So, when we went off to Crete in April my weight was hovering at about 13 stone 3 pounds. I know this because I’m quite anal about this sort of thing and record my weight in my journal just about every morning. I even did a graph of it last year… Anyway, that weight wasn’t ideal. It didn’t pass the shop window test i.e. when I saw my reflection in a shop window I was horrified and immediately attempted to pull my gut in. I expected to lose some more weight on Crete because we’re more active there and the heat operates as an appetite suppressant. I soon became fitter because of the gardening, extra walking and then swimming a number of miles each week when the sea was warm enough. My gut receded quite a bit too. However my weight climbed to 13st 6lb. This is a case of fit fat man: I built up muscle and tightened everything up but lost none of the original fat.

Next, because of an accumulation of small facts about our own health and that of others around us, a tipping point being us coming back to England so Caroline can go into hospital, we decided to give up smoking. Now I damned well knew my weight was going to climb as a result of this but didn’t mind too much if I could manage to kick the habit. Well I have kicked the habit and my weight has duly climbed, but perhaps not as much as expected because I got straight into cycling and weight training, plus a walk at the weekend, the moment we got back here. However, it now stands at 13st 9lb and I don’t pass the shop window test even if I prepare beforehand by sucking in my gut (and yes I’m sucking in my gut in the picture here).

Time to lose some weight.

My approach to this is probably not the best and I know that some tut-tut about it when I talk about it. It is surely unhealthy, completely the wrong thing to do etc etc. Bollocks. I occasionally have days off – days when I eat nothing at all. I find it easier to do this than eat a small amount. No no no, cry the diet experts. I think they’re talking out of their backsides. In evolutionary terms fat goes on to get us through times when there isn’t much food available. The simple fact is that the less you put in your gob the less ends up around your waist. Also, I find that after the ensuing night’s sleep I feel no hungrier in the morning than usual, which brings home to you how hunger is just a mental thing.

The other thing I do is cut out four main carbs: potatoes, pasta, rice and bread. What I do is go out and buy cabbage. Savoy is my preference though red cabbage is good too. Then, instead of those carbs I have a pile of boiled cabbage. Spaghetti Bolognese? Yup the meat sauce goes on the pile of cabbage. Steak? Pile of cabbage where the chips normally sit. I also eat slowly, finish hungry and wait. The hunger passes in half an hour. Sometimes if there’s an oversupply of veg available – runner beans, courgettes or whatever – I just double up on them instead of the cabbage. But you get the idea.

This all starts today. Caroline is going on a shopping trip to Westfield and will be eating out. I’ll take my eight mile bike ride to my mother’s and, when back here, try to eat nothing at all. Maybe I’ll fail but even then I’ll try to make that failure an apple or a raw carrot.