28 December - Beach advice

Well, I have one piece of advice I stick to religiously when on holiday: no photos for the first few days, till you've caught the sun, started to look healthy. And then photos are only allowed when a little lipshine has been applied if nothing else. Trust me, it's amazing the difference the shine reflecting off your lips makes. It lifts up the photo to magazine shot. If you can curl your eyelashes that too... lifts everything....

However, I was not prepared for discovering that not having gone to the gym at all for the whole of December and part of November (my gym buddy/motivator has slacked for her own reasons and being devoid of committment myself, I followed suit), meant I looked like shit even without fearing any photos. It's amazing what happens. I didn't go mad at Xmas, hardly that, but just eating as normal and not exercising and there you go, fat thighs. Ok that's what sarongs are for, but I never find one I like.