When I first heard the rumour that supermodel Elle Macpherson owes her spectacularly flat stomach not to a punishing regime of abdominal crunches (though I suspect that may figure too) but to cutting out all carbohydrates after 6pm, it was like a light going on in my brain. How sensible: no calorie-counting, no food diaries, and no sit-ups. Just lose the pasta, bread, rice or potatoes from dinner. Easy.

And, in many ways, it has been. I've tried the "carb curfew" before - often shifting the watershed time back as late as 8pm, by which time I'd often have conveniently eaten my dinner - but never with this much zeal. I had started to loathe the drowsy, bloated sluggishness that seemed to follow an evening meal based around bread or pasta. So it hasn't been hard, when cooking at home, to replace these carb-heavy dishes with fish or meat and a pile of salad or vegetables.

The rule has fallen down, however, when I've gone out to eat; or drink - which on a stomach lined only with a sliver of cod and a side-order of spinach has proved a recipe for immediate inebriation. So eschewing a risotto marinara or pizza napolitana in favour of a caesar salad from which I am forced to obsessively remove every crouton has proved too much for my willpower on several occasions. Hunger pangs are also a problem - I've found myself stealing out of bed a couple of times for emergency toast.

But has it worked? Well, I'm still several liposuctions away from Elle's washboard abs, but my stomach does seem flatter, and I feel much less tired and heavy after dinner. Because it feels more like a lifestyle change than a diet, it is pretty easy to stick to. And I've struck a bargain with myself: on nights when alcohol or serious gastronomic enjoyment are in the equation, I have a carb-free lunch the next day to assuage the guilt. I'm sure Macpherson would disapprove - but life is just too short.