To think I can make myself over in one month?

[yousignup]

Well, not exactly, but basically I want to get to 31 May and feel and look a lot better. This year so far has been terrible in terms of workload and stress, some awful, worrying things in my caseload. May should be a MUCH easier month, so I want to do some challenges. Not just weight wise, everything. I want to get back into warm lemon water and my daily swim, for example. Just ordered some hopefully flattering clothes online.
Any challenges I can do for a month?
Anyone want to join me?

I'm in on this too please! Just had my hair done yesterday after letting it run wild for the last 9 months....feels so much better.

I've also started exercising more a couple of weeks ago.

Some of you have mentioned teeth whitening. I find just going to the hygienist for a clean every six to twelve months does the trick! Much cheaper.

hi culrsandcurves

my dentist said it was a no no, hot or cold water the lemon erodes the tooth enamel. I was drinking it as a replacement for tea which I gave up. But she said to stop as it would damage my teeth.

I guess you would be ok once a day if you want to have it first thing in the morning as is recommended for health/beauty but I certainly wouldn't have it more than that. Maybe brush your teeth after?

If you want to drink lemon water, do it through a straw, it greatly reduces contact with your teeth.

If the dc have a glass/can of coke occasionally, I always give them a straw with it which was recommended on a flyer we had from the dentist. Try and do it myself too.

Oh I drink loads of lemon water (easily the juice of 1a day) so that is good information to know everyone, thank you.

I think I can cut out refined carbs and refined sugar pretty easily, so will try that.

This is my menu for today- I'd be grateful for a critique from the low carbers

B - 2 boiled eggs, 1 handful of grapes

L- Medium sized steak, english mustard, grilled courgettes with olive oil, sprinkle of feat cheese.

D- grilled chicken breasts with sweet potato mash (light on the butter and milk,) green beans and strawberries and a small slice of blue cheese as pudding.

Water and black coffee only.

I only go 30 mins walk in today as have meetings, but plan to do some exercises from the latest woman's health magazine at home later.

I blow dried my hair also (rare!) and am wearing loads of sparkly silver jewllery. I plan to 'refresh' my makeup at lunchtime also.

Having a read up on the hot lemon water there is no evidence it is particularly beneficial as a combination, hot water is good for digestion though. Doing high fat low carb means I get my creamy coffee so I'm sticking with the caffeine fix for now. It's been surprisingly easy and no carb/sugar withdrawal. 2lb down since Sunday. 21lb to go!

I need to add an extra day in the gym and drag myself along on Saturday mornings. Teeth whitening is a possible idea and I haven't had a hair cut for almost three years!

I don't know why it's suddenly clicked with me to get my diet sorted, I've been meaning to shift the extra half stone for about four years - and it's now one and a half stone :(

I'm in! I need to cut out fizzy drinks moisturise and remember to take my make up off. I've managed to get to my target weight but it needs to be amintained and I need to tone up my tummy.

I need to up my vegetable intake and cut down prosessed carbs.

My skin looks awful from my poor diet. Any good moisturisers for combination skin?

I'll join you all if that's okay?

I've been a downtrodden, disorganised stressball for about 6 months, and really need to start making small changes to better myself.

If I'm sat on the beach this August hiding myself under a beach towel again feeling out of place I'll never forgive myself!

I'm concentrating on lots of small changes
rather than big dramatic ones.

First steps are, whiten my teeth and get a flattering haircut, instead of it just being tied up in a ponytail all the time.

Exercise; I'm going to make sure I'm active for at least an hour a day, even if it's just a walk on the beach or taking DD2 to the park

You all have lots of fab ideas, I'll try and incorporate a few of those myself...good luck to everyone with their 1 Month Makeover!

I'm in.

I put on 6kg last year due to a new medication (which I have now stopped cos it wasn't working) so I'm trying to lose them atm. Except I'm not trying incredibly hard .

I'm still eating chocolate and/or biscuits everyday, though I have cut out the daily hot chocolate and lunchtime pudding that I was having before.

I've lost 3 kg since January with this minimal effort but I need to knuckle down to lose the rest.

DH motivated me by accident this weekend by saying that my bum/thighs do look more toned (I've been swimming every week since January).

Slightly depressing experience this morning. I need a dress for a wedding this summer and have 2 smart frocks in my wardrobe. One from when I was 18 (17 years ago ) and one from 10 years ago.

The 17 year old frock was impossible to get on, but I'm not too surprised it's still a beautiful dress

The 10 year old dress, well I could get it on and done up but it was a bit tight and not flattering. Still, I have had 2 DC since then.

I am in. How timely I just started my lchf diet (again!). I never know why I stop it makes me feel amazing and lose weight - 4st to go.

I bought some new clothes and skin care in the new year and now I need to be religious in making the effort to use them/wear them.

So I will be drinking more water, applying a bit of fake tan (almost blue without it), hair cut and pedicure booked for Saturday.

I am going to dust off my copy of 30 day shred as I haven't exercised in the whole of 2017 . That should do it for the moment. I also dug out my tape measure and will actually chart my progress as I just don't see it then get fed up and dive back into the carbs.

Good luck everyone

Bit off-topic and hope I don't sound flippant OP but 'I've really let the lemons slide recently' is going to be my new fave phrase

I'll join!

I find exercise (running) the most effective thing for improving my appearance. I think partly because of increased blood flow to the skin but also because you then sleep better.

As PP have said there's nothing quite like a good haircut for transforming you.

Also - and this depends on your colouring - but I find having my eyebrows threaded and tinted and my eyelashes tinted really improves me as well? I'm very fair skinned with naturally mousey hair so I think that's why...

Good luck everyone

This thread has inspired me to book a haircut for the first time in years and register with a dentist.

I'm on a long road to sorting myself out. This year so far I have started exercising regularly (yoga and swimming every week) and have improved my diet and cut my alcohol intake. I still suffer with sweet cravings which I am trying to curb atm but I'm better than I was. Still got a few lbs to lose though.

I read a short self help book once cringe at myself and it basically said the key was to change one thing about your lifestyle a week and that makes it more doable. So you could start drinking your lemon water tomorrow, then start swimming next week etc? That way it isn't such a drastic change all at once and is easier to keep it going for longer

I always always feel sooooo much better when I drink lots of water. And the sleep thing....yeah that makes a massive difference. I've got to stop eating so late at night....

I'm getting much more veg into my diet, and more water. Lunch today was a plateful of watercress, baby spinach, radishes, asparagus and a fried egg. Everyone else has had dinner elsewhere tonight so I'm having a beetroot and chickpea thing, kind of like hummus,(sp) with chopped veg.

Am doing Pilates twice a week and walking somewhere most days. Working from home doesn't help, but today I did a four mile round trip to Sainsbury and tomorrow will walk to the next town to pick up from the post office.

I like the idea of charting progress, especially on my weight / waist. Having something visual that I see every day would perhaps spur me along.

I mainly drank water yesterday - no tea or diet coke - but got a massive headache! Will persevere though. Did have a small glass of wine at a work dinner but i allowed myself that as i don't drink much otherwise so not worried about overdoing the alcohol.

Need to be stricter on the healthy eating though... effectively had 3 small puddings yesterday!

However, hair is v shiny so all good there

Managed 13k steps yesterday so was pleased with that, esp. as I didn't remember to put the Fitbit on until 10.30. However, that was mainly due to walking around London so today it going to be a lot more difficult. Loads of housework this morning is going to have to suffice as my work-out, have some shopping to do and maybe even some weeding. today's aim is to remember to drink loads of water and apply a face mask.

Thanks to this thread I didn't eat so many biscuits last night.

I had a couple, then had a plate of vegetables for dinner then immediately cleaned my teeth so I couldn't be tempted by more biscuits.

I even dared to weigh myself this morning, which I haven't done for about 3 weeks as I was afreaid i'd have put more weight on.

Nope, still lost the 3kg since January, but haven't lost any in the last 3 weeks...

Need to kick start my diet again. But it's sooooo hard!

I'll join in, I've cracked the weight loss with LCHF, but skincare and clothes elude me. I have started washing my face at least once a day (radical, right?!) and moisturising maybe every other day when I remember. Like PP said, moisturiser always feels greasy and makes my face sweat - even the light Simple one I'm now using. I tried a sample of a serum thing once and that felt amazing on my face, maybe it was clinique? Probably expensive but an alternative would be great. I need some kind of skincare for my body as well as I get dry legs.
I went through a phase of wearing powder foundation but it dried my skin so I need a light liquid one I think. Neighbour recommended BB cream but there are so many!
I'm between sizes and still have a couple of stone to lose so can't buy many clothes as it would be pointless. Also I have size 9 feet so own hardly any shoes and never know what to wear with my clothes. I'd love to look nice and put together but rarely manage to!

Bookmarked!

Thanks OP this is just what I need. Currently need to lose 2stone, am struggling with depression and have a pig of a DH.
Need a good kick up the backside!

I think I'm actually having a mid life crisis instead but I'm 31. Inspired by the thought of new changes, I went and got a second piercing in my ears yesterday 🙈

I would love to join in too please. I intend to have a month off alcohol (my biggest challenge/stumbling block/weakness/devil on my shoulder). And any of the following will be a big bonus:
Walk daily - even 30 minutes
Drink more water
Don't eat before 11am - don't eat after 8pm
Sleep 8 hours a night
Clean/moisturise face daily
Reduce time on intenet (have a cut-off)
Weigh in daily
Spend less - or try for a no-spend week challenge during May
Face up to/Sort out work issues or use this month to start thinking about a complete change of career.
If I consistently do even a few of these - I will be way ahead of a very indulgent April.
Good luck everyone - here's to a Magnificent May for all!

Well, I thought of all of you this lunchtime so didn't have chips at the canteen. Instead had green beans and rice and as they were both pretty awful, didn't eat much - result!

Inspired by a different thread I started a skin care regime but got bored of that pretty quickly. I too don't like moisturiser much. I use it on my face in the winter but that is all.

I hauled over my wardrobe a couple of years ago but still manage to look a bit scruffy most days. I'm not very good at making an effort.

Well, I've been drinking more water, have charged my Fitbit in readiness for a day at a themepark tomorrow, and have been calorie counting and sticking to a figure which MyFitnessPal reckons will lose me 1.5lb per week.
Haircut and colour is booked for a couple of weeks before I'm seeing a super glam friend.
I've got loads of lovely and stylish clothes that I need to lose 1st to fit into.
But I haven't yet managed to start going to bed earlier.
And my feet are a dry, cracked and un-polished mess - any tips?

gazelda thank you for the recommendation, I'm a gluten free vegetarian which already makes cooking a bit more challenging but the real difficult thing at the moment is generally just being in the kitchen here tbh. The environment is all wrong to actually cook in for many many reasons. We should have our own kitchen soon so I'm going to try take advantage of my parents not being here this weekend, clean the bloody kitchen thoroughly and make a load of batch meals for the freezer just to get us through the last leg! Then I'll dig out all of my favourite recipe books once we move and get inspired :)