'If you are very hot, tell me and I will put the fire out'

All the massaging, exfoliating, soaking and showering that was supposed to help me relax didn't do any good. I still felt freaked out as my beautician Sandy doused the towel covering me with alcohol and prepared to set my stomach on fire. I tried to stay dead still so the alcohol wouldn't be squirted anywhere unprotected.

I scanned the room for the fire extinguishers the spa had said would be there, but there were none. Eyeing the two sprinklers, I asked Sandy: 'Do the sprinklers go off if the flames get too big?'

She laughed. 'Of course not. Why are you so nervous? It is very safe.' The next thing I knew, my stomach was on fire. At first I didn't feel much, but as I started to relax, my beautician suddenly warned me: 'Don't move your arms!'

The flame - the size of a small campfire - kept burning my stomach, getting hotter and hotter. 'The flame can last for up to a minute and a half but if you are very hot, tell me and I'll put the fire out,' said Sandy. After about 30 seconds she smothered the flames with a towel. As she repeated the process twice, I found myself challenging my pain barrier. I thought if I held on longer, I'd lose more fat. So I let it to get more intense each time.

'Some try to endure the pain, but we are trained to read their expressions to prevent them from hurting themselves,' Sandy said. I must have been a pretty good actress. Even after the flames were out, the steam in the wet towels kept my stomach piping hot. When it was over, my stomach was slightly red and my skin felt like it had been slightly burned by steam - no surprise there.

According to the spa I lost 5cm around the stomach - but as they had taken all the measurements, I had to take their word for it. When I went home, I measured myself but the figures I got were the 'before' and not the 'after' ones. Perhaps I had gained all the fat back in an hour. The next day, when a rash appeared on my incredibly sore stomach, I called to ask the spa if this was normal. I was told it was a good thing, as it meant my body released toxins. A doctor friend later told me it was an allergic reaction, and there is no medical basis for the 'release of toxins'.