Weight is a funny old thing. I think I heard somewhere that aircraft don’t so much go from A to B, say from New York to Dublin, in a straight line. Instead, it seems they zig-zag their way across the Atlantic. They veer off a bit, take new coordinates, then refocus, adjusting direction, zig-zagging to their destination. Body weight is a bit like that. We put on a few pounds, realise it; then cut down a bit, shed a few pounds, achieve a healthy weight, then put some more on again.

Here are some tips if you need to shed a few pounds: for a two week period, eliminate biscuits, cakes, and chocolate and instead snack on fruit. Cut out the booze for the fortnight too. It’ll give your liver a break. Reduce your dairy intake to a minimum, so bye bye to cheese, milk drinks, full-fat yogurts, etc. Talk to your pharmacist about taking a calcium supplement while you’re off dairy stuff. And do at least 20 minutes physical exercise a day. Nothing very radical there but if you do it, essentially cutting out bad fats (biscuits, cakes etc.) and reducing dairy (cheese, milk etc.), you’ll lose two or three pounds. What’s more, if you keep it up, such as if you’re very overweight, in time you’ll shed excess weight and you’ll do it in a sustainable way. If you’re self-disciplined enough you can reintroduce a small amount of chocolate and a glass of wine. All the above is good for your health, your wealth and the environment – not a bad hat trick!

Finally a simple detox like the above can invigorate you. I did it for three weeks in January and I was full of energy. I’ve been a bit self-indulgent since then and could do with doing it again for a fortnight. The old zig-zag!