CHRISTMAS pudding. Cake. Beer. Wine. Mounds of chocolate. The excesses of the season can take a heavy toll on our bodies.

With nearly half the population of south Worcestershire already overweight, the strain on our well-being - and the National Health Service - is beginning to take its toll.

According to South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust chief executive Mike Ridley, obesity cost the trust £20m last year alone.

Heart disease, cancer and diabetes can all be caused by people simply being overweight.

These - and other illnesses - put enormous pressure on our GPs, hospitals and clinics.

But these are nothing to the pressures felt by families who lose a loved one as a direct result of their being obese.

Fifty-year-old gran Judy Tonks had a special reason for losing weight.

She shed five stone because she was afraid of not being able to fit in a plane seat for a trip to Florida with her seriously-ill grandson, Jordan Gibson.

She set a weight-loss target and is sticking to it - and is now urging others to do the same.

This doesn't mean we have to be stick-thin, obsessive calorie-watchers.

But eating a sensible, balanced diet and taking regular exercise - like walking - will help you enjoy a better quality of life and, hopefully, live longer too.

The New Year is a great time for resolutions - most of which we don't keep. Why not make sure this is one you do?