Leader: Shedding pounds can weigh heavily

LESS than a week into the new year and already those earnest resolutions are starting to clash. One resolution at the top of many lists is to shake off the pounds gained over the festive season by taking out a gym membership and getting fit. But then there is that other resolution: to regain the money pounds lost over festive spending and cut back on monthly outgoings.

Prominent among them is the pricey gym membership. Many sign up in a flush of eagerness. But soon the work-outs are being skipped.

There are low-cost options such as pay-as-you go schemes, while university gyms can also be a popular alternative to the sky's-the-limit fees of fashionable fitness centres in expensive parts of town. But the biggest deterrent of all may have little to do with cost.

It is getting out of that front door, earlier than you normally would, on a freezing morning - and to do this on a regular basis. Regular daily running or cycling can make an enormous difference to heart rate, physical shape, general well being and, arguably most important of all, the psychological lift of having at least started the day on the right foot.

Unfortunately, this has its limitations as the recent severe weather proved. So the "pay-as-you-go" gym membership has much to commend it.