My CRON regimen - comments welcomed

[Guest guest]

Robin : Congratulations on your success with CR for the past month.

Here are a few suggestions for you to consider:

1. Forget about set point. Just cut calories. Set point is difficult to

judge and find. Even actual weight is not important. Calories are. See

our files.

2. You don't have to purchase DWIDP. There are free similar on-line tools.

For example the " Real Age " site has a food evaluator; you will probably have

to sign in to the site, but it's free:

http://www.realage.com/racafe/foodeval.asp?memberId=92342*1611529 & cbr=

Personally I don't use any such tools. Too anal-retentive for me.

3. You mention casually just a baked potato topped with green onion as a

dinner. I hope I misunderstood as you need more variety than that with a

meal (and a protein and a small bit of good fat)

4. I would nix the gouda cheese (pure fat, high calories). The chocolate

bar is something you should eliminate because of the sugar and high calories

(how about 1/4 piece of a chocolate bar, so you keep some fun in your life?)

5. You need more veggies. How about a large veggie salad for one meal?

Add egg, tofu or whatever you prefer for protein. You should also be

getting a very small amount of beneficial fat with your meals (avocado,

olive oil or nuts- I notice the handful of pistachio nuts but don't know if

this is on purpose or accidental) Walnut, almonds, Brazil nuts in small

doses are highly recommended as your nut souces.

6. I would add some Brewer's yeast (for B vitamins) to your diet since you

don't eat meat. It also contains a host of other nutrients and a small amt

of zinc. (I sweeten my Brewer's yeast with sucralose as it tastes yucky).

7. Consider a fortified cereal (I eat Total) for zinc and your missing

nutrients. It has some sugar in it, but IMHO, the tradeoff is worth it for

the nutrients provided. 3/4 cup of Total contains 100% of the daily zinc

requirement.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted.

[Guest guest]

> I've now been officially practicing CRON for almost a month now,

and I

> wanted to share my regimen with you for comments and suggestions.

snip

> I've been fairly successful over the past month.

>

> I eat approximately 2200 calories a day ad lib. My current goal

is to bring

> that daily average down to about 2000. This will be about a 9%

restriction.

> This should induce a weight loss of about .4 lbs a week or 1.6

lbs a

> month. That seems to be a good rate – I'm wary of losing weight

much faster than that.

Sounds good so far!

I am recording my food in the free online nutrition journal

> FitDay.com. I would like to purchase DWIDP, but as I am a poor

grad student

> currently, I can't justify the expense. For the same reason, I

also haven't

> had any of the recommended blood tests.

You can download the DWIDP free at;

http://www.walford.com

The only difference with the purchased DWIDP is you can't enter

recipes you've created into the food data base. An excellent

feature (I might add).

>

> My approach to CR has been to significantly restrict the number of

calories

> I eat on two days a week, then eat normally the rest of the week.

So, for

> the past month I've been consuming 1500 calories on Monday and

Tuesday, but

> an average of 2200 calories a day the rest of the week. This

averages out

> to 2000 cal/day.

Nothing wrong so far!

>

> My normal ad lib diet is of fairly good quality. I usually

consume 100+% of

> the RDA of most nutrients, with the notable exceptions of zinc (I

get about

> 70% of RDA) and Vitamin D (I get about 30% of RDA – but I do get

significant

> sun exposure since I live in Arizona). My calcium and magnesium

intake are

> borderline (just about 100%). I also consume a multivitamin to

make for any

> deficiencies. Zinc is the one I'm most concerned about. As a

vegetarian

> (no meat or fish, but do eat dairy and eggs) I find it difficult

to get

> adequate zinc.

May need to supplement with a multi mineral as well. No calories

and cheap....plus you don't want to grow old with borderline calcium

et alii.

>

snip

>

> Over the past four weeks I've found that each week it has been

easier to

> restrict calories. This past week it was hardly difficult at

all. Related

> to a recent discussion here, I've found white potatoes have been

very

> helpful in increasing my satiety. A baked potato (220 calories)

topped with

> green onion (5 calories) as a dinner is absurdly filling and can

easily

> carry me through til breakfast. And I love potatoes, so it

satiates my

> taste buds as well.

Not a very good dinner here. The glucose tolerance response to a

baked potato is 80 to 90% that of pure glucose. See Walford pg 238

for the Glycemic Index chart for better choices. The meal is

practically all carbs, little protein or fat.

>

snip

>

> If I can learn how to transfer the ability to restrict

> calories that I've been practicing at school to home I should be

good.

>

Stay focussed. Remember why you are doing it. Think of the

diseases you'll be avoiding later in life.

>

My calories (ave 2015/day) over the past month have broken down as

follows:

> 28% fat, 60% carbs, 12% protein. I am getting about 61g fat (18

sat, 14

> poly, 20 mono), 312g carbs, 24g fiber, 61g protein a day.

>

> My weekly averages over the past six weeks are as follows:

> cals fat carbs prot fiber

> 3/18-3/24 2213 83 322 60 26

> 3/25-3/31 2027 80 279 61 23

> 4/01-4/07 2313 85 317 64 23

> 4/08-4/14 1920 56 313 55 26

> 4/15-4/21 2007 56 308 66 25

> 4/22-4/29 1934 58 304 59 24

>

Walford recommends that no more than 20% of your calories should

come from fat. Fiber should be at least 40 grams. Lower your fat

intake and raise your carb intake to at leat 342 grams. Protein

looks OK.

> Here's a sample menu from an ad-lib day and a low calorie day:

>

> Ad Lib:

> Smoothie (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, OJ, banana)

> Small handful of pistachio nuts

> Cup of grapes

> Small chunk of gouda (perhaps ½ ounce)

> ½ dark chocolate bar

> Cheeseless veggie pizza (Amy's Kitchen brand, frozen)

> Lentils and potato over quinoa

> Small handful of almonds

> Nonfat blueberry yogurt

> Total: about 2200 calories

>

> Low Calorie day:

> Single serving shredded wheat (maybe 2/3 a cup) - 125 cals

> 1 c. fatfree milk – 86 cals

> Banana – 109 cals

> Coffee – 5 cals

> Smoothie (blueberry, strawberry, pineapple, with fatfree yogurt) –

307 cals

> Chocolate Pecan Pie flavor Luna Bar – 180 cals

> Vegetarian sushi (avocado, cucumber, carrot rolled in rice and

seaweed) 9 pc

> – 273 cals

> Soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi – 11 calories

> Nonfat yogurt – 100 cal

> Baked potato – 200 cals

> Green onion - 10 cals

> TOTAL: 1445

>

> Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome.

>

> - Robin

>

Hi Robin,

Your food choices look pretty good. I didn't crunch the numbers on

micronutrients because you didn't include serving sizes but keep in

mind the bioavailability of the micros. You need to consume much

more than the RDA in order for your digestive system to extract

sufficient vitamins and minerals. If your iron is coming from

vegetable sources, since you decline meat, remember that it is only

20% bioavailable and you could deplete your iron stores over time.

Coffee will inhibit iron absorption 40% if consumed within an hour

of eating. Bananas are another hight GI food (60-69%) Same for the

shredded wheat. Go easy on them.

Get the DWIDP free download to assist in optimizing you diet.

For your first month as a CRONie you've done great. It gets easier

as it goes along, both the application of the diet into your life

and also figuring out better food choices. I personally couldn't do

the feast and famine protocol you are using. I prefer consistancy

and I think my body would rather not be cycled up and down like

that. But that is me. Each of us has to find a CRON style that is

comfortable and one that we can live with for the rest of our lives.

Based on your past failures at diet, it sounds like you've

discovered what works for you, and that is what is important.

Happy CRONing and welcome to the group,

Bob

> _________________________________________________________________

> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at

http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the encouraging message Robin. I've been trying to get in gear,

but with the stressors I have in my life right now, I've not been

successful. Will try again by sitting down and actually planning out my

meals then using that for my shopping list; not doing either off the top of

my head should get me back on track. Use the KISS principal.

Good luck with your effort. By the summer you should be into this habit

enough to transfer good habits to home and add some more like more variety

in vegies.

Ruth P.

> From: " Robin M " <r061n@...>

> Reply-

> Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 17:22:47 +0000

> crsociety@...,

> Subject: [ ] My CRON regimen - comments welcomed

>

> I’ve now been officially practicing CRON for almost a month now, and I

> wanted to share my regimen with you for comments and suggestions.

>

> First, some background:

> I’m female, 28, 5’6”, currently 142 lb. I’ve had a debate going with myself

> about what my set-point weight is. When I was twenty, I weighed about

> 155-160 lbs. Since then I have lost weight through a combination of a

> greatly improved quality diet and exercise. However, I have been stable at

> this weight for about five years, so I suppose I should consider it my

> set-point. In the past I have tried to lose weight through dieting but have

> always been unsuccessful. I’m not even a yo-yo dieter because I don’t get

> to the point where I lose weight in the first place. My attempts at

> “calorie restriction” in a dieting context have always failed within a day

> or so. Apparently, where vanity was not an adequate motivator, longevity

> is. I’ve been fairly successful over the past month.

>

> I eat approximately 2200 calories a day ad lib. My current goal is to bring

> that daily average down to about 2000. This will be about a 9% restriction.

> This should induce a weight loss of about .4 lbs a week or 1.6 lbs a

> month. That seems to be a good rate – I’m wary of losing weight much faster

> than that. I am recording my food in the free online nutrition journal

> FitDay.com. I would like to purchase DWIDP, but as I am a poor grad student

> currently, I can’t justify the expense. For the same reason, I also haven’t

> had any of the recommended blood tests.

>

> My approach to CR has been to significantly restrict the number of calories

> I eat on two days a week, then eat normally the rest of the week. So, for

> the past month I’ve been consuming 1500 calories on Monday and Tuesday, but

> an average of 2200 calories a day the rest of the week. This averages out

> to 2000 cal/day.

>

> My normal ad lib diet is of fairly good quality. I usually consume 100+% of

> the RDA of most nutrients, with the notable exceptions of zinc (I get about

> 70% of RDA) and Vitamin D (I get about 30% of RDA – but I do get significant

> sun exposure since I live in Arizona). My calcium and magnesium intake are

> borderline (just about 100%). I also consume a multivitamin to make for any

> deficiencies. Zinc is the one I’m most concerned about. As a vegetarian

> (no meat or fish, but do eat dairy and eggs) I find it difficult to get

> adequate zinc.

>

> Restricting calories has been a fun and interesting experiment for me. I’ve

> learned a lot about myself and my relationship to food. One interesting

> aspect has been that the most difficult part has been the transition to

> different calorie levels. So, Monday morning is difficult, when I’m moving

> from a 2200 calorie level to 1500 calorie level, but then Wednesday morning

> is also difficult when I raise my calorie consumption back to 2200 calories.

> It can be easy to make myself sick by eating a rich meal first thing on

> Wednesday. I have to escalate calorie intake slowly. That’s been an

> interesting experience for me since I’ve always had a hearty appetite and

> normally can easily out-eat my husband. But then again, my husband has

> basically been practicing CR naturally – I’m still trying to get him to work

> on the ON part, though.

>

> Over the past four weeks I’ve found that each week it has been easier to

> restrict calories. This past week it was hardly difficult at all. Related

> to a recent discussion here, I’ve found white potatoes have been very

> helpful in increasing my satiety. A baked potato (220 calories) topped with

> green onion (5 calories) as a dinner is absurdly filling and can easily

> carry me through til breakfast. And I love potatoes, so it satiates my

> taste buds as well.

>

> I run approximately 15-20 miles a week and lift weights 2-3 times a week. I

> have noticed that it’s a little harder to get going on days when I’m eating

> low calorie, but once I get going I seem to do fine.

>

> One of the challenges I’m facing is that school is about to end for the

> summer. Eating low calorie is easier for me while I’m at school because I’m

> always busy. In addition, if I want food, I have to go buy it – it takes

> more effort than just walking in the kitchen. The bad part about trying to

> eat at school is that they just don’t have a wide variety of healthful foods

> available. That should be improved over the summer, when I can buy my own

> food and prepare it. If I can learn how to transfer the ability to restrict

> calories that I’ve been practicing at school to home I should be good.

>

> My calories (ave 2015/day) over the past month have broken down as follows:

> 28% fat, 60% carbs, 12% protein. I am getting about 61g fat (18 sat, 14

> poly, 20 mono), 312g carbs, 24g fiber, 61g protein a day.

>

> My weekly averages over the past six weeks are as follows:

> cals fat carbs prot fiber

> 3/18-3/24 2213 83 322 60 26

> 3/25-3/31 2027 80 279 61 23

> 4/01-4/07 2313 85 317 64 23

> 4/08-4/14 1920 56 313 55 26

> 4/15-4/21 2007 56 308 66 25

> 4/22-4/29 1934 58 304 59 24

>

> Here’s a sample menu from an ad-lib day and a low calorie day:

>

> Ad Lib:

> Smoothie (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, OJ, banana)

> Small handful of pistachio nuts

> Cup of grapes

> Small chunk of gouda (perhaps ½ ounce)

> ½ dark chocolate bar

> Cheeseless veggie pizza (Amy’s Kitchen brand, frozen)

> Lentils and potato over quinoa

> Small handful of almonds

> Nonfat blueberry yogurt

> Total: about 2200 calories

>

> Low Calorie day:

> Single serving shredded wheat (maybe 2/3 a cup) - 125 cals

> 1 c. fatfree milk – 86 cals

> Banana – 109 cals

> Coffee – 5 cals

> Smoothie (blueberry, strawberry, pineapple, with fatfree yogurt) – 307 cals

> Chocolate Pecan Pie flavor Luna Bar – 180 cals

> Vegetarian sushi (avocado, cucumber, carrot rolled in rice and seaweed) 9 pc

> – 273 cals

> Soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi – 11 calories

> Nonfat yogurt – 100 cal

> Baked potato – 200 cals

> Green onion - 10 cals

> TOTAL: 1445

>

> Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome.

>

> - Robin

>

>

> _________________________________________________________________

> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

>3. You mention casually just a baked potato topped with green onion as a

>dinner. I hope I misunderstood as you need more variety than that with a

>meal (and a protein and a small bit of good fat)

No, sometimes I do have a baked potato for dinner. Do you think you need

protein and fat at every single meal? I often have a meal with more fat and

protein earlier in the day, then a lighter meal later with no added fat and

protein.

- Robin

_________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Francesa, I first want to say thank you for taking the time to respond to my

post. Your advice is much appreciated.

>4. I would nix the gouda cheese (pure fat, high calories).

But it's such GOOD gouda. Smoked gouda from some small dairy - delicious.

But I think I can probably make it a once-in-a-while treat.

>The chocolate

>bar is something you should eliminate because of the sugar and high

>calories

>(how about 1/4 piece of a chocolate bar, so you keep some fun in your

>life?)

That sounds reasonable. I love chocolate, but I've been cutting back on it

for a while. Maybe I'll try the baker's chocolate that someone else

suggested.

>6. I would add some Brewer's yeast (for B vitamins) to your diet since you

>don't eat meat.

Is brewer's yeast the same as nutritional yeast?

>7. Consider a fortified cereal (I eat Total) for zinc and your missing

>nutrients. It has some sugar in it, but IMHO, the tradeoff is worth it for

>the nutrients provided. 3/4 cup of Total contains 100% of the daily zinc

>requirement.

But aren't eating fortified cereals pretty much equivalent to taking a

multivitamin (except that the cereal has added sugar in it)?

Again, thanks for the comments.

-Robin

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