From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Sat Sep 06 2003 - 17:44:01 MDT
On-list, since I get to shamelessly promote what I'm trying to do again to
those who haven't killfiled me by now :)
A good starting point if you're really lost in the sea of information (as I
was when I started this whole healthy life extension thing) is the Longevity
Meme, my website:
I've tried to provide a way to get straight to the right path forward for
healthy life extension for people at all levels. In particular, you might
want to look at:
Getting Started/Introduction to Healthy Life Extension:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/start.cfm
Calorie Restriction and How to Get Started on It:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/topics/calorie_restriction.cfm
Regarding the raw essentials on diet and classes of diet, there was a great
article up on MSNBC a few days ago:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/960618.asp
My anecdotal advice on dieting is to go low-calorie (of course). However, I
have met a number of obese and overweight people for whom that just was not
feasible -- they benefitted from Atkins to get down to a weight level at
which they could handle a low-calorie or calorie restriction diet. Don't ask
me to justify all of that in scientific terms, because I can't. My guess is
that Atkins prods the body into scavenging fat if you have a bunch of fat to
scavenge. If you have that bunch of fat to maintain, your physiology makes
it hard for you to do low-calorie without feeling terrible. Again, all
anecdotal. Try low-calorie or mild calorie restriction first and see how it
goes.
In terms of meat versus vegetable versus dairy, etc: my experience has been
that being a vegetarian and skipping dairy while on CR is much, much easier.
Vegetables are easier to cook, more filling for the same amount of calories,
and you can still get all the nutrients you need.
The best cookbooks for getting started are the Walford books, I think. They
offer a lot of procedural and organizational advice related to cooking for
CR as well as just the recipies. You can buy them at Amazon or via his
website at www.walford.com. In addition to that, you'll absolutely need to
have some reference for calorie content, like:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0397554354/qid=1059380802/sr=1
-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6714055-0403332?v=glance&s=books
which is the one I use. If you have this to hand, you can get comfortable
experimenting with rice dishes, stir fries, etc, etc.
As for quitting smoking, the best advice I ever heard was to find someone
you don't like and bite them on a regular basis instead of lighting up.
Reason
http://www.exratio.com
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-extropians@extropy.org [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On
Behalf Of Kevin Freels
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 4:05 PM
To: extropians@extropy.org
Subject: just getting started
Two things I have never been able to get past were smoking and diet. For
some reason, I have always thought that technology would keep me alive
regardless of how I treated my body.
Lately, I have re-evaluated this position and found it a bit too risky. I
quit smoking yesterday and am also trying to improve my diet.
Do any of you have any suggestions for reading material on either of these
two items? I have Googled around and found tons of information, but much of
it conflicts. Do I increase meat, cut back on dairy, decrease caloric
intake? Does anyone really know what they are talking about here?
My first assumption has been to quit drinking milk entirely since the
ability to digest it is a mutation that only affects a minority of us. I've
always had trouble with it, so I can only assume that it's not right for me.
But where else do I go from there? Any meal suggestions? Cookbooks? Links to
reliable information?
What about quitting smoking? Patches, gum, orange juice, water?
There's so much information, I can't get through it all!
I really want to improve my overall potential for a longer natural
life.Anyone who has solid ideas on this PLEASE respond either on or off
list.
Thanks!
Kevin Freels
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