Bernard O'Shea: The Dad Bod Diaries

Week 1 — I can’t fit into the changing room, never mind the jeans

Bernard O'Shea: 'I realised very quickly: I wasn’t just struggling with the jeans. I was struggling with the changing room itself. The bloody room wouldn’t fit me.' File photo

There are many ways to discover the truth about your midlife body, but a department-store changing room on a weekday afternoon is not one I’d recommend.

My youngest son looked at me and, with the sheer honesty that only a child can deliver, told me I look like Humpty Dumpty. And not even in a playful way. It was clinical. “Daddy, you look like Humpty Dumpty.”