Starting a CR Diet

[FrederickSebastian]

Hi,

After many failed attempts, I am hoping to be on a CRON diet by July 21 of this year. I'm gonna start from June 21-July 21 doing a 30 day fast for personal reasons then I am going to start CR immediately afterwards... My question is this:: It has been said that CR is only effective when weaned onto it and not going cold turkey. But, I am also 5'2" and weigh 220 lbs and want to be down to a thinner weight for my vacation in December... Where should I start calorie wise if I want to lose weight at the same time? 2000 maybe? and how many calories should I cut per week to get down to a lower daily calorie intake? 20? I am still new to all this!

 

Any help would be appreciated...

 

Thanks!

 

Fred

[CJay]

Hi Fred,

who said CR is only effective when weaned into it? I think the recommendation is to wean so that people don’t experience adverse responses to the diet, go too extreme, etc.  Do you know your caloric needs for maintenance now? 

-Casey 

[Gordo]

Seeing that you have a BMI of 40 (obese) you should be fine with a 30 day fast, but with such a long fast you might want to have some medical supervision.  How have the first 2 days gone so far?  Those are usually the hardest for most people.  Before and after pictures would be a good idea so you can see your progress.  2000 calories a day seems reasonable to me, use a food tracker app (cronometer or myfitnesspal) to track it.  Content of diet is probably more important then the absolute calories though, get rid of junk food, no fried foods, and only drink water or water with fresh squeezed lemon or lime and you have won half the battle.

[FrederickSebastian]

On 6/23/2021 at 3:45 PM, CJay said:

Hi Fred,

who said CR is only effective when weaned into it? I think the recommendation is to wean so that people don’t experience adverse responses to the diet, go too extreme, etc.  Do you know your caloric needs for maintenance now? 

-Casey 

I think I read it in "The CR Way" or "The Longevity Diet"... not sure which but I am 100% sure I read it... It said that in mice, going cold turkey CR resulted in a lessened lifespan...

[FrederickSebastian]

On 6/23/2021 at 4:17 PM, Gordo said:

Seeing that you have a BMI of 40 (obese) you should be fine with a 30 day fast, but with such a long fast you might want to have some medical supervision.  How have the first 2 days gone so far?  Those are usually the hardest for most people.  Before and after pictures would be a good idea so you can see your progress.  2000 calories a day seems reasonable to me, use a food tracker app (cronometer or myfitnesspal) to track it.  Content of diet is probably more important then the absolute calories though, get rid of junk food, no fried foods, and only drink water or water with fresh squeezed lemon or lime and you have won half the battle.

OK Sounds good... The first two days weren't good, I gave in and started eating and am currently on a low-calorie diet (not fasting) and am losing weight pretty quickly... I am hoping to do the fast later on this year... My goal is to be 123lbs by my vacation in December... Quite a goal, but I think I can do it... Thanks for the help... :)

[CJay]

On 6/26/2021 at 2:48 PM, FrederickSebastian said:

I think I read it in "The CR Way" or "The Longevity Diet"... not sure which but I am 100% sure I read it... It said that in mice, going cold turkey CR resulted in a lessened lifespan...

Okay.  IMO we have more evidence now and I can't find any evidence for that based on the described methods OG papers. That said, this is from the Rheuses monkey study "Once animals were assigned to either control or CR groups, each CR animal's individually determined baseline intake was reduced by 10% per month over a 3-month period to reach the desired 30% restriction" but it doesn't state the reason for doing it this way. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812811/)

I like this new article that reviews the evidence and makes recommendations, so you might want to check it out.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8151159/

Edited July 1, 2021 by CJay

[drewab]

On 6/17/2021 at 4:48 AM, FrederickSebastian said:

Hi,

After many failed attempts, I am hoping to be on a CRON diet by July 21 of this year. I'm gonna start from June 21-July 21 doing a 30 day fast for personal reasons then I am going to start CR immediately afterwards... My question is this:: It has been said that CR is only effective when weaned onto it and not going cold turkey. But, I am also 5'2" and weigh 220 lbs and want to be down to a thinner weight for my vacation in December... Where should I start calorie wise if I want to lose weight at the same time? 2000 maybe? and how many calories should I cut per week to get down to a lower daily calorie intake? 20? I am still new to all this!

 

Any help would be appreciated...

 

Thanks!

 

Fred

I wouldn't worry about the question you are asking too much, nor would I advise fasting (though if you really want to do it, please do it medically supervised). There are so many things you can do that will vastly improve your health and position you much closer to your goal weight:

• Each plenty of whole plant foods including vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes (if a particular food item doesn't work for you, then don't eat it).
• Some high-quality animal proteins are permissible if you'd like in small amounts - I personally have none and this makes it very easy to maintain a BMI of 20.7.
• Get some vigorous movement 5-6 days per week - jog, lift weights, swim, bike, do yoga, etc... whatever you like and find sustainable. Perhaps 20-30 minutes most days.
• Additionally, get a lot of NEAT - non-exercises activity thermogenisis. My step count is typically 15000-20000 due in large part to NEAT (don't sit too much and try to be constantly in motion).
• Practice TRF (time-restricted feeding) - eat all of your calories in a given window of say, 6-10 hours, but work your way up to it.
• Don't consume any sugar or processed foods, for obvious reasons.
• Don't consume alcohol (or limit it greatly, to say 1 drink per week maximum). 
• Practice stress reduction - maybe this means meditation, connection with loved ones and friends, time in nature, etc. It will look a little different for each person.
• Supplement intelligently, if at all. The exact supplements will vary depending on your diet and goals. 
• Get bloodwork done and a thorough evaluation to see how you are truly doing with your health.
• Stress the body in other ways - cold exposure, activate heat shock proteins, etc.

Lastly, December is about 30 weeks away and I wouldn't try to lose more than 30-60 pounds by then. I think this is entirely doable if you stick to the above. 

[FrederickSebastian]

On 7/1/2021 at 11:29 AM, drewab said:

I wouldn't worry about the question you are asking too much, nor would I advise fasting (though if you really want to do it, please do it medically supervised). There are so many things you can do that will vastly improve your health and position you much closer to your goal weight:

• Each plenty of whole plant foods including vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes (if a particular food item doesn't work for you, then don't eat it).
• Some high-quality animal proteins are permissible if you'd like in small amounts - I personally have none and this makes it very easy to maintain a BMI of 20.7.
• Get some vigorous movement 5-6 days per week - jog, lift weights, swim, bike, do yoga, etc... whatever you like and find sustainable. Perhaps 20-30 minutes most days.
• Additionally, get a lot of NEAT - non-exercises activity thermogenisis. My step count is typically 15000-20000 due in large part to NEAT (don't sit too much and try to be constantly in motion).
• Practice TRF (time-restricted feeding) - eat all of your calories in a given window of say, 6-10 hours, but work your way up to it.
• Don't consume any sugar or processed foods, for obvious reasons.
• Don't consume alcohol (or limit it greatly, to say 1 drink per week maximum). 
• Practice stress reduction - maybe this means meditation, connection with loved ones and friends, time in nature, etc. It will look a little different for each person.
• Supplement intelligently, if at all. The exact supplements will vary depending on your diet and goals. 
• Get bloodwork done and a thorough evaluation to see how you are truly doing with your health.
• Stress the body in other ways - cold exposure, activate heat shock proteins, etc.

Lastly, December is about 30 weeks away and I wouldn't try to lose more than 30-60 pounds by then. I think this is entirely doable if you stick to the above. 

Thanks for the tips DreWab... I will keep them in mind as I try to change my diet to a healthier one. How important is limiting alcohol? I saw in an interview that April Smith and Michael Rae drink a glass of red wine every night with dinner and I like to have a glass of Sebastiani red wine every night and it would be hard to give up... What if I drink a glass every night for a few years then wean off it? Would it really make that much of a difference? Just curious..

Edited July 9, 2021 by FrederickSebastian

[FrederickSebastian]

On 6/29/2021 at 3:38 PM, CJay said:

Okay.  IMO we have more evidence now and I can't find any evidence for that based on the described methods OG papers. That said, this is from the Rheuses monkey study "Once animals were assigned to either control or CR groups, each CR animal's individually determined baseline intake was reduced by 10% per month over a 3-month period to reach the desired 30% restriction" but it doesn't state the reason for doing it this way. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812811/)

I like this new article that reviews the evidence and makes recommendations, so you might want to check it out.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8151159/

OK... thanks for the info CJay... I'll try to read and digest that fasting paper later on today... I really like fasting as a quick fix for weight loss despite it being not exactly the healthiest option... I am now consuming 800 calories per day most of which come from creamer and sugar to my coffee... Working on changing that though...

[BrianA]

If you like having more brain cells vs. less brain cells, avoid alcohol:

 

Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/19/health/alcohol-brain-health-intl-scli-wellness/index.html

[FrederickSebastian]

1 hour ago, BrianA said:

If you like having more brain cells vs. less brain cells, avoid alcohol:

 

Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/19/health/alcohol-brain-health-intl-scli-wellness/index.html

Hey Brian,

I am more concerned with longevity vs. brain function. I have fried my brain with so many drugs that I doubt a little booze will make much of a difference at this point... As long as I can get by day to day and feel like I have some intelligence, that's good enough for me... lol...

Thanks for the article though,

Fred

Edited July 10, 2021 by FrederickSebastian