where I get back on track and get those abs back in shape!

There really is no excuse for me, I know I am capable of being a lot fitter - but sometimes lazing about in the evenings and wasting time of Social Media sites is a much preferred option!

My inspirational picture would have to be this of Anna Kournikova.. Yes please!

She's got a fab body, abs of steel yet still maintaining a girly feminine look

SO NO MORE EXCUSES! I hate excuses and I hate when I hear myself making them!

I am the only person holding me back and I cannot excuse myself anymore.

So Mel will be running the 30 day challenge through her blog and Twitter and there is a group of us who've committed to taking part and we'll be following a grueling abs routine for 30 days and tweet and blog about it, and keep each other motivated 

I have decided that as well as doing the abs challenge I will change my food & general exercise habits for the month of November, and obviously hope that the the good habits stick after November. 

If anything I'll be in great shape for Christmas parties ;)

Tomorrow morning I will take a before picture of my stomach- depending on how that looks I may or may not post it here. (I may wait till I have the after pictures so I can post them together ;) )

My promises to this challenge are:

1. To put in my all 100% to this challenge! I shall not let the team down!
2. Zero Tolerance. On the banned list will be Pasta, White Bread, Simple Carbs, Cakes, Chocolate, Fizzy Drinks, Crisps, Sugar, Cheese, Biscuits, Processed foods, Any carbs after 3pm, Sweets….
3. Clean & wholesome eating. Fruit, Vegetables, Greens, Salads, Protein Rich, Low-fat, Complex Carbs, Nuts & Seeds.
4. I will complete 45 minutes high intensity cardio workout (at home) 4 times a week.
5. I will follow the abs challenges and tasks given to me/us and not cheat- after all I'd be cheating myself.
6. I will not binge on ‘Indulgence Sundays’ – One treat only, not a whole day of binging!
7. I will not drink any alcohol AT ALL (This will be the hardest for me actually)
8. I will NOT make excuses! None. If I do- smack me! Virtually..
9. I will drink 2 litres of water as standard, daily, I already have 4 bottles waiting in the kitchen, I intend to finish one per day!
10. I will eat breakfast daily, even if it is a tiny portion of porridge with water (I have never eaten breakfast as I tend to eat majority of my food really late at night)

So all there is left to say now is -WISH ME LUCK- Join us if you want to - all the details are right here:thru the blue.me/category/30-day-ab-challenge

I shall be posting about my progress here and definitely on Twitter as Chic Beauty Blog on Twitter - Ciao for now x

The Bottom line is.... Slendertone!

Slendertone  Bottom Device

As women we all have issues with our bums!

Either you have one that is too large, too flat, too hanging, too protruding- we're just never happy!

Slendertone Bottom is a fab invention for the more lazy people out there who want a fantastic looking bottom but who just can't find the motivation nor time to exercise (I do mostly include myself in this..)

It all sounds so simple - you pop on some shorts for 30 minutes a day and sit down and wait for your bum to take shape, whilst getting what feels like electric shocks in your bottom (Apologies if this sounds rather rude..)

Here are the shorts in action

I'll be honest, the first thing you need to be in possession of when proceeding with your shorts is PATIENCE. 
There are four flaps at the back that open up and have sticky pads attached. You need to get these sticky pads to stick to skin only and they need to be perfectly aligned so they don't touch the shorts, and that in itself is rather tricky when all of this takes place - err behind you!  But you know, as with everything practice makes perfect and one you have all the four sticky pads stuck to your derriere, you're good to plug in to your electrocuting device..

But - No Pain No Gain - as they said to me when I was having my two 9lb babies (I didn't really appreciate the quote at the time.)..  But it is true in this instance!

Now is where the fun begins ; You plug the shorts into a tiny remote control type device where you can adjust the intensity of the electric shocks (please bear in mind I am using my own words here.. I am sure there is a technical word for it, but no-one would really understand that)..
The shocks come in waves so you get 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off- this goes on for 30 minutes.
You can chose a shorter program, but believe me once you're IN the shorts, you may as well go for the full 30 minutes. After the effort of putting them on - just leave them on for the 30 minutes, honestly!

The intensity is marked 1-100 and at first level 50 was AGONY! At each wave of electrocution I'd literally *GROAN* out loud, I couldn't help it, but after  a few times use I got used to it. It feels like someone is giving you a deep deep tissue muscle massage- really painful in a bearable way.


Does it work then I hear you ask:
Well in my opinion : Yes it does..
They do not make you lose weight or make your bottom look like the one in the picture BUTT they do firm up the bottom muscles and make it firmer and rounder (in my personal experience)- and just more.. PEACHY!
The general look of my bottom is better (this post is actually making me chortle) - my jeans look better on and so on.


What I will have to say though:
Do not expect this item to work if your plan is to sit on your bum eating cream cakes and watching Eastenders omnibus- at the end of the day, as with anything - what you put in determines what results you get.
And I have tried to eat healthily and drink plenty of water and do exercises at home as well as using it, but have got better results whilst using it than I normally would get from exercise alone.

All in all I love my Slendertone Shorts and I urge you to try these if you have bottom issues (Noo, not of that kind..)

You can pick these up in Boots and other retailers or find the full description on the website which is www.slendertone.com