I remember the day in July of last year. The excitement of an approaching three-week European trip bubbled as I bought a pair of running shoes and put them on.

But, looking down, I could not see my new footwear. My tummy was in the way.

In Spain, weeks later, I was walking up a gentle ramp in Toledo when it began to feel like I was struggling up a mountain. My lungs burned, my heart pounded and I needed to stop.

I had to admit to myself that through my off-and-on attempts to keep fit over eight years, I was overweight, eating too much and not healthy.

I had ballooned to 98kg (216lbs), my heaviest ever and 23kg above the ideal weight of 75kg for a man of my height.

It was no consolation that I was among the majority in Hong Kong, where 54.6 per cent of the adult population is considered overweight or obese, according to the Department of Health’s 2020-2022 Population Health Survey.