Day 100: a look back

It's been 100 days since I started the Shangri-La Diet, and 30 days since I quit. I was 181 lbs. this morning, down 17.4 lbs. since 6 May. My seven-day moving average is 181.8 lbs., after bottoming out at 180.9 nine & ten days ago. For my last 30 days on SLD, I was losing on average 0.087 lbs. a day; since then, 0.119 lbs. a day.

So I've had a little better success in the month since I quit SLD than in the previous month. It hasn't been all good, though. My first post-SLD days were quite good; my weight dropped 5 lbs. in the first 18 days, and my seven-day moving average dropped 4.5 lbs. in 20 days. Since then, it's been a plateau; even a little up-tick. I suppose an SLD theorist would say that my set point is now above my weight, and it's starting to show on the scale.

My running has been going pretty well. Up through last Tuesday, I ran 40 out of 41 days. I missed Wednesday, which was planned, but then I missed yesterday, too, because of bad weather in the morning and an unexpected day trip to a nearby lake for the rest of the day. I've been averaging just over 45 km per week.

I've stopped weight training, which I think was a big mistake. I'll start up again, but it may have to wait for a while. I may just do one session this week, and if the muscle soreness is too much, I'll drop it until after my half marathon in four weeks. I'm probably going to run a fifteen mile race two weeks after that, so I may put off the weights even longer. The best thing for me to do is probably just to bite the bullet and get in the weight room, starting tomorrow.

So, you ask, what have I concluded about the Shangri-La Diet?

Good question. I'm not sure myself. Though I didn't experience the dramatic loss of appetite that others did, there's no doubt that I lost weight on it. I've continued to lose weight since I quit, too. If this plateau gets a whole lot longer, or if I start to gain more than a few pounds, I won't hesitate get back on it. It's so easy, so why not? I may try a few different things, though -- perhaps walnut oil, or varying the amount (though I've already done a bit of that), or taking just one dose instead of two.

Thanks for reading, and I'm going to keep blathering on here at Shangriblog, flavorless calories or not.

tags: diet, weight loss, Shangri-la Diet