The Four-Hour Body: Days 1-12
So yeah. I'm back on the diet bandwagon :) After some success, a friend recommended Timothy Ferriss' The Four-Hour Body to me and I read it (first section only, the other sections are about gaining strength, getting better at sex and becoming a "superhuman"). And I thought, why not? It's easy to follow, seems legit and y'know, it'd be nice to fit into my Ted Baker jeans again...
Basically, the diet claims that you can lose 20lbs in 30 days on the "Slow-Carb Diet". So that's about 9kg. I've been weighing myself everyday and also my waist/hip measurement too. I started at 73kg and my goal is 68kg (for now).
Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates
Avoid any carbohydrate that is - or can be - white. The following foods are thus prohibited, except for within 1.5 hours of finishing a resistance-training workout of at least 20 minutes in length: bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating anything white, you’ll be safe.
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again
The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the three following groups:
Proteins:
Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork
Legumes:
Lentils
Black beans
Pinto beans
Vegetables:
Spinach
Asparagus
Peas
Mixed vegetables
Eat as much as you like of the above food items. Just remember: keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of french fries or potatoes. Surprisingly, I have found Mexican food, swapping out rice for vegetables, to be one of the cuisines most conducive to the “slow carb” diet.
Rule #3: Don’t drink calories
Drink massive quantities of water and as much unsweetened iced tea, tea, diet sodas, coffee (without white cream), or other no-calorie/low-calorie beverages as you like. Do not drink milk, normal soft drinks, or fruit juice. I’m a wine fanatic and have at least one glass of wine each evening, which I believe actually aids sports recovery and fat-loss. Recent research into resveratrol supports this.
Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit
Humans don’t need fruit six days a week, and they certainly don’t need it year-round. If your ancestors were from Europe, for example, how much fruit did they eat in the winter 500 years ago? Think they had Florida oranges in December? Not a chance. But you’re still here, so the lineage somehow survived. The only exception to the no-fruit rule are tomatoes and avocadoes, and the latter should be eaten in moderation. Otherwise, just say no to fruit and its principal sugar, fructose, which is converted to glycerol phosphate more efficiently than most all other carbohydrates. Glycerol phosphate -> triglycerides (via the liver) -> fat storage.
Rule #5: Take one day off per week
I recommend Saturdays as your “Dieters Gone Wild” day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. I make myself a little sick and don’t want to look at any of it for the rest of the week. Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function, etc.) doesn’t downregulate from extended caloric restriction. That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat. Welcome to Utopia."
A lot of people have already said how ridiculous the diet is, and all the health risks and stuff like that. But hey, Ferriss is still kicking.
The first two days were hard. I was getting a bit dizzy in the middle of the day. But I just upped my water intake and added spinach to my breakfast, it was good :)
My eating plan for the last week and a half kind of looked like this:
Breakfast: Scrambled egg whites, lentils, cauliflower/broccoli, chicken (first week)/Scrambled egg whites, black beans, spinach (this week)
Lunch: Tuna/ham riceless sushi rolls with lettuce/avocado
Dinner: Mixed vegies and protein (beef, chicken, fish)
I really should be eating legumes with every meal, to at least up my calorie intake, but dammit I hate the taste of beans. But yeah, it's been alright. I don't think I've been super strict (because I eat what my mum makes...) and I accidentally ate corn...
But I dropped to 72kg on Day 4 and then 71 on Day 5.
And hello CHEAT DAY!
My first cheat day was a little disappointing to be honest. I was reeeaaally craving sweets but I was satisfied as soon as I had a taste of some yoghurt for breakfast... didn't stop me from indulging all day though haha
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, vegies, yoghurt, jaffa balls (yes...)
Lunch: Buffet thing for my cousin's 1st birthday! Consisted of fried rice, noodles, roast duck, soft drinks...
Dinner: Ravioli (couldn't finish it!), jaffa balls...
Aaaand, I remained at 71kg the day after. Which I thought was odd because most people have said they put on weight and then lost it by mid-week. I'm at 70.5kg at the moment. So what am I doing? I'm upping the ante cheat day tomorrow!:
I am planning to eat/have bought:
A protein shake
Grapefruit juice
A pizza roll
2 cream filled doughnuts
4 mini berry scrolls
Cheese melt garlic bread
Asian All-You-Can-Eat Dinner :)
I"m really looking forward to tomorrow :)
But yeah, we'll see how I go, eh.
Basically, the diet claims that you can lose 20lbs in 30 days on the "Slow-Carb Diet". So that's about 9kg. I've been weighing myself everyday and also my waist/hip measurement too. I started at 73kg and my goal is 68kg (for now).
Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates
Avoid any carbohydrate that is - or can be - white. The following foods are thus prohibited, except for within 1.5 hours of finishing a resistance-training workout of at least 20 minutes in length: bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating anything white, you’ll be safe.
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again
The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the three following groups:
Proteins:
Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork
Legumes:
Lentils
Black beans
Pinto beans
Vegetables:
Spinach
Asparagus
Peas
Mixed vegetables
Eat as much as you like of the above food items. Just remember: keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of french fries or potatoes. Surprisingly, I have found Mexican food, swapping out rice for vegetables, to be one of the cuisines most conducive to the “slow carb” diet.
Rule #3: Don’t drink calories
Drink massive quantities of water and as much unsweetened iced tea, tea, diet sodas, coffee (without white cream), or other no-calorie/low-calorie beverages as you like. Do not drink milk, normal soft drinks, or fruit juice. I’m a wine fanatic and have at least one glass of wine each evening, which I believe actually aids sports recovery and fat-loss. Recent research into resveratrol supports this.
Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit
Humans don’t need fruit six days a week, and they certainly don’t need it year-round. If your ancestors were from Europe, for example, how much fruit did they eat in the winter 500 years ago? Think they had Florida oranges in December? Not a chance. But you’re still here, so the lineage somehow survived. The only exception to the no-fruit rule are tomatoes and avocadoes, and the latter should be eaten in moderation. Otherwise, just say no to fruit and its principal sugar, fructose, which is converted to glycerol phosphate more efficiently than most all other carbohydrates. Glycerol phosphate -> triglycerides (via the liver) -> fat storage.
Rule #5: Take one day off per week
I recommend Saturdays as your “Dieters Gone Wild” day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. I make myself a little sick and don’t want to look at any of it for the rest of the week. Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function, etc.) doesn’t downregulate from extended caloric restriction. That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat. Welcome to Utopia."
A lot of people have already said how ridiculous the diet is, and all the health risks and stuff like that. But hey, Ferriss is still kicking.
The first two days were hard. I was getting a bit dizzy in the middle of the day. But I just upped my water intake and added spinach to my breakfast, it was good :)
My eating plan for the last week and a half kind of looked like this:
Breakfast: Scrambled egg whites, lentils, cauliflower/broccoli, chicken (first week)/Scrambled egg whites, black beans, spinach (this week)
Lunch: Tuna/ham riceless sushi rolls with lettuce/avocado
Dinner: Mixed vegies and protein (beef, chicken, fish)
I really should be eating legumes with every meal, to at least up my calorie intake, but dammit I hate the taste of beans. But yeah, it's been alright. I don't think I've been super strict (because I eat what my mum makes...) and I accidentally ate corn...
But I dropped to 72kg on Day 4 and then 71 on Day 5.
And hello CHEAT DAY!
My first cheat day was a little disappointing to be honest. I was reeeaaally craving sweets but I was satisfied as soon as I had a taste of some yoghurt for breakfast... didn't stop me from indulging all day though haha
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, vegies, yoghurt, jaffa balls (yes...)
Lunch: Buffet thing for my cousin's 1st birthday! Consisted of fried rice, noodles, roast duck, soft drinks...
Dinner: Ravioli (couldn't finish it!), jaffa balls...
Aaaand, I remained at 71kg the day after. Which I thought was odd because most people have said they put on weight and then lost it by mid-week. I'm at 70.5kg at the moment. So what am I doing? I'm upping the ante cheat day tomorrow!:
I am planning to eat/have bought:
A protein shake
Grapefruit juice
A pizza roll
2 cream filled doughnuts
4 mini berry scrolls
Cheese melt garlic bread
Asian All-You-Can-Eat Dinner :)
I"m really looking forward to tomorrow :)
But yeah, we'll see how I go, eh.