In order to lose weight you need to do one (or both) of two things:

1. burn more calories than you consume.
2. reduce the amount of calories that you consume.

A quick Google search will reveal that in order to lose one pound in body weight we must burn 3,500 more calories than we are consuming. Therefore, if we view this as a weekly objective and aim to create a 500 calorie deficit every day either by upping the exercise or cutting the food, we can shed around one pound in seven days. Absolutely right – but quite difficult to implement in real terms. There's no getting away from it - whether you're grimly resigned to sipping so-called 'diet' milkshakes or struggling to work out your ideal exercise plan – calorie counting sucks.

By far the most successful tactic is to concentrate on upping your energy expenditure by incorporating more physical activity into your lifestyle rather than relying solely on calorie counting. How frequently and intensely you exercise, as well as how long you work out, determines how much fat you burn. So let's look at the bare bones of this:

How often?

Exercise on most — at least five and preferably all — days of the week.

How hard?

Use the American Heart Association's 'conversational pace rule': if you can still just maintain a conversation whilst exercising, you're probably going at the right pace. If you can chat easily (as if sitting on the sofa), then you're probably not working hard enough. And if you cannot squeeze out a single word or if you have to keep stopping to take a breath or rest then you are working too hard and need to slow down. What about if you're out exercising alone? Just do the talk test by experimenting with a few encouraging words to yourself!

How long?

At least 30 minutes

And there you have it. Or do you? What if you've never worked out a moment in your life? What if you're still holding on to excruciating memories of school PE? Then those 30 minutes can seem downright daunting. The answer is to just begin. Do what you can to start with and when you can do more, stick with it. A little bit really can go a long way. Try exercising for 10 minutes today and add 5 minute increments until you work up to 30. The worst thing you can do is to feel so overwhelmed by the enormity of exercising for a full 30 minutes that you don't bother at all. 30 minutes may be ideal, but anything less is still beneficial. Do what you can for you. Any exercise is better than living the life of a full-time couch potato! One of the most sure-fire ways to give up on an exercise programme before you've even laced up your trainers is to make it so inconvenient and daunting that it's downright unachievable. Don't beat yourself up for not meeting someone else's idea of what is good enough.

Don't overdo it. Making sure that you don't over exercise is very important as too much exercise can result in more risk of injury as well as not reaching your weight loss goals as quickly. You must have some days to rest and recuperate. The worst thing you can do when starting out is to get burned out. Committing to a lengthy workout every day without any time off is an easy way for this to happen. Experiment and you will find what is right for you.

There is no one size fits all when it comes to how much is enough exercise. There is no miracle supplement to melt away excess weight and the latest 'easy' diet will always be far from it.

Keeping fit is a choice, a decision and a lifetime commitment to living your best possible life.