Day 118: down 18 lbs.

Day 117: down 20.6 lbs.

Featured comment:

Glad your set point is still in motion, that is neat.

says Stephen M.

Thanks again for the encouraging words. I've been wondering about that, too. Let's say that my 10 weeks on the Shangri-La Diet did put my set point so far below my weight than even a month and a half off of SLD left it low enough to continue my weight loss. I'm down an additional 6.8 lbs. since I stopped the flavorless oil routine. My set point must have been low, indeed.

If that's the case, why wasn't my appetite suppressed a lot more than it was?

I remain undecided on whether it did anything at all for me. I am pretty convinced that it works for some people, though.

tags: diet, weight loss, Shangri-la Diet

Day 116: down 20.2 lbs. Woo-hoo!

I'm at a new low -- down over 20 lbs. at 178.2. Although I lost a little weight on vacation last week, my running suffered. A ten-miler on Sunday started me back on track. My half-marathon is less than two weeks away. I'm also running a 15.2-mile race in about a month. That will be my longest run ever.

I've always taken a little bit of secret pride in being the first fat guy to the finish line in the smaller road races. I may have to adjust my expectations now.

tags: weight loss

Day 115: down 19.2 lbs.

Day 114: down 19.6 lbs.

I managed to lose about a pound while on vacation.

Day 113: I haven't seen a scale for a week

I'm on vacation, and I haven't weighed in all week. I'll be home tonight.

Day 107: down 18.4 lbs.

Posted a week later. I weighed in, but in my rush to leave town on vacation, I didn't get this on the blog.

Day 106: down 18.4 lbs

Day 105: down 19.2 lbs.

Day 104: down 19.8 lbs.

Day 103: down 19 lbs.

Day 102: down 19.2 lbs.

Day 101: down 19 lbs.

New low, though my seven-day moving average is still about one-half pound above its low.

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

Day 99: down 17.4 lbs

Day 98: down 15.6 lbs.

Day 97: down 16 lbs.

I had my annual health screening at my workplace yesterday. My cholesterol was down from 246 last year to 157. Holy cow!

We get a discount on our insurance premiums if we take the screening, and an additional discount if we meet certain criteria (4 out of 5 on blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, exercise, and tobacco use). This was introduced three years ago, and this will be the first time I've made the cut. My BMI is still a little high; next year I hope to make five out of five.

tags: weight loss

Day 96: down 16.8 lbs.

Day 95: down 16.2 lbs.

Day 94: down 16.6 lbs.

I've hit another plateau. My seven-day moving average has been sitting in a narrow 0.3-lb. range for six days. I guess it's to be expected, though, since just prior to this I'd had a really good run: down 5.8 lbs. in eleven days.

tags: diet, weight loss

Day 93: down 17 lbs.

Day 92: down 17.2 lbs.

Day 91: down 16.2 lbs.

My scale coughed up a weird number this morning, and it wasn't my weight. It said my body fat had dropped to 23%, after holding steady at 26% for many days. It seems, er, unlikely that I've converted several pounds of fat to muscle overnight.

tags: diet, weight loss, Shangri-la Diet

Day 90: down 17.4 lbs.

Light running the last two days. I ran only a couple of miles on Tuesday, and last night I had a one mile race. It was a "predictor," in which each contestant was required to predict his or her time, and no watches were allowed. I ran MUCH faster than my prediction. I've not done any speed work (intervals and the like) for quite some time, so I didn't have a good handle on how fast I am. I was fourth overall, but probably close to last in the prediction. I should have considered my final kilometer split in the last 5K I ran, which was (for me) pretty fast.

I woke up really hungry this morning. I wonder if the light running has anything to do with it.

tags: weight loss

Day 89: down 17.4

So much for the 170s. My seven-day average has dropped 11 days in a row.

Shangriblog - Celebrating Arbitrary Milestones Since 2006

I'm down 18.8 lbs., at 179.6. I don't know for sure, but I believe the last time I was below 180 lbs. was around 1994 or so. Next up: 80 kg.

tags: diet, weight loss, Shangri-la Diet