Amanda Hamilton is planning on spending Valentine’s Day in the nude – at a photoshoot for her husband. So how will she shape up her birthday suit in time?
I am doing something really novel, and frankly terrifying this Valentine’s Day. I arranged a Christmas present for my husband: gift voucher for a photo shoot. So what you say? A nude photo shoot. Oh.
We are ‘shooting’ on Valentine’s Day, mainly so that I can drink copious amounts of champagne to give me some Dutch courage. I had thought it would seem romantic, silly and hopefully, a little sexy. Now I’m living on sheer adrenaline, with a body regime to out-do a Gladiator. I have never been more thankful that I run a spa business. Bootcamp? I’m in. Detox? Why not. Colonic? What the heck.
This is all very far from chocolates and red roses of course. But we all want to feel good on Valentine’s Day, don’t we? A chance to wow your partner, a hot date, or perhaps you’ve simply had one of those reality-check moments and you need a bit of a shake up.
The reality is often a full-throttle, ill-fated crash diet, expensive quick-fixes and fillers, none of which do the job well enough. The folklore of dieting is littered with stories of see-saw loss and gain, monster-sized cravings and side effects of faddy eating restrictions that include bad-breath, dodgy tummies and turning into a bitch from hell. Not pretty and certainly not photo shoot material.
First rule, anyone even thinking about aiming for size zero, do yourself a favour and eat a large box of chocolates, please. For others that have been on the endless hamster wheel of dieting and are ready to jump off, it’s all about strategic eating. Lots of vegetables, twice daily servings of protein such as fish or eggs with good amounts of H2O in between. Oats, millet and brown rice are carbohydrates that will keep you going for longer.
My favourite piece of gym-kit at the moment is the Powerplate, an evil machine that gets you toned in places you didn’t know you had places. It’s over and done with in just 25 minutes. A good trainer can actually make it fun, honestly.
Finally, peachy skin. A good diet is the biggest aspect of this, since it hydrates the skin from the inside out. However, there is nothing like a bit of pampering to make both sexes feel more in the Valentine’s mood. So, book your beloved in for a massage. You could even go for side-by-side treatments. For those willing to experiment, try out my homemade recipe for massage oil – naked of course!
massage oil
The base of every good massage oil is vegetable oil, preferably a variety that is light and nourishing. One of my personal favorites is hazelnut oil. Start with a cupful. Next, add in essential oils such as cinnamon, orange, and ylang ylang. When combined, the aroma-therapeutic power of these oils is said to be magnified. To make your massage oil, mix together the cup of base oil with ten drops of cinnamon, ten drops of orange, and twenty drops of ylang ylang. What you don’t use on Valentine’s Day you should store in a glass container.
Foodies magazine http://ht.ly/3OKJx
