Not losing weight? Try drinking more

You may have heard of this new diet, the Shangri-La diet. I read about it on the Web and was intrigued. I've successfully used the Atkins diet in the past, but found it too difficult to maintain, so the weight has crept back on...

Anyway, this one sounded like a cool hack of the body's appetite system. I read the author's research and found myself impressed. So I started it a couple of weeks ago. The idea is that you take either a tablespoon of sugar dissolved in water, or a tablespoon of oil, twice a day, with at least an hour between it and any food or drink (except water) on both sides. That's it. I started off with the sugar water in the morning and oil in the evening, but now I just take oil twice a day, it's much easier and quicker.

Does it work? Absolutely no doubt. Most of the time I feel no hunger, and no interest in food. I used to constantly snack at home, but now, after a few trips to the fridge out of habit, I look at food, shrug, and carry on. I only eat lunch now, no breakfast, no dinner, except the odd yoghurt or piece of fruit. And it's hard to explain, but you actually see food objectively. Last night I had a few spoons of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, and then put the tub back. Before, if I managed not to eat the entire tub after dinner, I felt I was doing well. I just wanted the taste, and that was enough. The craving for food is just gone.

The one slight hitch was the oil. The theory depends on using oil that is tasteless. In the US, it seems that extra-light olive oil (not extra-virgin) is entirely processed and has no taste. After a long search I found extra-light oil here, but it has a slight taste. The label says it has some virgin oil; apparently EU regs require this. But then I tried Floro sunflower oil. Perfect; virtually no taste.

Update: I'm not doing this diet any more; it doesn't work for me.