CR happiness appetite

I have to say that my 9 or 10 years of practicing CR coincided with a period in my life where I was not interested in dating. I did not maintain a personal relationship. Now that a significant other is part of my life, practicing CR creates conflicts. It’s difficult to practice CR when my partner is Chinese, for whom the main food in a meal is rice or noodles. Everything else, whether vegetable, fish or meat, is considered a dish. If I am not disciplined in logging in my estimate of what I eat daily in CRON, I gain weight. While traveling, which happens a lot now, I also gain weight. Then it’s difficult to control what I eat. If I had a choice, I would not eat noodles as often, nor rice. But I see the digestive benefits of rice. The portion size for a typical Chinese male is about a cup and a half. When I ask for less, I typically do not get the portion reduced.

It is recommended for longevity and happiness that one have a significant other. So I appreciate that there is someone in my life. It’s just that eating results in conflict or weight gain. Practicing CR causes isolation. It makes one appear like a monk, which because of my yoga practice I already resembled.  

I am one of those CR practitioners that eats low calorie fiber puddings. My recipe contains a mix of guar gum, cellulose, soy powder and brewer’s yeast. (I start with Warren Taylor's mix and add the other ingredients. There is a link to Warren's site on the side bar of this blog.) The frequency of eating that pudding is now reduced to once daily. I used to eat it at breakfast. Now I’m the designated breakfast preparer and find I should prepare other things such as eggs and porridge. So I use the pudding as a substitute meal occasionally. My partner has asked me to serve the pudding as well. I resist, explaining that I buy the ingredients for the entire year ahead of time in the US and they are expensive to import here. I can only get soy powder locally. I bring them yearly from my yearly family visits. Maybe I should share some of the pudding, as in the end, it’s a nutritional supplement that improves health.

My partner now understands that I eat a fiber pudding so as to reduce appetite. It explains why I would feel full when the next meal came. I can have a big appetite and can eat a lot, but I purposely moderate my intake.

CR has isolated me socially occasionally from work colleagues. My partner criticized how during the course of a work week, someone working with me late would ask if I wanted to go out to eat, and, having already eaten fruit as a light dinner, I invariably said no. On a few occasions I accepted to eat. To develop rapport with colleagues, it is necessary sometimes to develop the bond which occurs while eating. This presents a challenge to CR practice. I need to join in the socializing and eat moderately. 

In the last year I have probably gained three to four kilograms. I need to lose some again, as my clothes are beginning to not fit. After a lifetime of being overweight and having conquered my weight problems, I cannot afford to go back to bad habits. 

One thing that helps to stay on track is to read the calorie restriction lists regularly. Even though I’m not trained in nutrition, reading about it keeps me honest. It’s like a check. But also, alas, as with logging in my nutrition, I forget to do that sometimes as well. 

I have practiced yoga earnestly many years. Even that practice is currently challenged. In part it’s the weather – it’s very cold and difficult to maintain a room to practice in at home sufficiently warm. Breakfast preparing duties have interfered with my morning schedule. 

Anyhow, the good habits to maintain are: weight oneself regularly, log in what one eats daily with nutritional tracking software, read the calorie restriction society lists regularly, eat consciously, do exercise and yoga regularly. Now I need to practice what I am describing.