Re: More News About the CR Diet

[Guest guest]

Remember that one needn't be as restricted as this example. I calculate

that Mattson eats only about 1000 cal a day - a very extreme regimen. Also

if you're older , extremism leads to DECREASED health and earlier death - so

in that case you should certainly be moderate in your CR practise.

on 10/22/2003 2:33 PM, Warren at warren.taylor@... wrote:

> Mattson (5-foot-9 and 120 pounds) follows his own

> calorie-restricted diet. A gaunt, intense 46-year-old,

> he skips breakfast; lunch is three pieces of pita bread

> and a piece of fruit; dinner consists of vegetables,

> more fruit, some nuts and maybe a small serving of fish.

[Guest guest]

Hello Francesca and CR ALL:

I would agree that 1000 Kcal for a 5'9 " man would be

extreme indeed. The number 1000 (suggested below) is

probably not quite correct, since I weigh just a little

over 120 Lbs myself, and I eat closer to 50 percent more

at 1500 Kcal/day. A younger person than my own 60 years

(Mattson is 46) of the same weight as I am (Mattson is

also about 120 Lbs), who is active or muscular would

require 1800 to 2000 calories or more, depending on

muscle mass and activity.

Mattson's BMI at 120 Lbs and 5'9 " is calculated here:

http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

as a BMI value of 17.7. This value of approx 18.0 is

not too far off from Dr. Walford's guidelines bracketing

BMI values he recommends for human CR of 18.0 to 20.

Note that BMI is sensitive to the values that are input.

If Mattson actually weighed 123 Lbs (instead of 120 Lbs),

his BMI would be 18.2.

My own BMI at height 5'6 " and 125 Lbs is 20.2. So I joke

that I am a " CR Fattie " , heavier than Dr. Walford's safe

BMI guideline values. As Francesca notes, being slightly

on the heavy side of the 18 to 20 BMI bracketing values

is safer for an older person. There is more body fat

(cushioning to prevent broken bones). And in case of

illness, there is extra body reserve (muscle and fat)

that nature designed into us for our survival.

I definitely do not look " gaunt " , which is the word that

the writer used to describe Mattson. At a BMI around 20,

my " CR Fattie " term keeps me humble, and keeps me safer

for an older person. My two brothers weigh between

225 Lbs to 250 Lbs, so I am thin compared to them.

But in CR terms, I still am not very slender.

You will note that the text of the article at:

http://tinyurl.com/rwr1

lists one CRONie at 6 " tall and 117 Lbs, which computes

out to (use the Internet BMI calculator above) to a BMI

value of 15.9. This low value is on the extreme side.

The NIH (National Institute of Health) lists BMI values

below 16.0 as unhealthful (dangerous).

-- Warren

============================ ==========================

On 22 Oct 2003, Francesca wrote:

Remember that one needn't be as restricted as this example.

I calculate that Mattson eats only about 1000 cal a day -

a very extreme regimen. Also if you're older , extremism

leads to DECREASED health and earlier death - so

in that case you should certainly be moderate in your

CR practice.

=========================== ===========================

> On 10/22/2003 2:33 PM, Warren quoted:

>

> Mattson (5-foot-9 and 120 pounds) follows his own

> calorie-restricted diet. A gaunt, intense 46-year-old,

> he skips breakfast; lunch is three pieces of pita bread

> and a piece of fruit; dinner consists of vegetables,

> more fruit, some nuts and maybe a small serving o

[Guest guest]

>

> > Mattson (5-foot-9 and 120 pounds) follows his own

> > calorie-restricted diet. A gaunt, intense 46-year-old,

> > he skips breakfast; lunch is three pieces of pita bread

> > and a piece of fruit; dinner consists of vegetables,

> > more fruit, some nuts and maybe a small serving of fish.

*****I agree with Francesca. When I first read the diet described

above I was really quite surprised. It doesn't seem balanced (3

pieces of pita bread and a piece of fruit constitutes breakfast and

lunch *combined*??) nor complete in terms of both macro and micro

nutrients (the only substantive protein source is " some nuts " and the

possible inclusion of " a small serving of fish " ).

Sure, vegetables contain protein, but not much - certainly not what a

46-year-old male should consume daily. I've seen outlines of the

diets used by some *serious* CR people - people who are achieving

blood/lipid profiles that match what Walford suggests is a " goal " -

and their diets, while somewhat short on calories perhaps, appear far

more balanced and complete in nutrients.

I was not seriously overweight when I began the ON part of the diet

(May 2003), but at that time I knew I could afford to lose some

weight. It is now mid-October 2003 and I've lost about 23 pounds,

about 1 lb of weight per week. (Since I've continued my weight

training [2 days upper body, 1 day lower body, each week], and since

the weights I've been lifting have either remained stable or

increased, I must assume that most of the weight lost has been

bodyfat and not lean tissue.)

Adapting to the new ON diet has been truly effortless: I just stopped

eating virtually all cakes, candies, cookies, ice cream, chips, etc.

and all refined carbs (white pasta and rice, e.g.). I also decreased

my UNrefined carb intake a bit, replacing those calories with veggies

and fruits. (A few times a week I will have a " treat " : 1 serving of

a high quality bittersweet dark bar.) Eating in this manner I

learned - firsthand - the validity of what Walford says on p. 84 of

BT120YD: " A study at the University of Alabama revealed that

volunteer humans allowed to eat as much as they liked achieved full

satisfaction from as little as 1500 calories a day from whole foods. "

THAT seems to be the key: whole foods. You can even eat bread and

keep your calorie count down, as long as it is dense, chewy, full of

fiber, and not coated with butter or other some other high-calorie

condiment (I would assert that peanut butter is fine, though, as long

as it is in moderation).

During these past 5+ months while eating ON I've hit a few weight-

loss plateaus; each lasted about 7-10 days. I did not react to them:

I neither exercised more nor cut my calories back any further. I

just waited. And each time the weight began to drop again. Without

making any changes in my diet, I'll be curious to see at what value

my weight eventually levels off (I'm not really using CR at this

point). Statistics: I'm 5' 9 " and currently at 170 lb. The leanest

I ever was, since reaching my maximum height mentioned above, was 150

lb. and that was 25 years ago when I was training for marathons and

running 60+ miles each week. Now my cardio workouts amount to about

12-14 miles of jogging each week. Quite a difference in calories

expenditure!

~ andy