IN a world where it's cheaper to buy a 12 pack of Monster Munch than a fruit salad, it's hardly surprising that we all find it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.

So when I read 19-year-old Radek Dychalski's story I was seriously impressed.

We reported this week how the teenager shed 11 stone - nearly half his bodyweight - in just over a year.

His achievement was down to hard-work, dedication, and the help of the Weigh to Go scheme, run by British Heart Foundation Scotland and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Radek, who was 25 stone with a BMI of 60, now weighs a healthy 13 stone and goes to the gym six times a week.

It got me thinking about healthy living and how difficult it can be.

A few years ago while working at my old job I did a gym instructor evening class.

It gave me the motivation to learn about fitness, eat well and slowly but surely I became super healthy - and even managed to fit into a size 10 pair of jeans.

But then I became a journalist and it all went a bit pear shaped.

I'm not overweight but in the last year I've gained about a stone (through careless eating, drinking too much and watching too much TV on my days off) and I thought it was time to do something about it.

So I re-joined the gym a few weeks ago....and all the memories came flooding back.

The battle of the bulge is the last thing on anyone's mind at the gym.

Instead it's the battle of the treadmill, or the exercise bike, or the entry to the 5.30pm spin class.

You have to be cut-throat in the gym, if you're a shrinking violet you won't get on anything.

Last Tuesday I went to the gym at about 6pm and couldn't find a free locker.

When I remarked on how busy it seemed, another gym goer searching for somewhere to leave his bag said: "You think this is the hard part? Wait until you try to get a treadmill. You'll be waiting hours."

Sure enough I had to skulk around like an unwanted smell waiting for someone to get off.

You should have seen the dirty looks I got when I finally got a free treadmill and decided to walk on it.

I had forgotten about the really bad dance music, the vain guys staring in the mirror at their muscles and the shrill instructors.

Earlier this week I went to the gym before work at 1pm and stumbled into the OAP session.

The Beatles were playing, the instructor was lovely and all the treadmills were free.

A friendly atmosphere sure makes the pain of the gym much easier to bear.