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December 15, 2005
She Taught You The Meaning of Love. Now Teach Her The Meaning of Forever.
That was the cheesy slogan on a billboard for diamond engagement rings that I passed on my way home from work Monday night. Of course, it made me think of life-extension.
Before I started CR, I was completely unaware that anyone in the science world was working on radical approaches to slowing or even stopping aging. CR was a gateway for me, and the information I gained through the CR Society led me to investigate Aubrey de Grey, the SENS project, and the Mprize. The experience of changing my own health through CR was empowering enough to give me hope for a future without the suffering caused by biological aging.
These days, as I watch those close to me live out the consequences of their lifestyle choices, I find myself contemplating with some sadness a future without many of the people I care about. My friends who smoke, drink like fish (do fish drink?), poison themselves with saturated fat and sugar, and in general live like there's no tomorrow definitely won't make it to the day when any of our anti-aging dreams come true. While I hope that the day when they become very old and sick will be a long way off, I see it approaching rather quickly in some of my older friends, and it makes me sad.
Meanwhile, I am amazed and delighted as people my age and younger start CR. One of my loyal readers, Matt, wrote the other day to the CR list about how he is doing CR in hopes of reaching the dawn of radical anti-aging biomedicine. He's 21, and between starting so young and being born more recently, he's much more likely to make it than I am. He even joined the Mprize Three Hundred, a wise move in his quest to maximize his chances! Another student member of the Three Hundred, Tim, whom I met at the auction, is starting CR in the New Year! I'm so proud of my little brothers in CR and the Mprize (never mind that they're about a foot taller than I am!) and I wish I had started as young as they have. Reminds me of the line from the Crosby, Stills and Nash song that was so horribly overplayed the year I spent the summer in Tennessee with my father and step-mother, I think it was 1982,
I am older now
I have more than what I wanted
But I wish that I had started long before I did.
When I think now about all the time I wasted in my twenties, between hating my body, dieting ineffectively, being sick, and searching for Taco Bell locations in remote towns throughout the South, I wish that I knew then what I know now.
But don't we all? Of course, I might not appreciate the excellent state of health that I enjoy now if I had not had years of suffering -- the kind of lifestyle that most Americans consider normal but that I now find horrifying -- before.
Falling madly in love with a bright orange life-extensionist has definitely changed my perspective. The idea of going through a very long life with someone who is also willing to make the necessary sacrifices to get there is very inspiring. Living with someone whose self-discipline is rather legendary makes it easier to contemplate making radical lifestyle changes and sticking to them. I have learned to remove the labels from the cat food cans *before* I open them. I have learned to do dishes with minimal amounts of water. I have learned how to cook dinners every night with exactly 629 calories and Zoned macronutrient ratios. It makes me think I can do most anything I set out to accomplish.
With that in mind, I've designed an experiment. It's meant to be done in January, when the holiday travel rush is done and life calms down a bit. You know that I've been gradually taking my calories lower over the last few months, and losing weight at a pleasantly slow rate, complete with wild water fluctuations and the occasional overeating of jujubees (not to be confused with jujubes) or consumption of finger sandwiches at potlucks. I've figured out that when I take my calories down to 1200 for more than about six or seven days, my weight starts to drop rather alarmingly if I don't go out for one of my "out meals" and eat more calories to bring up the average.
I've started to wonder if keeping my calories so low, then dropping a giant amount of calories onto my head all at once (even a small restaurant meal has many more caloires than my quotidian at home dinner) is reinforcing my hunger and making it more difficult for me to permanently lower my calories. Both Tall and Little MR swear by consistency, and it only makes sense. So I'm going to try an experiment.
For the month of January, I'm going to set my calories at either 1300 or 1350 (perhaps depending on my exercise level) and weigh and measure every morsel, skipping my going out. I already weigh and measure every morsel at home, so that won't be hard. And I've enlisted the help of my friends by extracting promises that they'll come over to our house for dinner instead of going out. They were eager to accept my invitation, as they've rather missed the food I used to cook for them on a regular basis, so all are happy.
I don't plan to give up going out to eat forever. But I would like to see if very carefully keeping a constant calorie level helps me get over the hunger that seems to attack every time I try to lower my calories. This month long experiment will also be a great way to save money, that I can then spend on more important things like vanilla scented shower gel... I mean, saving to buy a house!
I once thought it would be quite impossible to contemplate not going out to dinner for a month, but now it sounds like a fun experiment and a great excuse to have friends over. Of course, I used to think it would be impossible to go without a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, or sugar in my coffee.
I'm also interested to see the effects of my experiment on my moods. I still have mild anxiety when I over-carb, and if I'm measuring my calories and eating at home, I won't be tempted to do that the way I am when a pizza is staring me in the face. I may discover a whole new level of CR Zen!
Or maybe I'll decide it wasn't that much fun and go right back to six days on, one meal out CR. That would be fine too. Either way, I'll have more information with which to make my decisions.
And that's what this is all about, isn't it? Getting all the information you can so that you can make your own choices, the choices that fit your life and your goals.
And turning ever so slightly orange. Who needs self-tanning lotion when you can be your own carrot?
Posted by april at December 15, 2005 6:55 PM