How I do the Shangri La Diet

I started with one tablespoon of walnut oil, in two ounces of water. I'd put it on the bathroom counter and when I got up in the middle of the night, I'd drink it down. I did that for a week, did not notice much of a change.

Then I moved up to two tablespoons and checked to make sure I was using a real tablespoon (got a measuring spoon from my pharmacy). Did that for a week, and started to lose weight.

After a couple-three months the weight loss slowed, so I moved to three tablespoons.

Now, I use three tablespoons of oil every night. I get more than an hour before and after without any flavor and the walnut oil helps my Omega 3 balance, which is good for my heart and brain.

If three had not worked, I'd have moved to four.

I know, the rule is "one day at a time" but I adjust the amount of oil I take one week at a time.

So, SLD and OA? Yes!

The numbers are pretty good that SLD with a support group works better than without. OA is everywhere, on-line and in person. It is dirt cheap to belong (you can donate a dollar at a meeting if you want to, but you don't have to). Everyone there will understand what it is like to be compulsive about food and to have emotions and other issues if you don't eat -- and you will probably experience something like that if you go on SLD.

Almost everyone who has weight loss surgery has issues. There is little reason to suspect that SLD won't do that to you too.

Cheap, available, friendly, and if you actually listen to and apply the 12 steps you will be a better person for it.

Just be aware that OA isn't a monolith. Each group is different, some very, very different from each other. If you don't like a group, find another one or create your own.

Here is an introduction:

After years of struggling with your weight and obsessing about food, you have decided to give Overeaters Anonymous a try. You find an OA meeting in your area by checking OA's online meeting locator or by calling or e-mailing the World Service Office (WSO). You've called the contact person to confirm the day, time and location of the meeting to make sure the information hasn't changed.

When you arrive at the meeting, you will find men and women who share a common malady—compulsive eating—and have found a common solution: the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous. You will see anywhere from three to 30 people at the meeting. An average meeting has about 10. You will be warmly welcomed.

The meeting usually opens with the Serenity Prayer, and you may hear a reading called "Our Invitation to You," which describes the disease of compulsive overeating and the Twelve-Step solution. Meeting formats may vary, but all OA groups are the same in that they seek recovery on three levels—physical, emotional and spiritual—through the Twelve Steps, and the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.

You may hear a speaker open the meeting and speak for 10 to 15 minutes about what life was like before OA, what happened, and what he or she is like now; or someone might read from OA or AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) literature. Other members will share their experience, strength and hope. You will have an opportunity to introduce yourself as a newcomer, if you like. You will find that you are not alone, that there is a way out of your desperation. Because anonymity is a critical principle of the OA program, you are assured that what you share will be held in confidence. This provides the safety you need to share your experiences honestly.

Find an OA Meeting

Difficulties

The difficulty with OA is that no other group has as many splinter groups or as many in leadership positions who seem like they just need to sit through a good al anon meeting.

Also, given the history of pink cloud OAers, no one will take SLD seriously if you haven't been in OA four or five years. Even when they do, they'll remember the carbohydrate wars, and won't be very interested in embracing SLD.

Finally, many in OA think that the chaos and turmoil that lies under compulsive overeating is the cause of compulsive overeating (which it is for some -- though I'd bet carbohydrate addiction and misplaced set points affect more people).

History again

Historically, OA began with three people using methamphetamines (doctor prescribed) to lose weight who got together to start their own twelve step program. True to their OCD streak, they abandoned sitting around a table for one person leading a controlled meeting (like a school room). It rewrote the 12 steps completely, dropping most of the core concepts and merged with Gluttons Anonymous a Texas group that was seeking serenity.
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OA has always been driven by images of physical recovery, a highly compulsive borderline anorexic is completely acceptable as a leader. Someone who has lost 200-300 pounds, but who is still overweight is not acceptable at all.

As a result the group has a heavy dose of highly OCD women in the mainline leadership, leavened with others.

Also, unlike other 12 step groups, OA has had strong exclusionary strains, mostly with groups that exclude men.

The saving grace of OA is sterling literature and a willingness to embrace its splinter groups. As a result, it is easy to create or find a support group for any type of person who wants to learn to live without being driven by, or drowned by, food.