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January 22, 2006
Going Lower
Or: If you want to lose weight, drink more, eat less!
This might be mind-numbingly obvious to some of you, but I found that when I stopped making wine a part of my quotidian diet and replaced those calories with food, even though I lowered my calories to 1150 (a number that previously had led to rapid weight loss and hunger) I wasn't particularly hungry, and my weight loss has been very slow. In fact, accounting for hormonal changes, it's hard to tell if I've lost weight at all. I may have gained a tiny bit of muscle from working out and lost a little fat -- the plain old scale doesn't know. The point being, I'm not in danger of losing weight too fast, and I'm not feeing uncomfortably hungry, so I'm going to take my calories even lower.
This is a classic example of how the CR mentality parts company with the weight loss mentality. The good news is: I'm not losing weight! So I can eat less! Yippie! For someone who wanted to lose weight, the consistent numbers on the scale would be frustrating, and having to cut calories would be miserable. For us who do CR, we want to be able to take our calories lower to maximize the life-extension benefits of the only intervention currently known to extend health and youth in mammals. Funny, eh? I am *pleased* to be able to eat less without losing too much weight too fast.
I think I'll chop 100 off the total for now. That will bring me down to 1050. That's pretty low, but when it's all food it's do-able. However, on days when I'm going out or having a dinner party and therefore drinking wine, I'll go back up another 100 calories or so to make up for the alcohol. Part of being able to take the calories down is being able to make them all food, and I don't want to eat so little on days that I have a drink that I set myself up for big hunger. But I'm thinking of limiting my alcohol consumption to just weekends or just days when I'm going out for some other reason (for instance, a friend is throwing a birthday party this Tuesday at one of my favorite brewpubs, so I may have a glass of beer.) So on all other days, I'll try keeping my calories below 1050. Wow, I'm getting lower and lower, below the levels that used to be my low days. And I'm exercising. And I'm not all that hungry. Ladies and gentlemen, that's downright bizarre.
I honestly think it's the fat. I notice such a huge difference when I start my meals with fat, chow down on 27 grams of almonds, and worship daily at the altar of flax oil. And my skin is so much better. During those under 30% fat days, I was starting to get the cracked winter hands I used to have. Eat fat: no cracked hands. It's that simple. MR is amazed at how rapidly I respond to dietary changes.
Here's one for the "Don't try this at home" files. Yesterday I was planning to go to a staff member's housewarming party. She loves to cook and I knew she'd be cooking all day to prepare food for the party, so I wanted to be able to taste her food. But I can't go over my calories. Meanwhile, I was so scared of the extra alcohol from Friday night triggering an anxiety attack that I used the anti-anxiety drug that makes MR downright wiggy every time I do it: I skipped breakfast. I ate nothing all day until 3 pm, at which point I ate my eggwhites and flax oil breakfast (no carbs.) DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU ARE USED TO FASTING AND NOT PRONE TO BINGE EATING. Believe me, hunger is better than an anxiety attack. Facing a pack of hungry lions is better than an anxiety attack. For me, the ultimate anti-anxiety drug is a morning's worth of fasting, followed by a no carb meal. I'm not particularly prone to binging, so I can return to eating normally afterwards with relatively little trouble.
Having eating only 225 calories prior to leaving the house, I figured I could sample a few of the party foods without going over calories. Like I said, this strategy wouldn't work for most people, so don't try it if you know you'll eat the entire cheese tray. For most people it's safer to eat beforehand and not be hungry, but for me this stuff sometimes works. I had a little bit of goat cheese, a deviled egg, a bite of the homemade salsa, some of the hummus with organic celery that I brought. I passed up the carrot cupcakes, even though they looked fantastic. I was glad that I could enjoy my hostess' food, and I didn't over do it. I am quite certain that I went under calories, but of course I am very hungry today after eating comparatively little yesterday. I would not do that often... in fact, I hope that the necessity of fasting to knock out anxiety does not come up again any time ever again. Unless I have a pressing reason to skip breakfast, I don't want to start the day without my darling eggwhites. Eating just a small amount at a party is hard, and most people would overeat and not even know it. But between my now intimate knowledge of calorie counts and the tiny-ness of my stomach now that I am used to eating less, it's not too hard for me to stop at not full at all when I put my mind to it.
Thank appropriate dieties or lack thereof that today I am back to real April food. I can almost taste the lunchtime kale, and it's only 9:15 am. I'm seriously considering another 7 day not drinking holiday, though I may make an exception for a freshly brewed beer on Tuesday. I just feel so much better when I don't have any alcohol in my system. I hate to be the one to say it, and my body chemistry is very likely very different from yours, but I value freedom from anxiety and ability to drop my calories more than I value resveratrol. I may eventually adopt the quotidian 3 ounces that MR drinks, if I feel like I can do so without wanting more ounces. I could buy us doll-sized wine glasses for our baby wine pours. But for now, I think I'll stick to chamomile tea.
Posted by april at January 22, 2006 8:52 AM
Comments
Hi April!,
I love your style of writing and the useful info you give. I'm not CR, but I've been vegan for over 6 years and tend to fast a lot and be concerned with nutrients. Your pages have provided some great information on how CR works day to day, thanks!
I've a question to pose regarding fruits and vegetables: I ate only raw fruits and veggies for 2 months and felt great with it, but do you think eating too many of them will lead to an increase in toxins from pesticides? That's my only real concern with eating them.
Again, thank you! Have a happy day!
Posted by: Marc at January 22, 2006 10:38 AM
I love your Diary, and your writing. But, it seems to me that you are (might be?) too obsessed with food. Many of your stories sound like scenes from my life - I'm a 35 year old anorexic. I use to hide under the guise of "healthy eating" . I don't mean to be offenseive, just please be careful with what you are doing.
Posted by: Hi at January 22, 2006 3:44 PM
Hi April,
I don't understand how alcohol consumption (even in the small amounts you consume) gives you anxiety. What exactly happens? Because I know alcohol does all kinds of things like making you depressed the next day besides all the physical problems of a hungover but I've never hear of alcohol resulting in an anxiety attack. I certainly never experienced one even when I drank huge amounts.
Posted by: zeynep at January 22, 2006 5:04 PM