New Leaf

It is a strange new world with CR recently.

I have been recording, thinking about food (I have even been enjoying my cookbooks again!), and loving the food prep!

Keeping track of numbers in my head over a long period of time has always been a problem for me; for example - I was a swimmer in high school and we would have to count laps during practice- my lane would never let me go first unless it was sets of 100's (4 laps) because I would never be able to keep track of anything higher than that.

Also, in my job before I started grad school, I had to count chromosomes (humans have 46) while looking through a microscope. I would select cells where I could divide the chromosomes up into 3 or 4 groups by eye so that I would not lose track of which ones I had already counted...

Learning disability? Maybe... needless to say I have found ways to get around it so that I can do what I need to do.

So how does this relate to CR? I have found a new way to count my calories in my head-- I am now thinking about my meals in blocks of 400 calories. Breakfast: 400, Lunch: 400, Dinner: 400, Snacks: 400. Easy! So much less thinking, especially if I can design meals to fit that structure.

Also this has made food recording in my PDA less stressful. I have not been recording the exact food that I am eating, as long as the calories are the same. When I eat a kashi meal, and it has 360 calories I find my listing for the Amy's burrito (300cal) and say 1.2 servings. Easy peasy! I may be adding in some "generic" 400 calorie recipes to make it even better :)

I think this new way of recording will help me get on my way to be more independent and free from my PDA when this is all over (I only have 7-8months left!!). The time has really flown by... so crazy.

New upcoming posts will include my 400 calorie meal ideas.

Also I will be telling you all about how my new exercise regimen affects my hunger (I am doing 2 sprint triathlons this summer- one with a fellow CALERIE participant!). So far, so good. :)

Results

Today was my 9mo physical and it went well! I lost most of the weight gained (according to the study records- on my scale at home I know I lost it all) and everything else was normal (EKG, blood pressure, etc.).

I also got the results of my labeled water measurement taken at my 6mo physical. That is a test that measures exactly how many calories your body burns/consumes during a 2-week period. This test said that I was consuming 2070cal/day- 400 calories over what my prescription is...

I am still wrapping my head around what these results mean to me (both as a participant and as a scientist), and what I am going to take away from it- but here are some of my initial thoughts.

Maybe I should maybe be upset at this result- since it states that I am not following my CR diet as well as I should be- but there are a few things to note about this number. During this measurement I attended two weddings, flew to San Francisco, and ate more than I should have (and I recorded that). It was not a typical time for a measurement looking at how many calories I was consuming for the whole six-month period.

So I am not "really" upset at the fact that this number is high because it is probably an accurate reflection for that 2-week time. What I am upset about is how it will be used in the global data analysis of the study. I feel that this result will skew the conclusions that will be made or not made.... I am a better study participant than this number shows...

The test-coordinator assured me that at the 12mo mark there are more tests done that can assess my long-term "compliance" rather than this short-term assessment... I hope it falls in a more "typical" time frame.

This makes me think about the design of the study a bit. I heard that a few other participants were traveling during this time and maybe they also have "not typical" values being reflected in their results as well- so I wonder what should have been the priority: sampling at a "typical" time, or making sure everyone was tested at the same month/time enrolled in the study. The latter option was the priority and seems like the most unbiased method- it just complicates the data analysis...

I am going to read over some papers that talk about this assay (Doubly Labeled Water) to see if my biochemistry knowledge holds up (and if I can follow my carbons! Mel- I may need your help with this one!!) and maybe to see if I can understand how this raw number factors into the conclusions made from the pilot study of CALERIE.

I will keep you posted on my research...

They also told me I should exercise more. Apparently (this seemed backwards to me at first) if you are dieting and you loose weight it takes less effort (calories) to move the same amount than when you were heavier (OK). So to maintain the same "effort" (calories burned) as when I was heavier, I need to move more...

So for that I am going to start taking the stairs to my lab. There really is no excuse not to (my lab is on the 3rd floor) other than the fact that the stairs are in the most inconvenient part of the building... regardless- I will be taking the stairs!