Blaise Tapp: Nothing tastes as good as being much more healthy feels

Little more than two months ago I embarked on my latest weight loss journey and while I was full of confidence - some might describe it as hubris - there was always that nagging doubt that this diet might go the same way as all of the others. My previous attempts at banishing the spare tyres - which were beginning to resemble something you’d find on a monster truck - had all started promisingly before that initial good work was undone with an overwhelming urge to consume my own bodyweight in piping hot sausage rolls.

I’ve always had a problem with curbing my hunger with a piece of fruit as opposed to anything that lives in the snack cupboard, which can be found in almost every home in the country. However, this time, things appear to be different and, as I write, I’m on the brink of losing two stone in 11 weeks.

The difference in getting rid of twenty seven and a half pounds in a relatively short period of time has been huge as I no longer have to sit down after briskly walking up a flight of stairs and my knees no longer groan every time I make my way to the kitchen table. The lack of grease in my new daily diet means that my stomach no longer feels like a washing machine on a spin cycle.

However, this new-found good health comes at a cost - I am in danger of becoming a food obsessive. For the first time in my life, I’ve found myself checking the ingredients information of anything I put into my basket to see whether it is safe for me to stick on my plate.

I’m afraid to say it but there is a real danger that, as I feared when I started out in the autumn, I am becoming a diet bore. My shrinking waistline is usually brought up by yours truly in most conversations and my mood is dictated by whether or not the bathroom scales show that my weight is heading in the right direction.

For someone who hasn’t owned a comb since the end of the last century, I’ve suddenly started taking much more of an interest in how I look.

While I still have quite a long way to go before anyone who doesn’t need glasses would start describing me as slender, there’s a lot to be said for sustained weight loss.