Want to look like a goddess at the New Year's Eve party? If so, you need a party 'pretox' - a diet and workout detox plan that promises to get you in peak condition and ready to wow!
The month before Christmas means party, party, party. Sounds fun, but there's always a flip side, a ying to the yang, a rise before the fall. In this instance it's likely to be a cold, pasty skin, aching liver and lacklustre attitude. You've committed the cardinal sin; you're officially partied out before New Year's Eve.
The answer is the 'pretox', the brainchild of wellbeing manager Paul Lubicz. Speaking to The Sunday Times, Paul says he realised the benefits of pretoxing while at a juicing camp in Thailand. A week-long juice fast is not my idea of fun or particularly practical for those of us who have to take care of kids.
So instead, we enlisted some more experts to see what they would recommend to give you a week-long pre-party diet and fitness plan.
Drinking
Ian Marber, aka The Food Doctor, is a staunch advocate of starting the day with a glass of hot water and lemon to stimulate your digestion and liver function. In his latest book, The Food Doctor Diet Club, he suggests spicing it up with some ginger or cinnamon. Cat Deeley is a fan, and says: 'I always drink a cup of hot water and lemon. It's odd, but I feel sick if I don't. I've read that it detoxifies your body.'
Ian adds: 'Keeping your fluid intake consistently high is vital if you want to lose weight. Water is the best and the most effective way of staying hydrated through the day. You should aim to drink at least 1.5 litres (3 ½ pints) or more of water a day.'
Eating
Naturopath Max Tomlinson believes in harnessing the power of food to generate outstanding health. His 'seven steps to a clean diet' all centre around eating organic, seasonal, additive-free, unprocessed, fresh foods. Vegetables should be eaten lightly cooked by steaming, dry-frying, stir-frying, oven-roasting or even raw. In his book, Clean Up Your Diet, Max explains: 'Over the course of a normal day, the average American consumes more than 180 chemical additives as a result of eating processed food, or unwashed fruit and vegetables - that's more than 65,000 separate doses of chemical in a year!'
Penny Povey a nutritionist at Farmacia is all for abstaining from processed foods. She says: 'The basic philosophy behind any effective detox program is to identify, remove, and restore.' says Povey. 'When these body toxins are removed, your body can then restore a healthy balance.'
So it's time to ditch the white bread, sugar-laden cereals and biscuits and load up on fresh fruit and vegetables, sustainable fish and wholegrains. Come on, it's only for a week!
Snacking
Get cunning with your eating habits; don't reach for that chocolate bar or the biscuit tin when the 4pm munchies hit. If you're hungry, you need to eat a meal not a snack. Researchers at State University of New York At Buffalo, USA, found people who saw their afternoon treat as a snack ate 87 per cent more food for their evening meal than those who ate the same food at the same time but called it a meal. Include some protein in your choice and you'll stay satisfied for longer. Good choices include a couple of oatcakes with low-fat humous or an open tuna sandwich.
Cleansing inside and out
If you really want to get serious about cleansing your system and achieving that all-important flat tummy for your little black dress it's time to look to your bowels and try colonic irrigation, says Galina Imrie.
In her book, Always Look After Number Two, she says: 'If you feel bloated, constipated, sluggish, tired and worn out, and your complaints are being routinely dismissed by your doctor, who does not understand why you won't just take a laxative or two and get on with it, then this is for you.'
And it's not just an internal cleanse. Galina adds: 'Getting rid of waste is a cathartic, purifying feeling; a kind of a cleansing ritual, which helps bring together the body and the spirit in a desire for better health.'
Exercising
So you're eating fresh and seasonal fruit and vegetables, no longer 'snacking' and you are downing water by the gallon, but if you really want to see results you've got to exercise too. A great place to start is walking. Get off the tube, bus or train a stop early and walk the rest of the way to work; walk up the escalators; take the stairs and not the lift; use your lunch hour to take a walk round the neighbourhood; just get your body moving! Joanna Hall's book, The GI Walking Diet, advocates investing in a pedometer and trying to walk 10,000 steps a day. But if you're already an avid gym bunny-bunny then this might be a little tame for you. If you want to go hardcore, try Bikram yoga - a unique series of 26 Hatha Yoga postures and two breathing exercises performed in a heated room.
The series of postures has been scientifically designed to work every part of the body in the correct order. Each pose prepares the body for the next pose, and the sequence maximises oxygenation and detoxification of the entire body.
Lesley Tough, Make-Up Product Manager at Estee Lauder, loves the classes for a quick body boost before an important party. She says: 'I first tried Bikram Yoga as I was looking for a new way to tone up and get flexible,' says Tough. 'It's quite an unusual concept, but once you get your head round the fact you are in a very hot room, and are going to sweat lots, it's fun. You feel cleansed, healthy and fantastic after every session, and my toning and fitness levels have definitely improved. Originally, I had planned just to try it as a quick-fix measure before a friend's wedding, but now I am a genuine Bikram convert.'
After a week (or two if you want to push the boat out) of following these diet and fitness guidelines, you'll be glowing inside and out and ready to party 'til dawn!