Two weeks into Lent

All's well, I have to report. No weakening on any of the proscribed foodstuffs or beverages, still eating heaps of fruit and fish and feeling very good. A few weeks before Lent, living it up in Carnival time, I was dreading the prospect of such deep asceticism. But two weeks into it, the abstinence feels like the most natural thing. I have no cravings for coffee or wine or meat or cheese (well maybe for the cheese). Although party-going at this time of year is a bit of a bore.

Sit-ups are now up to 100 a day (two lots of 50) and press-ups 30 a day. You know you're doing the optimal number of sit-ups when the last three or four are painful. And the effect is visible after a fortnight - three quarters of an inch shaved off around the middle. Four and half weeks to go.