Hi. I'm one of those 'typical' fitness wannabes. You know, I tried running once- my asthma and knee problems stopped that... I had a gym membership- I hate other people being around as I try to figure out how in the world a machine works, and who likes to walk to the gym in the rain?... I've tried healthy eating- but driving by dairy queen everyday became too painful. "Try our blizzard of the month!" well if you insist....

overall, I felt good though. My job is pretty active, I walked a lot between bus stops, and i DO eat my veggies. But then, about a year ago, I got a car. Its amazing how much that killed my feelings of fitness. And over the year, my weight has crept up an unwelcome 10 lbs. I'm a small person with a small frame.. that 10 lbs is NOT welcome.

So, we're starting a new plan. This is day 2. We're trying the Shangri-La Diet. This is based on the fact that your body (much like a thermostat) has a set-weight. This is where you body thinks it should be, based on the amount of food available. So, well you may fluctuate day to day, it surrounds this weight your body wants. If you eat less.. your body makes you hungry to get back to it.. and vice versa for eating more. Combine this with another theory that psychologically, we associate flavours with calories being available. (Learned this in Pysc 100- if you eat only one flavour at a meal, you'll eat a lot less than if you ate 2 or 3 flavours). SOOO, this diet wants you to take about 200-500 flavourless calories a day. Your body feels the calories, but your mind doesnt associate them with abundance of food. So your set-point lowers. You are naturally less hungry, you dont have to battle will-power, you just dont need to eat as much. They diet recommends sugar water or Extra-light olive oil.

We're trying the olive oil thing. How do you get the stuff down you ask? i mix in a equal part water, swish in around, plug my nose, and swallow in one big gulp. I recommend then drinking some more water- nose still plugged- to get the feeling of oil out of your mouth and to erase any flavour it does have.

Then, just to do the whole overall health thing.. we using this site as some external motivation to make and stick to fitness goals.

So hopefully, i'll be posting a lot more to let you know my progress, and whether I recommend this diet... IF you dont see me around.. I'm obviously still a wannabe :P