6 Mo. Progress report

[Guest guest]

This week marks six months since I started following the crON diet.

(I spell it " crON " because my focus has been much more on the " ON "

part than on the " CR " part.)

I still eat as much as I want of the ON recipes, and calculate my

daily calorie intake as varying between about 2,200 and 2,600,

depending on my level of activity. My level of activity is often

high, including bicycle touring, backpacking, and soon when the

season arrives, cross-country skiing and backcountry ski-touring.

I am 6'1 " , and 45 years old. When I first discovered and read " the

120 Year Diet " last November, I weighed 248 lbs., and had given-up on

trying to maintain my weight by eating whatever I wanted and then

counting on high levels of physical activity to consume the excess

calories. More modest attempts to limit the excesses in my diet, and

getting back into some light cycling and cross-country skiing brought

me down to 230 lbs. by mid-March.

The excesses I limited were alcohol, cheese, and white bread and

pasta. I've never been much of a meat eater, though I like eggs and

seafood. I've switched to whole grain products whenever possible,

stayed away from cheese completely (except non-fat kefir, ricotta, or

cottage cheese), and cut back to no more than two drinks a week

(either red wine, or my weakness, single-malt scotch).

After deliberately starting the ON diet in March of this year, and

after a glowingly encouraging check-up from my doctor, I returned to

some fairly vigorous physical activities. My weight dropped to

around 210 by the end of June. I found that my appetite was dropping

over that period as well, and seemed to vary more directly according

to my level of activity.

As of late-August/early-September, my weight has leveled off around

185 lbs. According to the body-mass tester (electro-resistive type)

at my company's fitness center, my body fat dropped to a minimum of

12% when I was at 205 lbs., but has slowly increased to about 16%

since then. That, of course, makes me wonder how accurate those

machines are.

I've never formally started a deliberate calorie restriction stage,

but I'm not convinced that I need to at this point. I feel and am

told I look five years younger, and am having more fun in my life

all-in-all.

I've noticed changes that others in this group have talked about,

including better sleep, reduction of sleep apnea and snoring, a lot

more energy and alertness, lower body temperature (from an average

98.8F down to 97.3F), and frequently cold feet and hands.

My question is this: Would conscientiously trying to lower my

calorie intake any further be of benefit, or does it sound like I'm

already " there " ?

--SteveSgt