calorie restriction

Today I heard that both Johnny Cash and John Ritter died. What a drag. First of all, I remember Johnny Cash from when I was a kid, with "I hear a train a-coming, it's a-coming 'round the bend, I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when", and then watching John Ritter in that terrible sitcom "Three's Company". Am I really that old? Ritter was just in his 50's and I'm in my 40's. It just doesn't seem right.

I've been thinking a lot lately about longevity. I get a publication devoted to nutrition and lifestyle monthly, and this month there is an article about calorie restriction, and how it prolongs the lives of smaller critters, even rhesus monkeys. There's a fanatical group of men, mostly, who subscribe to calorie restriction (CR) as a way of life, hoping to prolong their lives by 20 years. They even have a website, www.calorierestriction.org. I checked it out, but it didn't interest me.

The concept is that you calculate your caloric requirements and then subtract 25 to 40% from your daily intake. This means that you could never, and I mean never, enjoy lots of butter on your muffin (or a muffin at all), break down and order french fries, eat chocolate mousse or indulge in any number of sinful desserts. You start to ask yourself if it would be worth living 20 years longer if you couldn't enjoy eating.

I'm not overweight, really. I'm 5'0" tall (actually very slightly less, but I round it up to the next inch) and I weigh 115 to 116 lbs. Considering I'm also middle-aged, this is not excessive. However, I would like to weigh 110. In the past year I have lost eight pounds through severe self-deprivation. I've loosened up recently, and I can see that weight is just itching to creep back on. My incentive has been that if I can get down to 110, I will buy myself a pair of leather pants. Now, if that doesn't inspire me, nothing will.

I remember the last time I really worked hard to shed pounds. It was a bit more than a year after Daughter was born, and I found out that I was going to be performing the world premiere of Hubby's orchestral song cycle with a certain mid-western chamber symphony. This was in September. The performance was in February. I was at least 10, possibly 15 pounds overweight since my daughter was born, and I was determined to lose them.

The first thing I did was sign up for an aerobics class. Fortunately, I made many friends, also mature women, who gave me support. The instructor was sympathetic and didn't blast the music so loudly that I wanted to scream. I stopped eating excessively, and actually cut out desserts and other things that I loved, and, most importantly, I made myself a recital gown which would show off my slim figure. This last was the mental image I used when the exercises in aerobics class were too painful, or when I was tempted to reach for something fatty.

And it worked. I got down to 109 pounds and I looked fabulous. The premiere was a great success. Everything was wonderful. As soon as it was over, I started eating again, and gained back some of the weight. But the biggest problem was that I got pregnant again, and never did get back to my slim weight. That second baby is now 14 years old, and I think it's time, definitely, that I could get back into the beautiful recital gown.

But back to CR for a minute. One of the findings from animal studies is that not only do the test subjects live longer than the controls, but they suffer fewer diseases like diabetes and heart disease. They also seemed to be more alert. And they certainly got more excited at mealtimes than their counterparts.

If we look at people around us, there are a lot of fatties out there. Food is everywhere. We can't get away from it. The only way I think one could successfully practice CR would be to be busy all the time in an environment where there is no food. A chef could not do this. A mother who prepares family meals could not do this. A person who works in an office where the co-workers bring in doughnuts with their coffee would be sorely tempted. And then there is the fact that your energy levels would be easily depleted. A construction worker would have a hard time doing it. As would a school teacher. Who is going to voluntarily restrict his calorie intake in order to live 20 years longer?

I would like to think that I could do such a thing. I'm fooling myself, I know. It was hard enough just losing those eight pounds. How the heck am I going to lose the next five or six? We're talking about a way of life forever.

Okay, enough of this. I'm hungry just thinking about food, and I just had my lunch. My mother arrives this afternoon for a weekend visit, and I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about later. So I will.

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