I know it does on me… I have serious sugar/insulin issues. If I have anything “normal” that’s sweet, I instantly get clammy, sweaty, light-headed, my heart starts beating fast, and I usually end up in the bathroom all night. From like a bite of peach, seriously.
This is why LC works for me- I stay away from sugar and I lose weight and feel wonderful. When I eat even a spoonful of frosting or whatever, my body goes NUTS.

Took me a long time to realize I have some severe sugar issues, and I still have a tendency to want to eat sugary stuff even knowing what it does to me. I’m a work in progress, I guess

I worked with someone like that. She would eat the same things all the time.
Chopped carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatos and a slice of ham not dressing.
She will eat an apple, eats three bananas a day and will sometimes eat a plain microwaved potato, which she will eat like an apple. I didn't see her eat anything else and is was just unappealing, boring and to me, flavourless too.
It is for people that do not like food much.

That's true, and I suspect spontaneous appetite reduction (due to better metabolic functioning, from having better control over blood sugar) is the reason LC helps a lot of people lose so well without counting calories.

However there is a certain element among the LC circles that claims to be eating thousands of calories a day and not gain. True, these people are few and far between, but I've heard one lady claim with her average lifestyle, to be maintaining a healthy weight on over 3000 cals. Several guys have reported maintaining, with average activities, on similarly very high amounts of cals.

There are also those who were eating much less than they do now yet not losing. Now they aren't eating a lot of cals (like the former group), but before they were eating even less and not losing weight because their insulin and blood sugar was so screwy.

There's more going on here than calories. Personally I think it's all an insulin thing. The aging hormones plummet when you abstain from sugar. A lot of CR people are doing themselves a disservice by doing "moderate" or even "high" carb (low cal) diets. A CR individual should be LC by default, and only once eating very LC should they then consider reducing calories to make themselves live longer. The most effective way to get insulin under control is to keep carbs real low. Reducing calories also helps, but not as much as reducing carbs. Also the way insulin is lowered through extreme CR, is often less desirable than with carb control (because restricting cals, even when being VERY careful of diet, is going to result in some unplesant symptoms like tissue emaciation & tiredness, and that is an undesirable outcome).

I'd love to see what Whoa's diet is like.

ok, I'll post on here after I get back from college tonight.

my diet includes foods like

Breakfast

Porridge (oats)
Strawberries
Blueberries
Whey protein powder
Essnetial mix Vit/min (total 36)
Banana (rarely)
Almonds
Brazil Nut

Snack

Apples?
Low fat Yogurt

Dinner is usually some of these

Broccoli (upto 300-400g a day!)
Brussel Sprouts
Sweet potato or Carrots
Green beans
CauliFlower
Olive Oil
balsamic Vinegar
Various herbs
Fish or chicken
sweetcorn
garlic

salad later on in the evening

Spinach
Red cabbage
Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar
salsa
herbs
garlic
lettuce
red onion
Protein source? sometimes I split the chicken 50g/50g for salad and dinner or fish.

Flax Oil
Eggwhites
Whey protein drink after running or weights

Somtimes I have a bit of dark chocolate which keeps me sane! lol shame about the saturated fat content. I've probably missed quite a fair bit of food here but you get the idea... I always record everything I eat too, i have to log it into pc and it calculates nutrients and calories. my Carb,Fat,Protein ratio is 45:30:25

heres my latest blood results.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...odtestPage1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...dtestpage23.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...odtestpage4.jpg


Matt

That was the longest night I ever spent!

lol... I'm not sure if I have converted these right, anyone know?

B]Serum Lipids:[/B]

Total cholesterol - 3.1 mmol/L --------- 120mg/dl
Triglycerides - 0.4 ---------------- 35mg/dl
HDL cholesterol - 1.20 --------------- 46mg/dl
LDL cholesterol - 1.7 ---------------- 65mg/dl
HDL : total cholesterol ratio : 39%
Total cholesterol: HDL Ratio - 2.6:1

The fractions themselves add up to about 118 but the lab probably rounded up. I should point out, though, that a total below 160 is really not desireable any more than a total over 200 is. Both high and low cholesterol levels are thought to have problems of their own; with low cholesterol there is often an increased incidence of anxiety, agressive behavior, depression and suicide, especially in men.
I should also point out that as a 5' 7" tall male, 110 pounds is way too thin.

Im definitly not aggresive, I don't have depression, I definitly am not considering suicide ( I want to make it past 120! lol ). I'm much more calm than I ever have been in my life, im able to concentrate and learn more easily, my memory has also improved.

The results I have are typical of animals that do CR and life upto 40% longer (equiv of 150+ humans years I think) Now I don't think i'll live that long but Calorie Restriction is the only method known to extend average and maximum life span.

Yeah I hate being thin, I've increased my calorie intake to gain another 5lb's.

I would like to live forever but that isnt likely, I definitly wont commit suicide ! :0 plus there are plenty of people that have done CR for upto 15 years and feel great.

I have a bit of knowledge on how and what foods influence behaviour, aswell as some supplements...

One thing you are correct about is anxiety, but i've always had it since I was a kid, I usually get control of it quickly

Very interesting thread! I read about CRON quite awhile ago, and through my doctoral studies, we've talked about calorie reduction and longevity in lab animals. I do believe that being thinner is better, provided that the person is optimizing all caloric intake. This, of course, does NOT mean eating plain salads all day. But CRON doesn't seem to be that at all. Followed properly, it's a fairly gentle calorie restriction. A diet, if you will. The main difference is that CRON followers don't do this to lose weight. And they don't stop doing it when they get to a "goal" weight. It's a way of life for them, just like LC is for many people on these forums.

I've sort of done CRON on my own over the past year. I eat "clean" now -- not all the time, mind you! -- but most of the time. It works quite well for weight loss and physical well-being. When we eat whole, good foods, we lose weight. Most of didn't get fat by eating veggies, fruits, cheeses, low-fat dairy, and lean meats. I do eat nuts and essential oils, but I moderate my consumption in this area. In general, I don't eat a lot of breads and refined carbs, but I don't strictly count my carb grams. It's not necessary when I follow this program.

I guess the proof is in the pudding -- I've lost 150 pounds in the past 1.5 years. Things are going well. I'm not at goal yet -- I'm 5'5" and should be a little thinner, I think, but I'm close. We'll see if I'm able to go all the way down!!

Some things that bother me with this calorie restriction.

I have done something similar - Weight Watchers points - lost 30 kilos (Welcome to the metric system people!)
I was starving all the time, with constant blood sugar problems. I felt terrible! I couldn't sustain it.

I wonder if these people are really eating 'consistently' day in day out without cheating! I know it's a lot easier to stay on low carb without cheating than it is Calorie Restriction (for me).

Who wants to prolong their life past their 80's ? Have you seen people higher 80's plus ??? Geese, it's not like they are living life to the max - they have a lot of health issues, they have mobility issues. They are concerned of having a fall or an injury because their body takes a lot to heal.

Living to be in your 90's ? Gah! Not for me!!!
My Grandfather died in his mid eighties. His father died in early 50's and his father's father died at age 51.

Mid 80's will suit me just fine! I'm turning 30 in January - come back to me in 55 years and ask me again!

Sorry, Dave, but yes! I do want to live into my 90s and beyond, if I can do so healthfully. I had a grandfather who lived well into his 90s, and he had a happy life. I had another grandfather, who smoked and developed COPD who managed to live into his 80s, but the last 15 years of his life were horrible...chronic pain and shortness of breath. So it's all about living well. If you can avoid the fat-person trifecta of high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes, you'll be going a long way to living longer AND better. And then you can go even further...warding off osteoporosis with weight-bearing exercise, keeping active so that the heart stays healthy, and so on. Genetics does play a role, obviously, and everyone knows at least one person who lived long and well despite bad health habits. but I think for the vast majority, being on the thin side (how many really fat old people do you routinely see?), not smoking, staying active (both mentally and physically) and living well results in optimal life span and life satisfaction. I know my life is much more active now that I am at a good weight. I don't tire easily, I don't get winded if I go up stairs, I can fit in airplane seats easily, I can shop all day (and it's FUN now!), and if someone asks me to do something that requires physical activity, I don't worry whether I can handle it or not. I don't get overheated in the summer -- in fact, I love to be out in the warm air now -- heck, pretty much everything is better now that I'm thin. Don't know if I'll live longer, but I sure as hell will live BETTER. And that's a critical part of the puzzle.

[QUOTE=LC_Dave]Some things that bother me with this calorie restriction.



Maybe you chose the wrong foods? I don't know. The majority of my carbs are Complex Carbohydrates and these keep me going for hours. I don't have all these ups and downs and Im functioning better mentally now than I did when I was going through high school living on junk. I'm being really honest now, I've never experienced any hunger that was bad, because of the QUANTITY of food that I eat it fills me up for hours. I eat more food than I ever have done, it's just mostly Low Calories but high in nutrition



We don't really look at it that way doing CR, it's just about calories, If I over eat one day then I'll reduce my calories the next so it always averages out the same at the end of the week. I occasionally have dark chocolate and it doesn't put my off the diet or 'CR', it just means my nutrition may not be as good today. A lot of time I find myself trying to make up for how many calories I am short rather than how many over I've gone.



One of the good things about CR and it's been shown with every animal tested, is that the CR group stay very active, majority disease free, right up untill their last days then they just keel over and die. They look more youthful, they show less ageing and are protected from many diseases that usually come with old age. You will never extend your life if you are frail because you would be vunrable. If you look at the Island of okinawa you see that there are people around 90, 100 + fishing! Not with a rod but diving in the water - you can see him here! he was on the news:

http://demand1.stream.aol.com/ramge...awa.affl_rv8.rm

He looks more youthful and active than most people in their 50's ! lol... Most of these people in okinawa are NOT genetically lucky people. They take care of themselves, they restrict their calories but have quite good nutrition, could be better...

Living to be in your 90's ? Gah! Not for me!!!
My Grandfather died in his mid eighties. His father died in early 50's and his father's father died at age 51.

please check out that news clip above



By then we could have probably discovered ways to extend life by tweaking metabolism or something. Maybe even using an engineering approach to reversing ageing.

I wouldn't put a great deal of money on calorie restriction and living a longer life as a thin person if I were a betting woman. Why? Real life examples. My maternal grandfather lived well into his 80's, was thin, ate well but not a lot and was active until his first stroke at 86. Because he was thin and healthy and never believed in doctors, he never realized he had extremely high blood pressure until he had a hemorrhagic stroke (seven of them, actually) and it killed him. My Maternal grandmother lived to be 93; also, thin and reasonably active, not a big eater but like her husband ate healthy foods and lots of produce from their own garden. She became senile the last few years of her life and had severe osteoporosis. She died of congestive heart failure.
Now my dad. He's currently 93. He's 5' 10" tall and has never weighed more than 145 pounds in his entire adult life; he currently weighs 135. He's also been active all his life and walked regularly until just a few years ago when his health began to deteriorate. He's had a heart attack, he's lost his hearing and a good portion of his sight in both eyes. He has diverticulosis, a hiatal hernia and mild hypertension and has such a low amount of strength now that he needs a wheelchair to get around the house without falling (no appetite, no strength).
So...based on the three examples I have in my own experience, I don't see a great deal of advantage in living to an old age as a thin person as far as health goes.
IIRC, statistics show that people are generally healthier and live longer when they are average to slightly above average in weight than they do when they are below average weight.