How long will I continue the SMTM potato diet?
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resolved Jun 27
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I've recently started the SMTM potato diet ( https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/04/29/potato-diet-community-trial-sign-up-now-lol/ ). It's only been two days, but for now I'm not feeling awesome. The potatoes takes a lot of time to cook, and as I have a high metabolism, I seem to need to eat plenty a day (about double the recommendations on SMTM). It's also too early to say, but it might also be making me more tired.
Will I go the full month?
Question resolves at the fraction of days I went over the full month (1 week is 25%, 2 weeks is 50%, etc... ).
Jun 2, 5:57pm: I've gained 2 lbs (0.8 kg) since yesterday. Might be because of seasonings? I'm quite hungry all the time with the diet, so if this is not just a fluke and continues for a day or two, I'll stop immediately.
Jun 6, 6:23pm: For time reference, we've entered day 7, so if this was my last day I would resolve the market at 25% PROB
Jun 18, 9:29am: Betting policy: Self-calibration. Bet at your own risk
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We're entering week 4, so the resolution will be at least 75%. It seems like I regained the weight I lost, but it might be that eating potatoes is now a good trigger for my hypomanias, which I am excited to try next time I have a down time. Since I will be alone this week, I do not expect to break the diet before completion
@ahalekelly I meant to write something but forgot. Sorry, I did not realize this was insider trading (I do not have yet a clear theory of when it is okay to bet on your own market, and I meant to buy to have a sort of self calibration). I can sell the YES shares if you think this would be more appropriate. I'll probably be more explicit next time about whether I intend to buy or not.
So updates: I mailed SMTM which gave me the advice to focus on boiled potatoes, and something seems to have kicked in recently (maybe sweet potatoes helped).
I don't mind as much eating potatoes and have a sort of hypomania/productivity spree (it might just be a fluke). I'm interested to see how it evolves, now that I'm not hungry all the time
@JoyVoid Good to hear it's working! You're right, Manifold as a whole doesn't seem to have established norms on insider trading.
Unless someone has a suggestion of either 1) What I can change (I'm still eating them sliced and seasoned sometimes, it's a bit hard to give up on. I'm also eating whole boiled unseasoned unpeeled refrigerated potatoes) or 2) a benefit to continuing the diet to its end, I think I'm going to stop after week 2. I've seen no difference either in weight, mood or energy (except I seem to have a cold more often) since beginning this diet.
@JoyVoid I'm doing the SMTM study too, so here are a few things I've found helpful. I've been trying to prepare potatoes in large enough batches that I have leftovers, and I make a new batch roughly every day. The leftovers then work for breakfast or lunch the next day, and I stagger things so I have some variety in the fridge to reheat. I'd consider adding salt (I find salt tastes much better than it used to), since potatoes have very little sodium (some nutrition labels say 0) but your body needs some (the USDA recommends up to 2300 mg a day, and I've seen some evidence this number should be higher). One of my favorite ways to cook them is to cut them into wedges (I cut in half and then each of the halves into thirds), then add seasonings like salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, etc., and possibly oil, then bake them at 425 F for 25 minutes or so (it takes longer the more potatoes you are baking). I've also been using things like frozen hash browns a fair amount, but I try to get ones that have the fewest ingredients (I found some that are just frozen potatoes, and some patties that are basically just potatoes and oil). Since the hash brown patties have a lot of oil and I'm having those for breakfast most mornings, I've been trying to be sparing on oil otherwise. I also recently discovered microwave is a great way to quickly cook a few potatoes. My microwave has a potato button, so I just put a few potatoes in the microwave, poke a couple holes in them, push the button and wait for the beep. Then I can add any seasonings I want.
I haven't been measuring portions. Basically I eat until I don't have any interest in eating potatoes anymore. This has been a weird experience for me, because usually I would always eat everything on my plate no matter how much it was, and now I pile my plate with potatoes and stop with some still left. I'm probably eating in the ballpark of 2-3 kg of potatoes a day though. If you're feeling hungry all the time, maybe that means you aren't eating enough?
I don't know where you're starting from weight-wise, but I would expect that the closer you are to a BMI between 22 and 23, the less weight you'd lose.
Anyway, maybe some of that is helpful. It sounds like you're having a pretty unpleasant time, and if so, there's not a lot of point in making yourself miserable. Even that result would provide useful data for the study, since one of the goals is to find out whether this is something that works for most people or whether the anecdotes about the potato diet working so well are just all from a lucky few.
I mean, I think I wouldn't mind eating sliced potatoes with garlic + cayenne pepper + pepper + etc... It just was unclear to me what SMTM was recommending about this. It might be a personal difference kind of thing also, as I did not notice much of a difference in how I eat (maybe I'll notice something when eating normally though).
You're right for the salt, I never add it out of habit, but since I've cut any food that can have additional salt, I should try adding more of it. Seems like you're saying seasoning should be fine in principle? I might go back to eating them in slices/chips then!
re: weight gain, I'm not sure what you mean by 'might be because of seasonings' and i don't know you or much about you, but i've read that an increase in carbs/salt/fiber can lead to water retention/bloat (which might manifest in excess weight).
although 'hungry all the time' sounds unpleasant, sorry that that's happening.
@Angela I meant that cooking them in crisps with garlic is delicious, and I'm wondering if I'm eating them more as a treat than anything
In terms of carbs/fiber, I mean, I'm eating litterally nothing than potato so unsure how. I do not salt my meals at all, only pepper.
Selling a bit of no as it seems to be a bit better and I might continue. Just switched to eating potatoes cold, and it seems to really make a difference in how much I feel like I'm eating.
@SneakySly Not at all, haven't used oil since the beginning of it. I've lost some weight today, but I also didn't eat that much, so maybe the "eating potatoes cold" thing works, but too early to tell