Moving into a CRON(ish) lifestyle

When I first read the copy of the New Yorker article on CRON, republished in The Observer Woman Magazine at the end of November, I was both horrified and intrigued. Horrified at what appeared to be cultish delusion; obsessive restraint dressed up as... what, perfectly reasonable behaviour? 24g of rocket? Madness. But I couldn't put the article down. A month of googling later, and lurking round various blogs, and here I am.

I've probably practiced my own version of CR for most of my adult life. I have had eating problems in the past; I have a probably not-entirely-healthy attitude towards my physique; I have been told at various points in my life to "gain weight" - although all medical tests have, so far, given me a clean bill of health (no thinning bones for this 34 year old). At the moment, I weigh around 8 st 9lbs. I'm 5' 7" tall, and my build seems to translate as small or slim. Usually I eat very healthily - I am vegetarian, I eat organic whenever possible, I avoid fried foods, I avoid junk. I have a weakness for cheese and bread but I know those cravings come on with the consumption of both, so I try not eat either. I do drink too much, but so far not in 2007! Long may that continue; I was getting tired of the hangovers.

I do, however, have a real problem with hunger. People who know me well know when I need feeding, because I become a complete bitch from hell. That's because it hurts, dammit! :-) So I am hoping that by paying closer attention to my nutrition as well as my calorie intake, I can stop that horrible gnawing feeling that has me chewing the ends of my fingers off in stress and temper.

I can't follow a strict CRON regime. My lifestyle will not permit it; I live part of the time alone, and part of the time in London with my partner where our social life revolves around restaurants and bars and it would be detrimental to our relationship to give that up, or to constrain it to a great degree. And I am aware that I must not become obsessive about it. And I am not sure I am doing this for life-extension (well, beyond the norm expected from following a healthy diet, of course). Perhaps I am going about this the wrong way; I do see CR resulting in some weight loss and that would be fantastic. I'd like to drop to 8 stone, which I think translates to 110lbs. I've been there several times before and it's where I feel most comfortable in my body. If ON results in my feeling more balanced in my physical self, then that would be wonderful. If CRON results in a longer life feeling fantastic, then wonderful. But I would simply like to feel fantastic and in control of my nutrition.

I don't expect anyone to find this blog for a while, if at all. I'm going to use it to start recording what I eat, and if I end up using software to monitor that, then all well and good.

On the other hand, if you do find me, leave a comment and say hi.

So, onto today's food. I'm guessing with calories. I don't think I'm too far off.

Breakfast: 50 g porridge oats made with water, small amount of rice milk, 1 tsp flax oil. Estimate 250 cals max.

Apple after the gym, 75 cals

Lunch: large salad of raw kale and raw baby spinach with baked butternut squash, tomato, celery, red pepper, cooked egg whites. Estimate 150 cals max. Couple of spoons soya yoghurt. 60 cals. Grapes. 104 cals. (That was a nutritional waste!)

Tonight's meal = 75g cooked quinoa, 100g baked butternut squash, grilled red pepper. Probably with steamed broccoli and raw kale on the side, and 1tsp flax oil. Estimate 300 cals max.

So that's under a thousand for the day. The quinoa is to up the protein. I need to work out how to get enough low cal protein.