I’ve had a lot of friends email or message me about the Shangri La Diet (SLD) which is convenient because I was already planning to write about it today! Way to be on the same page, guys!
I first read about SLD in a book called, ‘Freakonomics’, by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt. The SLD was discovered by Seth Roberts, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California at Berkley. He was not happy with several things in his life, insomnia, acne, being overweight, etc…and decided to do something about it. Relying on self-experimentation and using the scientific method, he researched and put into practice several different theories until he finally, one by one, was able to change the things in his life that he was unhappy with. When it came to weight loss, he dubbed his new eating style the Shangri La Diet.
In a nutshell, SLD is based on the theory that, our world and our brains have progressed, basically, we’re all still cavemen when it comes to food. When there is an abundance of food and lots of variety, our bodies tell us, “Eat, eat, eat!! There will be famine later, let’s stock up your fat supply now so that we can live on it when we need to!” and, when there isn’t a lot of food, very bland food, or not a lot of variety it, our bodies say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let’s slow that metabolism down, we’re obviously in a famine and we’ll supplement with your fat reserve.” When there’s less food available, your body actually makes you less hungry and, when there’s tons of food, your body tells you to binge. Doesn’t make much sense today in our modern world, does it. I’m very blessed to live in a time and place where, if I’m hungry, I can run to the grocery store and choose from thousands of food items from all around the world. Basically, my body has had 32 years of prepping for famine and, guess what, it’s not happening in my life anytime soon!
So, what are your options if you want to short-circuit this caveman program? You can’t starve yourself, that will just lead to your body hoarding your body fat. You could eat bland, boring food all the time to trick your body but, really, who is going to be able to sustain that kind of diet? In no time at all, you’ll be bingeing on cake and ice cream! Seth Roberts’ theory is that, if you give yourself ‘falvorless’ calories once or twice a day, that will be enough to trick your body and then you can eat whatever you want the rest of the time. The flavorless calories he suggests are, 1-4 TBSP of Extra Light Olive Oil (ELOO) or sugar-water per day. The flavorless calories actually cause appetite suppression which leads to eating less (obviously) but without triggering the ‘I’m starving!’ alarms that cause your body to hoard its fat reserves.
Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? Well, like anything else, it does have stumbling blocks. For me, it’s the texture of the oil as I take that quick shot in the morning. It doesn’t taste bad at all but, that .o5 seconds where the oil is actually in my mouth is enough to trigger my gag reflex most days. Most people would, if they had a problem with the oil, switch to the sugar-water but, since I have PCOS and I’m pre-diabetic, I really am supposed to limit my carbs and my brain just kind of rebels at the thought of drinking plain sugar-water as horribly unhealthy, even though I’m fine drinking juice or soda. When you think about it, soda could be hundreds of times worse, with all those chemicals and dyes! Another thing to watch out for is making sure you eat only when you’re hungry, not just because it’s dinner time or you’re going to be hungry later, it defeats the whole purpose!
In my experience, I’ve discovered a lot of unexpected benefits to SLD that totally outweigh the gag factor. Besides the fact that I started experiencing appetite suppression the very first day, I’ve also linked the ELOO to better and easier sleep, my skin clearing up, my hair being healthier and less pain in my joints. An awesome side-effect for me is that, when I am hungry, I’m craving lighter foods like fruits and vegetables and I’m thirsty for water all the time!
That being said, I haven’t been perfect in taking it. In fact, I don’t think I’ve taken it for a week and I need to get back on the horse! If you do decide to try the SLD, I would suggest reading the book, The Shangri La Diet by Seth Roberts. Barnes & Noble has it for about $4. If you’re too eager and you want to try it right away, the least you need to know is, make sure to take your flavorless calories in the middle of a two-hour window so as not to cause your brain to associate the calories with the other flavors. I usually take it right when I wake up in the morning and hold off breakfast for at least an hour though, usually, I’m not hungry until lunch time. conversely, you could take it at bedtime as long as you haven’t eaten for at least an hour before. Also, unless you have over 50lbs to lose, start at 1 TBSP per day and see how you feel. If 1 TBSP doesn’t really change your appetite, slowly work your way up, never exceeding 4 TBSP per day.
I hope that answers all your questions! If you have any others that weren’t covered, please post them in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer them! Also, if you try SLD, let us know what you think and about your experiences!
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