AFTER indulging in a few particularly wild weeks of partying between my birthday and a few awards dos, I decided to give my internal organs a well-deserved break.

It was a fun time being chauffeur driven in Porsches, having four days in Ibiza with 13 women –remember ladies what happened in San Antonio stays in San Antonio – but I decided that it was time I treated myself to a well overdue period of health and vitality as a reward for not 'packing it in' so to speak over the last four weeks.

My lovely friend Michelle MacLeod had a month or so earlier told me of this miracle detox called Forever Living Clean 9 plan that she had tried and tested.

She said it was the best thing she had ever done – so much so that she wanted to do it all over again immediately.

Now being a larger lady I've tried every diet under the sun and I'm generally sceptical about these quick-fix-lose-17stone-in-a-day kind of diet plans but knowing my friend I knew this one might be worth checking out.

It wasn't until I went to visit her a few days later that I saw the results with my own eyes.

Not only had my friend lost a noticeable amount of weight but also looked years younger.

It was almost like her skin had been magazine airbrushed then sprinkled with tinker bell fairy dust.

In fact, do you remember the movie Death Becomes her, starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn?

Well she looked like she had drunk the elixir of life and was there, standing before me, looking 10 years younger.

I was speechless and immediately signed up for this nine-day detox to start the day after I returned home a broken women from Ibiza.

My detox pack arrived the next day containing all sorts of wonderful potions including three tubs of aloe vera gel and bee pollen pills.

I studied all the instructions carefully, noting that the first two days of the plan were food free.

But hey, I had worked with diet guru Gillian McKeith for a year so this would be a walk in the park in comparison, right?

Now I'm not sure how many of you have ever tasted aloe vera gel but the best way I can describe it would be like drinking a cocktail of washing up liquid and bleach eight times a day with the little added bonus of the shake for lunch, which tastes like someone has poured a 1lb bag of sugar into your mug of milk.

TO say that the first two days of the detox were hell on earth would be an understatement.

However, there was light at the end of that food-less tunnel because, as of the third day, you can have a 600 calorie meal for dinner with a shake for breakfast and lunch, plus the aloe vera shots drop from eight to four cups per day.

I am now on day four of the plan and I have to say its getting a lot easier.

I've lost 10lbs since Monday and lost 2ins from my waist, 1in from my thigh and 1.5in from my hips so I'm delighted.

The biggest difference has been in my face and skin as everything feels a little tighter and the puffiness around my cheeks and chin seems to have disappeared.

I can't wait to see what my over all weight loss is next Tuesday when the plan ends but one thing's for sure – I feel a million times better already as a result.

However I'm thinking that the great feeling may not last that long once I see those Ibiza pictures popping up on Facebook and Twitter over the next few days.

l On Monday, 12 walkers and three support crew will leave Polmadie Fire Station and attempt to walk the 95-mile West Highland Way in two days in memory of Andy Howard, a firefighter, who sadly passed away from cancer last summer.

All monies raised will go to the Firefighters charity and the Friends of the Beatson.

You can support the fundraising at www.justgiving.com/PolmadieFire