April's CR Diary

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May 14, 2005

You're On The Right Track

Does anybody remember the musical Pippin? It's one of my favorites, though I've never actually seen it, only listened to the soundtrack. Well, this morning I had a song from it in my head as soon as I woke up, the one that goes:

Now I can see you're in a rut and disarray
And I'm not one to butt in, but in fact
I must say

If you take it easy
Trust awhile
Don't look blue
Don't look back
You'll pull through
In just awhile
Cause you're on the right track.

I have no idea what is happening in the story line at the time... I think it has something to do with a talking duck. But in my case, the reference is pretty obvious.

I've been struggling since I made the discovery that yes, eventually, even I will get hungry. I loved everyone's comments... thanks to all! (Laura -- I'll answer your questions shortly!) I talked it over in detail with MR, and he thinks it's a good sign. My body has burnt off the extra fuel I was carrying around in the form of fat (though I still have plenty of fat, unlike some people I know, which is good because I am after all, a girl, and I've gotta have something to put in my size 0's.) I'm finally in real Calorie deficit... and that's what CR is supposed to be! I'm certainly not malnourished... you read my nutrition info every day and as MR pointed out, I eat enough protein for a 258 pound non-CR'd man. So I'm doing it right... I'm on the right track.

All of your comments were thought provoking, and I have lots of thoughts still swirling in my head, taking shape in half-written entries that will be coming soon. However, I thought I'd better spit out some content, especially nutritional info, before you started to get worried that I'd given up CR entirely and run off with the manager of a Quorn factory.

Here's Thursday. Lunch out with co-workers over a staff meeting, at a place where they have a great shrimp cocktail for 125 Calories. It's also a brew pub so of course I had to have a beer. I did take the occasion to consider how well Aubrey de Grey would fit in with my co-workers, and wonder if some sort of exchange program could be worked out. VLC came over for a glass of wine after work, but I had the carbs for it, as you'll see.

Num. Foods : 10
Food #1 : Egg, white, raw, fresh 1 cup
Food #2 : Oil 1 tbsp olive, 2 teaspoons flax
Food #3 : Crustaceans, shrimp, mixed species, raw 125 cals
Food #4 : Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw 1 cup ish
Food #5 : Avocados, raw, California 50 g (estimated)
Food #6 : Alcoholic beverage, beer, regular 1
Food #7 : Strawberries, raw 2
Food #8 : Yogurt, fruit, low fat, 9 grams protein per 8 ounce 110 cals
Food #9 : Cottage Cheese Lowfat Light and Lively 1 cup
Food #10 : Alcoholic beverage, wine, table, red 6 oz

NUTRIENT TOTALS:

Abs. Values %RDA/SA

Calories 1118.13__cal 56%
Protein 92.62__gm 168% RDA
Total Fat 36.58__gm 56%
Sat. Fat 12.72__gm 64%
Mono. Fat 16.20__gm 56%
Poly. Fat 5.08__gm 76%
Carbohydrate 53.07__gm 18%
Fiber 5.51__gm 18%
Cholesterol 297.31__mg 99%
Vit. A 15781.16__IU 316% RDA
Vit. B6 0.62__mg 39% RDA
Vit. B12 2.81__mcg 140% RDA
Vit. C 54.71__mg 91% RDA
Vit. E 3.57__mg 45% RDA
Thiamine 0.25__mg 23% RDA
Folacin 171.77__mcg 95% RDA
Riboflavin 2.51__mg 193% RDA
Niacin 6.64__mg 44% RDA
Panto. Acid 2.39__mg 48% SA
Calcium 751.07__mg 63% RDA
Copper 0.67__mg 34% SA
Iron 5.31__mg 35% RDA
Magnesium 179.70__mg 64% RDA
Manganese 1.84__mg 61% SA
Phosphorus 899.15__mg 75% RDA
Potassium 1946.09__mg 97% RDA
Selenium 130.64__mcg 238% RDA
Sodium 1054.62__mg 44% SA
Zinc 2.75__mg 23% RDA
Tyrosine 4.42__gm 460% RDA
Lysine 9.41__gm 1307% RDA
Phenylalanine 5.78__gm 602% RDA
Leucine 9.86__gm 1028% RDA
Valine 6.72__gm 800% RDA
Methionine 3.55__gm 1183% RDA
Cystine 2.03__gm 677% RDA
Tryptophan 1.45__gm 808% RDA
Threonine 5.26__gm 1096% RDA
Isoleucine 6.11__gm 848% RDA

P:C:F = 33:37:30

I think the calcium was actually higher as I have not yet modified my DWIDP to reflect the fact that my fruit yogurts have 30% of the RDA, not 20%. I am scared to modify foods now that I've discovered so many hard to find DWIDP bugs.

Yesterday was an interesting day because it was a "Girls' Night Out" with VLC and my mom, the kind of day when I would have in the past gone crazy and consumed heaven knows how many Calories. Those days definitely kept my average up, so that I could have several under 1000 days in a row followed by a going out day and not lose weight too fast. This time, I didn't want to go crazy, so I only went moderately crazy. I ate a light but basically normal day at work, taking care to get in all my calcium foods (again, the crunch will be about 10% lower on the calcium than it should be.) The plan was for VLC, me and my mom to take the train into the city after work, go for a drink at a bar with good happy hour specials (certainly you didn't think that CR meant never enjoying Friday happy hour specials again???) and then Mom and I would go to the art museum for their Friday night wine and appetizers jazz concert in the main hall while VLC left to meet a friend and do a jigsaw puzzle. We got to the bar with the happy hour specials, and it was about my dinner time. Last time I did an art museum Friday with my mom, I ate the art museum appetizers: a fruit and cheese plate and crab cakes. Delicious, and it was a special occasion (Mom's birthday) but very high Calorie! So this time I told Mom that I didn't want to actually eat at the art museum, as I've been a little over already on Calories due to the little Quorn incident. So I ate a grilled chicken salad at the bar, mostly just boneless skinless chicken over lots of lettuce and some other veggies. I had just vinegar with it, as I fear restaurant salad dressing. I drank a cosmopolitian on happy hour special, that drink made famous by Sex and the City. I entered that into DWIDP as vodka, as that's basically all it is with a touch of pink stuff and a lime. Anyway, it was a nice dinner, and I was no longer tempted to take large bites out of my dinner companions after eating it.

Mom and I adjourned to the art museum, where I had a glass of pinot noir while listening to the excellent jazz concert, then I walked around and came across a film exhibit. There's a giant Dali exhibit at the Philly museum right now, and this film featured a collaboration between Walt Disney and Dali. It was amazing! As with much of Dali's work, the main character was a woman who looked a lot like his wife, Gala. The combination of Disney and Dali was just fascinating... I can't describe it.

Then I met Mom back in the main hall where she had been listening to jazz and people watching, and we had another glass of pinot noir. We took a cab to the train station to go home, and by this time I was really hungry again, so I stopped at the Subway and ate a 160 Calorie Subway club salad. I probably could have done without the Calories, but remember, this is my wild and crazy night out, the one where I used to consume at least 1800 and possibly more, mostly in the form of seafood, cheese and wine.

Here's the total crunch for the day: not bad if you consider that this is supposed to be a bad day:

Food List : 5-13-05.fls
DATE : 05/13/05
Num. Foods : 14
Food #1 : Egg, white, raw, fresh 1 cup
Food #2 : Flax oil teaspoon
Food #3 : Grape juice, frozen concentrate, sweetened, diluted with 3 volume water, with added vitamin C 0.9 servings
Food #4 : Cottage Cheese Lowfat Light and Lively 1 cup
Food #5 : Yogurt, fruit, low fat, 9 grams protein per 8 ounce 1 cup
Food #6 : Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, November thru May average 150 g
Food #7 : Chicken, broilers or fryers, back, meat only, cooked, roasted 150 g
Food #8 : Lettuce, butterhead (includes boston and bibb types), raw a lot
Food #9 : Turkey, all classes, breast, meat and skin, cooked, roasted Cals in Subway salad
Food #10 : Peppers, sweet, green, raw veggies in salad
Food #11 : Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw big day for lettuce
Food #12 : Alcoholic beverage, wine, table, red 2 glasses
Food #13 : Alcoholic beverage, distilled, vodka, 80 proof that's the Cosmo
Food #14 : Coffee, brewed, prepared with distilled water a lot. It has niacin.

NUTRIENT TOTALS:

Abs. Values %RDA/SA

Calories 1186.60__cal 59%
Protein 94.42__gm 172% RDA
Total Fat 34.64__gm 53%
Sat. Fat 13.88__gm 69%
Mono. Fat 12.24__gm 42%
Poly. Fat 5.55__gm 83%
Carbohydrate 54.71__gm 18%
Fiber 6.40__gm 21%
Cholesterol 195.43__mg 65%
Vit. A 10244.23__IU 205% RDA
Vit. B6 1.25__mg 78% RDA
Vit. B12 1.53__mcg 77% RDA
Vit. C 164.51__mg 274% RDA
Vit. E 3.96__mg 50% RDA
Thiamine 0.49__mg 45% RDA
Folacin 287.67__mcg 160% RDA
Riboflavin 1.96__mg 151% RDA
Niacin 13.89__mg 93% RDA
Panto. Acid 3.14__mg 63% SA
Calcium 764.62__mg 64% RDA
Copper 0.55__mg 28% SA
Iron 6.47__mg 43% RDA
Magnesium 171.04__mg 61% RDA
Manganese 3.12__mg 104% SA
Phosphorus 966.62__mg 81% RDA
Potassium 2492.15__mg 125% RDA
Selenium 64.10__mcg 117% RDA
Sodium 711.34__mg 30% SA
Zinc 5.51__mg 46% RDA
Tyrosine 5.33__gm 555% RDA
Lysine 12.24__gm 1700% RDA
Phenylalanine 6.50__gm 677% RDA
Leucine 11.95__gm 1245% RDA
Valine 7.98__gm 950% RDA
Methionine 4.15__gm 1383% RDA
Cystine 2.13__gm 709% RDA
Tryptophan 1.70__gm 944% RDA
Threonine 6.57__gm 1369% RDA
Isoleucine 7.46__gm 1037% RDA

P:C:F = 32:42:26

It has some problems: lowfat, and too much saturated fat in the meat. Much of the carbs are coming from wine and the Cosmo, where on a normal day there would be many more veggies and one glass of wine. I'm lacking my brewers yeast as it was a night out, so it's low on some of the things brewers yeast usually provides. But this is a bad day! If I can change my going out routine so that it involves not cheese plates but salads with a little meat or seafood and keep my cals under 1200 even on big nights out, then I am definitely on the right track!

Posted by april at May 14, 2005 4:08 AM

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Posted by: Jacob at May 14, 2005 7:00 PM

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