The Grey Zone (was extreme calorie restriction)

[Guest guest]

In response to recent comments, here is my extreme CR experience.

" If anything, they point to the compelling need for CR restraint.

High on their list of potential problems with extreme CR

practitioners are psychiatric problems "

In reaction to the above comment, I will share a few of my

experiences on 1500 calories for five months, me being a five foot

eleven male age 33 when this happened.

THE GREY ZONE

Had restricted calories to two thousand a day for the past eleven

years after reading one of Dr. Walfords books, then early this

year 2004, due to a change of routine I did less walking and put on

a stone in weight going from nine stone twelve to ten stone eight.

Eventually cut calories to 1500 and weight went down a pound a week

until I reached nine stone four where the weight loss slowed (I

achieved the weight loss by removing bread from my diet, I had been

overdosing on that too much). This all happened over a few months

and this is what it did to my emotion/mental state:

At first obviously hungry more but this passed as weight dropped,

but immediately my sex drive was reduced by 70% (just vanished after

the first week) and I needed aprox one and half hours less sleep.

But none of this concerned me and I just got along with things, but

after a further two weeks I noticed I was changing. First I

nolonger saw women as attractive anymore they were just women, some

wore clothes that would normally be seen by me as arousing but now

the clothes were just a covering, it meant nothing. I felt no

attraction. I would see curves, legs, long dark hair, all things

that would normally set of a WOW feeling in my mind, but it was all

gone. Dead. I felt nothing, the trees they passed were of the same

interest to me.

This was so unusual I sat in town during spring, watching people go

past and I felt more alien as if I were no longer a part of that

world. I no longer felt male, I could not understand why other men

on the benches followed attractive women with their eyes, I could

not see the point anymore. The whole concept of sex just seemed

animalistic and pointless, would rather listen to some dark music.

During a trip to the library I picked up a new Anne Rice book,

usually dark but sensual. It did not interest me anymore, the

sensuality bored me. So instead I picked up an author I use to read

when younger (Dean Koontz) and suddenly found the darkness without

the sensuality more satisfying. So those books became my reading

matter. But the same happened with music, I normally listen to a

whole range from the Beatles to gothic to slipknot. But now I could

not face the happy tuneful songs and only listened to the gloomiest

and darkest stuff.

I felt less like socialising, I could no longer see the point of

having a drink with friends, I lost interest in sport and exercise,

I spent too much time watching the news which was full death and

war. I just slipped into a grey zone as if a veil had been pulled

over my eyes, as if I were dying.

But probably more disturbing than that was I began to think what was

the point of life, why look after my health, why calorie restrict,

who wants to live to a hundred, just endless years of greyness. I

HAD NEVER HAD THESE THOUGHTS IN MY LIFE and began to realise I was

depressed.

Finally I sensed it must be the calories, so started eating a lot of

cheese and bread to gain some weight and calories quickly and within

one week the veil lifted, I became more sociable, my sex drive

returned, the world was colourful again, I wanted happy music, Anne

Rice was brought back, Dean Koontz had to go, I started using

internet more, got some new interest, did more exercise and

genuinely felt as if I had come out of a long sickness and had

survived.

Now I am maintaining around 1800-190 calories and feel normal, happy

and " Male " again. So me at 1500 calories restriction 40% or 50%,

depending what the norm is, is dangerous for mental health. So it

seems that 30% is probably the end point for humans, or at least for

me, anymore and the mental changes will probably kill you earlier in

life than if you had eaten more calories. Imagine if I had gone

into the future on 1500 calories, would I really have had a long

life if my mind was so depressed. No. There is plenty of research

showing you need a healthy mind and body.

Also found my bones started to ache for no apparent reason, that

cleared up when back to 1800 cals.

The moral of this tale is, " be wary of the Grey Zone, it means you

have gone too far. "

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