WEEK 1 -- DAY 3 -- A TRIP TO THE CITY

Today was a break from my usual workday as I took off to see Billy Elliot in NYC ---- good play; not great. I liked the movie much better but I must say the boy who played the lead was terrific. By the way, the role of Billy Elliot is played by three different actors/dancers who each alternate. They're all equally wonderful so it really doesn't matter who you see. Afterwards we had dinner at Joe Allen's. The last time we were there, we sat at a table next to Henry Winkler aka "The Fonz". I had a great dinner of potato leek soup (which was such a welcome having come in from very low temperatures and a gusting wind), hamburger and french fries. I know this doesn't sound like any kind of a diet you've ever been on but I didn't eat it all and I didn't order dessert so it was definitely a change for me.

I had taped Regis and Kelly and was happy I did because today's New Year, New You guest was Jorge Cruise author of The Belly Fat Cure. He imparted some very interesting information that I did not know. SUGAR causes belly fat. If we have high levels of insulin, we lock in belly fat and there's only one thing that causes insulin levels to rise and that's too much sugar and too much processed carbohydrates. So the key is to keep sugar levels low. Three things I learned.....1) dark chocolate has a lot less sugar than milk chocolate 2) yogurt has a lot of sugar 3) oatmeal with all the maple, etc. has a lot of sugar.

So with these things in mind, I'm definitely going to be much more careful with my sugar intake....something I've never watched before.

With all the shows on this week talking about New Year's resolutions and specifically dieting, I find myself listening more closely which is definitely a good sign. This is really the perfect time to be starting this.