Doctors tell him he is 'morbidly obese' and is in grave danger if he does not shed the pounds.

Chris has joined a gym in an attempt to get down to 12st.

Here is his report:

MY attempt to throw off the fat nearly failed, after an accident this week.

I popped into a local gym to strut my stuff and the Express photographer followed me.

He was pretty impressed with my work-out sessions and took a few snaps.

What a good man - he can recognise a true athlete when he sees one.

Coming out of the gym, yours truly slipped in the rain and fell on the pavement.
- My left arm and jaw really, really hurt.

A colleague is our new first aider. She told me I was her first patient and gave me a plaster.

One of the sub-editors thinks I am putting on muscle but not losing weight.

Our chief reporter has tried, bless him, to be more supportive.

One morning, he whispered across the desks: 'I've brought in some sausage rolls for us.'

At the gym in my home town the programme seems to be going well.

The other evening I picked up my paper training record - it had blood on it.

THAT'S how hard this exercise thing can be.

The arm curl machine is proving to be the biggest challenge at the moment.

Pure, unadulterated pain - and that's on the lightest weight setting.

I am due a review soon with Positive Dan, a trainer at the gym.

It's probably time to up the stakes after three weeks of thrashing it out.

If I survive until next week, I'll tell you more.