OK, I'll bite

... or not.

I am fascinated with this newest fad diet: The Shangri-la diet.

Basically this bloke, Seth Roberts (who, incidentally, is kinda tasty himself), says that back in the neolithic our bodies grew used to 'feast or famine' food availability and still 'think' that way. All we have to do is trick the ol' bod into thinking it's Famine Time and it will adjust our appetites and metabolism accordingly.

I'm intrigued because I'm a super science geekynerd and am interested in genetics and our evolutionary history.

So intrigued that I'm going to try it.

(Well, a modified version of it, anyway. I'm determined to shed some tonnage since I'm convinced that my Return Of The Cursed Infertility is due to my weight and what better way to do it than by turning oneself into a human guinea pig?! I'm not fat, I'm fluffy!)

I do not believe in fad diets. I believe in the Denis Leary Diet ("Put the fork down!"). I think that one loses weight by burning more calories than one consumes. Plain and simple. You wanna lose weight? Eat less.

Now, before you wig out let me say: I know of which I blog.

Remember that I once lost 180lbs. Half my body weight.

(My maximum estimated weight was 360lbs - that is THREEhundred and sixty. I say estimated because 350 was as high as the doctor's scale went and I maxed it out. *step* CLANG!)

I formulated my own diet, slashed calories, eschewed butter, mayonnaise, and fried crap, walked every day ... I consumed less calories than I burned.

I do believe that fad diets can work - counting fat grams was in when I started and I counted mine simply because most high fat foods are high in calories and I liked the simpler numbers. I also think that a lot of it is mind over matter. You read the book, talk to friends on it, get pumped, get psyched, you have faith that it will work, then you stick to it and voila! It works.

I don't think it's the diet, I think it's YOU. We are responsible for out weights, whether it goes up or down. It's nobody's fault but our own if we gain weight. Not society or our parents or fast food joints or Krispy Kreme (Mmmmm). The only reason I myself have gained back so much weight is because I allowed myself to eat like a crazed pig-creature through four closely spaced pregnancies.

It wasn't the pregnancies, it wasn't that my weight loss plan was 'bad' and I was 'bound to gain it all back' (can you tell I've heard that before?), it was food-in-mouth disease. And Krispy Kreme. Oh, and chinese.

So, I begin tomorrow. I'll keep you updated!

(PS: Now watch me turn up pregnant just as I get started. Then I'll be trying this next year with even more pounds to lose. *rolls eyes*)

(PPS: Nicked from Jo over at Leery Polyp *smooches*)

(PPPPPPS: The book, The Shangri-la Diet by Seth Roberts, is here if you're interested. More links about the diet here, and here at Kateri's blog)