the Daily Plate

Shangri-La
start date: Friday 7-14-2006
today: Sunday 7-23-2006



A ktm guest left a link to a fantastically useful diet site: The Daily Plate.

The site is free, and is vastly superior not to mention easier to use than the fee-based Weight Watchers site I used 3 years ago when I wanted to lose some weight.

Its best feature thus far is a weight-tracking chart (this one's not from The Daily Plate, obviously). About 10 years ago I read all the research on weight loss and discovered that the sole weight-loss technique validated by peer-reviewed research was the behavioral technique of writing down everything you eat each day and totting up the calories.

When we moved here the director of Jimmy's school, a superb behaviorist, told me that just writing stuff down doesn't work; you have to chart it. In other words, for data to become motivating, you must see a visual representation of progress. She'd helped a fellow graduate student become un-blocked on his dissertation by getting him to chart his progress towards completion.

The Daily Plate makes it easy to chart your weight loss.

Fantastic!



progress report

I finally worked up the nerve to weigh everyone a couple of days ago.

The news was bad.

We have lots of weight to lose around here. At least, the kids have lots of weight to lose. In theory I don't need to lose weight, but assuming that thinner-is-better for once and future diabetics like me, I'd like to lose 7 lbs, which would take me back to college weight or thereabouts.

Jimmy has a huge amount of weight to lose, at least 40 lbs; 60 lbs if you listen to Walter Willett.

Christopher has quite a bit to drop, too.

Yesterday I was feeling glum about the whole Shangri-La thing, because we were in that fun part of a diet where you're eating nothing and gaining weight. People complain about "plateaus." Well, forget plateaus. The part I hate is the I-just-gained-a-pound-eating-lettuce early morning weigh-in. Jimmy and I both gained a pound each after a couple of days of wildly reduced intake.

Today is much better. I have now officially lost a pound; Christopher has lost a pound and a half in two days!

I'm going to have to be careful with him, because a child should never lose weight that fast. Nor should an adult, but I'm more concerned about a growing child.

Have yet to weigh Jimmy this morning, and am dreading it, because I didn't get myself sufficiently organized yesterday to give him any olive oil at all. I kept setting the timer for an hour — you can't drink the olive oil within an hour of eating — and somewhere in there he'd get to the kitchen and start stuffing his face.

UPDATE: Jimmy's weight hasn't budged. otoh, as one of our psychiatrists pointed out, when you've got a situation of ongoing weight gain, not gaining is significant. If he keeps eating as little as he has this week, he'll lose. Meanwhile I've got to get the rest of the household on board. Friday night Christian was exclaiming over how slowly Jimmy was eating his pizza. Normally he's starving and he eats fast. This was a clear sign, to me, that the diet was working.....but then, when Jimmy had finally finished the one slice and my attention had wandered, Martine handed him a second slice even though he hadn't asked. "I always give him two slices," she said.

no common sense-y

Today he has to go to his program at the Y, which means I won't be able to give him any oil there....I'm thinking about giving him a walloping big dose in lieu of breakfast today. (Like all teenagers, he sleeps late.)

For the time being, I'm sold on Shangri-La. Two tablespoons of tasteless disgusting ELOO a day kills appetite.

So we'll see.




Roberts has posted weight loss charts from people on his forum:





Looks good to me.

Seth Roberts website
The Shangri-La Diet at Amazon
freakonomics blog posts on Roberts
Calorie Lab review
ethesis (lost 62 lbs) "best practices" huntgrunt

Shangri La diet in freakonomics
Shangri La diet part 2
early adopter
diet, evolution of the brain, & McDonalds
Marginal Revolution on Shangri La
your own lying eyes
progress report 7-23-06
Jimmy 7-24-06
mind hacks & Shangri-La 7-26-06
7-29-06 update
my life and welcome to it - 8-6-06 - success
compare and contrast photo op 8-12-06
9-12-06 update
9-17-06 Jimmy is melting
10-4-2006 Dr. Erika's olive oil diet works, too

shangrila

-- CatherineJohnson - 23 Jul 2006

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