(Photo: Garland Cannon)
It was just past 5pm EST in Manhattan, and I’d been on pins and needles all day.
The report was coming in any minute. All attempts to nap earlier, despite two hours of sleep, had failed. There would be no rest on this Wednesday.
Now, in the lobby of the ACE Hotel, a few friends — including my agent, Steve Hanselman, my assistant, Charlie Hoehn, and my brother from another mother, Chris — had gathered with me to drink champagne. No matter the outcome, it had been a hard-fought battle over three years. THREE YEARS. Hospitalizations, surgeries, you name it.
I stared at the floor, reciting the reasons why things could go right. Most of them were silly and superstitious. Then my internal devil’s advocate chimed in with the reasons other books would beat me: better retail placement, celebrity authors, dedicated TV shows, etc.
“It’s here.”
I looked up. Steve smiled and handed me his Blackberry:
#1: The 4-Hour Body…
The 4-Hour Body had hit #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, on the hardest list (Advice, How-To) during the hardest week of the year.
I was in shock for the rest of the evening.
THANK YOU
For the rest of the night, as my friends fed me shots, I thought back to 2007, when The 4-Hour Workweek was turned down by 26 out of 27 publishers.
Everything that I’ve experienced in the last three years is thanks to you. I learn more from you than I could ever teach.
Much more to come soon (including a detailed post-game analysis of the launch), but — for the time being — I’ll keep it simple: THANK YOU.
I love you all.
May you and yours have the most joyous of holidays. Now, I need to get to wine and chocolate with the family… 🙂
Merry Christmas! 2011 is going to be the best year yet for all of us!
Un abrazo grande,
Tim
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
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Thank you! Awesome book. I pre-ordered for my kindle, and it was worth the wait.
Tim, congratulations on your success. I have just one question.
Are you sure one can check Vitamin D levels with a saliva-based test? Google seems to disagree, and the link on your “gear” page sends me to a blood spot test.
Thanks for reading, and congrats again.
Blood is better, but I’m pretty sure there’s a saliva-based (but more error-prone) test. I could be wrong. I know such tests exist for testosterone and cortisol.
Hi Tim,
So amped to read the book but it’s not available in the kindle store for South Africa. The book even quotes “from Silicon Valley to South Africa” 😉 The 4 hour work week is available in the SA store. Please can you help out?
I’m happy to hear about your book hitting number one… just waiting to see some results before I recommend it to everyone I know! It’s only day two… only looking forward to cheat day because I wil not have to ingest one single legume!!!! Forcing myself to eat lunch right now because I am not hungry but it’s been 4 hours. Hope a forum comes up soon because I have lots of recipes to share and I love to hear about other people’s success stories… and I reiterate, Tim, please start obsessing about skin care so you can share the same type of cool advice about anti ageing in an upcoming book… we all want to look great while we rock our four hour body for years to come…
…I just know dudes care just as much about sagging skin as we ladies do(!)
Hey Claudie,
You are so right!
Lovin’ the book but some of the links to supplements etc are going to the wrong url. Usually it’s close (lightly caffeinated green tea extract vs decaf) but sometimes it’s not exactly what you said you used in the book. Good example is the garlic. According to your book this is where your url should point:
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=VS-1457
I went on the slow carb diet for a week and a half and felt that I wasn’t getting anywhere. Measuring 2 inches below the top of my belly button had shown no progress after a week and a half. Plus lots of gas and inconsistent bowel movements.
In the past I’d eaten a bowl of a 1/2 cup of plain oatmeal with butter/salt/ and either agave syrup, honey or xylitol as a sweetener and been very consistent for years.
So I skipped to the “The Final 5-10 lbs” portion of the book and went on all protein and veggies and lost a quarter inch in my waist measurement in 2 days.
Also started “Occam’s protocol I” and I’m gonna stick with that until I recomposition at least an inch off my waist. I’m probably not eating enough for serious muscle mass gains but I am eating a ton of protein and veggies and a 1/2 cup to a cup of almonds/day and I feel better sans beans.
I’ve also been doing the “GG” part of the “PAGG” stack and I’m consulting my physician about the P and A portions because I’m on some medications that could be a conflict.
I have a horrendous sweet tooth but I’m also very good at self discipline if I just know what to do and if it took $10 in the Kindle store to get me to realize that protein+veggies will shed some fat then it’s totally worth it.
This last monday will be the beginning of the 1st full week of proteins/veggies only so I’ll update in a week or 2 but I’m expecting to lose some inches in my waist.
Also I’ve been on the Super Cissus RX for a little over 2 weeks and at the very least my left knee (which has been mildly injured since the mid-Oct of last year) feels better but that could be due to the fact that it’s been 12 weeks. Or a placebo effect. But it felt like it was making such slow progress (and it felt that it didn’t take much exercise to put it back to the way that it felt when I first injured it) that I was surprised when it felt better with a few days of taking 2.4 mg of Super Cissus RX Daily 3x daily.
Tim,
Is Xylitol acceptable on 4HB? It wasn’t specifically mentioned in the book so I wasn’t sure if it fell in the same category as artificial sweeteners. I was under the impression that Xylitol is processed differently by the body since it is a “natural” sweetener and doesn’t cause insulin spikes. True?
Thanks.
I would avoid sugar alcohols like xylitol when possible.
Tim, I am vegan.
Xylitol is in my Pea protein shakes, that I consume three times a day. It is the only source of high protein I can find that is not full of sugar or dairy.
Here is the link to it’s Nutritional Facts:
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=OL-1039#tab2
Help a brotha’ out with his protein source. Are you saying I should stop my pea protein shakes because of the sugar alcohol? That would mean I’d have to eat an INSANE amount of food each day to get to your recommended daily protein quota.
Any vegan alternatives? I checked your appendix for those protein shakes but they have more sugar than the one I am using now.
Love, Anthony
It’s all a trade-off. Just do the best you can.
Hi Tim
Congrats on the book. I wanted to check if it’s okay to supplement protein intake with whey protein isolate powder. I use the pure, unsweetened variety and like to put a few teaspoonfuls in my coffee as I am worried that I may not be getting enough protein through food. Sometimes I am so full eating so much meat and beans at meals.
Thanks.
Tim,
A good friend recently commented on my life. The exciting things I’m doing within and the perhaps more exciting potential of my future.
After wiping the school-boy grin off my face, I realized your hand, albeit indirectly, played a considerable role in the direction I’m heading toward.
I wrote an article on my website discussing your impact on people, myself included.
If you’re so moved to, I’d be thrilled if you read it.
You can find it here: http://www.newrichproject.com/post/2705262835/more-money-bigger-muscles-better-sex-the-tim-ferriss‘
I would have e-mailed it, but it seems you check blog comments more.
If not, no worries. I have something of a talent for reaching out and connecting with people, so I’m sure our paths will cross at some point.
Best of luck with the book.
Sunny
Hi Tim,
Will you give a “yes” or “no” on stevia…
Thanks!
Here you go: If it’s sweet, I suspect it will spike insulin. No sweets.
Great read Tim. Loved it. What about Hair Loss?
Luckily at 34 I still have most of my hair, but I would like to keep it as long as possible. Can you hack that?
My suspicions are.Wash Frequency is key. Less wash.
Women are great at this, they wash their hair every few days. Men don’t seem to do this.
Look at homeless people. They seem to have more hair than normal people. I am not saying that you should become homeless to grow your hair,but hey, maybe we can learn something from them.
Second suspicion. Temperature
What can man do to keep their hair and even regrow them without taking prescription medicine.
Hope you can help. Thank for another great book.
Tim, [LONG POST WARNING! Questions in the middle, comments at the end]
first of all thanks and congrats for the new book. I had mildly slow-carbed in the past with some success and I am going to start seriously next monday (I need some days to plan and get used to things). I have a lot of questions, but a few of those are quite critical to get me on the right tracks from the beginning.
As a European reader (I am Italian and currently living in Finland), I have serious problems setting up my “physical GPS”: I cannot find any place where they do DEXA scans, nor where they have BodPods or BodyMetrix. I have contacted the local BodyMetrix distributor, but the price is completely unaffordable for me (2600 euros PLUS 23% taxes). And I cannot figure out how to even look for calipers measurements in Finnish (though I’ll try harder).
So I decided to do a complete body composition check (though they use BEI) at the local University before and every month or two and two buy the better scale I can find to get more frequent checks.
Here are the question:
1) How the heck are you able to drink 1,5 litres of COLD water in a short time immediately after waking up? I have always been a good water drinker, but I drink such amount of liquid at once only after a football (read it soccer) match or so. I am trying to get used to it, but it leaves me sick for a good 30-40 minutes afterwards; besides, I have to wait much more than 30 minutes before urinating (or am I supposed to hold it on when I wake up until I get on the scale)?
2) If I have to wait 30 minutes after drinking the water and then measure my bodyfat percentage, how can I have breakfast no later than 30 minutes after waking up?
3) I think that it is best to weight before drinking water measure bodyfat 30mins afterward. Ma I correct?
I have also a few comments you may or may not find useful:
–Concerning Vinegar to help fat loss: I have read this article (http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/vinegar-clinically-proven-to-destroy-fat/) and the related paper some time ago, which seems a bit in contrast with your experience. It could be that it works only for obese people or that you got the timing wrong (the article suggest to drink it AFTER breakfast and dinner)…
–I have read a lot of time ago (but I really cannot remember where) that what helps getting asleep is not the high or low temperature, but the *cooling process*, which of course can be obtained both with warm and cold bath: in this way the body is tricked into thinking that the sun has set and so it’s time to sleep :). In my own experience, Finnish sauna (which somewhat takes the process to the extreme, exposing yourself first to very high temperature and then to very low ones) is one of the most relaxing experiences you can have, if you are able to stand it. Give it a go 😉
Thanks again for your great books, and sorry for the long post.
MB
Regarding the slow-carb diet….you state that calorie counting is not needed. I find it hard to believe that I can eat enough meat and veggies to stay full, yet not gain weight.
To support my suspicions, you state a cheat day is required to “ensure your metabolic rate doesn’t downshift from extended caloric restriction.”
What caloric restriction??
Would you consider doing a 4 Hour Body Recipe Book?
It’s in the works right now 🙂
That would be awesome! 🙂
KLS – I found a recipe book as a PDF at the link below:
http://robbwolf.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/The-Slow-Carb-Cookbook.pdf
This might have some information on Glycemic value of stevia of worth.
http://www.glycemicresearchlaboratories.com/ClinicalTestingProtocols.htm
Hi…is it ok to consume baked beans on the slow carb diet? Regards
was at 80.7KG, got down to 79.1, when upto 79.3 and have been there for 2 days in a row. 79.3kg…seem a little stuck.
Been using AGG (waiting on the P to arrive), ate nothing low carb protein shakes(optimum nutrition 100% Casien Protein), a optimum nutrition protein bar (1 net carb), steak and refried beans but not getting movement…maybe too much on the refired beans.
Any ideas?
When I read this. I never saw him count carbs at all – or take shakes at all.
eat what is in the plan – nothing that can be made white. (so carbs are fine – they are in things – just don’t eat white and don’t worry about counting) and if you follow the plan he said you can eat as much as you want with the only maybe concern salt in some of the beans.
Plus you really should not be measuring your weight and expecting something everyday. Did you go to the bathroom the same? – Really if you are stuck for weeks that is a different story.
In case anyone needs/wants more confirmation of the facts in the book, check out this article that popped up on Yahoo! tonight:
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/15-worst-health-diet-myths
Among the myths are:
Too much protein harms your kidneys
Salt raises blood pressure
You should eat 3 meals a day
Well done Tim
TIm,
I have read your book 4 hour body and I am following your diet. Trying to lose 20lbs by March 1. I started on Christmas at 189 lbs and got down to 181lbs. After my binge days I would go up to 184lbs but a few days later back to 182-183. I follow pretty close, breakfast 3 eggs and 3 pieces of turkey bacon right when I wake up. Lots of chicken, steak, spinach, lentils, brazil nuts and almonds. 2-3 mugs of green tea. 1-2 glasses of water or seltzer water. The two things I cheat on are in my one mug of coffee everyday I put 2 teaspoons of sugar and cream and I love red wine and a few days a week go over the 2 glass rule. I am working out, 3 40 min runs per week, one 2 hour basketball game per week and 2 days per week upper body weight lifting. I will try to stick to the 2 glass rule on the wine and cut the sugar from my coffee. what else could I be doing? thanks
Hi! Another big fan of 4HB here! Only been on the diet about a week and a half and I’m feeling great and seeing results already! Just have a question: Sometimes I just can’t stomach breakfast so quickly in the morning. For whatever reason, it makes me nauseous. I wanted to start drinking a protein shake instead some mornings like your father did. But I’m a little confused..the protein shakes have A LOT of carbs in them and they also contain sugar…how is that OK with the slow carb diet? Is there a certain type of sugar that I’m supposed to look out for? Or a certain type of carb? I don’t want to hurt my results by adding something that I shouldn’t. Thanks!!
Hi Alyssa, you can buy low-carb protein powders which have almost zero net carbohydrate – I like to mix with water and cinnamon, tastes quite good.
Tim,
Awesome book. I knew I had to buy it after reading the four hour work week and I’m glad i did. Actually im a student at UC Santa Barbara and ever since I made it our coffee/medication table book it been an instant hit.
Weird how many college age males want to read your book……
Anyways I’m from the eastbay originally and would love to thank you in person some time.
cheers
Linda….my GF and I had the exact problem except we not only kept to the wine regimen but also took ALL supplements and followed Occam Protocol for weight training to the “T”.
My thinking is that the high level of CARBS per day from all the beans when eaten in an UNLIMITED fashion are the culprit and the people who report good results are the ones who were eating many more carbs per day and this is a big change.
Another reason you haven’t heard from others telling of ineffective results is that either these folks don’t report their stall or just give up with the program or the message isn’t posted on the board by Tim or his assistant….
Luke….that makes alot of sense and I thankyou for pointing that out to me. I guess I am too trusting and I just believed this would work according to what alot of people were reporting about their tremendous weight loss. I feel rather disgusted with it all. I know I have gained weight. I feel bloated and I look 7 months pregnant. I look thick and my waist has disappeared. Pants that fit me 2 weeks ago are now snug. I will go back to what I was doing and try something else because this just isn’t working for me even though I followed it exactly except for the wine timing.
Thanks again.
I’m into my first week of Slow-Carb. I started out at 205 pounds, looking to get down to 170-180. I’m doing well at avoiding the bad foods, but I’m not sure if I’m getting enough protein.
Breakfast is usually 4 eggs with some ham mixed in, lunch is leftover meat from the night before with some beans of some sort, and dinner is meat with veggies, normally.
I’m not sure how to tell if those 2-3 slices of meatloaf, or couple of servings of fish, or whatever are enough protein. Any suggestions?
I have been on the diet for 2 weeks. This Saturday will be my 2nd cheat day. I do not feel like I have lost anything. I do not have a scale but go by how my clothes fit and they do not seem to be any looser, in fact they feel abit more snug. I am following this accordingly. I do not drink wine everyday but when I do I like it more at around 5 pm than at 10pm. I also do not like red wine so I have a white chardonnay. This is the only thing that I do different than what the book says. I exercise in some way everyday but have not done resistance training. Is there a reason for this? Do some people take longer to see results? Can anyone comment on this? I am feeling frustrated and don’t want to quit but don’t want to gain either. Thanks.
Hi…I have been on the slow carb diet for two weeks and have lost about 5 lbs. I have not any exercises in these two weeks. Today is cheat day for me and I have consumed almost 4000 calories so far and bit more to go!
I will see how the third week goes and then decide whether to carry on with the slow carb or return to my usual healthy eating habits and start training.
Hi Linda,
Things to keep an eye on:
– Sugar in sauces, fruits and the like
– Too much legumes
– Dairy should be limited
If you’re not seeing results, try:
– Monitoring your nutritional intake for a few days, and adjusting if you can see reasons for weight retention
– Intermittent fasting 1-2 days per week – leangains.com provides a good method for this
– Increasing your % fat intake – inadequate fat can lead to constipation and general bad health – coconut oil and milk, avocado, salmon, slightly fattier cuts of meat.
As a final note, I regularly eat 2 meals a day and a snack – breakfast around 8 30am, snack around 3, dinner around 7pm. I find it’s better to eat 2 big meals and a snack each day.
Hi Tim,
I live in Shanghai, China. I was looking at some Ma la Tang and some Chinese hotpot and its mostly some chile oil, broth, meats and veggies. Obviosuly there many other options to add but as someone who has spent time in China I assume you have had hotpot. Would this fit the diet? What about the chili oil?
Great book! Thanks’!
I’m probably going to try most of the stuff myself. First off for me is the slow carb diet.
Reading through some different blogg-posts (took me hours and hours) I’ve learned that quinoa is a “grain” and therefore no good :).
But I’m having trouble finding any clues to if my regular casein protein shake before bedtime is ok?
Anyone with an opinion? Simple Yes/no answer is probably enough. (If “no”, is it Ok when training like Occam’s protocol?)
I’m really struggling getting more than 45 gram of protein per meal so having a slow digesting casein based protein shake before bed would help me reach the 2 gram/kg protein a day 😉 It is less than 10% carbs in it btw.
Once again, great book!
/Fredrik
Tim, you rule.
Tim, Thanks for your personal quest to hack the body… I’m 12 days in and down 11lbs. so question for you on using CQ from 4HB… you say 2,400mg (3x day) before each meal… I’m heading to Vegas for 5 days and want to limit fat storage. Is there a loading factor to CQ, or do I just start taking it on bad day? Also are there any side effects with CQ?
I didn’t find any loading to be necessary. Might not hurt to start the day prior, though, IMHO.
Hi Tim! Great Book. I am one of the pre-orderers from Alemania. I have one very important question: Do you have any idea how I can get my hands on the stuff you use in Germany. They dont ship Athletic Greens to Europe and I dont know much about supplements to find something equivalent. Same for a lot of the other things you mention. Any idea! Congrats again on a page turner. Tschüss, Selda
PAGG is on amazon.de
Alpha-lipoic acid:
http://www.amazon.de/Alpha-Lipoic-Acid-100-Vegakapseln/dp/B001VM7LA8
Green tea extract with 70% EGCG
http://www.amazon.de/Green-Gr%C3%BCner-Extract-Kapseln-bishe/dp/B0016N45UQ/
Policosanol
http://www.amazon.de/Source-Naturals-Policosanol-30-tablets/dp/B0006UICS6
Allicin garlic
http://www.amazon.de/Health-Perception-Allimax-Kapseln-30/dp/B0013GALRM
Congrats Tim!
I think you deserve it. You live what you preach, and you’re in the .001% of people who really change the world.
Keep at it bro!
HI Tim, Will you make a food section I have been a chef for 15 years pus or maybe a cooking food section I know there are a lot of people who want to share cooking knowledge. PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE ?????!!!!!! I will come cook for a year for you for nothing (well other than room and board)!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not starstruck I like the way way you come across no bullshit, straightforward and in your face MF!
AH DAMN I typed pus instead of plus funkin vodka ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Hi Tim
I’m loving the book, but I have a question. I am gluten-intolerant, and I was wondering if it were a good idea to binge on gluten-foods on my binge day.
Also, I missed a female equivalent to the chapter on how to make yourself ‘super-male’, pumping out testosterone and pheromones.
Nina
medically speaking, that’s not a good idea, unless you want to destroy your intestinal lining and give yourself leaky gut syndrome!
Hey, my son gave me your book for Christmas. Very interesting!! However, I must be doing something wrong. I have religiously followed EVERY step in the low carb diet (to lose weight – be in better shape) and am disappointed with the results. Two weeks and only 3 pounds lost. Three inches lost, but not necessarily where I wanted to lose them (the gut).
I feel STUFFED all the time. I have always eaten a lot of veggies, so the major change for me was eliminating sugars, white, refined carbs, all dairy but cottage cheese, and adding more beans. What am I doing wrong.
I have even been doing the thermo thing with drinking the cold water and ice packs at night.
Oh, I am 57 years old, 5 foot 3.5 inches tall, and started at 161 pounds. Very athletic (still play power volleyball and tennis) and have a workout routine (treadmill, free weights, stretching).
Any suggestions?
Have you had a look at the bodyfat percentage? Since that you are an active person, it coul very well be that with the higher protein intake you put on some muscle mass…
Hey Tim, I didn’t know the best way to get this info to you so I’m commenting.
I noticed a friend of mine, Nina Hartley, is mentioned in 4HB. She is raising money for a surgery for fibroid tumors she’s been suffering from for about 20 years. She’s trying to get to $20k and she’s only to $7k.
Any possibility you can pass the link around and see if anyone would like to donate? I know you’d prefer not to have links in your comments section so I’m totally cool with this comment being erased.
http://www.giveforward.com/giveitawayfornina
Any help would be totally appreciated. Happy Travels!
Tim,
If you tell me how to get rid of my allergies, I’ll buy both your books.
–Pete
(P.S. I guess you’d say it’s hayfever. Pretty blocked up every morning.)
Dealing with allergies:
Heal the gut by finding out what foods are irritating and inflaming the gut. Do this by: Doing an elimination diet, going to an Applied Kinesiologist (AK).
Do the GAPS diet, the Body Ecology Diet or the SCD – if the foods you eat on Tim’s SCD do not inflame you. – GET THE FOODS TESTED with an AK.
Also, check out the Emotional Freedom Technique to help remove allergies that may be related to emotional / trauma issues. Give a go. All the best.
Thanks Amanda,
I’ll give it a go!
–Pete
Just took the AGG stack (incl. 300 mg dose of alpha-lipoic acid) on a stomach which had a 46g protein shake and 1/4 cup of almonds. I’m a 200 lbs, 6’1″ male. About an hour later I’m WOOZY. I think I just figured out what alpha-lipoic acid does the hard way which is yank glucose out of your bloodstream. I think I’ll be taking less ALA or an adequate amount of carbs in the future. No GERD symptoms though.
Just tried my first slow-carb breakfast – feel satisfied and energized (going to head to the gym now for some MED exercise). Thank you for writing this book — it’s a joy to read! Keep up the great work.
Congrats on the achievement Tim. Loved both your books – currently work from home and have done so for a few years, and am writing this in a pair of vibrams – already significant improvement in my plantar fascitis. Looking forward to trying more of the experiments. All the best to you & yours this new year.
Congrats Tim. Could you please post a Quick Guide to slow carb fast food and frozen food? Looking for any chain fast food hacks you may have picked up and any good frozen entrees for the diet.
Hey Tim,
Loving the book. Quick PAGG question: You state 200mg as the dose for Garlic at the start of the chapter but then at the end of the chapter where you list the individual components with links, you list the Vitamin Shoppe Allicin 6000 Garlic with a single tablet dose of 650mg.
So am I supposed to take 4 x 650mg tablets or am I meant to be sourcing a 200mg tablet version to take 4 times daily?
Would love it if you could clarify this. Thanks again for a great book.
Hey Tim, you need to read the Mens Journal, for Feb 2011, pg 72. The “New Diet” is almost exactly what you say in 4HB, but none of the credit. Some nutrition specialist says it was all his idea. Didn’t think this was fair. FYI.
Loved the book and stay true to true personal self expression.
Hey just wanted to say after 2 weeks im seeing nice progress. The data isn’t as impressive as I’d like, only 10 punds down and maybe 3% body fat. I have maybe lost a total of 5 inches.
Subjectively my clothes are all fitting loosely. I am not beginning to follow some of the muscle gain and strength gain protocols, not supplements yet. I am a Martial Arts teacher here in the Bay Area, so trying to keep with the 2 30 minute workouts a week might be difficult.
For those not experiencing results that you’d like, I wonder if you caught the experimentive nature of Tim’s approach. A key NLP presupposition is if you are not getting the results you want change it.. It’s guinea pig time, stop complaining and come up with a solution.
So far i’ve been subsisting on chicken, black beans, and stir fried veggies. Though Kung Pao Chicken seems to sneak in here and there. Should be adding CQ to the regimen soon too.
Happy Training
Jason
So I started the slow carb diet last week and lost 14 lbs in 5 days! Week two seems to be balancing out but I’m enjoying it. Thanks!
Hi there,
Waiting for my book to arrive and looking forward to it.
However, I’m a vegetarian (ovo-lacto). Is there any way I can do this and not eat meat?
Thanks in advance.
I’m having great success with the diet. I’ve lost 11.5 lbs. in the last 18 days and am starting to see some definition in my abs. Thanks, Tim, I’m really enjoying your book and it is having a positive impact on my life. But I have a couple of issues that I hope have simple answers.
1. Back when I was eating yogurt every day with breakfast I was as regular as a Swiss watch, but now? Not so much. It’s not terrible, but was wondering if there was anything to do about it? I’ve started taking probiotics in pill form, but is there anything else I should be doing?
2. I find that I’m running out of gas or “bonking” as someone else referred to it, when doing high intensity intervals at the gym, particularly after doing a weight workout. I’m only doing about 30 minutes total of cardio, plus one of the workouts mentioned in “Four Hour Body” either Geek-to-Freak, or the Colorado Experiment stuff, or one of the Kiwi worouts.(which takes me 20-25 minutes), and a good solid core workout that lasts about 10 minutes. But today I only managed the weight workout, plus my core work, and then could only do about 10 minutes of cardio after that with limited intensity. I’ve been working out for years and have never experienced this problem before starting this diet. There was a Facebook post that mentioned drinking coconut water while working out, but that is not on the diet (“don’t drink calories”), so what should I do?
Is it okay to use benefiber? I always put it in my coffee, plus the addition of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of cream. I would like to ask about hemp protein too, I add that to my beans for extra protein. Any thoughts or comments?
Just started the program, and am tweating it since I only eat fish and eggs for protein.
thanks
Tim:
Got to know about the picture of you above with the hurley stick. I write about irish and irish-americans in media in blogs for IrishCentral .com and Huffington Post.
Slan,
John
I’ve been heavy all of my life, tried low cal diets and lost weight but always gained it back plus some, always have cravings and recently my doctor recommended weight loss surgery.I do not want to go through surgery! At the same time, I purchased your book and have been on the slow carb diet for a week. I have no cravings! I don’t think miss the junk food! I have lots of energy and am exercising too! I made a profile on Bodybuilder.com for added support and have incrediable motivation. I think I might have found my miracle! Thanks Tim!
Hey Tim,
Awesome books. I’m just curious if you’ve done any more research on specifically the sweetener aspartame. You mentioned in the book that it hasn’t been proven to raise insulin levels. I have a really difficult time staying away from the no carb monster energy drinks.
Thanks,
Jake
@Diane W – There’s no actual stevia data on that site, just a claim that it raises blood suger. Also, it looks like the propaganda site of a lobby.
I’m also curious if anyone has data about stevia GI/GL data of refined vs. unrefined – I suspect that the refined version does have a more pronounced effect.
Thoughts?
Down 7lbs in five days on slow carbs, stomach is looking flatter already and it’s very easy to stick to. Awesome diet. Will post before/after pics at the end of month one.
Congrats! Loved your last book and can’t wait to check out this one.
excellent! i’ve read every exercise and diet book on the market that has come out in the last 10 years, and yours is by far the best; you deliver the science and answers in a format that is easy to follow and is extremely entertaining! nothing worse than another dry text book.
have been on the slow diet and med exercise for 3 weeks. haven’t lost any lbs, but clothes fit much better (yes, must admit i didn’t measure anything else…bad). the interesting thing is that when i added the pagg regiment to the equation, a lot of the fatigue i’ve been battling for months has gone, and my mood has lifted as well. since diabetes gallops through my family, could this be an indication my blood sugar is off?
congrats and keep them coming!
Tim,
Two questions.
I’ve taken to eating pinto beans and medium salsa, is there any harm in eating this throughout the day as a snack?
Is adding oil to chicken to cook it bad or should I just bake/broil it and add salsa or something after the fact?
Also, the cookbook is an AWESOME idea. Can’t wait.
I suggest aiming to use the good oils like extra virgin olive oil, ghee, macadamia oil or virgin unrifined coconut oil.
Hi Tim,
I’m using Neil’s food schedule because I don’t tend to eat huge meals, but I find the protein bars too disgusting to eat. Can I replace it with additional protein shakes, which I have no difficulty drinking?
Thanks.
Yes.
Interesting couple of weeks on 4HB. In 9 days before cheat day, I dropped 14 lbs. Within 3 days after cheat day, gained all 14 back. Took 7 days after cheat day to get back to pre cheat day weight. Interestingly enough, my bodyfat percentage has gone from 25% to 17.6% and I’ve lost 1.5 inches in my TI and my after pictures are looking good! I can tell my clothes are fitting more loosely. I’m following slow carb and cheat day instructions strictly, doing kettlebells (tbar actually), ab exercises and curl exercises. I think I’m going to try skipping my cheat day this week, adding PAGG/AGG on the regular daily schedule, adding more lemon juice and eating slower. I’m a bit concerned about the large fluctuation I had around cheat day. Any other tweaks or suggestions from 4HBers?
I am in the same boat John! I am a mother of 4 kids – here in North California. I have been slow-carb since the 1st of Jan….only added in cheat days last Sunday and Today. Yes it took me all week to get back to baseline weight after last Sunday, but it was worth it to not feel completely deprived.
I am not looking to loose a lot more weight, but I have approx 10 more pounds to get me to the size 6 goal. I think I need to try to step up my game somehow to get these last pounds off. My diet right now is:
Breakfast: coffee with slight cream and 2 Cinsulin tablets, 4 scrambled eggs, a V8, black beans, guac & some veggies from the night before. *sometimes I omit beans and guac*
Lunch: White chicken breast or lunch meat, salad, leftover veggies (usually blanched broccoli or green beans).
Dinner: Meat, beans, salad, veggies. (sometimes it’s a chicken veggie bean soup with guac stirred in). Once a week I may have a half a glass of red wine at dinner – but living in Sonoma County, it is sort of a miracle, right??
I ended all nighttime snacks – only drinking sweet and spicy tea with no sugar or sweetener as my TV time friend. I feel like I am being TOTALLY AWESOME! 😉
I find the diet constipates me slightly – which is surprising when living on black beans and broccoli! I keep the coffee in there as a laxative! I have lost 6lbs this month, but after a cheat day I am right back to loosing the same weight all over again.
I saw your note yesterday about waiting 6-8 weeks to see if my body will kick into gear (as again, 4 kids)….but any other advice to kick things up a notch? Do I just have to be patient?? 🙂
I have not done the ice bath yet, but I do hot/cold alternating showers – ending cold, I heard this would increase circulation and aid in healing the body. I want to try the ice packs at night during TV time as well.
I know I did not have to exercise, but I added kettle-bell (Jillian Michael Shred with Weights) and started easy with a 10lb kettle-bell that is kicking my butt a few days per week. Any other recommendations for me?
Just ending 3 weeks now on 4HB. Results so far: lost 14 lbs, lost 6 inches in TI, lost 7.4% bodyfat. I’m also measuring my WHR which has gone from 1.0 to .96. Cheat day today! Thanks Tim!
Is lamb ok to eat on a slow carb diet? Also, I assume all kinds of fish are OK?
Its really good to see success come together, hard work and sticking at things always succeeds, congratulations Tim
Hi Tim
I purchased your book after reading about you on Techcrunch, I also watched your appearance on the View later on the web. First, hats off to you! Great job on creating this easy to follow movement. I have couple questions and I really appreciate your response.
1. I am 39 yrs old 5’11” weighed 161 pounds before starting the low-carb diet, on my first binge day morning I weighed 156 lbs.. yes.. lost 5 pounds without doing any exercise. Most of excess fats are in the belly and neck area.
2. On the binge day I consumed the following
* 8:30 AM scrambled egg whites and legumes
* 9:30 AM half a dozen donuts balls
* 10:00 AM 24oz can beer
* 10:30 AM grapefruit juice + espresso
* 12:30 AM 4 slices of pizza + 3 glasses of red wine
* 6:00 AM 3 cups of rice + 1 cup of chicken curry +
2 glasses of red wine + 2 cups of yogurt
3. From Sunday morning back to low carb diet, here is my weigh-ins after
Sunday morning – 159 lb (3 pound gain)
Monday morning – 157.5 lb
Tuesday morning – 156.9 lb
Wednesday morning – 157.3
Not sure, why I am not loosing weight?
Things I do differently from week1 are..
1) Instead pure egg whites for breakfast I use Costco real eggs (it says it was made 99% from egg whites)
2) Eating after 1 hour after woke up from bed instead of 30 mins during my first week.
Another question I have is, Can I use PAGG during low carb diet?
Please advise? thanks for your service… Keep rocking man!
-Sam
Update: I also started PAGG from Wednesday morning (2 week), and here is my weigh ins
Thursday Morning : 156.2 (pre binge day weight)
Friday Morning : 155.5
I am excited but worried about after effects of next binge day which is tomorrow..
Update: 2nd Binge Day and after
My weight on the binge day morning : 155 lbs
No. Item cal Total
————————————————————–
1. Egg white 1 cup – 90 cal – 90
2. Protein shake 1 can – 110 cal – 200
3. Almond butter 3 tspn – 300 cal – 500
4. Espresso – 0 cal
5. Grapefruit juice – 150 cal – 650
6. Donuts and pastry – 500 cal – 1150
7. Corona Extra 24 oz – 300 cal – 1450
8. Donut 1 – 250 cal – 1700
9. Orange chicken – 400 cal – 2100
10. Mutton briyani 2plate – 900 cal – 3000
11. Red wine – 5 glasses – 500 cal – 3500
12. 2 idly (Indian pancake) – 160 cal – 3650
13. Mutton curry – 200 cal -3850
14. Orange Chicken – 200 cal -4050
15. chocolate ice cream – 170 cal – 4230
I know this was too much but I wanted to satiate all my cravings, I maintained muscle contraction though out the day by doing air squats. Sunday morning (day after binge day) I gained only 2.5lbs (total of 157.5 lbs). It took only 3 days to loose all the post binge day weight compare to 4 days during last week. Yes, today is Wednesday and my weight was : 154.5lbs.
Its working!!… I thought I should share this experience..!!!
Don’t give up.. keep trying.. Thanks Tim!!!!
Note: I am also taking PAGG and ordered CQ. This weekend I will be binging for 3 days (Sat, Sun and Monday) in a fun trip. I will update my experience again next week..
-Sam
congratulations Tim!
have been offline since picking up my copy (and the 4HWW) right when it came out.
just got back online and was hoping I would see a #1 post somewhere
also really enjoyed your press work for it as well, great lessons!
Tim I want to thank you so much for introducing me to the slow carb diet. I bought your book just before Christmas, and started the program January 1st. I’m 6’2″, 242lbs, and now I’m 219lbs in less than 30 days. I haven’t started exercising yet, but I have a feeling in order to keep up the progress I’ll need to mix it in in February. Thanks again.
Just tried my first ice bath. WOW. I put 44 lbs of ice in the tub filled it up with water and put my foot in and could not believe how uncomfortable this was. I couldn’t leave it in! So I waited several minutes hoping that it would melt off. Put both feet in and stood… still crazy uncomfortable. Waited a bit longer, pulled out half the ice and just decided to go for it and drop my lower half in and I lasted all of 12 seconds. LOL!
Decided to wait another 10 min or so, dunked my lower half and lasted a 1 minute this time. TOTAL MISERY; only made it thru by thinking about how much my mother loves me. Sounds funny but that’s my goto when I’m in that much pain.
So I pulled the plug on the water and let it drain and figured this just wasn’t for me and while the water was draining and the ice was melting I thought, “What if I sat in the tub with just enough ice to sparsely cover the bottom of the tub *while* it filled up? And then when it had covered my thighs I would start the clock.”
And that worked. It was unpleasant but manageable. It took about 6 min for the water to cover my thighs and that’s when I started my 10 min. Grand total of 16 min. I briefly dunked my back down into the tub but it was kind of pain to sit that way in such a small tub and I felt like I’d done enough with it today.
It takes a few minutes longer but acclimating this way is how I’ll have to do it.
I think I soaked up some water because my waist measurement swelled a half inch from this morning.
I’m doing the minimalist’s approach to mass so I’ll probably do this 2x/wk after my workouts and see what happens in regards to weight loss.
Congratulations Mr Ferriss!
I have to admit, this time last week I’d never heard your name before. This week I am starting a slow carb/muscle gaining diet and ‘reactivating’ languages I thought I’d forgotten. I cannot tell you how inspired I am. You seem to have an unquenchable thirst for answers; thanks for sharing them.
Pete
Hi
I’m from the UK just to let you know that my pre-ordered book from Amazon arrived on Saturday 30th January. I had a lovely suprise as I had forgotten that I had ordered it way back when you first published.
I’m trying really really hard not to start reading it straight away as I’m off to Berlin soon and this would be a great book to read while on holiday.
Best wishes
Kim
Just starting the diet and the only thing I’m missing so far is milk in my once a day coffee! Just wondering – if it is the lactose in the milk which is the problem, is it ok to have lactose free milk in which the only ingredients are milk and lactase?
Well done Tim! I am extremely happy for your achievements. Thank you for influencing positive change. My wife’s colleagues are so delighted to have read your work. A million thanks!
Tim, thank you the effort and energy and the team around you created. I,m up to page 82 and have had so many ah hahs, thanks for being an inspiration, best wishes for future endeavours
Great book! Awesome writing. Congrats on being #1! I bought 4HB yesterday and read through the minimal reading for rapid fat loss twice. Today is my first day of the slow-carb diet. So far so good:) I have a question though…I usually take my supplements with grapfruit juice to help absorption. Since fruit juice (fructose) is a no-no, what do you recommend I swallow my supplements with? Thanks is advance!
I have been dieting for exactly one month today. I unfortunately started with WW online again, as I had some decent short term success with it in the past. However, after two weeks – and devouring tim’s book and also “why we get fat” by Gary Taubes, I quickly saw that counting calories was never going to be the efficient way to long term weight loss. So another 2 weeks of being 90% strict on Tim’s diet – and I’m down exactly 12 lbs, and about 2% bodyfat % which is the equivalent of 9 lbs of pure fat gone of the 12 lbs I’ve lost. I feel like such an idiot that I never fully understood how carbs work on insulin secretion – but something between these two books fnally gave me the ka-pow! moment of clarity and I’m looking forward to seeing the south side of 200lbs really soon for the first time in 10 years. Thanks for the awesome advice and the numerous experiments that got us here. Oh yeah, I ate an entire BIG DIPPER PIZZA HUT Pizza by myself on Sunday.
I appreciate your insights into bon viveur, and I was going to get 4HB at a brick and mortar Barnes and Nobles this past Sat, so I could use up a gift card.
I couldn’t find it anywhere. Any ideas as to why?
OK, at the end of March we have a family reunion so it would be great to impress the family and become a freak instead of the geek they know for so many years 🙂 so I am going to take the two 30-min. workouts per week. Lots of time on my hand since I work only 4h per week.
One question: on page 186 you mention the supplements. I am not an expert at all, do I have to take these every day or only on ‘work out’ days? Thanks!
Just got the book in eBook form via Google Books and I am really enjoying it so far. My only quandry is it seems like none of the hyperlinks (end notes, embedded, whatever) on any device are working. I don’t mean to use your blog for tech support and am not really looking for a response. Just wanted you to be aware in case you weren’t and couldn’t really find another venue to send this.
Great job and I am looking forward to seeing what the results look like once I put them in practice.
I’ve been following the slow carb diet for 3 weeks and although I’ve not been as successful as I was hoping, I have to say that I feel great. I can’t believe how simple it is to follow. I have one question regarding corn-Can we eat it?
I know it’s too late. But, congratulations Tim. You deserved all the success you have now. 😀
Hey mate,
Avid enthusiast since the 4 hour workweek. Have increased my yearly income and achieved significant initial body transformations (22%-17% BF in 5 weeks) simply by first adhering to your tried and tested steps, and then adding my own slants appropriate to myself.
Just wanted to make sure you realized that The New York Times had your books at 1st and 6th on Feb 27th… That’s brilliant mate. You inspire me.
I’m loosely adding some nootropics now (Piracetam as a base), to my arsenal of healthy eating, ice baths, kettlebell swings, sleep enhancers, (and internet marketing)… My last hurdle is a minor phobia of needles which is inhibiting my bloodwork being done. Hopefully I can get around that soon…
Cheers for all the life hacks.
Hi Tim
First of all have it has to be said – the 4HB was on the best seller list for a reason. Some results from some of the people i have bought the book for:
– One of my team – put on 10KG of muscle in about 3 months (with your book and some others) – he is pumped
– Another of my team’s mother – has lost 25KG as last count and has her life back
– I got married to the love of my life to comments of “what the f**k have you been doing” after just 6 weeks on the 4HB routine – safe to say i am back on it now we have returned from a month in Mexico, the USA and Bora Bora
I have a question, and know you are busy checking email 4 hours a week 🙂
My new wife started the 4HB slow carb diet after we returned from our honeymoon. We think it may be having some impact on her moods and general emotional state. She is truly a very aware and stable person. She did have some trouble with low blood sugar and an under active thyroid early in her but with medication, acupuncture and general awareness she has had it all under control. Being on 4hb though she said she feels a little lethargic and her moods have certainly changed.
I am a massive advocate for what you have done with this book – it will change, check that, save many peoples lives. I believe that so much that i buy it bu the box and give about 10-20 away a month. But i am interested to know if you have any thoughts on what my wife is experiencing?
Also, i wanted to say thank you for the 4HB and 4WW (another i give away by the box). Between your books and Rework by the boys at 37signals we will all change the world for the better!
Hi Trevor,
Thanks so much for the comment and kind words.
To your wife’s issue, I’m no doctor, but I suspect it’s either:
1. Insufficient calories. Women often eat only protein and leafy veggies, not consuming enough beans, lentils, etc.
2. Thyroid related issues. Be sure to have complete blood testing done, looking at free T3 and all the rest.
3. If she’s taking medication, it could be related to supplements she’s added, so she should experiment with removing the supplements.
Or some combination of the above.
If the fatigue continues, please have her see a doctor, but it shouldn’t be an issue unless she has a medical condition.
Best of luck!
Tim
29 pounds in 21 days. Kudos, and thanks.
243 to 222, 20-30 to go, and no loss of cognitive performance that caused me to abort other diets.
Tim,
Awesome book. I am half way through the audiobook now.
BTW, you are not a geek as you say in the book. Shed that image, it’s not real! What you are is the first virtual Uber entrepeneur of the 21st century.
Congrats, you deserve it!
Tim
Thanks for the 4HB, it is transforming my life. I am off meds and lost 25 lbs. I have many questions but one that is looming large is popcorn. I enjoy a nice pinot or malbec with un-buttered popcorn and am not sure if I need to wait for binge day.
More to follow,
winehole = a**hole that likes wine
Happy Holidays
I loved your blog.Really looking forward to read more. Want more.
so sorry but have plans to be in Napa Friday night…….
Tim,
Having read over the past decade “The body sculpting bible for men”, “The 6 week cure for the middle age middle”, and “Clean”, I found your book most compelling and inspiring in that it quickly encompasses and articulates those ideas, and then adds a jet pack to them, and doesn’t stop at that. All of you have in in common: the author as test subject, and I really appreciate to talk being walked. So thanks.
In Portland, Oregon we have tons of healthy protein and vegetable options, so my diet is easy and delicious.
I may be splitting hairs, but I would like to know if one should be concerned about grass fed bacon that has been soaked in brown sugar or maple syrup, or the apple or apple juice used in apple smoke sausages, or even the cane sugar in the organic catsup?
Thanks, and we look forward to the obsession..
Many thanks a bunch for posting!