The following is an excerpt from The Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S. (McGraw-Hill; £12.75 ). Used with permission.

Here's what is in store for you to enjoy during every phase of the Fat Flush Plan:

Powerful Proteins - with 8 ounces or more a day, such as eggs, lean beef, chicken, fish and whey - boost metabolism by up to 25 percent for about 12 hours to keep metabolic fires burning. Proteins are the tissue and muscle builders par excellence. For every pound of muscle gained, you burn an extra 70 calories per hour. Subsequently, you will help stop hunger and keep blood sugar/insulin levels steady as well as support your system's detoxification process. And you'll actually be eating eggs with yolks on the diet because the sulfur-bearing amino acids they contain help the liver metabolize fats.

Amazing Omegas - such as high-lignan flaxseed oil and GLA-rich botanicals from evening primrose oil, borage, or black currant seed oil - trigger fat burning rather than fat storage. Flaxseed oil tops the satiety scale and can attract oil-soluable poisons that have been lodged in your fat stores and transport them out of the system. The GLA oils mobilize brown adipose tissue, which burns off excess calories and burns energy.

Colorful, Friendly Carbohydrates - such as antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies - that are high in natural enzymes, vitamins and minerals such as potassium, keep sodium out of your cells to banish water retention.

Thermogenic Spices - such as ginger, cayenne, mustard and cinnamon - raise your body temperature and kick your metabolism into high gear. In fact, studies show that some of these seasonings triple the body's ability to burn calories for fuel rather than store them as fat.

Elimination of Metabolism Blockers - such as wheat, milk and yeast-based seasonings - to protect your fat-burning process and ward off those unsightly allergy-related symptoms, such as puffy eyes and dark circles under the eyes. Omitting them is vital to your weight loss success because they have a way of retaining fluid, slowing down metabolism and making fat stick.

Long Life Cocktail - To increase elimination you'll drink this refreshing mixture filled with emulsifying enzymes from unsweetened cranberry juice diluted with water to help digest those fatty globules in the lymphatic system - your body's fat disposal dump. The high-fibre additions of psyllium (or ground-up flaxseeds) to the cocktail block fat absorption, increase fat excretion and bind toxins so that they are not reabsorbed into the body.

Exercise - On all three levels of the Fat Flush Plan, you'll enjoy moderate low-intensity exercise - starting with brisk walking done daily and later adding strength training twice a week to help tighten and tone the muscles. Strength training, in particular, will aid your weight loss efforts because it builds muscle (lean body mass), which is metabolically more active than fatty tissue. In Phase 1, you'll do twenty minutes of brisk walking, dramatically swinging your arms back and forth to stimulate lymph flow and keep toxins moving. Then you'll graduate to thirty minutes in Phase 2 and forty minutes in Phase 3. Doing more than forty-five to sixty minutes every day is now considered too strenuous for the body, so on The Fat Flush Plan, less is definitely more for many reasons that you'll discover. Exercise keeps insulin levels low and can even improve your emotional health because it releases endorphins - those natural mood elevators in your brain that make you feel good. Without a doubt, you'll fell centred, focused and more in control.

Journaling - You'll discover journaling to be a vital companion to your Fat Flush experience. It helps you keep tabs on your food and eating habits. As a matter of fact, this in itself has been shown to be enough to prevent weight gain, according to some experts. Your Fat Flush journal helps you track your food consumption, food responses (e.g., bloating, drowsiness, irritability and headaches) and progress.

Sleep - You'll also discover the value of getting the proper amount of quality sleep. Sleep reduces cortisol production - a key ingredient to stress fat - and helps restore the body physically. Throughout the program, you'll have a set bedtime (that magical time of 10 p.m.) and wakeup time, leaving you refreshed eight hours later.

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