Turning 30

This cake was insane.

Turning 30 isn't the beginning of the end. It was a great birthday where I got to see LOADS of friends I hadn't seen in too long, and some lovely pressies to boot!

Special mention to Will. Who tried to make me a Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix tape cake, spending hours and a fortune on it, failed, then bought me two AMAZING cakes to make up for it.

Can I do it all again?

Birthday breakfast

The work bit

Meatliquor and their Bingo Wings - I couldn't think of a better birthday treat

PRESENT HAUL!

Birthday part 2 - brunch at The Table - yum!

WINNING! This didn't last long...

One cake wasn't enough

Sing sing sing

Far Rockaway - my party venue - had the BEST decor.

So much love for this guy. All the way from Southampton with food poisoning just to wish me happy birthday.

More pressies!

Then this guy turned up

Party 2 - the Glasgow leg

Two of my favourite people in the world

Not to mention this guy, who came to both my London AND Glasgow parties

RAWK

Awww

Thanks everyone. You've all made 30 awesome so far.

Especially this guy.

Ax

Insanity diary - days 31-42

Now I'm pretty far off the 60 day schedule I should be on, but it's still going ok! Days 31-36 I was away, having an incredible long weekend back home trying on a thousand wedding dresses, dancing to classic rock and metal like I was 20 again, and eating far too much cheese.

Finally got home late on Monday evening, and picked up the routine again on Tuesday - day 37.

So it's recovery week - yay! That doesn't mean an easy life, but it means 6 consecutive days of Core Cardio & Balance, a 40 minute workout designed to give your muscles a bit of a rest - but not too much. You do every exercise for a minute, but the transitions between exercises are a little gentler and slower, and the emphasis is on strength and balance, doing each exercise well with perfect form, rather than going as fast as possible like the other workouts. So you feel everything working - esp in the hip flexor burners and shoulder burners - but you don't get that same exhaustion. It does have one other slightly odd side effect - all the deep breathing and core strength means I yawn EVERY TIME. Lots. For most of the last 20 minutes of the workout.

So I've done 6 days of this now, and got a day off tomorrow - yay! But then on Tuesday I have another Fit Test, followed by an hour long work out from the new Max set of workouts for the second month. the next 30 days are going to be TOUGH.

Ax

Insanity diary - days 26-30

Still going... just!

Day 26: my 30th birthday. Should have been a recovery day. I took it off. So sue me.

Day 27: Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs. Bizarrely I'm starting to enjoy this session. I feel like I've really earned my lunch on these days!

Day 28: The day after my birthday party. No hangover, but it made the Plyometric Cardio Circuit session that bit harder.

Day 29: Rest day. I had every intention of going for a run or something, but a late finish at work put paid to that. So I had a proper day off.

Day 30: I should have started recovery week today, doing the Core Cardio & Balance session every night, but I'm flying home tomorrow and realistically I'm not going to get to work out every day. So instead I went for a run (which felt easier than I expected - clearly all this cardio is doing me some good!) and will try to do so again as often as I can, before I start back next week with the recovery week.

It means I'll finish the programme a whole week after Will, but it also means I'll enjoy my trip home a whole lot more.

Ax

Dirty Thirty

So in about 15 minutes, I turn 30.

I've been getting asked, over and over, how I feel about it - and I'm absolutely fine with it. I've got a good job, which I genuinely enjoy and which pays decently, and challenges and excites me. I've got great friends, some of whom I don't see often enough, but we all try, and we all understand that we're busy. I've got a wonderful man, whom I'll be marrying later this year. Sure, I haven't managed to get on the property ladder yet, but living in London that's not a possibility for most people, and aside from that, I'm doing ok financially - I have savings, I can go on the odd holiday and indulge my passions for good beauty products, holidays and theatre. I'm healthier and fitter than I've been in years. I feel content and calm.

I LOVED uni - and many of my aforementioned friends were made there - but you couldn't pay me to be 20 again.

So what have I done with the last day of my twenties? I got up early. I went to work. I had a salad for lunch. I came home and worked out. I had a bath. Ate a healthy meal, featuring one of my absolute favourite foods - flower sprouts (yes really). I watched House of Cards. I wrote a few overdue blog posts. And I'll be in bed about midnight, in time to get a good 7 hours of beauty sleep.

I'm ready to be 30. But I'm not a total dullard - I'll get to eat, drink, and misbehave all weekend.

BRING IT ON!

Ax

Lancôme GWP

I've been meaning to post this for ages now, so I hope the GWP is still running for anyone who wants to take advantage!

Popped into Boots last week to stock up on my favourite day moisturiser (Lancôme Hydra Zen Neurocalm Extrême Soothing Moisurising Cream-Gel. Catchy name.) and was obviously a walking target as the second the girl on the counter mentioned the free gift I had a supersize bottle of their Galatéis Douceur in my hand.

But onto the gift. And what a gift!

Just look at how the bag bulges! *snigger*

Lancôme always do great gifts - this time last year I bought their Genifique and Visionnaire serums, and as it was geared up for Mother's Day I got both of them in gift sets, plus got an additional gift bag - which summed 3 x mini lipsticks, 3 x mini mascaras, 2 x mini Genifiques, 2 x mini Visionnaires, a full size Galatéis Douceur, mini Hydra Zen day and night creams, and 3 x mini bottles of their La Vie Est Belle perfume! But I digress.

And I think I love this year's offering event more.

The big box and bottle were my purchases, but the rest was all free free FREE!

That's:

• 125ml (full size) bottle of Bi-Facil eye make-up remover
• Mini lipstick in L'Absolu Rouge - a lovely nude pink
• Mini Hypnôse mascara
• Mini Le Crayon Kohl in Noir 
• 7ml bottle of Advanced Génifique serum
• 15ml pot of Hydra Zen Neurocalm day cream
• 5ml tube of Hydra Zen Neurocalm eye contour gel cream
• 2.5g Blush Subtil in Rose Paradis - a perky but subtle pink which would suit any skin tone

God I love Lancôme.

Ax

Insanity diary - day 25

Getting home late from work makes working out so much harder. I got back around 7.15, and everything was laboured from them. Took me ages to even get changed into my workout gear, and then I felt like giving up right from the word go.

But I didn't :)

Plyometric Cardio Circuit = done.

Insanity diary - days 21-24

Day 21: day off - yay! I went to a wedding event with my beautiful bridesmaids so I was walking around lots, but I was genuinely feeling antsy at not working out. What's happening to me?!

Day 22: a forced day off. Boo! I've got a weak lower back and I need to be careful with it - occasionally it just "goes" - usually doing something completely dull and not even strenuous, like loading the washing machine or drying my hair. And I'm so lucky, I've been blessed with sciatica, so when my back goes, I get delightful pains shooting down my legs too. Yay. So when I pulled my back (bending over to put an invoice in our accounts' team's drawer - glamorous!) I was forced to take a night off.

Day 23: back completely healed (amazing what a good night's restful sleep and some gentle walking can do), it was time for Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs. And it was ok - hard, because that goes without saying, but I got through both and felt like I was performing well.

Day 24: Cardio Power & Resistance. I think this might be my favourite workout. But I think that might just be because it's the one I've done the least and therefore it feels a little fresher!

But overall, it's still going well!

Ax

Insanity diary - days 18-20

Another week down - woohoo!

Day 18: I was late back from work on Thursday - having had a long day running a press event in the morning and then an evening meeting - so I was NOT looking forward to this, but at least it was recovery day. I rather enjoyed the stretching as a way to wind down after a long day, but starting it at 9pm was tough as all I wanted to do was plonk my butt on the sofa. I did feel stronger though - was lasting well in the sustained squats and lunges which usually have me with legs shaking like a shitting dog.

Day 19: Doing a hard workout (namely Cardio Power & Resistance) on a Friday night will always be one of the hardest things about an intensive programme like Insanity. Though there is an innate smugness once you've done it. Not while you're doing it though. While you're doing it, you just want to destroy the world.

Day 20: This morning's workout was TOUGH. I imagine at least partly because midweek I workout after work, so doing it in the morning meant it had only been 14 hours since my last and my muscles hadn't had enough of a rest yet. But I did get to do the Plyometric Cardio Circuit alongside my beloved Will - and doing it with someone else in the room is good for motivating me to push that bit harder.

And it all means I get tomorrow off :)

Ax

Insanity diary - day 17

Tonight was pure cardio and cardio abs. Pure cardio still hurts. Lots.

But cardio abs was new to me as I had to skip the session on Saturday to get on with housework (yeah, really).

It's only 16 minutes long, but boy do they pack some serious work in to those minutes! There's a quick warm up - then down onto the floor for a solid ab session, without a single sit up or crunch. Instead it's all getting into position for a series of exercises that engage the core, using your arms and legs as weights, followed by some plankwork.

I've definitely got a few lbs to lose before I start seeing a real difference, but from just one session I can tell that if you already have a low body fat percentage, this session will sculpt your abs into shape quickly.

And once again... I ENJOYED IT!!

Ax

Insanity diary - days 13-16

Another quick run down before we get on to the good stuff:

Day 13: Cardio power & resistance. Genuinely enjoyed it. Even managed more press ups than usual.

Day 14: Pure cardio. Felt alright. However, I was meant to add a 16 minute abs session on the end of this workout, and I just couldn't as I was running out of time. We had a dinner party this night and had a shedload of cleaning, shopping, and cooking to do, so I gave it a miss in order to get the flat in order.

Day 15: Rest day - yaldi! And much needed after said dinner party.

Day 16: The Fit Test. I was really rather worried about this. When I looked at some of my scores from my initial test, I didn't think I'd be able to beat them, but I was pleasantly surprised. Having a number in mind to beat did make it easier to keep pushing, and having done all the exercises in the various workouts meant there was no real fear - I know it sounds silly to be scared of a workout, but if you've done Insanity, you'll understand!

My scores this time were:

Switch kicks:           110 individual (55 pairs) - up from 90/45 in the first test

Power jacks:            56 - up from 50 in the first test

Power knees:           104 - up from 85 in the first test

Power jumps:          26 - up from 0 in the first test 

Globe jumps:           8 (sets of 4) - up from 5 in the first test

Suicide jumps:        12 - up from 8 in the first test

Push up jacks:         12 - up from 0 in the first test

Low plank oblique: 42 - up from 33 in the first test

So scores were up on all counts. But more so, I was really aware that my form had improved. Not only was I doing more of each exercise, I was doing them better, and essentially working harder, getting more out of each exercise.

So this gets a happy face :)

Ax