I live by most of the health rules. I eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, clock my fibre intake and hit a healthy protein portion. But there are times when I want to shed a bit of weight. And like most people, the idea of enduring a rumbling stomach for weeks on end and spending hours in the gym is daunting. But it really doesn’t need to be that difficult.

To lose 1lb (450 grams) of fat a week – a realistic starting point for healthy, sustainable weight loss – you needed to be in a 500 calorie deficit a day, said Sam Quinn, a personal training lead at Nuffield Health. This is about 1500 for women and 2000 for men. One way to achieve this was to cut 250 calories from your diet (for reference, a four-finger KitKat is 209 calories and a KitKat Chunky is 263 calories) and burn an extra 250 through exercise, he said.

The Telegraph London