Happy New Year!!!

And.....I'm back in New York!! I flew in yesterday and was zonked out fast asleep come 11pm. I just couldn't make it through that last hour until midnight to see in the New Year. I was pure exhausted from getting up at 6am (1am NYC time) to pack a few last minute bits and pieces before getting the 9.52am train back down to London in time for my 4pm flight to NYC for which a lovely friend with airline connections managed to pull a few strings and get me upgraded to business class. Result!!! It was a vast improvement on the flight over to London, when I was sat at the back of the plane, one row from the loos next to a hefty bloke who kept trying to encroach on my space. Not fun. I wasn't planning to indulge in the vino on the plane, but how can you turn down the good stuff when you're unexpectedly upgraded to business class and it was New Year's Eve after all. I just couldn't bring myself to say no when the flight attendant asked "can I bring you a glass of champagne madam?" And the dish of prawns and lobster in a garlic sauce that I had for dinner was completely divine. The diet started today. I'm such a New Year's cliche!!

I'm not usually one for making weight loss resolutions for the New Year, since although I usually put on a couple of pounds over Christmas it doesn't bother me too much, as I know that after a couple of months of my normal routine of healthy eating and exercise I'll shift it, but this year I was completely horrified to discover on my annual weigh in at Miles' place - I don't own a scale preferring to just go by how my clothes fit, but I can never resist checking when I visit Miles at Christmas as I enjoy that smug feeling I get from confirming that yes, I've maintained my weight for another year - that I'd already put on 6lbs before the festive season had begun!! 6lbs!! I know that doesn't sound like a massive amount over the course of the year, but I haven't weighed more than 8stone 4 (116lbs) in over a decade, so to suddenly find myself weighing in at 8stone 10 was quite disturbing and it certainly put the mockers on over-indulging in the mince pies.

"Too much work, wine and not enough exercise my darling," said Miles.

He's not wrong there, especially the wine and exercise part. I used to be one of those disgustingly healthy people, in the routine of going to the gym every day, but this year my exercise regimen has been primarily carrying my gym kit back and forth to the office with good intentions of working out after work, but never actually making it. It didn't matter how many times I promised myself that after working late I would take a taxi to the gym near my apartment and work out on the arc trainer for 30minutes, it was always much more appealing come 9pm to take a taxi straight to my apartment and enjoy a nice glass of wine with my feet up in front of the telly!! Not anymore though. As of today Operation Muffin Top has commenced and I am going straight out to Bed Bath & Beyond tomorrow to buy one of those fancy scales that read and analyze my weight, fat, muscle mass and water retention and then goes into the kitchen and whips me up a nice egg white omelet!! Yup, it's all carrot and celery sticks for me for the next few weeks, although to be honest after 2 weeks of stodgy food and glasses of mulled wine I'm quite looking forward to a few salads. My high school friend Liz also challenged me to renounce the drink for the month of January, so I am doing my utmost to resist the mischievous bottles of Cabernet calling from the wine rack behind me.

Only 30 and a bit more days to go before I can have a glass ;-)