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May 6, 2006
Would You Drink a Margarita?
That's one of the questions the CNN reporter who is coming to interview us on Monday asked me. "Sure," I said. Margaritas, for me, are a "sometimes food." (Yes, I am paraphrasing Cookie Monster.) For most CR practitioners, there are no off-limits foods. CR isn't a diet in the traditional sense that this or that is not allowed. It's a question of keeping your total calories down while keeping your nutrition high. Some people find it easier to do this by eliminating certain foods, and in my early CR practice I cut out foods that had been problematic for me pre-CR so as to minimize temptation to go overboard. But these days I can drink margaritas on Cinquo de Mayo without fearing a backslide into the pre-CR horror days of the nacho and margarita diet.
Last night I went out after work with some co-workers to the local Mexican restaurant. We split a pitcher of margaritas and some appetizers: nachos, guacamole, and soft shell crab. Wow, soft shell crab is so good! I had it for the first time at the home of fellow-CR practitioner Mark from New Jersey, and I've loved it ever since. I don't make a habit of drinking margaritas or eating nachoes any more... in fact, it's probably been six months since I had done either. But my CR practice is flexible enough to allow for occasional going out with the gang for less than optimally nutritious food, since I keep my calories a little low beforehand and then lower afterwards. My body almost self-regulates now: after eating more calories than usual yesterday, I probably won't be very hungry all day today and will keep my calories a good deal below my average.
When I think about going lower with my calorie average, I always think about eliminating these going out with friends feasts. I really can't lower my quotidian diet calories without getting unpleasantly hungry, so the going out would have to go, or at least be cut back. While this would probably be as good for my budget as for my life-extension ambitions, eating out is a big part of my social life, and one that I'm not yet willing to compromise on. It's an ongoing topic of thought and discussion with MR, who never really liked eating out anyway so doesn't miss it. That's a good example of how different CR practitioners make different choices based on different priorities. No two of us are alike, either in the foods we eat or the way we manage social situations. Since any reduction in calories without compromising nutrition seems to yield positive health benefits, I try to encourage people to find comfortable compromises that work for them. But since I know that genuine extension of the maximum lifespan, as opposed to just getting the benefits of obesity avoidance, is only likely to happen when the animal (me, in this case) is reducing calories to a level that we can't quite quantify but that is below that which is required to just "maintain a healthy weight," I frequently consider taking my caloric average lower than my current 1300.
The media often portrays CR practitioners as reculsive, obsessive freaks, and I fear that they'll be disappointed with me since I'm not like that at all. I'm an extreme extrovert, I'll eat a small amount of just about anything, and rarely does a week go by that I don't join my friends in a meal out and a good bottle of wine. These things aren't important to everyone, but they're important to me. So I compromise. Meeting other CR practitioners at the conferences is fun because I see the ways in which others work CR into their lives. Most of us have families, busy social and work lives, even pets. We don't do CR in a cage in a lab like the rats (though I sometimes envy them, since they never have to do the dishes.) We live in the real world, with all its joys and challenges. Splitting a pitcher of margaritas with several of my favorite people in the world on Cinquo de Mayo is a joy for me, and it's a challenge for my CR. But I'm confident now, after two years of practice, that I'll make up the calories by being extra careful for a few days, maintaining my happy average of 1300. And I probably won't have another margarita until next Cinquo de Mayo. Now soft shell crabs may be another story...
Posted by april at May 6, 2006 6:09 AM
Comments
Be sure to wear the long dress with the dots for CNN. It makes you look very slim and elegant!
Posted by: Marti at May 6, 2006 9:57 AM
So, you guys started celebrating Mexican holidays now?
Good for you! Maybe it will be a reminder that the U.S of A was made of immigrants anyway. Think or ask back 2-3 generations away. Your people just got there and invaded native peoples' lands.
But you know that already. Don't you?
Speaking of barbarians...
Posted by: istanbulwitch at May 7, 2006 7:59 PM