New B&B to write up - 4 Morningside Place, Edinburgh

A near-the-office place to stay as recommended by a FreeAgent colleague; 4 Morningside Place, run by Bob and Jill Knox.

I tried it out a couple of weeks back, when the weather was just about at its coldest.

A comfortable and friendly B&B with some little touches that really put the icing on the cake for me.

Firstly, an electric underblanket on the bed, with a setting to warm the bed up and another to keep it warm overnight. Getting into a warm bed, and one that stayed warm, on such a bitterly cold night, was sheer bliss.

Secondly, a bathroom with the most amazing large thick fluffy towels I've ever seen. One of my pet B&B hates is small, thin towels that are sopping wet as soon as you've dried your hair. None of that here.

Thirdly, a breakfast tailored to meet my low-fat needs. Jill offered fresh fruit and willingly poached me an egg served on butter-free toast (and didn't commit the cardinal sin of putting margarine on instead).

I'm staying there again next week :-)

Dust off the old WeightWatchers books!

Before going down to my parents in Wales for Christmas for a week of yummy home-cooked food courtesy of my mum, and strong home-brewed beer courtesy of my dad (that's if he'll let me have some to make a shandy), I decided just to make sure I could get into my best velvet trouser suit.

Uh-oh.

I couldn't do up the trousers.

Time to dig out and dust off my old WeightWatchers books from when I lost 2 stone there some 9 (crumbs) years ago.

Back to finding that low-fat doesn't have to equal low-taste. Muller Light yoghurts are surprisingly creamy.

And, if I simply can't resist something (such as my mum's sticky toffee pudding), then I have a small portion.

Let's see how much I can lose by the end of January if I follow the WeightWatchers regime and stick to walking across Edinburgh twice a day when I'm working there. With a heavy backpack.

Updates will follow.