IdeaCity2008 Calorie Restriction

IdeaCity08

A very youthful looking Michael Rae who is now 38 years old I believe, is one of the longest and most serious CRers, starting in his latter 20's to try and slow down his own aging. He is also co author of 'Ending Aging' with Dr Aubrey De Grey. He briefly shares some data and thoughts on Calorie Restriction at Idea City in 2008. Shame he wasn't given more time, but the message was clear :-) Eat less calories, live longer, have more chance of reaching escape velocity to live even longer through advances in science to reverse aging.

Changes

Hello everyone. I hope that you're off to a good this year. I can't believe how fast the years are going by, seriously! It seems like it was only a very short while ago that I started calorie restriction. It's certainly not true that; CR doesn't make you live longer, it just seems like it". Well anyway, another year gone, hopefully there are still many to come!

So what have I been up to whilst not posting any new blog updates for a while. Well to be honest, I've just been busy with other stuff and wanted to take a break from blogging while I made some changes. So what are the changes? Well first of all my stats have changed a bit, and so has the level of calorie restriction I'm on. My weight is now 115 - 116 lbs, up from 105 lbs. I was exercising a lot and increased my calorie intake slightly. I concentrated on increasing strength in my arms and my core. My abdominal muscles are pretty well defined now! I think I gained mostly muscle and I've been holding this weight for at least a couple weeks. Also I haven't noticed any significant changes to my body temperature, it still on average around 36.0 degrees! Blood pressure still 90/60. My BMI now is 18.2, which is almost normal for my height.. but still quite a bit lower than the average BMI in the WUSTL study which was closer to 20.

So am I going to increase my weight further? I really don't know, I know the maximum I'll go to is 120 lbs if I were to increase it. Why have I done this? Well because I'm in my 20's and I want to look a little better as you can imagine. Sometimes you I think you need to make choices, and I made mine. Obviously I'm fully in control of what I do with my body. I do not have any sort of eating disorder which prevents me from gaining weight. I gained this weight because I just felt this is what I want to do right now. Simple as that. Pure vanity. I doubt that my health markers have changed all that much, but I will get them tested soon. I assume I'm aging a little quicker, but I think that I'm still quite CR'd relative to what my weight was when I was 18. Some scales even read 10st, I vaguely remember. They could have been wrong... but as I've said in many posts before, my CR journey really started when I was 18, this was the time when family members become concerned because of a big weight loss that I didn't even intend to lose, it just came because I threw out the junk food in favour of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, no sugar... because of reading some stuff from ray kurzweil. And this was losing weight from an already healthy weight, I wasn't anywhere near a BMI of 25 as most adults are.

I've really been improving on my flexibility lately also by being absolutely dedicated, everyday to putting time aside to stretch, do my yoga, sometimes (not as often as i should) meditation for a short while. Haven't been working much on cardiovascular health like running for a while, but that's ok for now.

I've just started to use a really nice skin serum! It's called Skinceuticals CE ferulic acid, and it's making my skin more bright, it also is fading red marks that I have left over from my old acne days.. and there was 1 fine line that I had down my eye which has completely disappeared only after 3 weeks of using the serum. It's very expensive stuff however so I think that I won't be using it in the very long term, only for a period of about 6 months and will switch to a basic vitamin C serum like AOX 10-20 by skin ceuticals. The good thing about this product is that there is some actual peer reviewed studies behind its effects, and it seems to be working far better than anything else I used.

So although my weight has now increased, this isn't forever... I'm still CR'd quite a bit I think, although I can't measure how much! Sometime before I'm 30 I will decrease my calories slightly again.

One thing I'd love to do though is attain a physique like Bruce Lee. You know his stats later on in his life was 125 lbs at 5ft 7" (I have the book the art of expressing the human body). Mine is same height and 116 lbs. I'm a dedicated person, really I am, I could do it... or get somewhere close. When you're young it's very difficult to try find the balance. I think I've found it. I do look a little better, and thats from only gaining 10 lbs. Though I'd like to gain a little fat on my face :-) Just a little! And I'd be pretty happy!

But whatever, I'm still young, I think that I'm doing fairly well, and I think that I also have good genetics on my side too. A lot of my family, including my father and sister all have the same biomarkers as CRers and they're not on CR. My father looks 10 years younger than his age (in his 20's he lived healthy like me), and my sister is 23 but looks 16 years old and she has same kind of biomarkers as me, very low blood pressure, glucose, very low cholesterol, very low inflammation etc etc....

Good genetics, CRON, Raw Food, Strength training all I hope get to escape velocity where aging is being solved quicker than I can age. So although I relaxed my CR, it's only a bit and its most likely a short term thing for the next 5 years at most. And I'm still pretty damn skinny! haha :-)

Foods that I ate today;

First thing cranberry juice, supplements.

Oatmeal
Blueberries
Dark chocolate
Walnuts
Yogurt
almonds

Green smoothie;
Kale
Banana
Mango (w/skin)
Red Apple
Water
Fish Oil

Fruit Smoothie (tesco frozen berries) (best drink I've ever tasted!)
Raspberries
Blackberries
Blackcurrants
Redcurrants
Blueberries
1 Banana
Water
Whey protein

Broccoli
Sweet potato
Red sauce
Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Yogurt
Wholemeal bread

back after new year!

Hey all! Hope people still are checking back. I think that after the new year i'm gonna be doing some videos on youtube, which i'll post here. Anyway, hope everyone having a lovely holiday, christmas and have a good new year!

These new pictures are from my new camera. 25 years 2 months old in these. Other photos with my webcam

Skin Care, Supplements, Exercise

Not that much difference, really unsure about going into a serious anti aging skin care regimen right now at my age. =/ So looked for more on the side of prevention than anything else.

Skin care

- Neutrogena gentle exfoliating face wash
- Skinceuticals CE ferulic acid
- Derma + intensive base with CoQ10, gingko biloba, vitamin A and Vitamin E
- Derma + night cream with macadamia oil, CoQ10, vitamin E, (also a slightly different day time one without mac..)
Derma + intensive eye cream CoQ10, vitamin E, retinyl palmitate, jojaba oil.
- Sun screen (mostly just in the summer)
- Apply white tea / green tea to the skin
- Aloe vera gel day time.
- Avoiding long exposure to the sun :-D

Supplements;

- Reflex Instant Whey Protein - twice a day 2x25g http://www.reflex-nutrition.com/faqs.php?faq=whey_protein

- Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 2000mg

- Essential mix 1/3 of the dose http://www.aor.ca/html/products.php?id=57

- Carnosine 500 - http://www.aor.ca/html/products.php?id=40

- Vitamin D3 5000IU (5000IU all year because I don't go in the sun much) http://www.aoreurope.co.uk/product/view/3017

- Fish oil / cod liver oil, seven seas - http://www.codliveroil.co.uk/productRange/histrength/xtrahsclo.htm

- Magnesium Oxide 300mg

- Zinc 15mg

- AOR Biotics (many different types of probiotics)

- Lactoferrin 1 x 250mg (I also get 500mg of lactoferrin from whey protein)

- AOR Green tea (EGCG) x 1 Capsule a day

- AHCC

- Rowse Manuka honey - Prevents throat infections, kills bugs like strep, staph, h pylori.
http://www.rowsehoney.co.uk/articles/honey-and-you/manuka-honey-science

- Cranberry

Exercise.

- Running (30 minutes a day) - not for fun, but makes me feel good anyway.
- Ashtanga Yoga 4 days a week 1 hour a day - maintain flexibility and strength
- Free weights twice a week, bench press, squats etc etc... to mostly maintain muscle mass and -decrease risk of osteoporosis because of low body weight.

Hola a todos!

I hope everyone is still out there and checking back to my blog every now and then. I am sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple of months. I can make up many excuses but the truth is that I had nothing really good to write about in a while so I thought that I'd rather not ramble on about anything on my blog all the time. Which is not good when what readers are after is good information and news. However as my first post back from my quiet period, I will just say what I've been upto since I lasted posted.

So a while ago I started to learn to speak spanish, and I have been studying a lot, in the first 2 months I actually studied for 4-6 hours daily! I met two wonderful people, Mariangel, and Tere who both are great, they come from venezuela and it's been fun talking to them both. Actually I even plan to go to venezuela for sometime in 2010 in the summer! Now I'm definitely going to need a lot of sunblock if I want to keep my youhtful looks while I am there! The other thing is that next year I also want to move to spain, most likely will be Madrid... I don't know for how long but it's something I have to do, I'm 25 on the 21st of this month and I feel I have to just do something now, not be locked into the same boring stuff day in and day out. Meet new people, see new things, go on and adventure. Actually, I love adventures, so I'm quite excited about this. I am going to book a plane ticket and my friend jamie will go with me, also another friend craig is planning on going to spain for a year or so also, I have yet to talk with him more about this but it could be really good. I will obviously continue to do my CR while I am there, and while I go to venezuela. I worry a bit about the safety of me being in venezuela though because apparently it's not exactly the safest place one can go to from what I was told by mariangel.

Over the last few weeks I've also gained 6 lbs in weight. No this wasn't some chocolate binge or anything, it was no accident. It was a decision that i made so that I look a little healthier. My BMI went from 16.4 to 17.4 and I think it shows just a bit also. There is not much calorie different to maintain this weight, actually... anyway I'm still very young, I started CR way before almost everyone person on CRON out there. My body temperature hasn't changed, is still around 36.0 and I will hold this weight of 110-111 lbs now for a while. It was actually my weight last year, then I went back down to 105.

Unfortunately I am confused about my pre CRON heighest weight I achieved. I have some photographs and they indicate I might have at one point been heavier than I thought. The problem is I started to lose weight *years* before I even started CRON. I might be be 'CR'd' than I actually realize. Even my blood pressure on day 1 of CRON was 100/60. So I never experienced these massive changes like most older people.
I would love to have a physique like that of Bruce Lee. With my dedication I absolutely believe I could achieve it. Bruce lee at his lowest weight during his life was around 125 lbs! I think that was in way of the dragon or his last movie that never got finished. He went between 125-135 lbs... He was very toned, very little fat, and interestingly his diet was very good also. Vegetables, Fruits, smoothies, whey protein shakes... Maybe one day I can do this, but not yet, maybe by the time I am 35 we'll have a better idea on how far anti aging medicine has progressed so that I can make a better decision. Even at this time because of CRON I should be biologically younger anyway, not like your typical 35 year old.

part 2 coming tomorrow.

But you're so skinny!

This can come up a lot when the average westener confronts a serious CRONie. Girls tend to get away with it easier than guys, but not always. We're always seeing the media bash celebrities for being too skinny, then when they have their personal nutritionists and trainers get them in shape the media bash them for being too skinny. Then it's not always the media that are against it, even now the general public are unfortunately 'accepting' overweight as being normal. I don't just mean normal, I mean in recent years the average weight has gone up so much that our perception of what is a normal weight has completely changed. This is even backed up by some science that was reported over the last few years.

Now we have to be honest, serious anti aging kind of CR is for those that wish to take part in some experiment that we may never know the results. However, the whole country could use some CR right now. We should not expect everyone to jump onto CR and go into moderate to severe CR, but even milder reductions would signifiant improve health, work productivity, education, relationships and take a huge amount of strain off of free health services like the NHS here in the UK (which by the way I think do a brilliant job and i'm so greatful to have free health care in my country!) Diseases that are on the rise are perfectly preventable, such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and most cancers. Even other mild problems like common allergies such as hay fever can be reduced by a better diet. I used to have severe hay fever for 6 years, and since CR it's 99% better. The odd couple days in the summer I have symptoms but thats about it!

As readers come across my blog they might think this life style is 'extreme'. It can be, but it can also help you maintain a normal weight at the low end of normal and have a huge benefit of preventing diseases so that you're living most of your life disease free, much like those okinawans who were mildly calorie restricted for half their adult lives.

Since I began CR the issue of weight has come up over and over again. Questions are usually raised in the first few months of your weight where people around you need time to adjust to your new weight. There have been many reports among those on CR that during the early phase of weight loss people have made negative comments, and even when they're within a perfectly normal BMI. This comes back to how peoples perception of what is normal has changed.

If at some point the 'magic pill' comes along where it gives all the benefits of CR without actually doing serious CR then I would take it, and I would definitely gain about 10-15 pounds of weight back. I have always been lean all my life, ever since I was kid.

There is no denying that many of us on CR are freakishly skinny, and without proper care of nutrition, frequent lab work and other monitoring it can be a bit risky... if not done right you should consider quitting CR and just eating a healthy diet with increased calories.

Since the new research has come out theres been far more interest than usual in CR. We now have a wider age range in those that are on CRON. Many years ago people who were middle aged were typically the ones who started this kind of lifestyle. Now people like myself who are in their 20's are looking to push the limits of human longevity even more. In time we'll see if it was all worth it. I have placed my bets on that it will work, and it will work very well... especially for those that started from a young age.

Stay young forever

But don't you feel hungry?

You might have come across a lot of new articles recently and in many of them there are usually coments by the author or readers that calorie restriction is an awful way to live, you have constant hunger, you feel depressed and lack energy. Well for those of us that are on CR most of us can honestly say this is just not true. I will address some common questions but take one question at a time in each post because I am quite busy at the moment.

Do you always feel hungry on a CR diet - Since I started Calorie Restriction many years ago I designed a diet that worked for me. When I see people on 'diets' who consume bland salads it becomes obvious to me why they're hungry, and why they crave something more. Usually you'll find a typical person on a diet with a plate consisting of; A tomato or two, a small handful for iceburg lettuce, a white potato, maybe an egg some tuna, and usually a bad choice of salad dressing that is very high in fat like mayonnaise.
(picture taken in 2006)
I must say if I tried to live off this kind of salad I would have dropped CR a long time ago. However the fact is that when I consume food during my first few years of CR when I ate, I really ate a BIG meal... and it was usually much more than anyone else at the table. This photo to the left is a comparison picture to dinner that my mother cooked. My meal is the mountain of food you can see. On this I would put a good quality extra virgin olive oil, good balsamic vinegar, hot tomato salsa, and some herbs. Sometimes I just put tomato sauce which is low in sugar and salt on my veggies and it tastes fine. Plus it gives me much lycopene ^^

Now I eat more 'raw food' CR diet, where at least 70% of my diet consists of raw fruits and vegetables, and for what evidence shows that cooked is better I go with that. Although my meals are not of the size that I used to eat before, I am still well satisfied with what I eat. I hardly ever have any issues with hunger. Even now I still eat more food (but low in calories) than everyone else in my house (not put together of course) People often say to me "Don't you feel like you're missing out on these foods?". The short answer is NO. I could have the same meal every single day and enjoy it so much over and over again. Since I started on CR my diet and variety of foods that I eat has hugely increased, I no longer crave any sweets or processed foods (other than dark chocolate :D ). Every food I eat I make sure I absolutely enjoy it... everyone can make CRON an enjoyable experience if they design the best diet for them. Also when you're on CR your abilty to taste the foods you eat is far better, this is what I have experienced...

Thats all for today, more soon :-)

Carrots!

Just got my second harvest of carrots today and pulled up plenty! Can't wait to sow some more carrot seeds and this time have a far bigger area to grow them, and then store them to eat over a few months. I will update this post in the next couple days so check back for other information about the garden.







So far the easiest things to grow have been the cherry tomato plants and the carrots, hardly any real work needs to be done for them to grow other than watering, the strawberries are also now growing well but this year I don't expect a big harvest. I might let them spread in the garden box a bit. I expect I'll get around 30 strawbwerry plants next year which should be enough for me.

Although some things went good, somethings never really went that well, like the broccoli. The green caterpillars loved them and the plants just looked terrible recently so I pulled all but one of them. It's ok, I won't be doing so much broccoli next year because other plants you can get bigger harvests from in less time.


Please also take a moment to vote in my poll! Thanks :)

Canto and Owen [Rhesus Monkeys]

Below are some high resolution pictures of two rhesus monkeys around the same age, Owen is a couple years older than canto. Canto is 27 years of age right now and still looks like a youthful rhesus monkey. This is achieved by a reduction in calories alone.

I expect people who start CR at an early age, they could look extremely youthful in middle age and beyond.

People always think I am younger than my age -- usually people guess around 16-17 years old. I am actually only 3 months away from being 25!  I guess the difference can only grow over time. Is it possible to look only 25 at 50 years of age??? Maybe that might be pushing it, but it will be an interesting to see.


CLICK ON PICTURES FOR BETTER DETAIL

NORMAL DIET

CALORIE RESTRICTION DIET