Forget Atkins. When it comes to the latest diet advice, there’s only one book title on everyone's lips.
Six Weeks To OMG: Get Skinnier Than All Your Friends.
The eating plan, which is published in paperback today (but has been No 1 on Apple's itunes UK chart for weeks) has come under attack for encouraging competitive weight-loss and extreme diet behaviour such as skipping breakfast, drinking coffee and taking cold baths.
But author Venice A Fulton (real name Paul Khanna), who slightly surprisingly hails from North London, is well prepared to challenge his critics and says that many health professionals are already on his side.
"I've already had doctors say they find it refreshing and useful for them," Fulton told Huffpost Lifestyle.
Six Weeks To OMG Author Venice A Fulton.
“I’ve also read reports about my desire to turn women against women, which is literally not even on my radar.”
"And I'm definitely not advocating ice baths, as has been reported - but a cold bath. It should be room temperature, around 20 degrees celsius.
"If you sit in that water, you'll lose heat 25 times faster than if you were standing the same room temperature. That’s good because it forces your body to increase its metabolic rate and burn fat," he says.
The personal trainer believes that much of conventional wisdom about losing weight is wrong.
“It’s a shame. We’re all running around relying on these scientific cliches that no one ever checks out. I can’t stand that. Life is too short to waste,” he says.
According to Fulton, the way we live doesn't allow our bodies to lose weight.
"Snacking is holding back the whole globe. It’s wholly inappropriate for humans, unless you’re a baby.
"We will not faint or collapse by not having food every three hours. It's a personal trainer driven myth that we must eat more frequently.
“Your body cannot burn fat if there is fuel in your blood stream. That’s not an opinion, that’s the way hormones work. It’s surprising that registered dietitians and doctors, even exercise physiologists, try and refute this fact.”
Scroll down for criticism of Fulton’s weight-loss techniques
The 39-year-old advises clients to exercise on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, and eat later on.
“The body has a back-up system called body fat - it’s the ultimate breakfast,” he says.
Fulton started his professional life as a personal trainer in public gyms, after completing a sports science degree at the University of Bedfordshire, but became tired of parroting the “party line” - and so moved into private training.
His methods quickly became less orthodox, as he implemented weight-loss techniques based on research he found personally compelling.
“There are are 21 million journals on the American National Institutes of Health website and I’ve probably looked through 25,000. And yes, of course you can always find research to back up any point of view, but I would not write about this stuff if I didn’t have confidence in it
"This is peoples’ lives, their self-esteem - things that can’t be messed with.”
Fulton believes that if individuals knew more about how their bodies burned fat, weight-loss would be easier to sustain.
"Many personal trainers work like an over glorified abacus, just counting for their clients, which is not enough. It doesn’t last when someone’s not barking at you. Or when you come off the diet.
"It’s all about understanding. That's the long-term key to getting somewhere."
"If you read this book, you’ll become an expert - and it will encourage you to look further. We’re all bright enough to not be talked down to."
So far Fulton has got off lightly from the critics, but he's ready for the avalanche of opinions as the book is published in paperback.
"I expect there will be people who will completely challenge it because it does upset the apple cart in terms of what we’re relying on. And I welcome that debate."
Why Six Weeks To OMG is wrong, according to dietician Sasha Watkins.