CR, exercise and going extreme

December 2, 2006

Hi all,

I've been doing CR for over 6 months now and been feeling great

physically - more focused, refreshed, needing less sleep, etc.. So

great , in fact, that only in the last few weeks I realized I've

started being too extreme, and decided to start working out seriously

and trying to gain some weight and some muscle mass.

A few things happened that made me concerned:

1. I got my body fat percentage measured at the gym and both gadgets

(one which you step on barefoot and the other you hold with your

hands) failed to measure me and generated an error. A few days later

the one on which you step worked and showed 2.9% bodyfat. Is this even

possible? And if it's not an error, isn't it extremely dangerous? The

guy who works at the gym told me it's the lowest he's ever seen, and

that it's great and he envies me as long as I'm in good health, but I

fear it's way too low (if it's anywhere near correct). Also, my BMI

(yes, I know it's not a great measure, but the gadget measures

this...) is 17.4 which is also lower than any I've heard about (I'm

180cm tall and weight 56kg).

2. I've noticed that if I don't eat a lot after workouts I wake up

extremely hungry in the middle of the night. This never happened

before I started working out (I generally never let myself get

hungry). Has this happened to anyone else? Does this simply happen

because of increased caloric need due to workouts?

3. This is the most concerning. Over the last week I've developed an

unexplained cough. This never happened to me before - I always cough a

few weeks after getting a cold, but never without a preceding cold.

I'm beginning to fear I've damaged some important organs.

I'm mostly concerned about brain function - I haven't noticed any

decrease or any problems, but isn't an extremely low bodyfat

percentage hazardous for the brain?

So, over the last week I just started eating more (a lot more - I've

been eating more or less 1500 calories daily and in the last few days

since I started worrying increased to about 2000 calories daily). Is

there something else I should do?

I'd appreciate any thoughts, advice and generally any input anyone may

have on these issues. And in any case, it's yet another " be careful

not to go too extreme " story.

December 2, 2006

Hi Cry:

One moral to be derived from this story may be that *before* starting

out on CR one needs to have sensible objectives, and one's

performance should be compared against these objectives on a regular

basis. So that when they are achieved one can move into 'maintenance

mode'.

There are many things that ought to be monitored. Above all,

perhaps, nutrient adequacy. Have you been getting at least the RDAs

for all the micronutrients each week? Probably just two or three of

which will need to be satisfied with assistance from supplements.

Second, have you monitored your weight, and hence BMI, daily? You

need to do it daily in order to see, and recognize, that your real

weight and BMI are the middle of the trend, midway between the often

substantial high and low daily aberrations. Also, ratios of waist to

height, and waist to 'hip' - hip defined as the widest circumference

below the waist - are excellent indicators also. These are all dead

easy to measure, and benchmarks suggesting what may be appropriate to

aim for are available in Francesca's table in the files here.

Body fat percentage is more difficult to measure accurately, but is

certainly among the more important. Around here the generally

accepted 'never go below' number for males is 6%. I am, cautiously,

aiming for 10% and am probably still a bit above that. I would be

quite concerned if my body fat, accurately determined, was as low as

you report yours to be.

Beyond the above criteria, and still more inconvenient to measure,

are your lab test biomarkers. Lipids, blood sugar, insulin, WBC,

CRP, and so on. In this case comparing your readings with those of

the subjects in the WUSTL study might be appropriate. Using them, if

you like, as the canaries in the coal mine. If they are still alive

and healthy after being there for some years, then you should be OK,

having just started, if your numbers are no more extreme than theirs.

But by the standards regarded here as being generally appropriate,

most would say, yes, you may have gone too far. If you continue what

you are doing you may either live to be 140, or will be dead in a

couple of years. Probably no one has the data to be able to tell you

which. But you are certainly out near the edge of the envelope.

Possibly beyond the edge.

Good luck. Please keep in touch and let us know how things develop.

Rodney.

>

> Hi all,

>

> I've been doing CR for over 6 months now and been feeling great

> physically - more focused, refreshed, needing less sleep, etc.. So

> great , in fact, that only in the last few weeks I realized I've

> started being too extreme, and decided to start working out

seriously

> and trying to gain some weight and some muscle mass.

>

> A few things happened that made me concerned:

>

> 1. I got my body fat percentage measured at the gym and both gadgets

> (one which you step on barefoot and the other you hold with your

> hands) failed to measure me and generated an error. A few days later

> the one on which you step worked and showed 2.9% bodyfat. Is this

even

> possible? And if it's not an error, isn't it extremely dangerous?

The

> guy who works at the gym told me it's the lowest he's ever seen, and

> that it's great and he envies me as long as I'm in good health, but

I

> fear it's way too low (if it's anywhere near correct). Also, my BMI

> (yes, I know it's not a great measure, but the gadget measures

> this...) is 17.4 which is also lower than any I've heard about (I'm

> 180cm tall and weight 56kg).

>

> 2. I've noticed that if I don't eat a lot after workouts I wake up

> extremely hungry in the middle of the night. This never happened

> before I started working out (I generally never let myself get

> hungry). Has this happened to anyone else? Does this simply happen

> because of increased caloric need due to workouts?

>

> 3. This is the most concerning. Over the last week I've developed an

> unexplained cough. This never happened to me before - I always

cough a

> few weeks after getting a cold, but never without a preceding cold.

> I'm beginning to fear I've damaged some important organs.

>

> I'm mostly concerned about brain function - I haven't noticed any

> decrease or any problems, but isn't an extremely low bodyfat

> percentage hazardous for the brain?

>

> So, over the last week I just started eating more (a lot more - I've

> been eating more or less 1500 calories daily and in the last few

days

> since I started worrying increased to about 2000 calories daily). Is

> there something else I should do?

>

> I'd appreciate any thoughts, advice and generally any input anyone

may

> have on these issues. And in any case, it's yet another " be careful

> not to go too extreme " story.

>

December 2, 2006

Hi Cryonid: I hope you are going to see a doctor about your cough - especially if it doesn't get better or gets any worse.

If you've read our files, you should have seen that we do not recommend extremes. If you haven't already read it, see the file " extreme vs. moderate CR " .

You seem to be a person who could easily slip into anorexia. So aim for more calories and be sure you get them. Anorexia is serious business and difficult to climb out of, once you're in it's grasp.

on 12/2/2006 9:46 AM, cryonid at cryonid@... wrote: