Oh I think exercise is awesome, I just wish I was fitter and not so lazy that I don't do more of it But I think it's a little misleading to say that light exercise three times a week means you can eat whatever you want and not gain weight. I know noone has said anything like that but just in case people get that impression

Louise: You dont' have to run to be able to burn calories or do exercise. There's a ton of thing you can do, even standing still in one spot and using only bodyweight.

But then you are not eating the amount of calories to sustain current weight, you are actually eating too many calories than what you need for a day .

I do agree with what you say about sorting out the diet, absolutely, you can exercise yourself to the ground and not lose weight if you are still eating too much.

I only used running as an example (I even stated it was just an example in my post) because somebody else had used it previously, I know it's not the be all and end all of exercise but I wasn't about to type a post with every type of available exercise in.

If someone is consistently gaining weight and feel the need to go on a diet chances are they are not eating to 'maintain' but eating over what they should be, so if they continue to eat over their threshold on the assumption that exercise allows you to eat whatever you want and still gain weight then they will be dissapointed. Exercise is designed to be done in conjunction with a healthy diet when the primary motive is weight loss.

I'm not talking about a quick jog 3 times a week - I used to train for half marathons

I have done well on Weightwatchers previously but I always loose about a stone then give up, which is fatal. I was doing WW and lost a bit but mum was ill and I found it hard to find the time to buy fresh veg and cook properly so I fell into eating junk. To try and stop the cycle I decided to sign up for Diet Chef. I had previously laughed at it, thinking it was over expensive and lazy. However, it suited me for that time in my life and I lost 1 and 1/2 stone in 6 weeks. Then mum went into the hospice and we ended up living on junk for convenience as we had not access to a kitchen there. Then I started comfort eating, then my OH kept bringing me chocolate cake or cheesecakes etc in an attempt to cheer me up, plus I was probably having a few too many glasses of wine. Frankly the whole thing collapsed and I ended up eating atrociously. Really over eating I put back on the weight I'd lost and gained a little

I had signed up for 3 months worth of Diet Chef so I still have 6 weeks worth left. I will use that up then probably continue on my own by calorie counting. I don't think Diet Chef is a very good long term solution but if you need to retrain yourself on portion size and can't do it yourself, it helps. My stomach soon shrank and I found I needed far less to fill me up. It seems expensive but it's only about £6 a day for three meals and a snack. I think it's a good way to kick start a diet if you are too busy too cook etc. eventually you have to learn to take responsibility for your own diet, but it's not a bad place to start!