About 3 years ago, I would go out running regularly to offset all the junk food and beer that would be washing its way through my system.

Even though I was never uber fit, it made me feel good that I had done something healthy and I felt all the better for doing it. At the time I was living next to Nonsuch Park, which is possibly one of the best places for running in the borough. It's quiet, pretty and huge, which meant that each run was different - you could go to different areas of the park if you fancied a change.

These days I am leading quite a happy and self indulgent life and I need to lose a few pounds. I'm going to Mexico in a couple of weeks and I am slightly worried that I might be upstaged at the beach by the likes of a Mexican Hasslehoff.

In recent months, I have found it increasingly difficult to get into my own jeans and I have even been compared to Johnny Vegas.

So, I have decided to start running again.

I live at the top of Sutton. The closest park is Manor Park, but if I be honest, I don't really want to go running around there. Mainly in the fear of being heckled by the teenagers that hang round in there. I know they are probably harmless and probably arent even remotely interested in watching me run and suffer, but I can't help thinking what I was like when I was that age - I used to hang round in Sears Park and everytime someone would innocently jog past, my mates and I would shout stuff out like “Run Forrest! Run!!”.

I actually went for a run on Saturday afternoon, I decided to avoid Manor Park and just stick to the roads in my area.

I jogged to the end of the road and I wanted to turn round and go back! Out of breath, I thought to myself “Oh my god, what was I thinking?”. However, I managed to buck up the determination to continue and I did feel better for it, mentally anyway. Physically, I felt awful.

When I got back I couldn't stop coughing and the next day, I was aching all over! It was a struggle to even pick up the remote! I had to watch Songs of Praise for a good 20 minutes before I could be bothered to pick up the remote off the coffee table.

Despite all this suffering, I am going to continue with this and I am determined to lose a bit of weight. As well as running, I am also going to cut down on junkfood...

As soon as I have finished off this packet crisps...