The running theme...

The last couple of days have been really trying for me. I've felt incredibly low and haven't really stuck to any real diet, although I haven't really eaten much apart from an incredibly unhealthy kebab tonight (naughty!).

I took a walk to town with my daughter today just to get some form of fresh air and some sunshine, which did help to lift my mood a little. Having an early night tonight with the intention of getting up early and getting out on the bike. Will update more tomorrow.

I managed to get to Boots today to get weighed. I'm exactly 23 stone. When I initially did a low carb diet last May, I was 26st 11lbs, so I've lost 3st 11lbs in 13 months. Not fantastic, but I've managed to keep it off. Low carb seems to be the way forward for me as it has so many health benefits. When I did it last year I managed to stop the effects of my diabetes and stopped having to take almost all of my meds for the condition. Not only that, I had bags of energy and found myself being able to concentrate so much more. This in turn made things better in almost all aspects of my life. I need to get back into this type of diet for the above reasons, and if I can manage to get through the initial 4 or 5 days of carb-depletion then it'll be plain sailing (hopefully!).

So, wish me luck as I start my low carb diet from tomorrow. If anyone is unfortunate enough to come into contact with me in the initial phase of low carb dieting, please accept my apologies for the cranky mood I'm likely to be in and please, please, please don't take it personally!!

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A bit of a downer

Hi all,

Didn't get chance to post online last night but spent most of yesterday feeling utterly deflated. It was just one of those days and its most likely due to the fact that we are flat broke and there seems to be no end in sight. To add to the list of bad luck, my mobile phone decided to pack up last night. It switched itself off and now won't switch back on, nor charge for that matter. 3000+ pictures (including some from when my daughter was born) and all of my contacts lost in the blink of an eye.

That deflated feeling has continued today, but I am trying my utmost not to let it bring me down. Money is tight, my health is poor, but I can keep my spirits raised and just keep on pushing.

So, today I have an appointment with the vascular surgeon at the hospital to see if there is anything that can be done about the ulcers on my leg (which have been there around 14 months!) and to see if there's anything else that can help with the circulation in my lower legs. It's taken 5 years to get to this stage, so I really hope they can do something for me.

The hospital is around 1.5-2 miles away from where I live so I'm planning on cycling there to get some exercise in. Unfortunately I won't be able to track this on RunKeeper with my phone being goosed!

Despite feeling so low, I will remain positive and stay on top of my thoughts and feelings. I posted the image below in my facebook group as a reminder that this is a journey that will last a lifetime:

Sometimes I will stumble and fall, but picking myself up, dusting myself down and carrying on is what will define my success!

Keep positive everyone, no matter how much things grind you down.

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Always a rush!

Hi all,

Bit of a hectic start to today after my son's bike got tangled up in some discarded string near our home. Needless to say, when in a rush, this was the last thing I wanted to happen! We promptly returned home and then drove to school this morning. Despite this little set back, I'll be riding to his school this afternoon to pick him up then we'll both walk home.

My wife and I visited our friend today and took a nice walk into the town centre for a wander round the shops.

Unfortunately not much in the way of exercise today, but I did receive an interesting post on my facebook timeline today from my friend Mike 'Cubito' Cubin. He told me about an app on the Play store called 'RunKeeper'

The app is designed to track all of your exercise activities using the GPS tracker on your phone. It also gives you the option to post your workouts direct to facebook. So, in Cubin's words, there's "NO EXCUSES" now!

If you want to install the app on your Android or Apple device click here.

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Welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog!

My name is John 'Big Mac' McInally and I've always had issues with my weight that have caused all sorts of health problems for me. So, to help motivate myself I've set up this blog to keep a journal of my journey.

This isn't the first time I've written a blog on my efforts, and certainly not the first time I've tried to lose weight, but hopefully this time I will be able to achieve the goals I've set myself and ultimately lose weight, become financially happy and have an altogether better life and relationship with my friends and family.

So, here are the health problems I currently have, all due to my weight:

• Type 2 diabetes,
• Raised blood pressure,
• Raised cholesterol,
• Sleep apnoea,
• Osteo-arthritis of the knee,
• Peripheral vascular disease, and
• Ulcers of the lower leg.

This list is extensive and quite frankly, embarrassing! But I feel its essential to be up-front and honest in order for me and everyone else to get the most out of this blog.

I'll be measuring myself tomorrow, things such as weight, inches etc and will update more tomorrow.

I also run a facebook group along side this blog, so please feel free to join in on there too. You can find the group here.

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