Back On the Oil!

After a hiatus, I've put on a few pounds and some I'm doing the logical thing...

going back on the SLD.

There was really no good reason for going off on the first place, so I'm not going to make excuses.

As before, I'll be tracking my progress here. So stay tuned.

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)

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)

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

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)

Explaining This Thing of Ours

In the past few days, I've been asked by several people about my weight loss and how I achieved it.

In the past it was kind of easy, I'd say "diet and exercise" or "Weight Watchers."

Now with the SLD, it's not so simple. The problem is if you try and explain the SLD in 30-seconds it does sound kind of "wacky" to most people, especially when you get to the "I drink olive oil twice a day part."

What I do is sort of ease them into the ELOO part of the equation.

I first talk about the set point and the whole idea of flavorless calories.

Then I talk about the two-hour window and then at the end (almost like a punchline) I talk about drinking ELOO in the middle of the two-hour window.

It sounds alot better than a conversation such as this:

Friend: Hey Alan, how have you been losing weight?
Me: By drinking olive oil.

On Being an Overweight Vegetarian

I've been a vegetarian for a few years, but it's certainly not resulted in any weight loss when compared to my meat-eating days.

There is a simple reason for this: Too many carbs, not enough actual vegetables. I suspect this might be a common explanation for those of us vegetarians who are overweight.

Many people assume that vegetarians eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. If only this was the case for me.

My diet contains much too much pizza, pasta, bread, etc.

The fact is, I love carbs. This is why, even at the height of its popularity, I never attempted the Atkins Diet. I would have been miserable and unsuccessful.

Since I've been on the SLD, I've been making a real effort to eat a lot more vegetables, and keep the carbs to a minimum. I still have pizza and pasta, but I'm also eating salads and stir-fried vegetables. Sometimes, I'll just have some fruit for lunch.

After being a vegetarian for years, it took the SLD to finally get me to eat healthy.

(Photo: Indigo Goat)

More on "Ditto Foods", Processed Foods and Why Everything Tastes the Same

Here's a great article, Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good which is taken from Eric Schlosser's 2001 book Fast Food Nation.

In chapter 7 of the SLD book, Seth Roberts talks about how the fast-food and packaged food industry has some responsibility for the obesity epidemic, largely due to the creation of "ditto foods" -- foods that taste the same every time and everywhere.

In particular it explains how McDonald's got their fries to taste like they were still deep-friend in beef fat (yuck!) even after they switched to 100% vegetable oil a few years back.

This article explains how they are able to do this, and why.

It's a pretty good read, check it out.

P.S. There is also a movie version of Fast Food Nation (2006), that's very entertaining (it's a narrative film, not a documentary) and informative -- I highly recommend it.

Link: Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good

(Photo: Darwin Bell)

Combining the Shangri-La Diet with Another Program

A problem with many conventional weight-loss programs such as Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, etc. is that since they are based on reducing your calorie intake via portion control you quite likely will be hungry many times while you are on the plan. This can cause you to "cheat" and diminish the benefits of the program.

As Seth Roberts mentions in the book, you can use the SLD as a tool to help mitigate your hunger while on one of these other programs, thus decreasing your appetite and increasing your chances of success.

However, I think you do need to be careful about accounting for the caloric content of the oil.
For example 1tbs of ELOO contains 120 calories and 14 grams of fat. Using the Weight Watchers points formula, this would equate to 3.5 points per tablespoon, or in my case 14 points per day since I'm consuming 4 tbs. daily.

I would suspect that if you don't account for at least some of the points in the oil, and consume your full daily point allottment, you will actually end up overeating and not seeing much weight-loss.

(Photo: malias)

Just getting started

A few observations from my first week on the diet.

It's not really a diet, in the sense that unlike pretty much every other weight-loss program I've tried, you can't really "cheat." When you are hungry, eat. If you see something you want, you can eat it. The key is, you will simply be wanting less -- and that's how you will lose weight.

Not only have I been having smaller portions, but I've been eating slower, taking smaller bites and pacing myself. This is a by-product of the program and not really something I've been making a conscious effort to do.

I have not had a single between-meal snack for the past week. Frankly I've not really been craving any.

More to come....