Re:Lighter side views of CR people.

[Guest guest]

Al quoted an article on

Walford:

>A typical platoon of

calorie-restricted

>

mice eat about 40 percent less than their unrestricted counterparts.

>

Put in terms I could understand, that comes out to about 100 percent

>

fewer trips to New Orleans.

The idea of living life as an extended

>

pursed-lip tightrope act seemed too rational to be much fun.

> Put

another way, it seemed too " Houyhnhnm. " Say what you will

>

about the superior moral virtues of the horse people in Gulliver's

Ø

Travels, but admit this:

they were awfully boring.

I know we all are frustrated with how to overcome

this perception. That CRON is boring and ad lib is fun. Before CRON, I

belonged to the couch potato, carbohydrate-swilling club. I still am somewhat

of a couch potato, since it’s not clear that that is such a bad idea. But

unlike many CRONies that were paragons of some sort of virtue – fitness buffs,

vegetarians, etc., before CRON – I was not. At 47, I was sliding into

middle age decline. I ate low fat, but also low nutrient and too high calorie. I

had a dozen minor health problems that were too trivial to bother the doctor

with, but bothered me. All “signs of middle age”. I looked at

pictures of myself from my vacation in July of 2000, and decided to do

something better. I decided to lose weight and eat 5 fruits and vegetables a

day. I started a food diary in Excel and tracked protein and calories. I was

eating 900 calories a day, since that is what I usually would do to lose

weight. I started reading books on nutrition – Omega Diet, Weil books,

etc. My diet got better every day – I made a lot of incremental

changes. 5 fruits and vegetables got really easy and I was eating more than

that almost all the time. I starting tracking vitamins. After six months, I had

lost 25 pounds and almost all my minor health problems. I felt great. I was

really enjoying the food. I was eating a lot more diverse diet. Then I started

writing my DWIDP-like program and tracked all nutrients. More diversity and

tuning resulted. I could get pretty close to 100% RDAs at 900-1000 calories and

started to cut back on supplements – no Vitamin A. I noticed I wasn’t

getting enough iron, and added that. Then I stumbled across Walford and CRON,

and realized that I was doing CRON and that this had become a way of life for

me. That was a big mental shift for me. Before this revelation, I was on a diet

– something temporary – but something that was working for me and

that I didn’t want to end. Now, it was normal, everyday life. You can do

CRON and really enjoy it. It is more fun to be the sleek mouse. There’s

really no reason why a 5 oz piece of cake is better than a 1 oz. piece of cake.

I eat the 1 oz piece every now and then. It’s good not to have forbidden

foods – forbidding them gives them power over you. Would a 20 oz piece of

cake really be better? How about a 200 oz piece? Why isn’t 1 oz enough?

It is for me. It tastes good, but not that good. Spinach tastes good too. People

have to break out of the mindset that eating low nutritional value/ high calorie

foods is somehow a wonderful thing. This is an emotional habit – there is

no reality to it. I know - because I really bought into this concept myself

from age 0 to age 47. Now it seems silly to me and artificial. Lurkers

that are doubtful and haven’t given CRON a real try – trust me, it

is not boring. Food will still be fun. You will feel younger. All you’re really

going to give up is most fast food and desserts and eating huge quantities. Are

these so valuable that you want to feel crummy? When I eat bad now, I can

really feel it – like a hangover. When I eat good, I feel twice the

pleasure. The food tastes good and I can rejoice in the fact that it is

nourishing my body. It’s like Thanksgiving every time. You can eat all

kinds of fabulous, delicious food. All the vegetable and fruits in the world

are good for you. Lean meats and seafood are open to you. You can prepare

them endless ways. Spices are good. Whole grains are good. Small amounts

of rich foods can be worked in. You will not be able to eat prepared foods any

more – Pillsbury is not really something “that says loving”.

They are not that good tasting, once you quit eating them. I try them every now

a then and am always disappointed in how bland, sugary, oily or salty they are.

There is not much flavor and texture to them otherwise. The food industry is

really giving Americans crummy, boring food. It’s just so many variations

on white wheat flour, hydrogenated vegetable oil, milk, and high fructose corn

syrup. CRONies eat more interesting diets than “ad libs”.

[Guest guest]

I really enjoyed reading your email. It has inspired me to keep working on my CR diet.

Thanks

Sigurd

----- Original Message -----

From: ,

Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2002 3:00 PM

Subject: [ ] Re:Lighter side views of CR people.

Al quoted an article on Walford:

>A typical platoon of calorie-restricted

> mice eat about 40 percent less than their unrestricted counterparts.

> Put in terms I could understand, that comes out to about 100 percent

> fewer trips to New Orleans. The idea of living life as an extended

> pursed-lip tightrope act seemed too rational to be much fun.

> Put another way, it seemed too "Houyhnhnm." Say what you will

> about the superior moral virtues of the horse people in Gulliver's

Ø Travels, but admit this: they were awfully boring.

I know we all are frustrated with how to overcome this perception. That CRON is boring and ad lib is fun. Before CRON, I belonged to the couch potato, carbohydrate-swilling club. I still am somewhat of a couch potato, since it’s not clear that that is such a bad idea. But unlike many CRONies that were paragons of some sort of virtue – fitness buffs, vegetarians, etc., before CRON – I was not. At 47, I was sliding into middle age decline. I ate low fat, but also low nutrient and too high calorie. I had a dozen minor health problems that were too trivial to bother the doctor with, but bothered me. All “signs of middle age”. I looked at pictures of myself from my vacation in July of 2000, and decided to do something better. I decided to lose weight and eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. I started a food diary in Excel and tracked protein and calories. I was eating 900 calories a day, since that is what I usually would do to lose weight. I started reading books on nutrition – Omega Diet, Weil books, etc. My diet got better every day – I made a lot of incremental changes. 5 fruits and vegetables got really easy and I was eating more than that almost all the time. I starting tracking vitamins. After six months, I had lost 25 pounds and almost all my minor health problems. I felt great. I was really enjoying the food. I was eating a lot more diverse diet. Then I started writing my DWIDP-like program and tracked all nutrients. More diversity and tuning resulted. I could get pretty close to 100% RDAs at 900-1000 calories and started to cut back on supplements – no Vitamin A. I noticed I wasn’t getting enough iron, and added that. Then I stumbled across Walford and CRON, and realized that I was doing CRON and that this had become a way of life for me. That was a big mental shift for me. Before this revelation, I was on a diet – something temporary – but something that was working for me and that I didn’t want to end. Now, it was normal, everyday life. You can do CRON and really enjoy it. It is more fun to be the sleek mouse. There’s really no reason why a 5 oz piece of cake is better than a 1 oz. piece of cake. I eat the 1 oz piece every now and then. It’s good not to have forbidden foods – forbidding them gives them power over you. Would a 20 oz piece of cake really be better? How about a 200 oz piece? Why isn’t 1 oz enough? It is for me. It tastes good, but not that good. Spinach tastes good too. People have to break out of the mindset that eating low nutritional value/ high calorie foods is somehow a wonderful thing. This is an emotional habit – there is no reality to it. I know - because I really bought into this concept myself from age 0 to age 47. Now it seems silly to me and artificial. Lurkers that are doubtful and haven’t given CRON a real try – trust me, it is not boring. Food will still be fun. You will feel younger. All you’re really going to give up is most fast food and desserts and eating huge quantities. Are these so valuable that you want to feel crummy? When I eat bad now, I can really feel it – like a hangover. When I eat good, I feel twice the pleasure. The food tastes good and I can rejoice in the fact that it is nourishing my body. It’s like Thanksgiving every time. You can eat all kinds of fabulous, delicious food. All the vegetable and fruits in the world are good for you. Lean meats and seafood are open to you. You can prepare them endless ways. Spices are good. Whole grains are good. Small amounts of rich foods can be worked in. You will not be able to eat prepared foods any more – Pillsbury is not really something “that says loving”. They are not that good tasting, once you quit eating them. I try them every now a then and am always disappointed in how bland, sugary, oily or salty they are. There is not much flavor and texture to them otherwise. The food industry is really giving Americans crummy, boring food. It’s just so many variations on white wheat flour, hydrogenated vegetable oil, milk, and high fructose corn syrup. CRONies eat more interesting diets than “ad libs”.