Almost 3 years ago I got worried about my weight (160lb, 5'7") and pant size. I read about several diets and stumbled on CR. The science convinced me.

I think most of my reading was from Google searches on calorie restriction. I did get one of Walford's books. My wife, who is an academic reference librarian, helped me track down scientific articles in journals when I wanted them. But most of the time it is sufficient to read the abstract of a science study. After a while I began tracking the more interesting science articles. When I created this website, I provided links to those on the first page. Every once in a while I will add something.

Getting Started - Tracking Nutrients/Changing Diet

The first week, I started recording my data on an excel spreadsheet, copying info by hand from www.nutritiondata.com. I kept track of daily nutrients and averaged for the week.

[I will be happy to email anyone a version of my Excel spreadsheet. It is partially automated, but probably not as easy to use as some of the downloadable software. If you would like it, just email me phillips@kcnet.com]

I had intended to first gather data for a week or two, then modify my diet. But as soon as I saw just how bad it was, I started changing. I quickly cut out all junk food/candy/soft drinks when I added up how many calories and how little nutrition they were providing.

I soon discovered I could not remember what I ate during the day. So I began carrying around a slip of paper each day and noting down what I ate soon after I ate it. When I lost the slip and recorded everything I could remember, then found the slip, I always saw that I had forgotten hundreds upon hundreds of calories.

Deciding On Calorie Level

Having no real idea how many calories to shoot for, I arbitrarily decided on 1400 - 1500 per day. That turned out to be a fairly good guess, but over time I gradually upped it to my current level which is 1750 to 1850 a day. I at first upped it a bit to avoid losing more than 1 to 2 lbs per week. Then I upped it further to keep from falling below 130 lbs (my wife pointed out that I was starting to look gaunt).

I believe when all is said and done, everyone on CR does the same thing: reaches some weight/BMI they do not want to fall below and by then knows just how many calories are needed to keep from falling further or gaining more.

My wife has been supportive, although not adopting it herself. She even got me a small food scale at a yard sale. We have both given up just about all desserts. Neither of us were ever much into eating meat. However, we both now eat canned sardines and kippers once or twice a week. I started that in order to get B12. So I actually eat more meat than I did before.

Changes to Eating Habits

Most obvious changes to my eating habits:

• Sardines/kippers - I never ate them before. I recommend Sardines in Mustard sauce by Beachcliff. I don't like them otherwise.

• Spinach (I love the recipe we worked out). My wife says I am the only person she knows who prepares spinach as a snack in the evening. She prefers chocolate. Click here for the recipe

  I did not realize how different, different varieties of spinach taste. Baby spinach in a bag is about the least flavorful. Dark, thick leaved spinach in a bunch is the best I have found so far.

• Almost no liquids other than water and 1/2 cup of Calcium fortified OJ over cereal each morning. I found that drinks are not nutritionally dense.

• If I am at home with only family, I measure my food (grams or cups), otherwise I just estimate it. (e.g., note down 1 medium apple instead of 145g of apple).

• Lots of kiwis. I love those things now.

• A slice of Finlandia Light Swiss Cheese on a slice of 7 Grain bread and nothing else. There's something about that I really like, and it gets me calcium.

• I worked out this breakfast that I like a lot and have every morning:

  1/4 cup Cheerios (actually an organic version of it); 1/4 cup oatmeal; 1/8 cup wheat germ; 1/8 cup sun flower kernels; 1/4 cup OJ.

I list the benefits/changes I have had from the CR diet here.

The two physical changes that stand out in my mind most are:

• My symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome went away for the first time I can remember and

• I am colder.

I wish I had measured my temperature before I started. Particularly now that one experiment with mice has shown that lowering their body temperature increases their life span in and of itself. Last time I was at doctor's office my temp was 96.8^oF (36^oC), almost 2^oF (1.1^oC) below "standard" temperature.

By the way, I fell off the diet for 6 months when my computer crashed and I lost a year's worth of data. I tried to stick to the diet without recording, but failed completely. Occasionally, I pig out without recording nutrients, such as 3 days over Thanksgiving or at a great Christmas party, but get right back on it. Sometimes I will just record some wild guess (4000 calories, 80% fat, no other nutrients) then make up for it over the next several days. I have no problem with fasting every once in a while for a day - I find that easier than cutting back hundreds of calories for several days.

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