DO you feel a bit lardy? Do you need a trundle wheel to measure your waist? Is your backside the size of Denmark? Do your bathroom scales beggar belief?If the answer is yes then you are not alone.

DO you feel a bit lardy? Do you need a trundle wheel to measure your waist? Is your backside the size of Denmark? Do your bathroom scales beggar belief?

If the answer is yes then you are not alone.

With an average 6,000 calories consumed on Christmas Day the average Brit puts on 5lbs during the festive period.

Piling on the pounds is price we pay for festive excess and, when lumped together, if everyone one of Ipswich's 120,000 residents put on 5lbs the total weight gain for the town is a staggeringly massive 600,000lbs - the equivalent of 60 African elephants - over the last couple of weeks.

As the mince pies, chocolates, brandy butter, and plum pudding take their collective toll on our expanding waistlines experts are today urging us to take control of the battle of the bulge.

Many have made a news year's resolution to lose weight but will their determined efforts to shed the bulk fall at the first hurdle?

Angela Street, a state registered dietician at Ipswich Hospital, said not everybody will have put on weight.

She said: "People will have put on weight over the Christmas period because people tend to eat a bit more than usual and sit around a bit more than usual.

"People are eating more and exercising less. Often when people get back into their normal routine they return to their normal weight.

"Some of the weight you put on at Christmas will be fluids and it does depend on how much you overeat.

"Not everybody overeats at Christmas. The average recommended intake for men is 2,500 calories for women it is 2,000."

Mrs Street, a dietician with 17 years experience, said rather than trying to make dramatic changes to the diet it is better to make small changes in a bid to lose weight.

She said: "New Year is always a good time to reassess your diet and exercise as it is a new beginning.

"But it is better to be gradual and make just one or two changes, like eating the recommended daily intake five portions of fruit and vegetables or cutting out crisps, rather then setting targets that you won't achieve."

Anyone who is concerned about their weight and wishes to see a dietician should ask their GP for referral.

WEIGHT FACTS

N 600,000lbs is equivalent to about 60 African elephants. The average elephant weighs between 7,000 and 13,200lbs.

N 600,000lbs is equivalent to about 268 tons, about the weight of just over 178 average-sized cars.

N 600,000lbs is equivalent to 43,000 stone.