The Shangri-La Diet: The No Hunger Eat Anything Weight-Loss Plan by Seth Roberts, Ph.D, has been described as everything from “the olive oil diet” to “the strangest way to lose weight.”

Here’s why: It requires you to drink 100 to 400 calories of sugar water and/or flavorless edible olive oil daily, at least an hour before or after your meals. This makes your stomach feel full.

Once you’ve had your water and/or oil, you’re free to eat anything you want. Let’s face it, traditional diets are boooring! I actually like the fact that the Shangri-La diet takes an unorthodox approach to losing weight.

But frankly – and this is just my personal bias – drinking sugar water and/or olive oil each day is gross. However, this is not my main concern; I’m afraid the Shangri-La diet is simply not sustainable on the long run.

What will happen when you run around all day and don’t have olive oil or sugar water handy? Are you going to carry olive oil and sugar with you anywhere you go, to your work, when you go out, on your vocation?

The Shangri-La diet gets the points for being original. Assuming one follows a sensible diet – which promotes healthy eating habits – the Shangri-La diet could be used as a weight-loss tool in situations when, say, you need a novel approach to curbing hunger pangs.