Dr. Oz on Oprah: Calorie Restriction Diet & Extreme Life Extension.

I am not one for fad diets but I do watch my calorie intake every day. I try not to eat many carbs, I eat no red meat I eat as many fresh vegetables as possible and I work out as often as I can. I do have a family and I am not wealthy but I think it is selfish to eat more than we need and also to your family  if ou eat unhealthy food. take control of your life and make yourself healthier!

The diet was not interesting to me, and believe me, I was not that interested, until I heard about it the 2nd time.  It is a great diet for someone that wants to eat healthy, but not have to be so restricitve on what you cannot eat or are required to eat 8 times a day.  (I don't have time to eat 8 times a day, I barely have time to sit down when I get home from work)   You tailor it to fit you.  Everyone on this diet is following it differently but with the same focus, high anti oxident rich foods.    It sounds weird, but you can have those times when you can eat out.  You mainly stick to eating foods that are rich in antioxidents, fruits, salads, nuts, oils and protein.  If someone is eating out and you are there, you can definitely out with them and not be so restrictive on what you can eat.  You are basically watching your total calorie intake for the whole week, etc... Some people are very restrictive in their Calorie Restriction, others are more laxed.  I just want more energy and lose weight, if I live a healthy life, and not look like my Parents, barely walk, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and taking all kinds of medication and going to the Dr for all of these tests.  I am for it.  If I can live to see my Grandchildren, GOD BLESS!!  This is a diet you gradually get into, so it does not start over night.  Your body has to adjust.  Since I have been on it, May 2009 I have lost 20 pounds, and I am just starting.  My Husband has lost 30.  We eat a healthy breakfast, grains, nuts, sometimes eggs and bacon, but we watch what we eat and are still losing.  It is a lifestyle and has changed ours for the better.

I believe in healthy eating as a lifestyle and this is not it. Nobody could maintain this and be happy! I eat perfectly healthy through a 90% clean eating diet. I cook my own food, and eat almost nothing processed or premade. I treat myself regularly (maybe a little too regularly). I don't feel deprived and I don't gain weight. As well, I work out several times a week. This is a lifestyle I can maintain.

If I screw up I forget about it the next day and start over.

Being healthy isn't that hard and it doesn't have to be extreme.

 Natasha

http://thestudiouscook.wordpress.com ( http://thestudiouscook.wordpress.com/ )

Most people don't have the mindset for the Calorie Restriction way of eating ... which is fine. If that's your thing, go for it. But I'm with most everyone else ... I'd rather enjoy life and not live as long as to live longer and feel deprived all the time.

Not that we can't do lots of small things that will have a positive impact. Eat more natural, cut back on the amount (most of us eat too much anyway), get at least some exercise every day (I walk my dog ... well, she walks me!)

Small things add up ... in most areas of life. So do what you can but enjoy living!

Suzette

Getting out of debt ( http://DollarADaySystem.com/ )

I'm all for living healthier while on this earth. Like a previous poster, I'm concerned about the waste of the apple and paying for the extra 20 years. Already with my life expectancy I'm $2K short every month on socking away retirement funds that are subject to disappear at the bat of a Madoff...

The calorie restriction diet is often utilized by the pro anorexia community to justify their lifestyle. The Pro Anas are an influential online group, comprised of teenagers and young adults who are committed to Anorexia as a Lifestyle (yes you read that correctly). In fact, one of the largest Pro Ana groups online on Live Journal has been run by a male moderator who has done CR for 30 years and is clinicly anorexic.

Serious slippery slope here, and when kids get a hold of this information in our thin obsessed society it can lead to serious consequences.

See extensive post here on this topic: http://www.mamavision.com/mamavision/2009/01/calor... ( http://www.mamavision.com/mamavision/2009/01/calor... )

mamaVISION.com

youtube.com/mamavision

mamavision@gmail.com

Your life is now.

I felt I had to post to address some of the misconceptions in the replies to this post, as you're the top hit on Google when it comes to searching for the Oprah clip on CR. When a post on CRON crops up the reaction of average Americans seems to range from shock to disgust to horror (no I won't give up my food!) rather than healthy skepticism or a willingness to look into the particulars. If you must know the CR Society http://www.calorierestriction.org/ and the mailing list they maintain are very particular and scrupulous about the scientific studies that back the aspects of their lifestyle and diet, moreso than any other community focused on dieting or a similar lifestyle. New findings on food are always being discussed by the members and many prominent individuals engaging in CR are working closely with doctors to discover more about its benefits. You could do much worse than be part of the community. ( http://www.calorierestriction.org/ )

 First off CRON is not a diet at all, but a lifestyle. People forget the "ON" part, which stands for Optimum Nutrition. Non-overweight people can embark on CRON to enjoy its benefits and the CR community heavily discourages viewing it as an aid to weight loss (obviously the appeal to the masses would lie in this, but this is a side effect and not the primary goal), but a way to get the most nutrition for the calories, and do it on the smallest possible caloric amount you require. Secondly, there are different levels of CR you can choose to undertake. Moderate CR is still an improvement on ad-libitum feeding or diets with no real substance to them. I have applied the basic principles from CRON to my diet for the past three years, without adhering to a more stringent CRON lifestyle, and have noticed a significant increase in health and energy, improved mood and alertness, with no real loss in weight. That's because prior to that I was already slim and eating less calories than the average person my height (I'm Asian and don't require as much). I can and will eat steak, liver, fish, chicken, salmon (my favorite) whenever I feel like it and have a glass of wine and dark chocolate every day. I have no huge cravings to overeat or eat unhealthy processed foods like cake or pizza, in fact thinking of them makes me feel nauseous. Yet I eat better in terms of both nutrition and food quality than most people I know, am more alert, better toned and more energetic, and I love it. CRON has taught me to better listen to my body's needs and I don't even need to count calories to get the ideal amount for myself each day. 

So sure, if quality of life to you means just means the amount of calories you consume a day, then CR is not for you. But if you want to feel better and improve your health, then it may merit a second glance - if you feel like you're up to the commitment and enjoy eating healthy food. Moderate CR is not a diet of "rabbit food" by any stretch of the imagination.

Thank you and I hope this dispels some of the misconceptions about CRON. 

Hi Cherre.  I agree completely.

 :-)

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
at Catherine-Morgan.com ( http://catherine-morgan.com/ ) and Women4Hope ( http://women4hope.wordpress.com/ )

I'm not too concerned with making it to 100, though that makes for good headlines and probably ratings for Oprah. i'm more concerned with living well, not living longer.

Calorie restriction is probably a good idea for Americans who eat way way too many calories. They should restrict some. :-) Seriously, though why does everything have to be extremist to get attention? I am an advocate of health moderation and making conscious food choices to nourish our bodies.

Please visit my new site! http://FindYourBalanceHealth.com ( http://FindYourBalanceHealth.com )

any and all are welcome, in moderation.  I believe in a lil bit of everything to have a happy existance! 

http://superfabuloushousewife.blogspot.com/

I thought that particular show was fascinating, and I'm only kidding that you forgot the smart toilet ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com/2009/03/japanese-smart... )because to me that part was simply a curiosity.  I don't think I would want to know every single detail of my body chemistry unless I had the money to see the the doctor if the numbers were off.  Otherwise, it seems I'd be worrying myself unnecessarily, unless it was something that could be corrected with a change in diet.  Still, strikes me as obsessive.

I'm wary of calorie restriction for certain people.  I remember the story of a woman on one of those news-magazine TV shows who ended up having to eat no more than 800 calories per day or she'd gain weight.  But I could see doing it if they could prove calorie restriction regardless of weight loss or weight gain issues would boost my body's regenerative power. It seems like some of the advocates suggest that it would.  

But does longer life mean the same as improved quality of life?

I'm with you on the tissue regeration technology. Amazing!

All this research and we still end up at the same spot, eat right and exercise.

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ): BlogHer CE. Blogs @ WSATA ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ) & UMBOP ( http://urbanpsalms.blogspot.com ). @Twitter ( http://twitter.com/nordette_verite )

and the Lion, and the Scarecrow, and the blah, blah. blah....

Are you kidding me?

How intelligent do you have to be, before you realize, Oprah and the new Dr Phil, known as Oz are out of game. They have nothing esle to produce after years of plying you with information that is useless because you choose to be self unaware!!

We only use 10% of our brain, and the ridiculous stuff we muck up that 10% with, is almost enough for me  to enjoy a good margarita, on my yacht, and watch the armageddon fall on humanity.

Diet is as antiquated and damaging as a lobotomy. We have progressed, hopefuly, into learning its not about a fad diet, its not about the quick fix, its not about squeezing into the dress to impress at the high school reunion.

Its about changing your thinking about food and health, Its about understanding that depression can be circumvented with excercise and more protein and less carbs. ADD in children is about diet more than brain chemistry. It is learning to stop being a victim and using pharmaceuticals to help fix a problem that you can manage on your own.

Oprah is the epitomy of an enabler..let her go and start learning that the true way to be happy is based on an individual plan and not the plan that pleases everyone just to keep up ratings for a show that is long over due for a pull from the network!

I dont know- I just took a test that 'thinks' I will live to be 98!Who really wants to live that long? I think I am going to increase my red wine intake, start smoking, still work out, get loads of sleep - b ut shoot I dont want to live till I am 98!!! Jeesh 85-88 is good enough for me! 

I'm with ya, I will never be ready to spend all my time and thoughts on restricting my diet to extend my life. It actually seems like a lonely and selfish way to live. Do the people following this diet have families? Do they make their families live by this diet as well? What do they do when their families want to go out to eat, or make a treat? I enjoy food, probably too much, and to give it all up to live like a rabbit, constantly worrying about how many calories I've taken in, is really just too much of an adjustment.