Basic Pursuits

Ten years ago in the late spring I decided that I was going to lose all the weight that I put on the previous winter. Furthermore I determined to develop a plan to keep the weight off, particularly the pounds I tended to gain during the holidays.

A friend had recently lost some weight. He told me he did it by simply cutting his calories by 25 percent. Sounded simple enough to me. But I quickly tired of looking up caloric content and keeping paper records. That's not in my nature. So I searched the Internet for some technological solution. During this search I found the CR Society.

CR stands for Calorie Restriction. The better acronym is CRON, Calorie Restriction - Optimal Nutrition. These dedicated and extremely intelligent folks were engaging in an experiment to prove that what is true in animals is true in humans. That truth is that the way to live longer is to eat less.

Many experiments on animals, from mice to flat worms, showed that cutting calories from their ad lib diets (what they would eat left on their own) made them live longer. The more calories cut, the longer they lived. Up to a point, of course. At around 65 percent calorie restriction, starvation sets in. But that's a much greater cut than most humans can deal with.

It's only reasonable that if you are going to cut your calories, the ones you eat need to be of the highest quality. They need to have on board vitamins, minerals and fiber. They need to provide a healthy mix of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. That's where optimal nutrition comes in.

So each day CRONies are faced with the challenge of eating a reduced calorie diet that is super high in nutrition. Most do this by measuring, using software like Cron-O-Meter or many others that are available for free or for purchase.

The CR Society experiment hasn't gone on long enough to determine for sure if calorie restriction lengthens human life spans. But practitioners have seen remarkable improvements in vital biological markers like cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar. I myself experienced a huge drop in blood pressure. I made the nurse take it twice when she told me it was 110 over 75. I had seen readings as high as 160 over 90 before. Just about everyone reports increased energy. I know that was my experience.

I lost 25 lbs. during my first encounter with CR. Over the years I've "fallen off the wagon" now and then and gained a few back. But I've always returned to the CRON way of eating and lost the weight again. It's easy because it makes me feel better.

CR is now getting more and more publicity. The intitial reaction is, "what's the point of living a long life if you have to deprive yourself to enjoy it?" How dumb! People are getting fatter and unhealthier by the day not depriving themselves. Are they happy? Are they living life to the fullest? Do they have energy?

The last thing I feel is deprived. I love to eat and I love to feast.

Even if you have no desire to prolong your life, eating better and eating less will make your normal lifespan a richer, fuller, more energetic life. In addition you will gain a fantastic knowledge of nutrition and you'll gain control over your weight issues.

Eating Less May Slow Aging Process