Many people make the mistake of thinking that the way to lose weight is to control what they eat – if only you could avoid those damned chocolate cream cakes, everything would be alright in the world! At the same time, these people often see thinner people scoffing those same foods and get very jealous: ‘why aren’t you fat by now if you eat like that?’

The answer, of course, is exercise. Exercise is a far more potent weapon against fat than changing your diet – it literally burns it off you. If you exercise enough, you can be burning more calories than you could ever hope to consume, leaving you free to fulfil that old diet promise of eating absolutely anything you want.

Sometimes people are put off exercising, believing that they don’t have the time or the money to join the gym or take some other form of regular exercise, but in reality it’s just not true. I’m sure you walk somewhere at some point in your day – jog instead. And you could no doubt manage a few sit-ups while you’re watching the TV of an evening. If you have a dog, take it for longer walks – this has the added bonus of making your dog very happy.

You see, the best forms of exercise are the ones you can do every day, like going up stairs instead of taking the lift, or parking towards the back of the car park when you go to the supermarket. These are easy changes to make that take very little time and effort, but can begin to pay huge dividends quite quickly when it comes to your weight. Then, once you’ve made that first step towards fitness, it’s much easier to find the energy and motivation to really go for it.