About falling off the wagon

Every time I've dieted in the past, eventually I've stopped. "It's just too hard" or "There's too much going on in my life" I'd tell myself.

But the Shangri-La Diet is so easy. Wait an hour, take some oil, wait another hour. Impossible not to do, right?

"This time," I thought, "this time it's so easy I can do it forever."

Except, I couldn't. Various problems popped up, like the sinus infection. Vacations. Hectic schedules. Holidays.

And I found that if I wasn't paying attention, I could easily eat even when I wasn't hungry.

Right now, every thing is humming along nicely. But life has its own modus operandi, and that's to hide out around the corner and spring nasty little surprises on you.

Some of them you might have hunches about - spring pollen could very easily cause a relapse of the sinus infection. There's an upcoming trip to Spain. Work hasn't gotten any less busy - in fact, I've added responsibilities.

How will I handle it this time? I'd like to think I've learned.

But I'm pretty stubborn.

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Whatever happened to that Miller guy?

Well, he didn't die. So he's got that going for him.

But he did end up with a monster sinus infection. It just cleared up, oh... about 2 weeks ago. Maybe.

See, when he was a kid he was in this horrendous accident that left him with a shattered nasal bone. It seems that may be causing him problems now, because once an infection latches on, it takes forever to clear up, even with steroids and antibiotics. It will clear up, seemingly, only to resurface a few weeks later.

The postnasal drip upsets your stomach, as do the antibiotics. It made taking oil a nauseating experience, which meant he took it sporadically.

Which didn't work that well. His weight crept up a bit - about 10-12 pounds.

But the sinuses finally seemed to clear. Which is good, because the next option was surgery. And no one wants to get their sinus cavity scraped.

Yes, that's right, "scraped".

Once the sinus problem gradually went away, he started taking the oil again consistently. But it didn't seem to work as well, and it was much harder to up the dose. He only seemed able to tolerate about 2 tablespoons at a time.

But then, one day, he was reading Seth Roberts's blog, and he discovered the Johnson Up Day Down Day Diet. And reading some of Stephen M's postings in the FAQ area of the forum, he realized he could take the oil with sugar water.

Bingo!

Back on the train. He's now got his weight back down to within 5 pounds of his lowest weight.

So stay tuned, if he ever gets over talking about himself in the third person, he may pick up the blog again.

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New weight

As of Friday, I'm 207.75.

I'm happy.

But Disney's loomin' large. Can he hold on? Can he turn down free food?

Tune in soon to find out!
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Blog Not Dead Yet

I've just been on vacation.

I weighed myself on August 4 after an 8 day vacation and a 3 day visit with relatives.

I had gained a half pound. Yet I had not taken my oil during that time, and I felt like I was eating way too much snack food.

Then I weighed myself again on August 7. 209.5. So I maintained during a nearly 2 week span of not taking my oil.

It's been 4 months now, and I've maintained my weight loss effortlessly. My waist is smaller (even pants I bought just a month ago are starting to look loose), and in the morning, after a good night's sleep and when I am well hydrated but not bloated, my love handles are just about nonexistent now.

Goal now is to continue losing so that those love handles are gone even at bedtime. Don't think I'll make my original goal of 185 by September 30, though. That's fine as long as I keep losing.

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New weight

Despite, or maybe because of, being sick Thursday and Friday last week, my weight has dropped to 211.

I took a whole week off at the gym due to travel and illness also, so that may be a factor. But also because I was sick, I was very spotty with the oil from Thursday until Today. I didn't notice an increase in hunger until Saturday, and then it wasn't too bad. Did have some cravings for sweets, which I haven't had much on Shangri-La.

Next week is vacation; it will be interesting to see if the change in food and schedule makes it easier or harder to lose weight and keep taking the oil that week.Technorati tags:
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3 months in

July 6 marked 3 months on Shangri-La for me. I weighed myself July 7. I was 213.5. That's up a pound from the week prior, however, I still think I am eating less than maintenance calories, and I don't seem to be losing strength in the gym.

I went off the diet a bit over the weekend, since I was traveling to visit my dad.
My sister commented right away how much thinner I look. She last saw me Memorial Day, so in 6 weeks I apparently look a lot smaller, even though the scale tells me I've been on a 3 week plateau.

My appetite remained suppressed over Friday, Saturday and Sunday even without the oil. Monday evening it returned a little. Re-started the coconut oil yesterday, little appetite all day.

I have less than 2 weeks until I leave for vacation, and unless I've had dramatic loss over the weekend, there's no way I'll make my goal of 200 pounds by July 23, but that's okay. I know I'll lose it eventually, based on Stephen M's experience as he got closer to his goal weight. It might just take a little longer than I thought originally.

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Dang! Lost half an inch off my biceps

That's probably the only place I don't want to lose inches.

Went from 17 inches pre-SLD to 16.5 inches measured today. I was an animal in the gym today - 175 pounds on the squat, 10 sets in 10 minutes, total of 40 reps. 35 pounds overhead dumbbell press, 10 sets in 10 minutes, 40 reps supersetted with the squats.

But my curl bar curls didn't impress me. I'm not sure if I'm overtraining on biceps (the only lift I do twice a week) or if I'm not doing enough volume.

Today's weigh-in is 211.75 pounds. I'm expecting a whoosh any day now due to the slight uptick at the end of a plateau.

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