Greetings & My Introduction to CR

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. I guess it is time for me to come out of the CR closet

and introduce myself. I am 6'1 " male who is almost 45 years old and

currently weighs 142 lbs. with an 18.7 BMI. My journey to CR really

began without me realizing it about 5 years ago when I entered middle

age weighing around 190 lbs. (BMI: 25.1). Technically, I was only

slightly overweight but I am small boned and looked fat and felt

terrible. I was also a candidate for high blood pressure medication. I

knew I had to work to improve my health so I began making small and

beneficial changes like reducing food portions, choosing more

nutritious food, avoiding sweets, drinking lots of water, and taking

supplements. Before I knew it the weight seemed to be peeling off at a

slow but steady rate almost without any effort on my part.

Fast forward 4 1/2 years and I have gotten down to 152 lbs. and have

taken up working out regularly at a gym. Shortly thereafter, I

discover CR while searching nutrition topics on the internet.

Actually, I had heard of CR before but had thought it was something

extreme and dangerous that attracted a lunatic fringe. Now I realize

that I have been doing CR for the past 4 1/2 years without knowing it

so I decide that I will become a conscious CR practitioner. Heck, I

might even live to be 120:-) I hadn't been counting calories but I

would start doing that. I would also work on optimizing the

nutritional value of my food choices. I was already enjoying great

health from the lifestyle changes that I had made and anticipated that

there would be nothing but smooth sailing ahead with my new CR

program. Well, not quite yet.

This is one of those " Kids, don't do this at home " things. I had come

to mistakenly believe that I had to cut my calories down to 1800 -

2000 calories a day to be doing " real CR " . Well, at 6'1 " and doing

moderate exercise, there was no way I could keep above the lower limit

BMI of 18.5 that I had set for myself while eating under 2000 calories

a day. My BMI fell to 18.1 and I knew from how I looked and felt that

I had gone too low for me. So I started adding calories and putting on

a little weight. You live, you learn. One of the things I learned was

that moderate CR is the best option for me. A higher energy level and

greater sense of well-being have returned since I adopted more

moderate CR. In fact, I am in great health and feeling better than

ever. I can also continue working out and lifting weights, something I

don't think I could do at a more severe level of calorie restriction.

That brings me to the present and my thanks for your patience to

anyone who made it all the way through this somewhat rambling post:-)

It is nice to be here and I look forward to sharing this CR journey

with you all.

Jeff