For the past 3 week I’ve been on Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Body diet. I suppose it’s more of a 4 week diet, but I’m making it 3 since I’m going on tour down South. The diet will then be thrown out the window.
These are the basic rules:
1) No White Carbs (…like Atkins)
2) Eat the same few meals over and over
3) No fruit (something to do with the fructose sugars)
4) No drinking calories (mostly water, but he likes to drink red wine occasionally)
5) A total binge/cheat day once a week (to spike the caloric intake so your body doesn’t go into starvation mode)
I learned all this from a Gizmodo post that Tim contributed to. I did all this and lost 7 lbs the first week. At this rate, I’d be 90lbs in 2 months! I ate mostly the same meals and it was surprisingly healthier than what I’d normally eat. So instead of Jerk Chicken and Rice for lunch, I’d get Jerk Chicken and Collard Greens. I also ate a lot of Beanie Weenies in place of Spaghetti and Meatballs.
Then after such a successful first week, I decided to actually read the book. There’s so much more in there that I’m supposed to be doing …like eat 30 grams of protein within 30 mins of waking up. It’s supposed to help me burn fat a lot faster. Problem is that 30 grams of protein is a lot of food and I haven’t eaten breakfast in 20 years. 30 grams is like 5 eggs or a chicken breast. I got these large steroid breasts. So much to ingest right when waking up.
Well I didn’t lose any more weight the 2nd week. But I did cheat a little in that I was drinking calories. It was the whiskey every night. Whiskey has no carbs, but does have a lot of calories. I’d figure if Tim can drink his red wine (which I feel he says is okay because he likes it), then I can drink my whiskey. I’ll just imagine I ate a steak or two (calorically).
One interesting benefit of drinking on this no carb diet —No hangovers. I dranked so much every night, that I should be crying in the corner every morning. My friend Nick mentioned he also encountered this when on low-carb. Although I can’t find any evidence or any others on the Internet noticing this phenomenon, so I don’t know if it’s true.
I found this video on my camera where I came home drunk sucking on an Artichoke Pizza slice Todd gave me. Luckily, I was sober enough to know not to eat the bread.
I did encounter some body weakness in the 2nd week. Very sleepy and weak. Sometimes it was dangerous. I was out at a marina party in Far Rockaway, talking to my friends and I just passed out and fell into the crushed oyster shells, hitting my head on a table. But I was drinking a lot too. Apparently, I fell into the Wild Yaks’ drum kit earlier in the night. But definitely, felt very weak that week.
Need to eat the legumes for the energy …and I always felt like I was eating all the time just to keep my energy up. This plus eating an extra meal in the morning (to get my 30 grams of protein) that I normally don’t have, may have just balanced out the calorie intake and burning. So maybe that’s why I didn’t lose any more weight.
Also the Binge/Cheat day actually sucks. Trying to stuff myself sucks, is exhausting and takes up too much of my busy time. It’s not as fun as it sounds.
The third week, I tried to clean up my act –drink less and switch to Muscle Milk for quick and easy morning protein. I learned how to do proper pushups on Yahoo Headlines (3 sets of about 6-8 quick pushups …I’d try a little more, 3 min rests in between. And only do it 1-3 times a week with full days of rest in between).
Somehow I then gained 7 pounds in one day. 7lbs of fat or 7lbs of muscle? Then I realized our scale was fucked up. If I stood on it a certain way, I weighed a lot more or less. So who knows how much I lost and how much muscle I gained. I just know I came out beat up on this diet. Maybe if I kept at it like the first week and only did the 5 basic principles, it would’ve worked out and I would be 90lbs now! I did end up losing back the 7lbs a few days later through re-composure and visualization …I think.
In conclusion, the complete 4 Hour Body diet didn’t really fit my lifestyle –drinking and eating breakfast …and because I’m a fucking food blogger. There’s nothing I can eat and blog about …that’s one way to lose weight. It’s not a horrible diet. I did have some success. Just not right for me at the moment. Now time for my Dirty South tour with Shonali and see how fat I can get.
“because I’m a fucking food blogger” just about sums it all up.
I could only imagine how much of the original 7 was attributed to water retention. This whole exercise, pun intended, seems for naught, but I do like your final conclusion that “I’m a fucking food blogger” is a reason for this never to work.
Oh no! 4HB gave you a black eye?!?
suckin on a slice is about as low as it gets jas
Why you gotta switch up diets, man? I’m still waiting to get my book on that oooold diet you did 8 million years ago. I think I’ve realized that I am the type of person who FREAKS OUT when he hears about anyone else – even strangers – losing weight or doing anything remotely healthy for themselves. Then I feel like – OMG, I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING NOWWW! So….yeah. Um, have fun in the South. They have good food in the South. I am from the South, and all I can say is – “Oh, Tex Mex, how i miss thee.”
hahahahahhahaa you weren’t lying when you said you were suckin on that pizza!
Bottom line is we All need to dig deep when we research, learn to listen to our own bodies & find what does & does not work for Us.