Day 1 of the Shangri- La diet.

Today I plan to start the Shangri- La diet by Seth Roberts. I just read about the diet last night and immediately went out to Barnes and Noble to get a copy of the book about it. I'm not normally one to try fad diets; I stick to the "eat healthy and work out" method of losing weight. The problem I'm having is that I have done this method for several, several months and it just isn't working! I work out normally about 40 minutes a day on my elliptical machine and eat no processed sugars, haven't had a soda (diet or otherwise in years)and I cut out most all processed food from my diet (pretty much anything that comes in a box)about a month and a half ago. I eat a LOT of veggies, so I'm really not hungry that often. Still I fluctuate between 212-214 and can not budge below that point.

I have seen some health benefits from cutting pretty much all of the processed foods from my diet. My cholesterol dropped over 50 points and I no longer have persistent acid reflux.

I'm not excited about downing mouthfuls of oil every day and I'm not sure I will try the sugar water recommended by the diet, but I am in need of help !

I recently spoke with my doctor about losing weight. I've actually spoken to 4 doctors over the past 5 years about losing weight. They all recommend eating less and working out and seem out of ideas when I describe my diet to them and how much I work out. Out of answers, that is, except for recommending diet drugs, which due to the fact that I am highly sensitive to medications and have heart palpitations, I refuse to take. When I refuse to take the drugs they just shrug me off. I guess I really am on my own when it comes to my weight and what to do about it.

I am hoping that, like some others, I will have some success with the Shangri- La diet. Time to get ready to buy those oils!


*EDIT: It's 12 noon and I just swallowed my first 4 tablespoons of extra light olive oil. I found a few brands at the drug store this morning, and some of them were a little pricey. I decided on Safeway Select Extra Light Olive Oil. I also picked up a measuring spoon used to measure medicine for kids so that I could measure exactly how much oil I needed.

I read at the forums dedicated to the diet that the oil might go down easier if you wet your spoon before you took the oil, so I did that at at noon I swallowed all 4 tablespoons. It actually wasn't that bad, but I think the trick is to not hold the oil in your mouth, just put it near the back of your throat and swallow. I then chased it with a few sips of water, but not the sugar water that some people use during the diet. I have decided to just try the oil and if I see no results then I will look for some fructose at Whole Foods.

Ok, so, day 1 and so far I'm no worse for wear. We'll see how it goes!