Day 1: The challenge begins

Crisps. The succubi of the snack world.

Pity the poor addict, such a wretched being. He's helpless to resist the titillating shapes, the alluring textures, the provocative flavours. But beyond such base pleasure lies only a fate of obesity, hypertension and coronary heart disease.

The addict cradles the packet carefully, wary of causing unnecessary breakage. He opens it with practiced fingers, and pulls out the first slice of fried gold. He sighs as the crispness yields to his teeth and the first wave of that glorious salty grease caresses his tongue.

Soon, too soon, the packet's empty. It was nothing, just air and a few crumbs. A second packet follows, and it's then the fever hits. Like a Victorian cad tugging at the bodice of a breathless wench, the bug-eyed addict rips open the third packet, his lust driving him beyond all thoughts of rational control. Maybe he tears through a fourth; it's all a half-remembered blur by this point.

Finally, his stinging taste buds short-circuited from the savage assault, the addict slumps to the floor and wipes the crumbs from his face with shiny fingers. He contemplates the empty packets with mounting guilt. They stare back at him as if mocking his pathetic weakness. Silently, he squashes them into the bin. He avoids looking in the mirror as he brushes his teeth. Such a wretched being.

But enough is enough. It's time to make a stand.

Our challenge: go a whole year without eating a single crisp. Or, indeed, any foreign variation on the crisp. The obligatory poppadoms and pickle tray while browsing the menu at an Indian restaurant. The grease-spotted brown paper bag of prawn crackers from the Chinese take away. The harsh triangularity of the corn tortilla. And definitely no hairy pork scratchings.

There are doubts, oh yes. Will we need restraining when approaching the aisle of doom in the supermarket? Will we fail due to a momentary lapse at a child's birthday party. And of course there’s the biggest test of them all - the post-work visit to the pub.

But we can do it. There's money at stake - charity money. And, more importantly, there's pride. It's a matter of public record now: 365 days without crisps.

They begin today.