Why? Because I HATE exercising! I absolutely HATE it. Yes, 'hate' is a strong word, but it's how I feel. I can think of so, SO many things I'd rather do than exercise, so those are what I've done! And not just this month or this year, no, no, it's what I've ALWAYS done!

A couple of weeks ago Coca-Cola launched a new advert in the UK called Be OK! The advert offers consumers suggestions for activities which, when combined, can help to burn off the 139 calories in a can of Coca-Cola.

While healthy eating and exercise are the best ways to stay in good shape, sometimes we could all do with a little helping hand. If you're bored of conventional diet advice and fancy trying something new, check out these seven strange tricks that will help you to lose weight.

Over the course of my 20-year career, I have in fact been emphatically anti-diets, so it may seem odd that I have now written a book devoted to one. It's no U-turn; The Fast Diet, co-written with Dr Michael Mosley, works so brilliantly because you don't have to give anything up at all.

Over the last ten years, I have chosen to see food with a natural, common-sense approach. What would happen if we felt our bodies before we did our weekly shop? What if we asked our body what it needed - not what it is craving? What if I only eat when I am hungry?

How do I lose my belly fat? How can I tone up my arms? Which exercise will shrink my thighs? The sad truth of the matter is, whether you want to get rid of that annoying lower ab pudge, firm up those pesky bingo wings or attain the elusive 'thigh gap', the answer is always the same.

Does the thought of trying to lose weight make you feel stressed? You're not alone. And in my experience, getting stressed about your weight loss is one of the biggest obstacles to success. People who get stressed about their weight loss are much more likely to give up.

People look at me with confusion when they see the amount of kale and broccoli in my trolley - five a day is not wrong but it is certainly not right either. Make it your mission to eat that and more. If you are serious about being lean, happy and healthy these are essential.

Let's take slimming clubs as an example. WeightWatchers and Slimming World have on the surface quite sensible ideas around cutting the bulge. But both brands promote a range of processed products (bars, shakes etc.) that could be seen as easy replacements for other lower calorie, non-processed and cheaper food.

I simply have no patience for the 'fat and fabulous' warriors. That's fine for them, if that's what they're happy with. But it doesn't work for me, at all... I can't be kind to the lump in the mirror.

There is a huge amount of evidence that diets don't work and no real independent evidence that Weight Watchers is effective in the long term for any more than a very small percentage of users and let's not forget that Weight Watchers themselves admitted this last year to a Parliamentary Committee.

The beauty of losing fat/building muscle is that it is a science. In this blog, I will explain why I am not a fan of redundant 'cardio', why men should change their workouts more and also make an impassioned plea for women to start resistance training.

My image of myself in my mind is still of a normal, healthy looking woman, not the overweight woman that is the reality.

In the last two weeks I've been told to eat nothing at all after about 5pm, nothing at all on two days of each week, five small meals every day; drink tea instead of coffee, coffee instead of tea, and tea made from the leaves of the coffee plant.

You are also more likely to succeed if you borrow an idea from the bodybuilding community. Have planned cheat meals (if deserved) every five-seven days and you are far likelier to succeed in the long term.

What comes to mind when you decide you need to lose weight? Pain? Terror? Suffering? The 'diet mentality' emphasises the "no pain- no gain" approach to weight loss, which makes weight loss seem painful and intimidates many people. This stops them taking action.

No intervention for obesity has been proven to produce clinically significant and sustainable weight loss in the medium- to long-term. Not diet, not exercise, not behavioural interventions, not even bariatric surgery.

Tis the season for making promises to ourselves - and, possibly, others, though they'll have heard it all before - that we know we won't keep. My New Year's resolutions are going pretty well so far. I've resolved to do the following.

The very latest thinking is that those who score high on self-control lead lives characterised by effective habits and routines, rather than deploying that much active resistance. Better self-control seems to involve avoiding temptations, rather than resisting them.

Woody Allen famously said that "80% of success is showing up". And when it comes to losing weight, it's essential for success.

If you have a family member/friend with an eating disorder, you are going to experience a range of emotions from helplessness and loneliness to anger, frustration and despair. You may even become preoccupied with your own or your family's eating behaviours and weight.

Even the most determined, motivated woman, who is able to solve almost any problem in their work or family life, cannot seem to work out what to do when it comes to their weight.

With this pressure to look like celebrities, why should girls look for role models who are famed for intelligence over their fantastic figure and always perfect dress and make-up? At one of my recent Guide meetings we asked girls to come dressed as a female role model with some surprising results.

Generally, if you're overweight, there's a reason for it, and it's not just as simple as not eating the cake, otherwise you'd have done it by now, right? People who've been on a diet are 'experts' in their field.

There is nothing worse than feeling like you are doing all the right things and still not getting anywhere. When it comes to losing weight, there are a lot of women who are frustrated and demoralised because they feel like no matter what they do, they can't get their weight under control.