CRON Trolls
There seem to be a lot of people (maybe it's just one or two noisy people, actually) on the CR list posting very negative, hostile posts on CR. There were some harsh words said about the physical condition and appearances of the CR "stars". Brian and Lisa's book was slammed.
There are some CR folk who have a long history of eating extreme diets - pre-dating CR for them. Some of these people have hurt their health in the past with these extreme diets. For those people, CR is actually healthier than their previous diets. But, these are people with some food issues in general, CR or no CR. Their eating behavior was not necessarily compatible with most other people's before CR. In my opinion, as long as people are not now hurting their health, this is relatively harmless. BUT - I think it does a disservice to CR to have them act as spokespersons.
And, as you would expect for any group with 2000 members, there are people who have other complex personal issues. People like to point to Al Pater as a negative example. Anyone who knows Al's life story knows that CR is not responsible for his self-destructive behaviors. Many times people on the list have tried to help him and to intervene. To consider Al an example of CR is silly. He is a special case. Al does not pretend to be a spokesperson or example. Nor does anyone else think of him that way. It's cruel and unfair to single him out. I wish Al all the best and hope for him that his health improves.
In reality, as one defender said, most CR followers do a mild version of CR - restricting maybe 10-25% of calories. They are slim, but not gaunt, and very healthy. I, myself, fall into this category. Most CR people do. And, here's my opinion of who is sad and disgusting. It's the pigs who order 3000 calorie dinners loaded with saturated fat and 500g of insulin stimulating carbs, when their doctor last week told them they are going to die of a heart attack in the next 5 years if they don't improve their eating and exercise habits. I see these people all the time. Every restaurant I eat in has them, every day. What could be more sick, mentally and physically, than that? Is this person somehow more normal because they have a group of peers that eat the same way? How is this better than a "cult" of CRONies who are a little thin and picky about their food - like refusing to eat the bread or dessert? The fat overeaters seem like a cult with a suicide pact to me. "Heh, we'll all eat ourselves to an early grave and enjoy every minute of it!!" This is good? This is "normal"?
Is it abnormal to want to live a long, healthy life? If it is, I am abnormal.
posted by Mary Robinson @ 8:01 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Your perception is new and rings true to me. I never thought about the people eating themselves to death as being kind of like in a societal suicide pact. The same could be said for smokers. Or, at the extreme, even CRONers (like myself) who are not doing 30% or more reduction.
One guy I have worked closely with for many years, and genuinely like, seems determined to injure himself with food. He is very rational in general.
Perhaps those on the CR list ranting are in the 10% for whom CR (at least that is how some rat/mice experiments survival curves looked to me) seems to be a loser (in these cases esp. in mental capacity :-) ).
ive been reading cr blogs. interesting. BUT you do notice one thing fairly consistently. you bloggers are all "obsessed" by food and what you eat. and by obsessed i am referring to the food itself rather than the life extending or health benefits. when i am cutting calories, which is frequently as i exercise thoroughbred race horses, the one technique that worrks is to forget about food, put it out of your mind, and you will definitely eat less. im seeing the opposite thought process on the cr blogs where the bloggers seem to spend a good bit of the day thinking about food constantly. one can spend one's life how one wishes, and yet i find these exotic food descriptions and dawn to dusk references to what one puts down one's gullet a bit strange.
Who is Al Pater? He once e-mailed me as a response to one of my posts. He said I was too young to take sleeping pills. As if he knows anything about insomnia. So, I am curious.
In response to your commenter who thinks we are "obsessed" with food: well, the blog is about how to do CR, which includes food! We enjoy our food, and those of us who like to cook enjoy playing with our food and creating delicious dishes. We don't eat unconcsiously like the malnourished people around us who eat whatever is available at the moment they get hungry. But I am certainly nowhere near as "obsessed" with food as any chef or even gourmet cook. I like to eat, and I like to cook -- I do both of those things in ways that improve my chances of staying healthier longer. I have lots of entries about life-extension in general, but how many times can you say, "Aging sucks!" before you get a bit tiresome? Recipes are much more fun!
Forgetting about what you eat may be a strategy for simple weight loss, but it sounds like it could easily lead to malnutrition. Those of us who do CR value nutrition, not quick weight loss. Therefore, we pay attention to what we eat. Those of us who like to cook like to talk about our techniques, just like those who like to camp might discuss the best backpack or tent.
Isn't it amazing how if a CR person doesn't talk about food, the naysayers say that we're missing the joy of life because we don't love food. But if we talk about food, we're obsessed with food?
a
The sad thing about those committing joint suicide by overeating is that sometimes they are among our family members. It's sad to see their health decline when losing weight would make them healthier.
Thanks, Mary, for writing your blog. I'm starved for CRON discussion and the lists are down, so I've been reading your blog and April's. I'll check some other ones as well. Oh, and I've been trying that game Second Life, but it takes too much time. Fun, though, for me, an architect.
cheers
Arturo
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