Happy New Year to you all and hello and welcome to my first column of 2018. How strange does it feel to say that, 2018?

Well I guess I'd better get used to it as I've got 12 months of saying it ahead of me and I wonder what excitement this year will bring because let's be honest, that's the only exciting thing about the month of January, well, that and Burns night when I get to eat Haggis and drink whisky until it's coming out of my ears all in the name of auld Rabbie of course.

Everyone knows January is a rather depressing month because it's the month when your internal organs scream joyfully at you “Ha ha, well the party is well and truly over doll” and what a party the festive period was.

Obviously I've done the usual January stuff like step on the scales only to look down and start roaring and greeting at my weight in stones and pounds which then led to me throwing a pure maddy and clearing out all delicious treats from my kitchen cupboards and replaced them with boxes of green tea and quinoa.

I then cut out a picture of Holly Willoughby from a magazine (replacing her face with mine) and stuck it to my fridge door in a bid to deter me from opening it again until at least May and I've of course joined weight watchers (again) and now, for my sins, have the Eye Of The Tiger song playing on loop in my head while I attempt to run up and down the four flights of stairs in my close everyday so, as you can see, all pretty standard stuff then for the first month of the year.

Will it last though? Only time will tell I suppose but I'd like to think that the Sergeant Major style pep talk I gave myself in the mirror on Monday morning using words like, “fight back starts now” and “currently you look like a human steak pie” chat might have actually sunk in this time. You see it's not that I'm not for positive body image, I am honestly and I love that curves are celebrated today and not vilified like they were when I first started out back in 2003 but trust me this ain't curves I'm carrying, that was 5 stone lighter Michelle that was a curvy lady. This current version of me just needs to seriously shift the pounds because honestly?

I'm just not happy at this size and furthermore I'm not afraid to admit it out loud. So why don't I just do something about it I hear you cry? Well you see the thing is I've tried but something has changed. In my twenties and early thirties all I had to do was cut my calorie intake down to about 1300 calories a day and exercise 3 times a week and the weight would literally fall off me, I'm talking 7lbs weight loss in my first week so I had no excuses for being overweight.

I just simply ate and drank too much, simple but that I'm almost 38 years old that old approach just doesn't work anymore because sadly it's true what they say, the older you get the harder it most definitely gets to loose the weight.

I've thought really seriously about gastric bypass surgery as a few friends I know have had it and they look incredible. They rave about and say it's changed their lives and I'm so proud of them for taking that step but there's part of me that really wants to give myself one more chance to do it on my own. I've done it before so why can't I do it again?

It's also harder at this stage in my life because everything else in my universe is so utterly perfect. I'm madly in love with my husband who adores me just as I am, I have a wonderful family and friends, my career has never been better and other than my weight I'm extremely fit and healthy apparently so why can't I just be thankful for all my blessings?

It's hard to explain unless you've experienced it yourself but trust me, when you're not comfortable in your own skin it doesn't matter how great everything else is because your current weight and size is what solely consumes your thoughts.

Right so that's it. Enough of moaning about it, let's just do it shall we? Who's with me? Let's go for it and make 2018 our year to do this once and for all. Best of luck everyone, we can do it!

On another note...

MAKE sure you tune into Radio Scotland tonight from 10pm for the brand new Michelle McManus Show. We’ll be playing top tunes and having loads of chat and fun to take you into the weekend so if the telly is rubbish or you’re out and about driving or at work, turn on the wireless and come keep me company for a few hours tonight. See you then, Radio Scotland 92-95fm 810mw or catch us online line or on digital radio too.