CRON - Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition       <home>     <other CRON topics>

An Overview

As I see it, the basics are simple: Subject to certain limits, the fewer calories you consume, the better your health and longevity. Benefits are proportional. The primary payoff is avoiding, or vastly delaying, the major killer diseases: heart, stroke, diabetes, cancer (also see: Calorie Poisoning: Civilization’s Exploding Killer Disease). Other benefits include a stronger immune system, increased fitness, and a greater appreciation of food.

Over the longer term, the simplest way to judge calorie intake is weight. However, getting to the minimum, healthy weight should be done slowly - roughly no more than 2% per month for overweight people, 1% for others. In any case, preferably, weight should not fluctuate by more than about 3% (+- 1.5%), measured first thing in the morning.

The lower limit of healthy weight is most easily determined by body fat and BMI (see below).

However, lower calorie intake and low weight are not enough: Good nutrition is absolutely crucial - this is not about starving! Most nutrients should come from foods, not supplements.

There is also good evidence that increased fitness (cardio & muscle) through additional exercise are factors in longevity - even for people doing CRON successfully.

Practicing CRON:

CRON is a lifestyle, not a diet - (i.e. habits you change permanently, not just a short-term weight-loss program  However, as your weight gets closer to optimum, focus shifts increasingly from cutting calories to improving nutrition). This implies that you need to work out a way to enjoy doing it - it isn't something you just have to 'get through'. It also suggest that slow, gradual changes are more likely to work - new habits have to be formed. This does not mean one can't go 'cold turkey' on some sub-optimal eating habits.

Make CRON fun, a journey of discovering new tastes and habits. Don't focus on what you shouldn't do or eat, but rather on what great new foods you can bring into your life. Nurture a new appreciation of food as you become more aware of tastes, ingredients, and options. Don't beat yourself up over failures or perceived limitation in your program.

Become knowledgeable about calorie and nutritional content, health markers, and your own psychology (what you find easy or difficult, enjoyable or not, etc). Learn various 'tricks' and techniques that make CRON easier and more fun (see: Easy CRON and My CRON experience).

Debunking some major (unfortunate) misconceptions about CRON:

CRON does not have to be difficult or unpleasant, or as detractors like to say: 'a longer life, not worth living'. Quite the opposite: A sound approach to CRON will increase one's appreciation of food, and generally lead to a better quality of life. Hunger does not have to be an issue; many people on CRON actually struggle to eat 1500 calories a day - feeling too full!. Something else to remember is that it becomes easier over time, both because physically and psychologically we adjust to it, and because your relative calorie restriction actually reduces as you reach your target weight.

CRON is not an all or nothing thing. This counters the objection that severe CRON is just too difficult or impractical, or that one can't do certain sports, or look buff, or whatever. Benefits are proportional to the degree of restriction /nutrition - in fact, for most people the greatest risk reduction  percentage occurs with reasonably modest CR and nutrition improvements.

CRON does not have to be a lot of trouble. You don't have to spend hours shopping for special foods and preparing them. Most CRON foods are readily available in your local supermarket, and many of them require little or no preparation.

Being on CRON does not mean you can't eat out, go to parties, or eat some high calorie, low-nutrition foods. Firstly, one can usually find some healthy fare pretty much anywhere and/ or eat less. Furthermore, because CRON is a lifestyle, not a diet, there is no risk of 'falling off the wagon'.

CRON does not require super-human willpower. It requires some education, and a few conscious choices that enable you to change your habits. On of the key decisions is what foods to buy and have around the house! As simple as that.

CRON  is about limiting calories and minimizing harmful substances, while maximizing nutrients. What mix of foods best meet these criteria?

Most important: Lots and lots of low calorie, high nutrient, and high fiber vegetables. Secondly, fruit. Then, small amounts of  fish, lean meat, or other protein, like nuts, beans, soy, egg (white).

Try to eliminate beverages containing sugar - (herbal) teas are much better. Dramatically reduce processed foods high in sugar (and fat): pastries, candy bars, many 'cereals'.

Reduce fats - lots of calories, few nutrients, and some fats are rather harmful: Trans fats are bad news - minimize absolutely (anything fried, most baked goods, and most processed foods). Cut back on saturated fats (switch to nonfat dairy & to lean meats) and/ or change to monounsaturated oils (olive, nut). The only type of oil that most people do not get enough of is omega-3 fatty acid (fish, flaxseed).

Beans are good. Rice, pasta & bread are borderline - relatively high in calories and low in nutrients - eliminate, or dramatically reduce portion size. Brown/ whole wheat are best, try to avoid white/ highly processed.

Some people (especially unfit/ overweight) are overly sensitive to high glycemic foods (foods that rapidly raise blood sugar levels). For those well into a CRON program this is not usually a problem. However, eating many small meals rather than a few large ones, plus having balanced meals - with protein, (mono) fat, and fiber - seems to mitigate metabolic spikes.

Important: Discover for yourself what specific mix of good foods you enjoy, make you feel healthy, present no big hassle, and minimize hunger.

What are the safe, healthy limits to calorie/ weight reduction? When does it become counter-productive? 

Not much research has been done, but a number of fairly simple points emerge:

If you feel weak, faint, or more tired than usual, you are probably overdoing it. Also, because (moderate) exercise is crucial to good health, you need to consume sufficient calories to be able to do & enjoy it.

Watch biomarkers such as blood/ urine analysis; strength, endurance, balance & cognition tests, and (important!) bone density. If anything deteriorates abnormally, investigate! On the other hand, various markers - such as reduced basal metabolic rate - are indications that CR is working.

If your BMI drops below 18.5, or your body fat below 5% male (8% female) you are probably close to the limit.

Important: If CR becomes difficult, or if it makes you unhappy, relax & eat a little more!

What other risks and disadvantages are there?

Feeling cold more easily (dress more warmly). Having difficulty sitting comfortably (sit on a cushion). Being hungry a lot while in the weight-loss phase (see: Easy CRON ). Fortunately, these symptoms tend to go away as the body adjusts.

Social pressure on looks or food discipline. Others people may discourage your CRON efforts by unhelpful comments on how skinny you are, or by trying to pressure you into eating as they do. Many people (men and women) also think that masculinity is tied to being a certain (heavy) weight. Dealing with these issues requires the confidence of knowing that CRON is a smart thing to do if you value your life.

Reduced libido. If this is a problem, reducing the severity of calorie restriction and /or conventional libido-enhancing techniques may overcome this.

Anyone embarking on serious CR should carefully monitor their health (look for worrisome symptoms, watch biomarkers), and get professional advice. Ideally you want a comprehensive baseline test of biomarkers before you start. (There are now many clinics and services that specialize in health screening).

-when you feel like eating clean something gross. scrub the toilet, clean the litterbox, ect... 

-make a journal cute and paste girls with your ideal body inside it to remind you what youre working for. look at it whenever you feel your resolve slipping.

-learn html and make pages. i find that when i am lost in html i forget to eat.

-drink lots and lots of water. hot water makes you feel full cold water makes you forget you were hungry.

-brush your teeth often.

-dont slouch. sitting up straight burns 10% more calories.

-become vegan

-dont avoid the kitchen. people will suspect something

-faking ill usually works.

-take naps through meals.

-get a job through meals.

-spread food on plates and leave them in the sink. people will think you ate.

-adopt a dog and feed him your food.

-mention how you think fiona apple, callista flockhart and kate moss are just waaay too thin. 

-never eat alone. always have someone around when you finally do eat then you can say "i ate"

-if you are forced to go to a restraunt order something you know you dont like.

-give yourself a makeover to distract yourself

-wear lipstick.

Celebrity BMI's 

July 21, 1998



Kate Moss, supermodel. 5'7", 107 pounds 16.8


Diana Ross, singer. 5'4", 100 pounds 17.2


Julia Roberts, actress. 5'10", 120 pounds 17.3


Cameron Diaz, actress. 5'9", 120 pounds 17.8


Lisa Dergan, Playboy's Miss July, 5'8", 120 pounds 18.3


Lisa Kudrow, actress. 5'7", 123 pounds. 18.8

Tell 'em what they wanna hear!

Avoid that plate!

Here are some things to do INSTEAD OF eating:

1. Clean house! Get busy "hoeing and throwing," go through old stuff and purge out what you don't wear, don't want, don't need anymore. Dust. Vaccuum. Scrub. Keep busy! It engages the attention and keeps the thoughts off food. If you're a teen, your mom will be amazed and VERY grateful, so grateful she'll forget to nag you about food! If you're an adult, you'll thank yourself when you're done!

2. Keep sipping on that lemon-water, tea, or diet pepsi while you work! Keeps the tummy sated so it won't growl at ya.

3. Put on some music and dance! Or keep the tunes rolling while you clean house, it keeps the work from getting boring and you can boogie while you sweat!

4. Work on your new pro-ana website, or update your online ana journal.

5. Network with other pro-anas through chat, email, messenger or club sites -- get some support and motivation from your sisters/brothers when you NEED it!

6. Put together a pro-ana scrapbook (or add some new things if you already have one) with lists of safe foods, low-cal, low-fat, low-carb recipes, word collages, and of course, TRIGGER PICS!!!

7. Surf the web and make a list of all the pro-ana sites you can find, or all the safe-food sites you can find, or all the places online where you can buy diet pills, shake mixes, etc. These lists are VERY handy for research and sharing with others!

8. Get up off that lazy cow butt and take a walk or start working out! You still have fat to burn, don't you??? Quit laying around dreaming of donuts and pizza and GET BUSY!!! =)

THINSPO!!!!!
i want those arms!





TIPS!!!!!!

                        General

• Water. We absolutely must drink water to survive, and it has zero calories, so there's no excuse to not drink it. As we typically get much of our water content through foods, when we reduce food intake we begin to dehydrate ourselves, which is dangerous. Also, cold water chills the body and may raise metabolism to get warm again.
• Vitamins and minerals. We must have these, too, to survive and so again there is no excuse to not take at least a basic daily multivitamin (which may help reduce some cravings as well). Vitamins are vital in keeping our bodies functioning and our skin / hair / teeth nice. Particularly be aware of electrolytes (potassium, magnesium, salt, along with water balance) and calcium.
• Protein. Protein is necessary, particularly if you're exercising. It maintains and repairs our muscles, including heart muscle, which is (last I heard) kind of a requisite for continued survival.
• Watch fat intake. Fat has, per gram, more calories than any other source of energy and is stored more easily. Switch to lowfat everything, then progress to nonfat. Nonfat food tends to taste like crap (in my opinion) and you may end up eating less because of that
• Caffeine. While caffeine can be an appetite suppressant and can increase your metabolism, it will also act as a diuretic. Drink a glass of water for each cup of tea, coffee, or diet soda you have. Again, dehydration is a potentially serious problem.
• Always read labels to avoid nasty surprises. This happens to me all the time and makes for some panicky stress-moments. Also, look up food charts and be aware of the caloric / nutritional content of everything you eat.
• Understand yourself. Learn what you need, and when, and why. Everyone is unique and there are no hard-and-fast universally applicable laws. Our bodies are very good at telling us what we need, and knowing what you need gives control over how you choose to satisfy those needs.
• Find your binge triggers, be they food or places or people or feelings. Avoid them at all costs. Figure out more acceptable ways of dealing with those triggers than stuffing yourself silly.
• Learn when you tend to eat and why you eat then in particular. Plan to be doing something unrelated to food at those times. Many of us find night to be the hardest time to avoid food.
• Get plenty of sleep. Steal naps whenever you can and rest when you need to rest. Sleep deprivation increases appetite and makes you age faster.

• Keep a food diary. Write down everything you eat and anything else you feel might be helpful to know. This will allow you to measure progress and track patterns over time.
• Set yourself rules regarding food. Pick ones that you know you can follow and stick with them. Then, keeping these, gradually add on more rules until your eating is entirely under control. It's hard to restrict yourself all the way at once, and more effective to do it in increments. The idea here is to sort of sneak up on yourself in tiny little stages, adapting to each new rule before making another.
• Reward yourself, don't punish. Punishment is not effective and will do more emotional harm than physical good. Calculate how much money you're saving by not eating and add this up until you have enough to buy something you like (but not food). Or, put a penny (dollar, marble) in a jar for every small goal you keep and treat yourself with something (not food) once you reach a certain amount. Remember that these rewards will last longer and give more pleasure than food you would just eat, proccess, and discard.
• Eat slowly, in small bites. Cut your food up into small pieces. Pause while eating to drink water or whatever other liquid you enjoy. It takes a while for "full" signals to get from our stomach to our brain. Also, if you eat over a longer period of time and add more liquids, it can trick your mind into thinking you've eaten more.
• Take out only the amount of food you plan on eating. Wrap everything securely up before you start eating and put it away. Don't go back for seconds. Don't nibble while preparing food, either. Those bites and crumbles add up staggeringly fast.
• Think about food before and while you eat it. Think about where it came from and exactly what happened to it before it reached you. This works particularly well with meat, dairy, and egg products.
• Food associations. Find something that makes you feel vaguely ill or unpleasant, get a picture of it, and put the picture beside your food. Switch pictures frequently and make sure to look at the pictures while you eat. After a while you may began to associate food itself with unpleasantness, which will make you less inclined to eat.
• Give yourself permission before eating. Stop and think about it, consider if you really want to eat whatever-it-is. If your answer is yes, then say (or think) something like "I'm allowed to eat this" or "I have permission to eat this".
• Plan your meals in advance, for the day or week or whatever. Decide what you are allowed to eat each day. If you know that you will be eating, it may help you avoid eating other things.
• If you feel yourself starting to lose control while you're eating, stop. Set your food down, take a long drink of water or some other cool liquid, and take a deep breath before resuming eating. This can help interrupt a slide into binge-mode. Remember to remind yourself that you are still going to finish your food and that you aren't stopping, just pausing for a moment.
• Sabotage your food. Make it with too much water, too little sugar, an ingredient you don't care for. Add too much salt or pepper before you eat. You will eat less of it if it tastes bad.
• Pick apart your food cravings. If you eat food in separate parts instead of all mixed into one, it feels like you've eaten more and you don't get extra stuff you don't really need. For example, if you're really craving pizza, think about what it contains. Bread, tomato sauce, cheese. Drink a can of V8 or eat a tomato. If you still want pizza, have a rice cake or a few crackers or some other starch. If you still want pizza, have a piece of cheese. Or if you're craving peanut butter, have a handful of peanuts and avoid the added sugar and oil contained in most commercial peanut butter. If that doesn't work, eat a spoonful of honey for the sweetness overload. Same net effect, fewer total calories, no wasted empty added crap.

• Brush your teeth. Get a travel-sized toothbrush and toothpaste set and use it often. A clean minty mouth can make the thought of eating less attractive. Also, if you brush after every meal and every supposed meal, it's less obvious whether you've eaten or not.
• Take a shower. Hot steamy water can suppress the appetite, in me at least, and paying close attention to your body will serve to remind you exactly why you're losing weight in the first place. If you feel clean you may not want to "dirty" yourself with food.
• Fidget, take up a new hobby, find something to focus on. Find something with which to distract your hands and / or mouth. Chewing gum works for many people, but check for calories. Sewing or stringing beads is good, detail-oriented and monotonous. Keep yourself occupied.
• Exercise. Find something you love to do and do it. If, like me, you're too self-conscious to exercise where people can see, then do it when you're alone at home or in a locked room or other safe place. Make it interesting. The best I've found? Dancing. Find music you love, cover the windows up, and don't even think about what you may look like since there's nobody to see. It's a lot of fun, and it helps you get more familiar with your body as well.
• Find triggering pictures. You have internet access, I know you do. When you feel like eating, pick an actress or model that you think is particularly beautiful and search for pictures of them... or for pictures of people you find particularly ugly and fat. It's a slow, involving process and for me at least a great way to avoid eating.
• Take a nap. A lot of people think they're hungry when really they're just tired. Also, drink water, since thirst can make you think you're hungry as well.

• Don't raise suspicions. Once people realize what you're doing, you'll be watched and monitored and suspected. Start hiding your habits and practices before anyone even sees them. It's much easier to keep people clueless than it is to fool people who know something's going on.
• Check the fridge when nobody else is around. Find foods that you would have eaten and get rid of them, for example, three eggs and a piece of butter. Then if someone asks, you can say you had scrambled eggs and are really full. And if they check, the ingredients are gone, which reinforces your story. Consider dishes and silverware as well.
• Don't bring up the subject of food around other people. Have your excuses for not eating ready in case they should bring the subject up. Some excuses I use : "My stomach's a little upset", "I'm too (tired, excited, nervous, busy, etc) to eat", "I don't feel like (whatever food it is), I'll get something later", "I did eat, didn't you see?", and "I stopped by (Arby's, Burger King, Subway, etc) earlier".
• If you plan to say you stopped by a fast-food place or restaurant, be sure to take out several dollars from your wallet (or wherever you keep it) and hide them someplace they won't be discovered. Be sure also to stop and wait for about the amount of time it would have taken to eat the food before going home, and know what you supposedly ordered. The money you hide can be saved up as a reward.
• Spend different meals with different groups of people, tell them all that you had a big meal earlier or will be eating something later on. Make sure the different people will not be comparing notes. Or plan your schedule so you're too busy at mealtimes to eat then.
• Trash. Watch where you dispose of uneaten food or other "evidence", make sure that it isn't going to be seen or found by anyone. Wrap food up and throw it away outside the house. If you live alone, always take the trash out before anyone else comes over.
• Buy food. People are fairly predictable. If they see you buy food and come home with food, then they just naturally assume that you eat it as well. Get things like crackers and cookies and dried fruits, keep them in your room, and carefully pack them out again later to throw away. Careful, this can be a little dangerous if you're prone to binging and have trouble keeping food around, or if you feel guilty about throwing food away. If the food's something you don't like and won't binge on this may be easier to do.
• Don't get angry. Don't deny everything if confronted. People will believe a little truth with a big lie much easier than a huge lie. Act as if it's no big deal instead of reacting emotionally and people will tend to believe you.
• Tell people you're on a diet, you became a vegetarian, your doctor has you eating only certain things, whatever. Often people will be very helpful in keeping you from eating if they think there's a socially acceptable reason for it.
• Don't show off your weight loss until you've reached the weight you want to remain at. People will start to watch you more carefully and maybe ask questions, and you want to avoid calling attention to yourself.

• About weighing yourself. Everyone has different methods here that work for them. Many people get discouraged with weighing themselves every day, because our weight is not a stable thing and can vary drastically from little insignificant things. Try to get a better overall picture through the fit of your clothing instead.
• Throw food away before you eat it. A lot of people feel guilty and don't like to toss food. There's nothing wrong with this. Remember, though, that food gets discarded any way you look at it... purging, digesting, tossing... and isn't it better to get rid of the food before it puts fat on you instead of after? If you still hate to discard food, see how much of it you can donate to your local shelters and community service programs.
• Apple cider vinegar (or possibly vinegar in general). It may help raise metabolism and burn fat. It may for you work as an appetite suppressant. Be careful, though, it may also hurt your stomach or cause nausea. Don't take more than a couple teaspoonfuls at a time. Try it mixed with honey in a glass of water, or in diet 7up or other clear carbonated soda about twenty minutes before eating, you may feel full quicker or decide not to eat at all.
• Eat dense foods. They'll feel like more in your stomach. Light or fluffy foods tend to compact, and don't fill you up as well. Drink lots of liquids.
• Avoid refined foods. They're in large part empty calories, and they don't satisfy the body or supply good solid nutritional requirements. The closer to natural you eat, the more value you get per bite, and the less you'll need to eat. Substitute whole grains for white flour and raw sugar for refined white sugar particularly.
• Don't fill up on bread. It's deceptive. Six slices of bread can feel the same as one sandwich in your stomach, and it gets processed very quickly. If you do eat bread eat whole-wheat or grain bread, which will feel denser in your stomach as well as be healthier for your digestive system. Make a sandwich with vegetables or low-fat cottage cheese or salsa instead of eating bread plain.
• Avoid alcohol and other drugs. Anything that can affect you will affect you more strongly and in different ways, and anything that affects your mind will lower your level of control. I hear the munchies are a nightmare when you're trying to lose weight, and waking up with a hangover surrounded by half-eaten food evidence can't be too much better.
• Be careful with over-the-counter weight loss products, including the natural and herbal ones. They speed up your metabolism, yes, but they're designed to be taken with a decent amount of food and can be very very bad for your heart, head, digestive system, and nervous system if you use them with a severely restricted food intake. They can also mess up your sleep cycles, and people with irregular sleep cycles tend to eat more. I would suggest half doses to start with since they'll have more of an effect on someone eating very little, and watch for signs of panic, anxiety, or irritability.
• Don't get discouraged with yourself. You didn't put on weight overnight, and it won't come off overnight either. These things take time, and time will pass no matter how much you're eating.

If you want to eat a little bit durring your fast eat this ::

Fruits
Apple - 1 fruit - 65 cal
Apricots - 3 medium - 50 cal
Blackberries - 1 cup - 75 cal
Blueberries - 1 cup - 80 cal
Cantaloupe - 1/2 cup - 25 cal
Cherries - 10 cherries - 50 cal
Grapes - 10 grapes - 40 cal
Grapefruit - 1/2 fruit - 45 cal
Honeydew melon - 1/2 cup - 45 cal
Kiwifruit - 1 fruit- 45 cal
Nectarine - 1 fruit - 65 cal
Peach - 1 fruit - 35 cal
Pineapple - 1 cup - 75 cal
Plum - 1 small - 15 cal
Plum - 1 medium - 35 cal
Raspberries - 1 cup - 60 cal
Strawberries - 1 cup - 45 cal
Tangerine - 1 fruit - 35 cal
Vegtables

Aparagus, canned - 4 spears - 10 cal
Bean sprouts - 1 cup - 30 cal
Broccoli - 1 spear raw - 40 cal
Broccoli - 1 cup cooked - 45 cal
Brussel sprouts - 1 cup cooked - 60 cal
Cabbage, Chinese - 1 cup cooked - 20 cal
Cabbage, red - 1 cup cooked - 20 cal
Cabbage - 1 cup cooked - 15 cal
Cauliflower - 1 cup raw - 25 cal
Cauliflower - 1 cup cooked - 30 cal
Celery - 1 cup raw - 20 cal
Cucumber - 1 cup, peeled, sliced - 16 cal
Collards - 1 cup cooked - 25 cal
Eggplant - 1 cup cooked - 25 cal
Kale - 1 cup cooked - 40 cal
Lettuce - 1 cup raw - 5 cal
Mushrooms - 1 cup raw - 20 cal
Mustard Greens - 1 cup cooked - 20 cal
Onion - 1 cup cooked - 60 cal
Onion - 1 cup raw - 40 cal
Peppers, red - 1 cup raw - 20 cal
Peppers, green - 1 cup raw - 20 cal
Radishes - 4 radishes - 5 cal
Spinach - 1 cup raw - 10 cal
Spinach - 1 cup cooked - 40 cal
Tomoatoe - 1 medium - 25 cal
Drinks
Water - 0 cal
Green Tea - 0 cal
Diet Soda (any) - 0 cal
Crystal Light - 1 cup - 5 cal
Seafood / Meat / Eggs
Chicken, breast - 3 oz - 140 cal
Chicken, drumstick - 3 oz - 160 cal
Clam - 3 oz - 65 cal
Cod - 3 oz - 60 cal
Egg, white - 15 cal
Flounder - 3 oz - 80 cal
Haddock - 3 oz - 75 cal
Halibut - 3 oz - 85 cal
Shrimp - 3 oz - 100 cal
Tuna, canned white albacore - 3 oz - 100 cal
Turkey, breast - 3 oz - 135 cal