Bikini blues and tea-toxes

We’re heading away to sunnier climes tomorrow and I’m in the throes of the packing frenzy.

 

This year, I decided to be super organised so I actually started buying sun creams, insect repellant, bikinis, etc, in early May. Yet here I am, the day before we are due to head off, still buying and still packing.

 

I’ve done as much packing as I can for the kids at this stage. Shorts, t-shirts, dresses, sandals, crocs, swimming gear, goggles, pyjamas, underwear, socks, Calpol, asthma meds, plasters, antiseptic wipes, pull-ups, books, toys, the iPad.........the list is endless!

 

It’s so much easier to pack for them than it is for myself though and that’s mainly because they have lots of lovely new gear and apart from a couple of new tops that I bought online for going out in the evening, my summer wardrobe is sadly lacking. On the rare occasions that I do get a chance to get into town to check out the shops, I invariably come home with more stuff for the kids and nada for myself.

 

It doesn’t help that I’m feeling particularly flabby at the moment. Annoyingly, since I took up running at the end of last year. I have been putting on weight rather than losing it as you would expect, having gone quite literally from couch to 5K after years of no proper exercise. And no, it’s not muscle as my well-meaning friends suggest; it’s FLAB.

 

Now, it’s only a few pounds, maybe even half a stone (I don’t weigh myself much, but use the tightness of my clothes as an indicator) but unfortunately, the bulk of those pounds have made themselves perfectly at home around my tummy, and as we all know only too well, the bikini offers no hiding place.

 

I have definitely been hungrier and as a consequence, eating more since I took up running but I do eat healthily as much as possible. I have a lot more energy and feel better mentally since I started exercise and have no intention of going back to my skinnier but unhealthy pre-running life.

 

In an effort to lose those stubborn pounds in time for the holiday, I decided to order one of those super-duper sounding slimming teas online. It promised to rid me of toxins, boost energy and burn tough body fat and it was 100% natural. Happy days.

 

Yes, of course I know it couldn’t be that easy, I knew it even as I was confirming payment but they made it sound so irresistible that I just couldn’t resist. And it was so much more appealing than having to cut out chocolate and cappuccinos.

 

I paid about €27 for a two week supply — basically €1.90 per tea bag containing green tea, ginger, rosehip and a few other ‘natural fat burning’ ingredients. Did it work? Of course it bloody didn’t. If it was that easy, we would all be strutting our lean, glowing detoxed bods in size 8 bikinis.

 

Now back to the packing!