“Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.” The Duchess (Alice in Wonderland)

My skin may be as smooth as a baby’s bottom, thanks to giving up the cigarettes and Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Serum, but too much wine and sugar over winter has left me feeling less than fabulous. On the richter scale of oh my god i’m fat i need to go to the gym and commence the latest celebrity crash diet, it’s an emergency of alarming proportions (namely for my thighs).

How do we handle a few extra kilos with grace and aplomb? Staying centered in one healthy meal at a time and going for walks is a good starting point, but inspired by the newness of spring (and knowing that my fat crisis won’t be able to take the change room mirrors with any degree of poise as I shop for a new dress for the spring racing carnival), I’m feeling a September spring clean coming on. Instead of cleaning out my cutlery draw and other non such, I’m getting rid of those bad habits I picked up over winter and replacing them with a healthy habit, one week at a time.

First on my hit list is the vino. Yes, I may have taken a vow of abstinence a few weeks back, but I’ve now well and truly left the convent. I woke perplexed this morning, wondering why a wave of seediness was washing over me coupled with an overwhelming need for water. Then I remembered. That would be the bottle of Pitchfork’s Cabernet Merlot I polished off last night. After a bout of self recrimination, I finally mustered up the energy to stumble to the fridge for water, but not before passing the empty bottle on my kitchen counter and shuddering. It seemed like such a good idea last night, but this morning it has left me feeling remorseful and parched – like I’ve spent a week in the Sahara Desert following mirages in search of water.

So, for my first week I will be paring back the wine to once a week over the next month, and replacing it with 2L of water every day. After all, supermodels always claim it’s the secret to their stunning good looks, I am however, dubious that drinking water is going to give me Claudia Schiffer’s cheek bones or Elle Macpherson’s legs. It’s one of those things that I’ve known I should be doing, but I’ve always found it painfully boring – either that or I’m just lazy (if I were you, I’d hedge your bets on the latter). Putting aside vanity, our bodies really do need water. Amongst many health benefits, it replenishes our body and helps our brains to function properly.

This isn’t a quick fix, this is a long term lifestyle change that will leave me radiating health and feeling good. Like Alice, we all lose our way sometimes and need to regroup to find our way back home. Join in and follow me here for the next month. Start this week, by picking one unhealthy habit and replacing it with a good one (leave a comment on the post) – you’re sure to be glad that you did in October. You can then follow my special Melbourne Cup beauty feature in Onya Magazine (www.onyamagazine.com). Each week in the month leading up to the Melbourne Cup, I will be writing a special feature on getting track side ready.