Fifteen steps to a flat tummy by the weekend

Follow trend setter Madonna’s lead and get yourself a hula hoop! Hula-hooping is all the rage in health conscious LA, and it’s fab for toning tums!

Jennifer Aniston keeps her super svelte stomach by pulling her belly button towards her lower back whenever she is standing around. This strengthens your abs.

While practising yoga Gwyneth Paltrow firms her middle by keeping her back straight and abs tight while moving from a standing to seated posture.

Drink plenty of water to clean your body of all toxins and eat lots of fruit, especially pineapple and bananas and grapefruit as they contain enzymes that reduce bloating.

Salt also causes bloating and water retention, so cut it out completely. Try using herbs to add flavour to your food instead. And replace white pasta and bread with wholemeal pasta and wholegrain bread. You will feel less bloated in just 3 days!

Cut out all fizzy drinks, like sparkly water and coca cola as it makes you gassy and bloats the stomach. Go for juices and still drinks instead.

Don’t eat and drink at the same time as it slows down the metabolism. Instead, just for these three days, drink a pint of water before you eat to fill you up.

Try yogurts or drinks that contain probiotic bacteria, such as Danone Active, Yakult and Proviva fruit drinks. They re-balance the good-to-bad ratio of bacteria in the colon and reduce stomach-protruding wind.

Include the Plank into your workout routine. The Plank works the abdominal muscle - the muscle responsible for holding the stomach in and supporting posture. This is one of the best ab workouts of all.

Start in an upper push-up position. Your hands are directly under your shoulders and your feet are together. Keep your back as flat as possible. Your head and neck are in line with your spine and keep your head down

Stay in this position as long as you can bear it. Remember, no pain no gain!

As granny always used to say, “head up, shoulders back.” Well, granny knows best, because standing up straight and having a good posture hides any tell tale signs of a pot-belly and instantly shaves off a few lbs.

Massage your abs to increase gas flow and beat the bloat. Use light movements, clockwise, for 10 minutes.

Disguise your love handles. Choose a dress which drops from below the bust (very trendy at the mo so you will look sexy AND stylish!) and skims over the stomach.

Treat yourself to a dress with a bias cut (cut diagonally across the grain of the fabric). They are especially slimming as they tend to skim over, rather than cling to, your lumps and bumps!

Dust bronzing powder on your shoulders and cleavage to divert attention from your stomach.

And last but most certainly not least, invest in a pair of Pull-You-In knickers. The most ingenious discovery of the 21st century – the support pants! They’ll hide a multiple of sins by firming and flattening your flabby bits!