So, a better walrus having been built, how am I getting on?

Readers will recall that I had declared my battle to shed two stone (28 pounds or, for those of you of a metric bent, 12.8 kilos) in weight won. Of course, the challenge is to keep it off...

Or, alternatively, you can attempt to do more.

And, so, I've kept up my 10,000 steps a day regime, generally watched my calorie intake, made a few changes to my habitual diet. Nothing dramatic, all seemingly sustainable. It seems to work and I've now lost 16.2 kilos, or 35 pounds.

I'm still more walrus than gazelle, although frankly, I'm never going to be a gazelle. I have, though, lost four inches around the waist, regained virtually all of my collection of shirts that I've purchased in moments when my taste has deserted me, and exposed a slightly more confident persona. It's all good, as they say.

And, of course, because the changes are sustainable, there's still potential for more weight loss. I am still carrying poundage that really isn't doing me any good, in the key places that men shouldn't, i.e. around the major organs. But the walking has become a habit, the calorie counting an intellectual exercise, and the prospect of some serious clothes shopping has been an incentive.

So, the work to build a better bureaucrat continues. Wish me luck!