High Maintenance on a low budget, Anyone going to join me?

[starbear]

I'm fed up of being out of shape, scruffy Mummy. From this week I'm going to watch less Telly get more exercise in and start looking groomed. Any scruffy bugger want to join me. I plan to be a Diva by summer.
I'm sitting here in a Fleece, green 'Tu' Sainsbury's old t-shirt, men's Gap jeans and brown flat trainer type thing, eyebrows need doing and hair needs cutting. Time to change. Anyone want to join a support group?

Oh yes I'll join up.

Any tips on dying hair on the cheap?

JammyQueen yes, cyteen is my usual non-valentine username.

ok, so, things i'm alright with:

body shape/size (needs more toning but otherwise ok)
basic skincare - cleanse + moisturise every day
basic hand care - i'm constantly slathering on handcream these days as baby-related washing makes them dry and cronelike
clothes have become a lot less stupid and ill-fitting of late, although still some work to be done here in the tshirts-that-don't-ride-up/trousers-that-don't-slip-down area

things i need to work on:

hair - always a mess - is thin, frizzy, rough and dry at the moment, in desperate need of a restyle - there's a pic on my profile of how it normally looks. need to book appt so i will do that this week. i'm thinking of going short, any opinions?
nails - i don't wear polish on my fingers as it flakes straight off but my toes do benefit so i resolve to tidy them up and paint them this week. also sort out the rough skin around my fingernails (how do i do this?)
a bit of light make up every day wouldn't go amiss (usually i only bother when going out, and then i go all out). so i will clear out my make-up bag and restock as necessary.
i like the idea of wearing more jewellery - will make an effort here.

off to deal with a serious nappy situation but will be back!

gingerbreadlovegirl & itwasCYTEENagewedding Hi, it might be shorted to Ginger & Cyteen.
The only thing I know about hair dying is my sister does it best. I have never yet dyed my hair myself or with sis help. But the only tip I can think of is get a friend to come over and help. (My sis does this for my mum) and use old towels!

Cyteen, I have the same problem with the hard skin around my finger nails. I bite the hard skin around my thumbs (as if this doesn't count!) Might pose the question on a thread and come back with the answer.
Feeling bloated in my M&S jeans from eating too much Lasagna. Didn't do Nell's DVD promise to do better from Monday.

so how is everyone doing today? i am wearing some jewellery and a nice jumper instead of loads of tshirts. it will probably end up drenched in baby sick as usual, but hey ho, clothes are made to be worn.

Morning Cyteen. Make up and jewellery here. And I found the hairbrush so that looks reasonable too But I do have a thick, not particularly attractive, but very cosy fleece on . I accidentally shrink-i-dinked my 2 nice jumpers in the wash so this is all I have left and I need something warm today. It is clean at least. And I'm keeping up with the healthy diet too, and finding that I'm not as hungry as I was 2 weeks back

Hi, Ds is poorly and now watching telly!
I've veggied out on MN. (Must stop this addiction)
I know I didn't do the DVD but last night covered feet in cream and today top to, almost, toes in cream. I think I'll chuck Ds off the telly to play as he looks much better now and do the DVD.

Well, DS very kindly managed not to throw up on my jumper and I have replaced my foundation and eyeliner as they were down to the crusty ends.

Hi all. Just to follow up my first post, I got a compliment on my hair at work today, (washed and rough dried it this morning and used a bit of spray/wax etc) hopefully a genuine one, enough to make me keep on with making a bit of effort in the morning and was it this thread that recommended eyeslipsface? Just got a delivery from them so will try it tomorrow.

good work Jiminy

make-up on, i look pretty good despite hair needing a wash. must go out and flaunt my less scruffy self at playgroup

yay for Jiminy!
And do let us know how you got on Cyteen. The first time I made a bit of an effort to go to a group I found more people talked to me. Now whether it was that I felt more confident so was more receptive to it, or whether I had previously looked such a minger that nobody dared approach me, I don't know!

Eeek, I've just booked (and paid for) the creche for DD tomorrow so I can go to the gym. But we go out to a group later in the morning, so it remains to be seen if I can fit in a shower and get myself looking decent again, or if I turn up to the group flustered, hot, hair bedraggled etc Don't worry, I promise I will get a shower in and at least be clean, it's whether I can be clean AND GROOMED in a hurry (and without going home in between) that is in question.

Please may I join? I've decided I must get my act together - DS is now 6 months old so he's becoming too big to use as my excuse for looking a mess!

Things i'm happy with
Skincare routine
Hair (although it does need a cut soon)

Things i'm not happy with
Figure/weight
Clothes
Nails
Generally need to moisturise my body, be better with de-fuzzing etc

DS has just woken up - back later with plans!!

A question: how much facial 'fluff' is too much? I'm not the bearded lady or anything, but I have very fine short (luckily very blonde)fluff around my cheeks...have always had it around the sides of my face and ears, but recently it seems to have spread If I use products to remove it, my face contours look nicer, but my skin goes beserk and spotty, which is much, much worse, but it kind of bothers me sometimes..

Right, these are the things I'm going to tackle first.

Although I said skincare was ok, I'm bad at taking off makeup and tend to just swipe my eye with a cotton ball and fall into bed. So, I will clean my face and apply cream every night before I go to bed and at the same time I will check my eyebrows to see if they need a pluck incase I'm in a rush in the morning.
Use handcream whenever I wash my hands.
File nails daily.
Use Wiifit every weekday morning - did this today and feeling very proud!

Alibabaandthe40nappies Welcome. The good thing is that we all decided to try and look better with out waiting to lose the weight first. The weight will come off I'm sure as we are too busy grooming & drinking water to have those snacks. A little exercise will help a great deal.
JiminyCricket I have a little moustache but when I use stuff to take it off I realise that it's also a shadow underneath as well and I get a rash! So I now forget about it. A friend had the same and lasered it off! To tell the truth I never noticed it before or the change after I think we look too closely at ourselves.

Oh! I forgot about my progress which is nil at the moment! DS has tonsillitis. Last night when I collected him from nursery, he couldn't move his neck and a temperature. Took him to A&E as I was worried about meningitis He had the jabs but just to be totally sure. Got home late!
I got chucked out of my bed by him at 4am so he could sleep next daddy. Which means I could get stuff out of my room while he was a sleep.
Going for a shower now and then wait for my Mum before I go to work. Depending on work I'll try and get to the gym tonight.

oh no starbear how scary how is he now? hope he's feeling better soon.

i like your optimism re. less snacks...good job you didn't see me gluttonously making myself the exception to the rule yesterday

have showered with exfoliating mitt, moisturised all over, plucked eyebrows and trimmed toenails prior to filing and painting them - might try and get that done this evening, if the intense cold in our house permits.

Please can I join you too? I need to get my self sorted. I'm very lazy when it comes to any form of maintenance. (I used to get away with bare minimum, but I'm not that young anymore)

I need to sort out............

Mostly everything really.

Exercise more
Tone up and hoik (sp) everything back to where it belongs
Sort my hair out, it's very dry and split atm
Pluck, shave and remove all the unwanted hair
Moisturise regularly
Get dressed and put some make up on when I get up (instead of when I have to)

I am an embarrassment lately and I need to get a grip.

JeanieG Jump on board. This thread is to get support but otherwise just use it as a to do list.
itwasCYTEENagewedding Looks as fit as a fiddle now! Typical. except his neck is still stiff. My Mum's here she going to take over while I get to work isn't she fab!

Starbear glad your DS is feeling better

I have made an ok start today so feeling quite positve.

Wiifit - done
Lovely scrub in shower, hairwash etc
Slathered self in body butter - yum
Have drunk lots of water and used handcream about 10 times.

God, my hands... Even though I do use handcream a grillion times a day, they are still drying and cracking like mad at the moment. I'll have to start doing that thing mad high maintenance ladies do, where they cover their hands in ultra-rich balm and put cotton gloves on before bed.

Aveeno handcream (make sure yu get the hand stuff, not just the general cream).

Right, I have started well. I went for a brisk 30 min walk before and I have only eaten food that is good for me.

This evening I will get a shower and shave legs, pits and lady garden, then moisturise everywhere. Also intend to dig out the tweezers to sort out my eyebrows.

I think that's a reasonable attempt on my first day. Maybe one day soon I will be able to actually post a pic.

Please can I join too? What a great idea to inspire us all to improve ourselves!

I need to do:

• Lose Weight - stop eating crappy things and using it as a comfort.

• Wax legs more often

- Take the jump and wax upper lip rather than bleach (which I seem to need to do once a week at the mo? Is that normal?) - Floss every day (rather than the day I go to the dentist) - MOISTURISE Body - my hands are a mess too - bleeding they are so cracked - how did I let myself get like this???

I love your ideas about squeezing exercise into small time slots in the day. I use my DH working long hours as my excuse not to do anything whilst I look after DD and DS.

CYTEEN When my Ds was a baby I couldn't believe how bad my hands got. I also didn't wear a watch for about a year as I kept taking it off to wash someone or something.
DH & I both use Neutrogena at night as we work outdoors cracked hands hurt. Put it on at night and keep it in my bedside draw. I have Nivea hand cream in the glove compartment so if DH is driving I can put cream on my hands.