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.

The Downside of Taking Your Oil Before Bed

There as been a fair amount of discussion about the best times during the day to take the oil, bearing in mind the requirements of the two-hour window.

Some have suggested that you can take the oil, and then go to bed. The theoretical upside to this is that if you take the oil and go to sleep, you are sleeping for the 2nd hour of the two-hour window, thus making it easier on yourself.

There is a big downside to this: what about tooth brushing?

If you take the oil before bed, you can't brush your teeth!

As for me, I don't have much trouble finding two, 2-hour windows during the day. So I'll stick to brushing my teeth in the evening.

(Photo: SqueakyMarmot)

Nibbling

Food preparation during the two-hour window can present problems for those who possess limited willpower like I do.

The other day I was slicing some vegetables during a two-hour window. I was planning on cooking and eating them later, but during the prep work I had to make a conscious effort to avoid the normal nibbling that would usually occur.

It occurred to me that this would also be a big problem if I was doing actual cooking during the two-hour window, as the "tasting" that is usually part of the process would have to be avoided.

So far this has not been a problem -- I've yet to do much real cooking during this period (I don't do that much cooking at all anyway). But I can easily see how this could be a real problem for those cooks out there.

Fortunately it's only the tastes that "count", not the smells. Otherwise maintaining the two-hour window would be pretty much impossible.

(Photo: René Ehrhardt)

Too Much Joe?

I've been a heavy coffee drinker all my adult life (where heavy in this case refers both to me, and the amount of coffee I consume).

In fact, I'm drinking some right now as I'm writing this.

I've been on many weight-loss programs throughout the years (Scarsdale, Weight Watchers, etc.) and one thing I never did with any of those programs is moderate the amount of coffee I drank. When I was hungry, I would reach for a cup of coffee. After all, coffee is tasty, satisfying and by itself does not have any calories.

It's also bad for you.

While studies have shown that moderate coffee drinking can have some health benefits, I would definitely not classify my coffee drinking as "moderate."

Now, it's a different story. I've been drinking much less coffee since I've been on the SLD, and I have the two-hour window to thank for it.

On a typical weekday, I usually have one cup first thing in the morning and another with breakfast which I have to finish before 9:00am so I can take the oil around 10:00.

The resulting 9:00-11:00am coffee-free window falls right during what used to be my prime coffee drinking time when I would typically have 2-3 more cups.

The net result here is that I'm drinking less than half the coffee that I did prior to the SLD.

This can only be a good thing.

(Photo: sh0dan)

Exercise, Oil and the Two-Hour Window

Like many people who are trying to lose weight and get into shape (although technically I'm already in a shape, it's just not the shape I want to be), I've been trying to get in as much exercise as possible.

In addition to playing squash several times a week, I try and do an hour on the exercise bike whenever I can.

The two-hour window can come in handy when used in conjunction with an hour of exercise.

• Since you really should not exercise after eating, I take the oil dose at least an hour after my most recent meal.
• I do an hour of exercise on the bike, drinking plenty of water during that time.
  
• When I'm done, the two-hour window is over and I can eat (but only if I'm hungry, of course)

I've not had any problems exercising right after taking the oil, but of course your mileage may vary.

(Photo: jcheng)

Water Water Everywhere

Pretty much every weight loss program suggests you drink plenty of water.

I think that for the SLD, water consumption is particularly important for its palate-cleansing effects.

I've been drinking lots of water during the two-hour window and I think that this insures that residual food tastes are flushed away.
This is key since you can't brush your teeth during that time.

Multiple Two-Hour Windows

I'm currently consuming ELOO twice daily. That means two two-hour windows per day.
During a normal workday, I'm usually taking the oil at 10:00am and again at about 3:00pm.

That's four solid hours during the day when I'm not eating anything. I think I'm fairly typical and that like many overweight people, I don't usually have four hours during the day that I'm food-free.

I wonder how much introducing four food-free hours into your day would, in and of itself contribute to weight loss?

I would think that it can certainly lead to a re-training of oneself, and help take the focus off of food.