It takes a lot of time and money to look this good......

I can't remember for the life of me which celebrity quoted that (probably a few actually)... but has anyone noticed how the thinner we get or even if are where we finally want to be weight wise, we are spending more time and money on ourselves.

I know I sure am.

I was in the shower this morning shaving my legs. No earth shattering news there. But what occurred to me as I got out and started slathering myself in lotion and finished primping for the day was how much more time and effort I'm putting into looking decent every day.

There are certain things I did when I was in the lumpy-lou days... aka pre-band. I would always paint my toenails. I loved and still love to wear pretty shoes that show off my feet. Nowadays though, instead of just jamming my toes into whatever shoe was closest, I choose through the fairly vast array of summer sandals I now have and make sure they match my outfit. So of course the toenails (and now feet) have to be in tip top condition. So I have started getting pedicures both in a salon and here at home. That takes some time and effort.

Pre-band I was fairly slap hazard with the body lotion after a shower. Sometimes I would do it - most times not. Now I do it .. every..single..day. I have to. Why? Because I love to have the hint of a tan especially now summer is zooming up on us here in the Southern Hermisphere. And having a hint of tan means I have to apply my body glow moisturiser every day to keep the light bronze up. I love to wear white now I'm thinner and wearing white always looks better when your arms and legs have colour. I use a product by Garnier that gradually, over a few days, brings your skin up to a gorgeous sun kissed look without worrying about waking up next morning fifty shades darker than say when you use a fake tan. The up side is, it doesn't leave you with nasty big streaks up your legs like fake tans I've used in the past (even though I always do exactly as the instructions say) and it gives me an all over even colour, down side is you have to use it every day or it fades if you forget for a day or two.

Shaving my legs? There's another thing I'm doing constantly now. In the 'old days' I used to do it only - as the saying goes - when the hair was long enough to plait - and being so fair, unless the sun hit my lilly white legs the wrong way you couldn't tell I was slap-dash about that either. Now I want to wear shorts and skirts (something I haven't done in the longest time) I make sure my legs are always hair free and smooth.

I always use moisturiser and SPF30 on my face and neck every single day, winter or summer. That hasn't changed even from early days.The Australian sun is one of the harshest in the world and I think this has made a huge difference to how my skin looks - at almost 45 I'm still relatively wrinkle free. The difference is now I use a more expensive product and I do a face mask once a week - even lashing out on the odd facial.

Clothes - don't get me started. By hey, I'm having SO much fun buying my new wardrobe.

Nails. I've always had yuck nails. A nail biter from way back, my hands were something for use rather than something to show off. Now they are lightly tanned and looking so much thinner, they look much nicer. On goes the hand cream every single time I think of it, which is often throughout the day. And I get my French nails tended to every couple of weeks.

Hair. Something else I have always looked after. My hair has only really just started to look good again almost a year and a half after my band op. It's taken a lot of hard work and I take a daily hair, skin and nail tablet containing biotin. It really does make a difference. I've noticed a lot of baby hairs finally growing back in the front section so I apply a hair mask once a week and always make sure my hair looks as good as it can be.

Makeup. Once upon a time I would put makeup on for special occasions. I don't think a day goes by now without me wearing it. Its usually just a light covering of foundation, blush, eyeliner and mascara but I even wear makeup to work every day now too. I just feel half done without it and on those rare days when I decide not to wear it (say on a weekend) I am bound to get caught when I bump into someone I know - so I put it on first thing in the morning and know that no matter what crops up during the day - at least I look half decent.

Let me know what habits have changed since you've started losing or have lost your weight. I'm really curious. Vanity surely does come at a cost - both time and money lol. But along with all the hard work we take making sure we look good, it's also so much fun experimenting again and looking after our bodies. Surely, that has to be a good thing.

Cara x