Day 3 - down 2.8 lbs.

Here's my progress so far. I have a scale that estimates my body fat percentage, so I'll include that too. My wife gave me that scale for my birthday a few years ago. She's so romantic!

Day 1: 198.4 lbs., 29% body fat
Day 2: 197.8, 29%
Day 3: 195.6, 28%

I have my doubts about the accuracy of the fat percentage, but I will say that it's pretty consistent. When I'm near my current weight, it shows 28% or 29%, and when I was down to about 188-191 a few years ago, it said 26% or 27%.

I still haven't read the book, so I'm not absolutely sure I'm doing this right. There is a fair amount of slightly conflicting information floating out on the web. What I've done so far is twice-daily doses of light olive oil. Today I'm starting extra-light olive oil (ELOO), as I needed another bottle for work anyway. I'll probably use up the regular light at home, mainly on weekends.

On day one, I took 2 tablespoons each time, but I dropped that to 1 1/2 yesterday, and will stick with that for a while. 2 Tbsp is a lot to swallow, and I think 480 calories per day from just olive oil seems like a bit much. The first time I took it, on Saturday morning, I felt immediately stuffed, which I took as a good sign. Subsequent times haven't been so dramatic, but I certainly have noticed a reduction in appetite. For example, on Saturday afternoon, I was hungry at the time of my second helping, but 2 1/2 hours later, I was no hungrier.

You might be wondering what it's like to down some pure fat. It's just a little disgusting, but I'm tolerating it well. It's not so bad that I'd consider switching to sugar water, which undoubtedly would be easier to swallow.

Is it just the placebo effect? Since this is meant to reduce my appetite, am I just now more observant of my actual hunger, rather than just eating on reflex? I don't know.

Lots of people are writing about this. Some days I'll highlight some of the interesting ones I find. I'll start with a guy who's just started, like me.

tags: diet, weight loss, Shangri-la Diet