The Shangri La Diet

ally, I was 240 lbs on November 13, 2005. Tuesday morning I weighed in at 189.

What I made a concious decision about was making sure I ate enough protien so I didn't lose muscle mass or strength.

The book is only twelve dollars (ok, eleven dollars and change) at Amazon.com if the various blog posts and directions don't make sense for you.

http://annhendricksshangrila.blogspot.com/ pretty much covers it. If it doesn't make sense for you, try the book.

Amazing... heard of this on Dennis Prager, as well... sounds so incredible and yet so facinating. Think I will give it a try, just need to loose 10 lbs. but can't make them budge at all. Ordered the book but I will try suggestions on this blog.
thank you

I just started the diet on May 2nd and I have found that I am still really hungry .... Does it take a while to kick in? I know some people have said it can take 4- 7 days . But what do you do in the mean time go hungry or keep eating as usual??? All suggestions are helpful I feel alittle disappointed.

zeta,
are you trying the 'sugar water' or 'extra-light olive oil'?
ally

zeta---
I tried the sugar water at first, but found I was still hungry. I then switched to the ELOO and it has zapped my appetite. Maybe it is different for different people!

Teeba - 800 calories a day is not good for your body. My family doctor recommends anywhere from 1500 - 1800 a day for the average female (in order to lose weight). Anything less than 1200 and you are starving your body. This means that your body goes into starvation mode and stores more fat than necessary. It's no wonder you keep the weight off how much fat can you consume with only 800 calories a day! But you can also cause serious damage to your major organs because they are not getting enough calories and probably nutrients to function normally.

Ally/Lovinit

I did try the sugar water the first day but I really did not enjoy drinking sugar water it remindered me of flat soda yuk! So I used the oil. I did find yesterday @ dinner that was really hungry before dinner but during eating I became full very quickly. However later in the evening I became hungry. I am now on my fourth day I still find I am hungry alittle but as one dieter said it can take up to seven days for this to kick in. So I will keep trying thanks for you support.

for all of you who say its not working, make sure you are taking enough calories. 1 Tablespoon of oil in the morning. and another one in the afternoon. or 3tbsp of sugar is a half liter of water in the morning and same in afternoon.

never eat anything within an hour of taking the oil/water before or after! keep in mind this includes, gum, mint, tobacco, coffee, etc. anything with flavor.

if you take anything with taste within those times it ruines everything

also the idea is not to replace a meal. but to supress apetite. and if you think about it you are not adding any more sugar if you skip all the junk food you are cutting out.

Just ordered the book and appreciate the info.

uery: Can you use Splenda for the sugar water?

That should have been:

Query: Can you use Splenda for the sugar water?

I just found the answer to my question about Splenda. No, you cannot use Splenda since it has no calories and you want your body to associate the flavorless food to reduce cravings. (Found at: http://calorielab.com/
news/2005/09/21/seth-roberts-shangri-la-diet-in-detail/)

can you drink lots of water with this diet??? I drink alot during the day? thanks

Mitch67, Yes, you can drink all the water you want. Just make sure it's not flavored water within one hour either before or after having the oil or sugar water. I started May 1 and am down 7.2 pounds as of this morning. It is working like gangbusters for me. I am eating anything and everything that I want to; the thing is, I really don't *want* to eat much. And I have been a person who eats (a lot) out of boredom and avoidance of other tasks, but now I find I can't take more than a few bites of a snack without starting to feel full.

I have been trying to lose weight for 5 years. I have had about 15 pounds that won't budge. I have tried EVERYTHING and nothing worked.

Sounds like me, except it was twenty years, and for the last 12 it was fifty pounds that wouldn't budge. I'm glad I saved the clothes from when I was thinner, as I'm wearing some of them now.

I started by taking a two liter bottle and a little more than half a cup of sugar. I mixed them up (hot water to make sure the sugar dissolved completely) and had half at 10:00 and half at 2:30.

My desire to eat shifted dramatically. I lost fifteen pounds the first month, and dropped from a touch over 240 to about 187.5 this morning.

I'm not sure I'll make my goal of 160.2 by September 2, but I'm going to come close.

I had weight lifted for three years, that was about the only excercise I could do. I had to carry a fifty pound sack of beans for my wife and I was amazed to think I used to walk across the parking lot to work with that much weight a part of me.

The book is amazingly cheap (only twelve dollars [$11.97] at Amazon, I've bought and given a bunch of them away).

If you've got problems with the details, pick one up at Amazon.

Feel free to ask me questions at my blog (http://ethesis.blogspot.com/) or better, go to Annie's Diet Blog or Seth's forums. He'll answer questions with a lot more authority than I can.

thanks jzkc for the response, I am skeptical but at this point and with all the positive feedback from people, i am willing to try anything.

i struggle with eating out of boredom and just for taste so I hope this works!!!

do you do just the sugar water or oil or both???

Well I am into the 7th day and I have found that my appetite has slowed down and I am full at meal time alot quicker. I started @ 195.00 and today when I weighted in I was 192.00 so that is not bad for 7 days! I find though you need to read his book aleast twice to really understand the theroy and the method behind this diet and how it works!

Giving it a shot. I am not lazy, not undisciplined. Not self-worshiping at the gym for 3 hours a day. I work at a computer desk all day, clean all night, excercise several times a week, and feel frustrated that every time I loose a few pounds I literaly feel like I'm starving, even though I'm lowering my calories only a bit to make this a slow & steady process. I keep going for a while, give in, gain everything back with a little cushion. Skinny people, I was with you once. I was even aneorexic once and could snap back to that if I let myself, but I won't. My husband would argue that I'm close enough but I am over 25% bmi now and I don't want that.

I was told to try the olive oil in the morning, followed by a "chaser" of 1 ounce of sugar water. I started yesterday. I still felt hungry but did find it slightly easier to not eat everything in sight. Today I feel hungry but less so than yesterday. At this point I'm thinking because it's nearly 2 pm and I've only had 290 calories today.. off to have some highly nutritious bean soup...

The book's really interesting and well written. I highly recommend it. I'm experimenting with the diet and writing about it on my blog if you're interested (click my name).

Observing the one hour before AND after eating something with flavor, takes some planning. This takes FOUR HOURS out of the day when one could be happily munching. This degree of commitment helps reduce total calorie intake. Of course, it is entirely possible there is some truth to the set point theory. I secretly hope so, but am skeptical. Follow the directions (google) carefully for best results.

hi- I am looking fwrd to trying this out. Can anyone please tell me what kind of meal plan you are following in detail. Just so i can get an idea of what works, or can you just really eat whatever?

It's important to continue to eat healthy and control the portions. Exercise in moderation. Remember: it won't do you any good if it's killing you!

Make a life decision as to whether weight control is IMPORTANT to you OR NOT. This calls for discipline; quit kidding yourself. If it's important to you, you will succeed; if it's not important to you ...... well, guess the rest.

Hi:) Does anyone know if the effect of the diet is just to decrease appetite or if it actually does cause your body to draw on its fat stores? I'm eating pretty healthily and working out now (Winning by Losing, Jillian Michaels) and losing weight, but I need a little boost. I don't really think appetite is a problem, so I'd like to know if the only major effect of Shangri-La is appetite reduction.

Does anyone know whether substituting Omega-3 fish oil will also work?

Can sugar cubes/or just a tablespoon of sugar be consumed as oppose to mixing it with water?
I tried the sugar water and it made me queezy. Drank it ice cold, slowly and felt like i wanted to vomit.
I'm going to try the olive oil, but any suggestions/info on the sugar cubes?

thanks!

I believe someone said Extra Virgin Olive Oil can't be used...why is that?

Yee Haw..found a solution..
put like five or six sugar cubes in super cold water, before drinking eat 1 or 2 sugar cubes befor drinking the water.
Make sure you suck on the cubes as long as possible.. you don't want a sugar spike.. Somehow, that helps with the "nasty-ness" of sugar water.

Connie, you can't drink Extra Virigin because it has a flavor and according to the book you assocation flavor with calories.. so it won't work..

Thanks Lena
Where I live the book is $26.00...ouch. But I will (gulp) give it a try!

I started this method on Tuesday, and for me, it started working instantly. Had oil in the morning, and by dinner I was getting full very quickly. Now, 4 days into it, I am getting a little worried because I can hardly eat anything at all before I start to feel very uncomfortably full. I figured out my calories today, and it comes to around 900. I'm not against eating more, it's just that I get full almost as soon as I start to eat...and then I stay FULL for 3 or 4 hours. Any ideas/suggestions? I am taking 2 doses of ELOL a day - 1 Tablespoon each time. (I'm sitting here in pain from being too full even though I had dinner a full hour ago, and it consisted of about 3 ounces of pan-fried fish, a 1/4 cup of peas and 4 or 5 mouthfuls of rice!!!!!)

(Background - I'm 48, 5'4", 235 lbs and have struggled with weight since I was young, but have not been dieting at all for the last few years.)

I have been doing the oil thing for nearly two weeks and haven't noticed one bit of difference in my voracious appetite.

I'm a big skeptic; I'm wondering why Roberts published a book before doing further research on humans? Alas, once again, "Everything can be reduced to economics," ESPECIALLY DIET BOOKS !!!!!

I have been doing the oil thing for nearly two weeks and haven't noticed one bit of difference in my voracious appetite.

That is too bad. How much oil, what type, when?

What is your current ht/wt?

connie, try amazon.com or ebay.

Hi- i started doing this last thrus, and have noticed that i do get full alot faster than reg. My attitiude has sort of changed w food. I am not obsessed w snacking. I have been taking 2tbsp of oil twice a day. I have read that some only take 1 tbsp twice a day. Wonder if i am taking too much. And does anyone else feel slight hunger paynes during your 2 hours span?

sounds crazy, but i'll try it for a week and see what happens....By the way, I am not a lazy person. I eat wholesome organic foods, don't drink soda, I walk daily and do ashtanga yoga 2-3 times a week. Despite my best efforts my weight won't budge, so i'll try the oil and see what happens. Sometimes crazy ideas are the ones that end up having the most truth to them.

Stephen M.

I noticed that you have done very well on the diet. I have been on this diet for two weeks I really have not budge from 192.00 and I have noticed that my appetite has gone down but this morning I notice I gained a 1 lb. I take just the oil 1 hour after I eat. Do you have any suggestions. Since you seem to have such great success with this diet.
Thanks

Yes, drinking ELOO is not pleasant, but I found that by chasing it immediately with a sip of the hot sugar 'tea' (I do both sugar water and ELOO), the oil goes down quickly and is tolerable. This diet rocks! 5lbs in the first week, and I am the biggest diet skeptic.

I started taking the oil today. I have one question so far: Is it okay to use flavored chapstick? I can't live without the stuff! I'm trying to go without it today but if I can get away with using it I would love to know. If not, I guess I'll have to get flavorless. Thanks!

OK. I went into this with a very skeptical viewpoint. I have been overweight by about 25-30 lbs for years, and nothing I've tried really helped me lose weight and keep it off for the long term. So, I heard about this diet through a friend, and it sounded crazy and counterintuitive, almost like something they concocted for a Saturday Night Live skit or something.

But about a month ago after hearing all the stories from others, I decided to give it a go (what did I really have to lose? -- except weight) and try the 400 calories of oil per day for a week, and sure enough, the first 10 days I lost 3 lbs, after my appetite dropped dramatically following day 4. In the month since then, I have lost another 10 lbs with literally no effort and not changing any of the foods I was eating before. I simply don't have the appetite to continually graze; food is now left on my plate when before I would simply keep going and eat it all. All I can say is WOW. I don't care whether the science is good, whether the results are from the "placebo effect," or whether it's psychosomatic -- all I care is that the results are real!

Reminds me of that famous quote from physicist Niels Bohr: "We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct."

I have enjoyed reading all the comments. I am going to give this a whirl. As for the person who says its a fix for the "lazy overweight desperate person"-you can kiss it! You have obviously never been in our shoes! I exercise daily-I ride a stationary bike at 20MPH for 10 miles a day and walk for 30 min a day. I take in 1200-1800 calories a day. Yet, I maintain my current weight. I eat low fat, no sugar ever. And you think this is lazy?? Someday, I truly hope you develop a weight problem..... I will keep reading. Thanks for the inspiration! :) Heres looking at (less of) all of you:)

My son, a huge Dennis Prager fan, came over today all excited about this diet. So I bought the book at Amazon and will give it a whirl. I'm not overweight, but have 15 lbs that I want to lose. I am a huge chocolate fan- start me on some cake and I can't stop! I want to eat like I did when I was in my 20's-40's. I run 2 miles every day, but like I said, I do eat a lot! I tried the sugar water an hour after dinner tonight- and I feel satisfied. We tasted the olive oil earlier, it wasn't that bad either. I really have no willpower, so this will be interesting :).