“Live, Fast, Die Old” (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2006-01-18/news/feature.html)

This "diet and nutrition" article appeared in a local paper and one of my boss's has become a convert.

As I have come to respect quite a few of you for your wisdom and insight, I am submitting this for discussion.

I am also looking for your feedback to help me form a reply to her that I will not later regret. Right now, what I would really like to say to her will get me into a lot of trouble.

Depends on goals. You should live a long, healthy life by exercising, eating right, and keeping bodyfat low. I personally do not one a few extra years if i have to subsist on an extremely low calorie diet to accomplish it.

There's a lot of pages there. I won't read them all right now. I've heard of this before, and I think it could be a promising lifestyle for some people. However, it's not something I could do. To do it correctly, you could NEVER have a piece of birthday cake, NEVER drink a beer, NEVER eat a chocolate bar. You would not be very strong, and you would have a really hard time finding clothes that fit.

I didn't read all of that...I noticed he was a Yogi, but the standard method of Yogis to extend life is to slow down heart rate to Lance-Armstrong-like RMR/RHR...

Here's my question to him: If ideally you think you should be 112.5lbs so that you can extend life, how do you plan to allow your body to repair itself when you fall at age 101 and break a bone? Follow up: Why go for quantity of years considering you have no clue when you'll die and instead strive for *quality* of living?

I didn't read all of that...I noticed he was a Yogi, but the standard method of Yogis to extend life is to slow down heart rate to Lance-Armstrong-like RMR/RHR...

Here's my question to him: If ideally you think you should be 112.5lbs so that you can extend life, how do you plan to allow your body to repair itself when you fall at age 101 and break a bone? Follow up: Why go for quantity of years considering you have no clue when you'll die and instead strive for *quality* of living?
Yes, those things are mentioned in there somewhere.

Even if you eat perfectly, you could get hit by a bus when you're 33. In that case, your calorie restriction didn't gain you anything, so I sure hope it wasn't a hardship on you.

I don't think body weight is related to reparative ability. Even on a low calorie diet, you can have great bone density even if you're tiny, as long as you're eating the right things.

I agree that quality should be what we are striving for, but it doesn't hurt to go for both, as long as they don't interfere with each other. If I didn't enjoy food as much as I do, I might have considered giving this a go, but I've found a better health balance in my cost/benefit analysis.

There's a lot of pages there. I won't read them all right now. I've heard of this before, and I think it could be a promising lifestyle for some people. However, it's not something I could do. To do it correctly, you could NEVER have a piece of birthday cake, NEVER drink a beer, NEVER eat a chocolate bar. You would not be very strong, and you would have a really hard time finding clothes that fit.

Oh yeah....this has been around a long time. The theory is that digesting food and extracting the energy takes an oxidative toll on the body, and that restricted calories slows down this process. Virtually every animal ever tested on calorie restricted diets outlives, and has much better health than their calorically burdened cohorts. This of course wouldn't be terribly popular on this board, as this type of restriction would generally result in people having less muscle and being a bit underweight.

You can actually watch online a pbs special about this. Scroll down to "eat less -- live longer"

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1110/video/watchonline.htm

I've read about similar studies (lab rats, mostly) that show a correlation between very restricted-calorie diets and longevity, but I'd constantly be worried about the nutrient content of the foods that I did eat. Paying attention to macros in my diet now is tough enough; trying to get in the vitamins, minerals, and proteins to keep myself functional on such a low calorie diet would drive me nuts.

You can live long and eat more too. You just have to eat more good stuff. I have a feeling the animals diet wasn't perfect or natural. Less bad food will result in a longer life, of course. I haven't actually looked at the studies though...

I guess part of the yogi's deal is that you have to be really careful in conjunction with the low cal life for it to work.:lol:

I guess part of the yogi's deal is that you have to be really careful in conjunction with the low cal life for it to work.:lol:

Sheeeeet. When I was in the boondocks, I met a Yogi that taught we should eat chocolate and drink beer whenever possible.

Calorie Restriction? Sheesh. That's so 1100's.

Well you all have given some very good opinions here!

I think the article would have been far more credible had it been written outside the context of the Calorie Restiction Society. It would still be incompatible with the kind of weight and cardio training that I do, but it would also be far less disturbing; that group seems a little too much like a cult to me.

I still do not know exactly how I am going to tell my boss that I refuse to do this. I am thinking something along the lines of having different long term goals than she does.

And honesty, I just do not see how you can be any kind of athlete and severely restrict your calories. :confused:

Thanks all for the feedback.