Have you ever seen a group of Rambler's Association Walkers in the UK on a weekend afternoon? The average age of the group is usually knocking on for sixty five and you will rarely witness a more agile and nimble lot in your life. Scrambling up inclines and snaking along coastal paths with ease. The activity has it all – open to all ages and abilities (mostly), easy socialising and the mood enhancing factors of beautiful scenery and all that fresh air.

Broadly speaking there are two main groups of exercisers. The grumpy gym-goers who tolerate their thrice weeky ritual and those who will happily don their trainers at the drop of a hat. The easiest way of moving from the former group into the latter is simply to find something that you enjoy doing. There are hundreds of activities on offer out there. I refuse to accept that you detest all of it. It reminds me very much of my aversion to cooking – I hate most of it but after really giving it some thought and experimentation I do kinda enjoy special occasion cooking. So, what's your 'special occasion' sport? I assure you that it's out there.

"Why exercise won't make you thin" by John Cloud is one of the top read articles on Time magazine's website. Is this because we desperately hope it will turn out to be true? That all that pumping iron, sweat and heaving lungs is in vain if we're hoping to lose weight? Then we're looking at this from the wrong angle; once you discover your favourite activity then you will look forward to it with pleasure rather than dread. It's the carrot and not the stick. Maybe at first it's simply the social aspects and group support that drives you to attend each session but in time as you get better at your chosen exercise and fitter – and you will – the accompanying feelings of achievement and well being will kick in as motivators too. Now you're on a roll.

It's around about this time of year that ladies thoughts turn to Christmas. To office parties, celebration meals and seasonal events and the remote possibilty of squeezing into that LBD. If we begin now, we figure, we just might pull it off. Great idea but the problem usually lies in how we interpret the word 'begin'. For most this means enduring a grim few months on the latest miracle diet followed by a blow out over the festive period. For the huge majority this would be the usual route of choice. Their actions would be well intentioned but they would be wrong. And herein lies the big secret to losing weight and keeping it off – and it's so important I'm going to hit the CAPS key – MAKE FITNESS – AND NOT WEIGHT LOSS – YOUR GOAL. And watch the numbers on that scale edge steadily down.