UAE dieter falling short of his golden ambition

After a month of what feels like a minor eating disorder, I have come very close to abandoning all hope of replacing my dentures with Dubai Municipality-branded gold.

DUBAI // There are just more than 10 days to go before I climb on the scales again, and with every passing hour I can see that gold slipping through my fingers.

My time on the Dubai Diet has been one of false starts, broken promises and guilty junk dinners.

After a month of what feels like a minor eating disorder, I have come very close to abandoning all hope of replacing my dentures with municipality-branded gold.

Before I roll out the excuses, it might be worth a recap on what I've been up to so far.

Lured by the promise of rapid weight loss, I have spent the past three weeks on the alternative-day diet.

It's simple every other day you fast, and every other day you can eat whatever you want.

The diet's adherents say it fends off illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's. In reality, it feels a bit like bulimia.

Over the past few weeks, using a few iPhone apps, I've kept a close watch on my daily calorie intake, as well as half an eye on the scales.

I found that during the days I was eating as I liked, I was consuming sometimes up to 4,000 calories. Which meant that despite fasting three or four days a week, I was about even, or even slightly over when it came to totting up my average weekly calorie intake.

A weekly weigh-in yesterday, and my fears were confirmed. I had lost only 1kg in the past three weeks. If it weren't for my so far unbroken habit of running for 40 minutes every day, I don't doubt that I would have gained weight.

So with 10 days to go, we're back to square one, and I'm facing the prospect of losing all that gold I had promised myself in my own head. The good news is that there are still 10 days left, and that is plenty of time to lose at least a few more kilos.

My plan this time around is simple: eat healthy, run more. I'm averaging about 7km in 45 minutes, so my goal is to up that to 10km every day, and by the time the weigh-in swings around, I should be golden.

* Martin Croucher