Biomarkers ...Re: Need Advice on Stabilizing Weight (Optimum BMI for longevity)

[Guest guest]

Even though I'm new to CRON (~2 years) I thought members might be interested

in my experience as it appears very few people like me practice CRON.

Dr. Fontana may be right when he suggests that severe CR may not be best for

lean

normal weight individuals. Jeff's original post, and some of the follow-on

posts from

people with similar issues, also suggest that CR may be less appropriate, or at

least more

difficult, for already lean people than for those who have a tendency to be

overweight.

On the other hand, I'm the human equivalent of the ob/ob mouse. Living WITHOUT

calorie restriction was very difficult. For most of my adult life I had a BMI

of 41 to 49.

Occasional diet and exercise bouts reduced this BMI temporarily, but not for

long, and I

certainly didn't optimize my nutrition on those diets. I started CRON at age

49.

For the last six months I've easily maintained a BMI of 26 on 1500-1800

calories/day.

Usually closer to 1500 and that's with a lot of aerobic exercise and some

strength training.

I could probably lose more weight if I were to exercise and/or restrict calories

even more.

However, given my excellent biomarkers, I doubt that more exercise or calorie

restriction

would provide much, if any, additional benefit. I'm pretty confident that I can

maintain

this BMI at this level of restriction indefinitely.

I've experienced all of the benefits of CRON and more! My previously high blood

pressure

has been low for quite a long time. About 105-110/60-65. No more lectures

about how

fat will kill me.........my doctor just shakes his head in amazement at the

improvement in

my biomarkers and tells me to keep doing what I'm doing. I recently had another

physical

and am waiting for the results but there's sure to be additional improvements

from this

second year on CRON.

In short, CRON seems to be a natural lifestyle for a (previously) big guy like

me. The way

that I should have lived from the beginning. I have no problems maintaining a

normal to

overweight BMI even in the face of a fairly rigorous level of calorie

restriction and exercise.

If my ability to maintain this level of restriction helps me to live longer and

with less

chronic disease, then maybe my " thrifty gene " will pay off after all!