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Check out the Shangri-La Diet Store.
Everything you need for your Shangri-La Diet success: Oil, Measuring Cups, Scales, Body Fat Monitors, etc.

Four Surprising Uses for Olive Oil

This article gives four uses for olive oil.
No mention of the SLD, but of course we all know that one already.

Link: 4 Surprising Uses for Olive Oil

(Photo: indigoprime)

Shangri-La Diet Facebook Group

There is one, and you can find it here.
It only has a few members right now, but I'd encourage all SLD enthusiasts to join up.

Cut the Calories, Lose the Weight

It's that simple, and this article pretty much sums up what all of us on the SLD already know: eat less, cut out the calories and you will lose weight.

You can cut out the fat or not, eat protein or not, etc. but the bottom line is that you need to eat less food, which will translate in less calories which will translate into weight loss.

Link: Diets that Reduce Calories Lead to Weight Loss

(Photo: Sister72)

Eating At Home: Cheaper and Leaner

This article talks about how in today's economic climate, people are eating home more, snacking less and not buying "ditto foods". It even mentions Seth Roberts by name.

Link: Time to Short Jenny Craig?

(Photo: anyjazz65)

Worst Supermarket Foods

We all know that a lot of what you can find at your local supermarket is bad for you. This article identifies the worst of the worst.

Some of these items are really amazing with regard to how caloric they are. For example, a single Pillsbury white chocolate macadamia nut cookie has 180 calories and 10 grams of fat!

My favorite feature of the article is that the author actually presents a healthier alternative for each of the "bad" foods listed.

NB: Many of the alternatives are sill pretty fattening. Beware!

Link: America's Wost Supermarket Foods

(Photo: Simon Shek)

Some Of Us Need To Be Re-wired

This article presents a sobering view that many of us might just be hard-wired to overeat.

They talk about developing drugs or "behavior interventions" to modify this. I do wonder if the SLD could in fact be one of those "behavior interventions" that they are talking about.

I think that the AS brought on by the SLD while not permanently re-wiring us certainly has the same net effect.

Link: Some People May Be Hard-Wired to Overeat

(Photo: poolie)

The Difference Between Men and Women

This article from Time Magazine discusses some of the reasons why men usually seem to have an easier time losing weight than women.

Years back I was in a Weight Watchers group at my office. The group was about 90% women, but the few of us guys that were there seemed to have a much easier time losing weight.

Some of that can be attributed to the fact that the guys got many more "points" to work with, and many of the women found it difficult to stick to the program given how little they were allowed to eat.

The article asserts that men are just plain better at controlling their hunger, which should give us an advantage on any diet, the SLD included.

Link: Why Men Are Better Dieters Than Women

(Photo: trec_lit)

On Having a Skinny President

For those of us trying to lose weight, does it help inspire you if the leader of your country is skinny?
Let's face it, Clinton was pretty fat and although W. was a fit guy (apparently he ran every day) I would not exactly call him skinny.

Obama is out-and-out skinny (something many of us have never been able to identify with).

When Clinton was running for office, did you look at him and "identify" with him because he was overweight like you?

This Week's Results

Down another pound for a total of 22 lbs. of weight loss.
I've been on the SLD for 3 months now and the worst I've done for any given week is stay even!

Eating Only When You're Hungry

CNN has this article which addresses one of the fundamental keys for success on the SLD: only eating when you are actually hungry.

It talks about the need to control serving sizes, since we have a tendency to finish whatever is on our plate, whether we're still hungry or not.

Many of use eat until we're "stuffed", not stopping when we are simply "full."

This is important to keep in mind when on the SLD. Before you take each bite, think about whether or not you are truly still hungry.

Link: Eating With Your Stomach, Not Your Eyes

(Photo: jspatchwork)

Playing Squash

When trying to lose weight, regular exercise is essential. The emphasis here is on the word regular. You can't really exercise one-a-week and expect very much in the way of results.

Many people hit the gym, but I think a great alternative is to get involved with playing a sport on a regular basis -- preferably one that you can play year-round.

My sport of choice for the past few years has been squash.

Depending on where you live, you may not have even heard of this sport. It's very similar to racquetball, but in my opinion you get a better workout since the ball is much less "bouncy" you need to run around quite a bit more. This article highlights how many calories can be burned playing squash. In addition, since it's played indoors, you can play it year-round and get into a very regular routine (I'm currently playing three times a week).

If there is a club near you with squash courts, check it out. You might enjoy it.

Link: Squash Calories

(Photo: gahdjun)

Saving Money While Losing Weight

Saving money is a good thing.
Losing weight is also a good thing.
Accomplishing them both is a very good thing.

One of the nice benefits of the SLD when compared to other weight loss plans is the relatively low cost.

For example, I've been buying 51 oz. bottles of ELOO at Stop-and-Shop for $11.50.
At my rate of consumption, (4 tbs./day) that's less than 50-cents per day for the ELOO.

Couple that with the fact that since I'm eating less, I'm also spending less money on food -- the SLD can be a cost-saver as well. This is distinct from other plans, where you need to pay a premium for special foods, etc.

If you really want to take this further, you can couple the SLD with The Ration Book Diet (in brief, it has you eat as though WWII food rationing was in effect).

Link: Save Money, Lose Weight With the Ration Book Diet

This Week's Results

Yet again, one more pound lost for a total weight loss of 21 lbs.
My squash partner has just returned from vacation, so the exercise should be starting back up again.

The New York Times Gives Us Some Web Sites

We all have our favorite weight loss websites. Hopefully the site you are reading now is one of them.

This article in the New York Times lists a bunch of web resources for supporting your weight loss efforts. Some of these are designed for tracking your food consumption.

One great thing about the SLD is that you don't require any tracking tools. I had a very successful Weight Watchers experience back in 2002 (75 lbs. of weight loss in 6 months), but one of the real keys to my success was a great bit of software for my Palm Pilot (remember those? its what we all carried around before iPhones and Blackberries) called WWCalc. This allowed me to track my points daily with pinpoint precision. This was essential to my Weight Watchers success.

You don't need anything like this with the SLD!

P.S. I have a great set of Weight Watchers tips that I accumulated while on the program. Most of these are applicable for any weight loss program, the SLD included.

Link: Keeping That Diet Resolution
Link: Alan's Weight Watchers Tips

(Photo: Joe Shlabotnik)

Top 10 Fitness Myths

This article lists many common misconceptions about fitness.
Many of them might surprise you. The one about water consumption surprised me quite a bit.

And since I'm a vegetarian, I'm in denial about item #3!

Link: The Top 10 Fitness Myths You're Probably Wrong About

(Photo: kevindooley)

This Week's Results

1 more pound lost for a total (drumroll please) of 20 lbs. of weight loss.
I still have a way to go, but this is a major milestone for me.

Some SLD Gear

You don't need too much in the way of "accessories" to get going on the SLD. One thing that I've found helpful are these mini measuring cups.

They are calibrated in cups, ounces, tbs. and ml. (pretty much anything you would need).

For taking my daily doses, I pour the ELOO into the cup up to my dosage, and they fill it up the rest of the way with cold water. I then drink it right out of the cup (the spout makes it easy to do this).

They are also useful for measuring portions to take on the road in small plastic bottles as featured here.

Link: Mini Measuring Cups on Amazon.com.
Link: Taking Your Oil on the Road.

CNN Gives Us 5 Small Changes to Help Lose Weight

This article from CNN gives five really simple, small lifestyle changes that we all can make which can help lose weight.

Incorporating any (or even better, all) of these with the SLD will enhance your weight loss experience.

That's one more great thing about the SLD. When you find ideas like this, there is no problem incorporating them into the "program." Mainly because there really is no "program" per-se.

Link: 5 Small Changes to Help You Lose Weight

(Photo: independentman)

Measuring Your Body Fat

I track my weight (in lbs.), other people track their body-mass index (BMI).
Yet another alternative is to calculate your body-fat percentage.

This website can calculate it for you. It' s only necessary to provide your weight and some body measurements (you'll need a tape measure).

A normal healthy male should have between 12-18% body fat, a female between 19-25%.


Link: Home Body Fat Test

(Photo: chefranden)