Happiness is...fitting into an old pair of jeans

And more women would also get a bigger kick out of fitting into those old jeans than spending a night of romance with their partner.

But the same women are also deceiving their friends and family with over a third admitting to telling little white lies about their diet and fitness habits.

The most popular fib told by over half of women in the South East being that they haven’t eaten anything between meals when in fact they’ve munched on a chocolate bar.

As well as being in second place to fitting into jeans in the happiness stakes, husbands and partners are also the ones that women in the South East are likely to lie to.

A quarter of South East women would lie to their partner and over a third to their friends about their diet and fitness habits with the most common reason being that they are embarrassed followed by feelings of insecurity.

The research revealed that a fifth of women would find it easier to achieve goals by making them more manageable and breaking them down into small steps.

Style guru Nicky Hambleton-Jones says: “Every woman has a pair of old jeans that they haven’t been able to fit into for years, but that they keep in the hope of squeezing back into them one day.

“That feeling may seem as good as winning the lottery, but my advice is for women to take the plunge and bin those old jeans! If that slim day does ever come, women should celebrate properly by splashing out on a whole new outfit, not by wearing unfashionable old jeans.”