Thank you so much, Whiff, for your encouragement and helpful advice! After my August blood test I was told the diabetic clinic didn't need a follow up, so checked on the NHS app - I'm back in the pre-diabetic zone (only just, but still not bad for five months, methinks). I'll still keep going, as I feel so much better as the weight shifts - the back pain is receding, I'm not so scared of getting in/out of the bath as I had been, I can actually contort enough to deal with my feet and I'm not so reliant on my walking stick to get across the supermarket car park, for instance. However I've had a frustrating couple of weeks with nothing much happening on the scales and a few complete lapses of concentration (late night snacking - good stuff really, but loads of calories). Then yesterday I was going through clothes with a view to taking to charity, tried on a shirt dress that was far too tight on the chest a few months ago - and it's loose. Seriously, a good 5" of play on the bust line. Couldn't believe it, checked my bra was done up ... but then remembered previous weight loss efforts when the scales wouldn't budge but the inches certainly dropped off - just wish they'd drop off my tum & bum, and not all off my chest. Now truly a (rather droopy) pear shape, or perhaps a floppy butternut squash? So, onwards ...