CR: My Progress

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Sorry if you got this before, I also posted it to the other list.

Caloric Restriction: Six Months Progress Report

(05/20/02) Ian Goddard

By pure luck I happened to be in a posing mood shortly before

starting CR, which allows for these before-and-after photos:

http://IanGoddard.net/me-cr.htm

Unfortunately I didn't pose in such a way as to show my belly

-- in fact, I was sucking in my gut in those before photos --

that's where the biggest change has taken place. In six months

I've gone from a size 38 waist down to an easy-fitting size 32.

During that time my weight dropped from 210 lbs down to 160 lbs.

Now, at age 37, I can actually wear old pants that were in the

closet from my early 20s, which I was intending to give away.

My peak weight was 220, a few months before the 210-lbs photos.

I lost that first 10 pounds with a lot of exercise last summer.

It's amazing how hard I worked to lose that 10 pounds. Yet with

CR, 50 lbs of unwanted fat fell off with virtually no effort.

Apart from occasional walking, I've done very little exercise

during the CR and probably lost some muscle. While I should do

more exercise, this emphasizes that the weight loss was from CR.

My body fat is around 10% and I am more sensitive to cold.

My complexion is better. I feel like a million dollars!!! I

mean I feel great, like a kid again! Without question I have

more energy and am more active than any time in my entire life.

I must sound like an advertisement, but I'm not selling anything.

And CR is not something you purchase, in fact it saves you money.

Perhaps the most valuable attribute of CR I noticed immediately

was improved and sustained cognitive alertness. Pre-CR I used

to feel mentally burned out and wasted in the late afternoon

and then especially after dinner, as if I'd been hit in the

head with a log. That's history. Now my mind usually feels

fresh and clear until I go to bed. CR is really only logical

if it has immediate benefits. If the only benefit was that you

might live longer, you could end up sacrificing some pleasure

and get hit by a truck in 10 years anyway. The fact that there

are significant and important immediate benefits makes CR more

than a life-extension program, it makes CR a LIFE program!

During the six months I've been doing CR I've had no problem

with hunger pain. If I did, I probably would not be doing it.

There were hunger pains and that low-blood-sugar feeling for

about the first 2 weeks, but then my body readjusted and the

lower-caloric intake became normal. This is another benefit,

freedom from food! I just don't worry about food any more. In

fact I'm less hungry than before, as hard to figure as that is.

I think a big part of that is that I'm eating a perfect diet,

mostly raw foods with homemade vegetable juice. I doubt that

I've ever been more nourished in my life. A vegetarian since

age 13, I'm now finally on the road to a perfect nonaggression

vegan diet as I slowly phase out all animal products. Of course

I am doing supplemental protein. Gorillas are pure vegans, but,

unlike humans, they are able to digest cellulose which liberates

more nutrients from plants by opening up cells that are not torn

apart by chewing. However, a good vegetable juicer rips open all

the cellulose cells. Thus, it's possible that vegetable juicing

might allow humans to absorb as much nutrition as gorillas do.

For those who did not catch this, the first completed CR study

on large mammals, dogs, was just published. With only 25% CR,

dogs on a CR diet had a significantly longer median lifespan

than controls, and the CR dogs showed fewer signs of aging:

http://sciencenews.org/20020511/fob2.asp

This important study exactly matches 70 years of research on

smaller mammals. And if you read my report linked-to below,

it also matches the ongoing research on monkeys and human

epidemiological data. It would be a miracle if CR with

proper nutrition proved not to extend human lifespan.

http://IanGoddard.net

" To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. " Ben lin

http://www.ultrahiq.net/Ubiquity/Winter02/CR.html