Reboot and reload is my phrase for what it feels like my gut has done over the past few days. In the early hours of Monday morning, my digestive system got extremely unhappy — I suspect a norovirus, though without pathology testing I cannot be sure — and between a mixture of projectile vomiting (thankfully only one episode) and watery diarrhoea, went and emptied itself.

There's a lot of bacteria in your gut - it contains something like ten times as many bacterial cells as there are human body cells in the whole of your body. They're a lot smaller, of course, which is why you don't actually weight the best part of a tonne, but it still makes a measurable part of your body weight.

After 48 hours, I'd dropped at least 5 pounds weight.

I've now put a couple of pounds back on, some of which will be fluid replacement. But oh, I really don't recommend it as a weight loss treatment.

As of Saturday, I should be safe to visit a hospital.