BUST A GUT IN IBIZA; Bar boss Colin has spent a decade enjoying Europe's party paradise..but he's swapped all-night clubs for the isle's boot camp.

Most people lose only one thing after a week in Ibiza...the plot.

So when I heard there was a place in the hedonists' paradise you could go to lose a stone in weight in just seven days, I was sceptical to say the least.

This is, after all, the party island where people are often more in need of a holiday when they leave.

But having seen my weight creep up to 18 stone in the past decade - 3st above my fighting weight - I was willing to try anything.

I'd made a few half-hearted attempts to lose weight but being a partner in Ibiza bar Plastik- along with my love for junk food on visits back to the UK- had not helped.

I needed something extreme such as Celebrity Fit Club (no good, not a celebrity) or The Biggest Loser (no good, not American and weigh less than three tons).

Health guru Peter Lavery's Ibiza Weight Loss, a dedicated detox retreat, sounded just the job.

My home for the week was the magnificent 11-bedroom Casa Sol at the beach resort of Cala Bassa.

We were immediately introduced to the two parts of the plan. First, nutrition, which comes in the form of five juices a day containing fruit, vegetables, wheatgrass and spirulina, a power food algae. Other than green tea and water, that's all that enters the body.

For the first couple of days you look forward to the juices but by day three you could easily pass. It is the act of eating that you miss.

By day three I was experiencing fleeting moments of light-headedness and nausea - all to be expected apparently - as my body adjusted and rejoiced at finally being treated properly after all these years.

The second part of the plan is exercise, under the eye of personal trainers such as Gerry McGaughey.

He said: "The body is an incredible thing. It wants to be healthy, to return to a balanced state and even after years of abuse you'll be surprised how quickly it does."

Most abuse my body has experienced has been self-inflicted - trainer Stevie Campbell was about to change that. As a former lightweight boxing champion and boxing trainer from Northern Ireland, he has the skill of knowing just how far he can push you. In the mornings, we'd start with a mile-long walk/jog to the beach, depending on fitness levels - I walked at first.

After some stretching, it was then on to circuit training, which was a little easier to bear than usual considering we were on a beautiful deserted beach. At the end, we'd walk the mile back to the Casa but I would have been happier if the uphill leg had been before the circuits.

In the afternoons, there was no letting up - boxingbased fat-busting with boxercise for the girls, bag/pad work for the boys and situps for everyone at the end.

Even within two days I noticed a marked improvement in my stamina and, by day six, I'd trebled the amount of sit-ups I'd done on day one.

Ultimately though, it's all about losing weight and inches and at the end of seven days the moment of truth approached. I knew I'd lost a fair bit so was up at 6am dying to find out.

When I stepped on the scales I had to do a double take - just over a stone. Yet nobody from Ibiza Weight Loss batted an eyelid. The other guy on the course lost 19lb.

More importantly, I lost an inch-and-a-half off my neck and nearly three from my waist.

Many people need a kick start to diet and for me, this was perfect. I'm now down the gym five days a week and eating sensibly - I've kept off the stone I lost and shed another stone in the weeks since my return. If I were a betting man, I'd say this time next year I'll be three to four stones lighter. But will my friends take me up on that bet?

Always seek your GP's advice before embarking on any weight loss plan. For more on Ibiza Weight Loss, see www.ibizaweightloss.com

CAPTION(S):

Bags it: Colin works out on Ibiza under careful supervision THE CASA SOL GREEN JUICE IS THE ONLY FOOD THE HOTEL POOL