I’d grown so fat that I could only pull my turquoise shorts up as far as my thighs. It was extremely uncomfortable (as well as unsightly) to wander about dressed in this fashion. I needed to go clothes shopping – urgently.

I left my car in a multi-storey car park in Glasgow, then entered the attached shopping centre. The devastation of the pandemic was writ large on the boarded-up windows of many shops. Even H&M was closed.

Fortunately John Lewis was open. There I selected a pair of khaki green shorts in size 15. They fitted – just. I really did need to go on a diet.