Blogging and food diaries as a CRON strategy

[Guest guest]

For 4 years, I've recorded my food every day and analyzed the

nutritional content. This is a very effective CRON strategy for me,

keeping me on track and slowly improving the quality of my diet.

Now that I've been blogging what I eat on crdiary.blogspot.com, I

would recommend this as an even better CRON enforcement strategy.

It's helped me to be more careful about what I eat and pay even more

attention to nutritional content. It's one thing to have to stare at

the bottom line on calories for the day all by yourself. It's another

thing to have to show it to the world. You can go to www.blogspot.com

and start your own blog. Turn on comments and maybe some of us long

term CRONies will give you advice.

I know some people eat the same thing a lot to simplify CRON. I just

can't do this. I love food way too much and greatly enjoy variety. My

approach is kind of complicated, but I think I've been pretty

successful at eating CRON at 1100 calories a day. My approach follows

these principles:

Calories average 1100, with a range of 900-1300

Focus on getting 60+ grams of protein and the RDA of vitamins and

minerals - without worrying about percentages of carbs and fats.

Avoid too high of a saturated fat content - I average 15g/day

Eat a lot of variety

Focus on animal protein sources, vegetables and fruits

Eat what my family eats, cook with my husband, make foods they enjoy -

skipping only the desserts and some of the high carb foods

Eat at restaurants - but only those with high quality foods

Avoid unhealthy fats - no transfats, minimal processed high Omega-6

vegetable oils

Since I don't control my diet by eating a limited set of carefully

constructed meals (the Dean Pomerleau approach), I really have to do

some regular analysis. This is why the diary approach is so key to my

CRON practice. Just entering the food and glancing at the results

takes only 5 minutes a day - a small price to pay for effective CRON.

I have no problems with hunger with my approach. No cravings at all.

I don't feel deprived in any way. My family life is harmonious and my

husband and son enjoy our diet and are very supportive.

[Guest guest]

MaxwellMom:

I have attempted to track the nutritional value of what I intake for

the past year and a half (a little less than the time I've tried to

practice CRON). Never have I been willing to share this (mis- or

otherwise) information with anyone, as I have had an exceedingly

difficult (in my eyes) time trying to do what I know is good for me -

-- and, I was(/am still, to my dismay) embarrassed due to my lack of

success.

What this group has made me realize is that success does not come

immediately. Sharing in the experiences of many others on this list

and being able to place myself nearly directly within some of their

stories has been such a strength to me and my CR practice. And YOU

[ ] have inspired me to create my own public CRON blog.

I started the blog yesterday and promised myself that I would be

diligent in upkeep. Whoops, promise already broken. But it exists,

and in the future may be something. May be crap, but I've come to

realize that even crap is a necessary output, even in the most

aspired to of CR regimes. ( <-- sorry for the awfulness *blush*

hehe)

Well, for anyone interested (this mainly applies to the mid-range of

near future), the url is http://cronicles.blogspot.com

Note: I do it for myself. I made it open to comments because.. I

LIKE COMMENTS. Judge me; it will make us like family.

[Write me. I'm in Cleveland, OH. I'm 21. I'm a summer intern

working in Mortgage Banking. I will be traveling directly to

California to the CR Society after my tenure here to intern for the

Society. I am now writing an article about the international

attention the CRS has recently had.

I was born and raised in a no-nothing prisontown in Arizona. My

parents own (have owned for 30 years) a grocery store there (making

them the only people who don't work at the prison. BTW, 3x as many

prisoners as townfolk) which is being run into the ground by Wal-

Mart (which I'm trying to get a ride to in Cleveland...). I need

some sort of mental escape from my dulldom, in which midwesterners

equate my shipment of brewer's yeast with a symptom of an eating

disorder. I need to be CRONically amused. Again, I plead, beg,

write me.]

- - - Eri

[Guest guest]

Good idea. One additional point, after 3 years I can eyeball the calories. And sodium.

Regards.

----- Original Message -----

From: maxwell_mom

Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 8:15 PM

Subject: [ ] Blogging and food diaries as a CRON strategy

For 4 years, I've recorded my food every day and analyzed the nutritional content. This is a very effective CRON strategy for me, keeping me on track and slowly improving the quality of my diet. Now that I've been blogging what I eat on crdiary.blogspot.com, I would recommend this as an even better CRON enforcement strategy. It's helped me to be more careful about what I eat and pay even more attention to nutritional content. It's one thing to have to stare at the bottom line on calories for the day all by yourself. It's another thing to have to show it to the world. You can go to www.blogspot.com and start your own blog. Turn on comments and maybe some of us long term CRONies will give you advice.I know some people eat the same thing a lot to simplify CRON. I just can't do this. I love food way too much and greatly enjoy variety. My approach is kind of complicated, but I think I've been pretty successful at eating CRON at 1100 calories a day. My approach follows these principles:Calories average 1100, with a range of 900-1300Focus on getting 60+ grams of protein and the RDA of vitamins and minerals - without worrying about percentages of carbs and fats. Avoid too high of a saturated fat content - I average 15g/day Eat a lot of varietyFocus on animal protein sources, vegetables and fruitsEat what my family eats, cook with my husband, make foods they enjoy -skipping only the desserts and some of the high carb foodsEat at restaurants - but only those with high quality foodsAvoid unhealthy fats - no transfats, minimal processed high Omega-6 vegetable oilsSince I don't control my diet by eating a limited set of carefully constructed meals (the Dean Pomerleau approach), I really have to do some regular analysis. This is why the diary approach is so key to my CRON practice. Just entering the food and glancing at the results takes only 5 minutes a day - a small price to pay for effective CRON.I have no problems with hunger with my approach. No cravings at all. I don't feel deprived in any way. My family life is harmonious and my husband and son enjoy our diet and are very supportive.