Yoga. In high heels

For some reason, I felt the sudden urge to look up my 2011 new year's resolutions the other day and see how I'm doing.

The answer is: not as badly as expected.

Here they are:

1.    "I will eat healthily, drink more water and stay in shape" - Yes, photos indicate that I am currently in better shape than I was this time last year. Hurrah!

2.     "I will learn French to the point where I can hold simple conversations with French people" - nowhere near. My French has gone from "able to get by" in 2004, to "crap" in 2009, to non-existent in 2011

3.     "I will do at least one entirely self-indulgent non-work-related thing a week that is purely for my own pleasure and nothing else (e.g. getting a massage or visiting an art gallery)" - mostly, yes. Done lots more socialising, seeing films, going to museums and galleries, events, parties, and spas outside of modelling this year :)

4.     "I will not buy junk food" - haha no, I've bought tons! Bought so much chocolate since I arrived in Hong Kong that it's ridiculous >.<

5.     "I will read more classic books" - yes, I downloaded a ton onto my Kindle for free and have been working my way through them. Most recent one was Crime and Punishment, I think

6.     "I will get a smartphone so I can do my emails on the train on the way home from shoots and thus have more “me” time at home in the evenings!" - yes, and now I can't figure out how I ever managed without one!

7.     "I will try and get more non-speaking video roles, e.g. music videos" - yes, I was in Cradle of Filth's music video for 'Lilith Immaculate' and also did a lingerie show for Playful Promises on Fashion TV (you can watch both for free here if you like)

8.     "IF I have time and IF I can afford it, I will get voice coaching" - had the money but nowhere near enough time >.< May look into it again in February

9.     "I will gain a basic understanding of the stock market" - nope, haha. Still a mystery

10.  "I will visit at least one country that I have never been to before" - I'll be fulfilling this one next month by visiting Tokyo!

With the whole "staying in shape" thing, on 2nd January I started doing yoga every Sunday morning and Pilates a couple of times during the week as part of my "tone up/ get bendier" plan. It does actually seem to have worked- I'm still surprising myself with the poses I now seem to be able to do very comfortably that I might not have had the strength or flexibility to do very well before :) And what's more, I really enjoy doing them! It feels good to be stronger, fitter and healthier :) And I can do a greater range of poses now that I don't have to worry about hiding wobbly bits as much ;)

 Photographer: George Swift | Styling: me

I have yet more photos from this productive day with George on the way, so please subscribe to my blog if you haven't already using the widgets at the top right corner of the page. If you like my blog, you could also hit the Facebook Like or Twitter button to share what you're reading with your friends and followers :)