CRON stands for Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition. Meaning that we have to consume a lot of nutrition in fewer calories than we’d normally eat on an unrestricted diet. This is how we can enjoy many of the health benefits associated with the diet.

Every day I eat high-quality foods that will provide me with everything I need: vitamins, minerals, fats, and protein. And if I meet my nutritional needs before my daily calorie quota, I can have some treats like dark chocolate.

My diet doesn’t change too much, as I’ve mentioned before on my blog. However, I do tend to rotate my foods a little. But when I first started calorie restriction, I would eat the exact same meals every day and enjoy them.

I never really got bored of eating the same meals every single day either. My family thought I was crazy and missing out, but it never felt like it for me: I genuinely enjoyed the food I was eating.

I was able to consume a lot of different foods even if I only ate 1550 k/cal per day. Now I’ve increased my caloric intake to about 1700, I tend to eat some more calorically dense foods.

Example of what I eat: Day One

I woke up and made a cup of tea which included many different ingredients such as lemon, ginger, licorice root, elderflower, fennel seed, lemon verbena leaf, turmeric root, and lemon essential oil for flavor. A little while later I then made my usual breakfast smoothie!

Breakfast Green Smoothie

– Water (200 ml)
– Two ripe bananas
– One red apple
– Blueberries (180 g)
– Spinach (122 g)
– Organic golden linseeds (1 teaspoon)

The color of the smoothie doesn’t a vibrant green color after you mix everything together, but it looks like a brown or very dark green color due to the blueberries.

Nevertheless, it’s a super powerful, antioxidant drink that will help supercharge your day and give you plenty of energy.

Lunch

– Spinach
– Sweet potato
– Avocado
– Cherry tomatoes (heated)
– Olive oil
– Green tea with ginger
– Strawberries for dessert

Dinner

– Peas
– Carrots
– Corn
– Green beans
– Olive oil
– Wholemeal bread
– Raisins

During the day I would drink many cups of green tea, usually over 10 cups per day.

Example of what I eat: Day 2

Here’s a log of what I ate on Sunday. Although this day wasn’t a particularly good CR day, as I didn’t have much of an appetite. I, therefore, kept it pretty simple.

I also ate a lot of fruit because eating fruit is easier to digest and I had plenty of it in the house and don’t want any of it to go to waste.

So anyway, let’s get to it!

Breakfast

– 1 Banana
– 1 Apple
– Blueberries
– Raisins
– Green Tea with Ginger

I was thinking about adding a mango too, but I didn’t want my blood sugar spiking through the roof first thing in the morning! 🙂

Although, if I were to go for a run in the morning, I would consider adding some more fruit to my meal, since running would help blunt the rise in blood sugar.

The mango is getting a bit too overripe, though, so I better eat it soon!

Anyway, a few hours later I saw a lovely ripe avocado in the fridge! Once they start going ripe, you know that you have to eat them quickly before they start going bad.

I’m not sure that I will be able to finish them all off in time. Unless of course, I eat a few of them each day, rather than my usual ‘one a day’.

Lunch Smoothie

– Spinach
– Mango
– Apples
– Bananas

Adding mangoes to green smoothies really gives them an amazing texture and taste. They are a bit hit and miss though! Sometimes I manage to get the perfect mango, while other times not so much.

Dinner

– Dolmio Bolognese Original Sauce
– White button mushrooms
– Green peppers
– Red peppers
– Freshly crushed Garlic
– A pinch of cumin
– A few flakes of mixed chilies
– Cinnamon.

I’ll usually have this meal about twice a week or so.

Final thoughts

This is just a quick snapshot of what my diet tends to look like on a day to day basis. Although, I do make changes every now and then! So if you’re reading this many years later, and want to know how my diet has changed, let me know in the comment section.

These example days also fell on days where I was trying to use up a lot of the food I had in my house that was close to expiring.

Although, if you can take anything from this article, I hope it shows you that you don’t have to starve yourself. You can enjoy filling meals still, even while restricting your calories a little bit.

Some people have the impression that people on CR eat a few carrot sticks and lettuce leaves every day, but this is really not true. Many people who adopt a new diet tend to often undereat. This is especially true for people on a vegan diet.

In tomorrow’s blog post, I’ll share with you what I ate today!

Article reviewed and updated: February 2019.