Longevity Diet

Contrary to popular opinion, I see the impending dramatic improvement in longevity as a tremendous boon for mankind. Not only for the obvious selfish benefit of living a vastly extended vital life, but more generally for the advantage of having more wise people active in society. Today, just as we learn how to live life—you know, after three careers and two marriages . . . well, seriously—having learned to be in touch with our emotions; how to effectively communicate with others; how to make and keep money; having raised children; having had the time and interest to study some psychology, philosophy, and science; having developed an appreciation for art, and so on—we find ourselves out of circulation. As our active years are extended, I expect that many more dynamic, wise, and able people will experience and demonstrate Optimal Living—and will thereby positively contribute to society. My passion is for exploring what I call Optimal Living: maximizing both the quantity and quality of life. Optimal Living is not one single, “perfect” version of life. Optimal means “best or most favorable under a given set of circumstances.” The circumstances and contexts of our lives are also in a continual state of flux. Specific values optimal to one person at a given time may be detrimental in a different context.

Hence, there are many ways to coordinate the factors in CR. CR is a lifestyle change, it is not a diet, and will therefore be unique to each individual. It can be a positive experience—I would focus on finding new and delicious foods and food preparations rather than on what I “shouldn’t eat,” and I would not beat myself up if I thought I had failed. I made a point of discovering ready-to-eat and easy-to-prepare healthy low-cal foods that I really enjoy—often this simply meant improving the meal by changing the type of dressing used (delicious fat-free versus conventional mayonnaise) or the quantity of some ingredients (half the rice).

As I see it, the basics are simple: Subject to certain limits, the fewer calories you consume, the better your health and longevity, and the benefits are proportional. The primary payoff is avoiding, or vastly delaying, the major killer diseases: heart, stroke, diabetes, cancer; but other benefits include a stronger immune system, increased fitness, and a greater appreciation of food.

In the context of my philosophy of Optimal Living, this also implies that I must enjoy my CR lifestyle—in addition to striving for vastly increased longevity and vitality. Good nutrition and exercise are complemented with strategies for improving mental and financial well-being and for reducing risk of accidental death—plus the ultimate safety net (of unknown fabric): cryonics.

Let’s work towards overcoming life’s current limitations. Let’s have the option of enjoying a fuller, healthier, and much longer life. Who knows what new heights we may reach. . . .

This diet has created a life for me here and now that I truly love and find incredibly fulfilling. Any health/longevity benefits that may accompany my practice of CR I consider to be “gravy.”

Let me try to explain. As you may be aware, CR results in a number of physical and psychological changes in its practitioners. The usual focus in CR is on how the physical changes impact health/longevity. The psychological changes are typically either ignored or viewed as unfortunate side effects.

What are these psychological changes? I can only speak from personal experience, but I’ve been told by other people on CR that they’ve experienced some of these as well. Specifically, I’ve noticed changes in my brain’s “reward centers”—I definitely receive more internally generated positive feedback from little things than I ever did prior to CR. For me, such appreciation of little things started with food.

For example, I eat and have been eating an identical, relatively simple meal three times a day for well over a year. Prior to CR, I could never have imagined such behavior. More interesting, I truly get pleasure from each and every one of these meals. In fact, I’m certain I enjoy my food more today than I ever did prior to CR, despite its monotony.

With some training, finding pleasure in simple things extends into other aspects of life. I would never have anticipated this from CR. It is as if the so-called deprivation in one area of my life (food) has fostered a sense of gratitude and appreciation in all areas, which may need to be experienced to be appreciated, but is a truly wonderful state. Suffice it to say that I hop out of bed each morning anxious to experience what the day has in store, despite the fact that quite often, today is very much like every other day.

CR is not like the Atkins diet or the South Beach diet or the Weight Watchers point system, where there’s a very prescribed set of things you can and can’t eat. You have to decide how many calories you need, how far you want to drop, what the easiest way to practice is. So your intention is important. Successful veteran CR folk tend to be in it for the adventure. We might think, “If I feed my body the right things, it will work better” as opposed to, “I want to look better.” The science of it and the tweaking and tuning of it appeals to a different demographic.

In the beginning, CR did interfere with my enjoyment of life. Food clouded my thoughts for at least a year. Food obsession, long hours spent in food preparation, and thoughts about how to best avoid/delay my own mortality distracted me from things that are (or should have been) really important to me, like my family and helping others. I am the sole practitioner of CR in my family (wife and two young children). I have worked very hard to optimize my practice of CR so as to reap the benefits without compromising my relationship with my family. Mostly this has meant streamlining my food preparation so as not to interfere with my family time.

You might ask: Doesn’t the hardship associated with my extreme form of CR detract from my quality of life? Let me try to explain. I’ve experienced a calming of the emotions and my appreciation of the little things in life started with the diet. Put together with the extraordinary health benefits, CR is well worth it.

I’m happy to report that I remain committed to my vegan version of CR and it has served me very well in the five years since the first edition of The Longevity Diet was published. I’ve moderated my diet just a bit for the “long haul” and have gained back about 8 pounds from my low around 120 (I’m 5’9”). My CR is on auto-pilot now and I’m really finding it a great way to live.

In the past couple years I’ve experienced several life changing events. Two years ago I sold the startup I’d been building for the previous ten years to a really large and established firm. They had very high-powered attorneys negotiating the deal. It could have been a very stressful experience—an emotional person might have cracked under the pressure or blown the deal by getting upset at their initial “low ball” offer. But the equanimity CR provides allowed me to maintain an even keel during those tumultuous few months. In the end we closed the deal under very favorable terms. I’m convinced the financial security I now enjoy is in large part a result of the “calm abiding” attitude that CR has given me. At 44, I’ve now started over in an entirely new field (brain science) at a large corporate research lab, and loving it. I’m no longer working for the money—I simply enjoy the intellectual challenges and the camaraderie my new career has to offer.

The second major event was a painful one—the death of my dad. He died last year from a heart attack at age 70 while shoveling snow for my sister—giving to others right up to the end. As you might imagine, it was a very difficult time for me, my family, and especially my mom. But CR’s psychological benefits helped me keep a healthy perspective and allowed me to support my family during that very painful time.

In short, CR remains an integral part of my life. I’m convinced it has been instrumental in the success I’ve been blessed with and has helped me to weather the storms that are an inevitable part of every person’s life.

I’m Francesca Skelton, sixty-four years old, and I started CRING in the spring of 2000.

For the vast majority of my life, I was very thin—one of those lucky people who could eat just about anything I wanted, and as much as I wanted, without gaining weight. And I took great advantage of that, often consuming vast amounts of food with no visible consequences!

That all changed in 1999, when my oldest brother died of cancer just six weeks after diagnosis. This was the latest in a string of losses of close relatives due to ill health. I was devastated and stopped eating in my usual hearty manner, and in fact, ate very little for several months as I grieved my brother’s death and lost weight—weight which I could scarcely afford to lose. Thankfully, after a few months, I recovered from the grieving process, but my metabolism had completely changed. I started gaining weight for the first time in my life. I discovered I could no longer “pack it away” without gaining. When my 5’4” small-boned frame reached 138, or about twenty-two pounds over my usual lifetime adult weight, I was jolted into the realization that something had to be done. I now weighed more than I ever had in my life.

I turned to CR. Four years later, my weight is 110 to 112 (depending on whether I am soaking wet or not), but even more importantly, I am rarely ever sick. Previously, in a year, I would suffer two colds, and one or two bouts of miserable stomach viruses. These are now all history! My immune system is functioning at a level as never before. I constantly marvel at my resistance to illness.

But there’s more. As a bonus, my skin looks great and my hair is full, healthy, and bouncy—this at an age when many woman are starting to experience thinning hair. Certainly CR is worth any small sacrifice for the beauty benefits alone!

Fortunately, I find it easy to stay on CR. If I stray a bit, I just get right back on the program. My “tips” and best catalysts for success are (1) online support; (2) reminding myself of my present good health and how awful it used to feel to be sick; and (3) staying on a moderate program—one that is easy to stick to over the long haul.

Beginning the Longevity Diet was a long process, and I started with a very modified approach. I decreased my calories very gradually. I was convinced from the beginning that I could not be on CR if I wanted to continue running. The biggest change for me was to realize that just because I run does not mean that I have to eat carbohydrates. And what I mean is potatoes, rice, bread, pasta. When I cut down on these foods, I did not see any decrease in my athletic ability. I did not have to eat a pasta meal before my 14-mile run; a salad was just fine, with a little seared chicken or salmon. That was the biggest change over the years; I have almost totally eliminated the white stuff. It is very rare for me to eat bread or pastries. It is mostly fruit and veggies now.

I weigh myself every day. I am aware, but I am not upset if I gain a few pounds. I fast on Mondays, not so much for the calories, as to develop an appreciation for all the people who grow and transport my food and to develop an inner strength, the mental toughness that I could cope without food in the event of a disaster. But I’m not rigid about it. Of course, the less you weigh, the less calories you need. And as we get older, our metabolism slows down, and I see that I don’t have the appetite to eat the huge meals that I ate years ago!

I eat two meals a day. I begin my days with coffee and fruit, all kinds of fruit, berries, melons, oranges, papaya, grapes. Sometimes I’ll eat a peanut butter performance power bar. Then for lunch a big dish of steamed veggies, red pepper, broccoli, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, avocados . . . and I love soups. I do not cook, so I find vendors that have good-quality products. I prefer warm foods: I can’t stand ice cream, it is too cold, but soups are great. I skip dinner and often take my yoga class at night.

I worked for Roy from 1994 until he died, in 2004. He taught me so much! I was not into the science of it, I could not relate to the abstract stuff, and calorie restriction was just a word to me. It is very scientific, the average person does not know what CR means, and I was a little like that. But once I saw Roy chopping the vegetables and cooking, and when I saw the food, I understood. I learn a lot visually, I saw what I could do.

I became more aware of the healthful aspects of the Longevity Diet, calorie restriction, and that it would delay the diseases of aging. Since there is a certain amount of cancer in my family (two of my sisters had breast cancer and my brother has kidney cancer), I saw right away that instead of walking about being terrified of cancer, I could do something about it, I saw it as an instrument of control over my health. From there on I started paying attention and gradually eliminated bad stuff and saw how good I started to feel. I was not actually counting my calories or watching my BMI. That was all too mathematical for me. To make it easier for myself, I started calling myself a vegetarian, as I know what vegetarians eat—they eat a lot of vegetables! I was basically eating the same diet but telling people I was on a plant-based diet instead of CR.

I like to think that if I am out with other people I don’t need to be the person who says “I don’t eat that,” I like to fit in. Being flexible is important.

But when I am around other people, friends, they listen to you politely. We live it, but they don’t know what CR means. I have often thought that if it was a different word, it would be good. The word prevents people from grasping what it is; it is too scientific.

The thing about plugging your calories into a program was a difficult idea; most people do not want a laptop in their kitchen. But when you internalize it, you don’t need any of those gadgets. Your body is functioning very well, and it lets you know when you are hungry. And once you get going, I don’t think you need to count calories. It should not be a thing that impinges on your lifestyle.

How did I feel? I felt clear mentally, my thinking improved, and I had more control over my moods. I was not as emotional as before and not eating any rubbish. I felt more stable, grounded, and able to deal with life. I began some yoga and meditation classes, which made a big impact on me, to be able to think and not react to people emotionally. Life is pretty good right now!