(Photo: Felipe Morin)
Holy crap. The 4-Hour Body (4HB) has ended up producing an avalanche of questions.
There are definitely a few gems hidden amongst the rubble, and more than a few typos were unearthed in the process.
This post — mostly how-to with a few bits of entertainment — is purely for tying up loose ends. I hope it helps.
Covered in this post:
The blog moving forward: 4HB content vs. 4HWW content vs. random topics
4HB Bonus Materials – If You Missed It
4HB Tools and Tricks – All Online!
Contest winners
Slow-carb clarifications
4-Hour Body – common questions and Q&As
Audiobook PDF downloads
4HB reader-generated goodies: desktop wallpaper, etc.
Media samples
4HB corrections and typos…
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The blog moving forward: 4HB content vs. 4HWW content vs. random topics
Some readers have expressed interest in more business-related posts, instead of physical-focused posts. Not to worry — there will continue to be both on this blog. In simplest terms, I write about what I’m most interested in (or passionate about) at the time. If you don’t find a post interesting, skip out for a bit and then check back in. I don’t expect anyone to read all of my posts.
4HB Bonus Materials – If You Missed It
The 4-Hour Body bonus materials have been up for a while now. If you missed them, all can be found here. Enjoy!
There are a number of forums and message boards for 4HB, including this blog and the reader-generated 4HBTalk.
For those interested, I’ll be experimenting with a private, paid forum (probably $9.95/month to start, but not sure) for 4HB. I’m going to test it with 100 people first. If you have any interest in being one of the 100 for $9.95/month, please fill out this form. My hope is that this forum can be a central troll-free and spam-free gathering point for people who are willing to test, gather data, and contribute to each other. I don’t want participants who ask others to Google simple questions for them. The price is a simple mechanism to separate out those who are most serious.
Regardless, information wants to be free. There are a ton of free resources and communities online, not to mention a 600-page book, that should be enough for anyone to make exceptional progress.
4HB Tools and Tricks — all online!
Ever wished all of links in the 4-Hour Body “Tools and Tricks” were online? You asked and I heard you — all of the resources links are now online here. Enjoy!
Contest winners!
CONTEST #1
Blog post: Have a Good Eye for Ads? Try the (Lucrative) 4-Hour Body Experiment…
Date: October 13
Winner: Salman Sajid (Congratulations!)
Prize(s): North Face Prophet 65 Trekking Pack (Retail: $319), A round-trip anywhere in the world Star Alliance airlines fly (or $1,000 cash), All 4-Hour Body revenue via ads on my site for two weeks (potentially every post ever written), using your Amazon affiliate code.
Notes: Here is Salman’s winning ad (he also won the smaller banner), based on click-through rate. I’ll be doing a longer analysis in a future blog post. The genius “Eat Like Santa, Look Like Jesus” ads, which I also used to great effect, was designed (visual and copy) by Conway Anderson. Amusingly, he and I randomly met on the Embarcadero sidewalk on the SF waterfront. He gave me his card “just in case” and here we are.
CONTEST #2
Blog post: “The Land Rush: 48 Hours to Claim $4,000,000 in Prizes” + “The 4-Hour Body is NOW OUT – Live Q&A Today, New Trailer, Free Books, and Much More”
Date: December 2010 (sadly, there were some great submissions who posted too late, like David Batchelor)
Winner: Camille. Runner-up: Roger P.
Prize(s): Free trip to the person who promotes The 4-Hour Body best this week. If you are the best promoter, judged by me and a panel of friends, you get to pick one trip of a lifetime… for free. I will almost definitely be in attendance: 8-Day Argentina Snow Adventure in Patagonia, or 10-Day Private Tour of India, including Miss India. Includes roundtrip economy airfare from and back to the U.S. Addendum: I’ll give the runner-up a round-trip anywhere in the world that Continental flies (or StarAlliance). Camille, you can also take this, if you prefer. No expiration date.
Slow-Carb Clarifications
I’m currently getting at least 500-1,000 questions a day via the blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. about the slow-carb diet. Let me clarify a few things:
Do not eat the following, except for cheat days:
Yams
Sweet potatoes
Quinoa
Dairy (this includes cheese and yogurt of all kinds)
I mention cottage cheese at one point as a last resort. It is low in lactose, which is what you need to avoid. Ghee and cream (for coffee) should contain little or no lactose, hence you can use them. The same goes for effectively lactose-free, unflavored whey protein, etc..
[Note for the PubMed readers: It’s true that whey is partially (or wholly) responsible for the insulinemic response of most dairy, but avoiding lactose seems to be more directly correlated to faster fat-loss in the diet subjects I’ve tracked. Needless to say, avoiding all dairy is the simplest solution.]
SUPPLEMENTS: There is NO need for supplements on the slow-carb diet, besides magnesium, potassium, etc. in “Slow-Carb II.” PAGG is NOT necessary, so if you find it confusing, just omit it.
Post-workout carbs – If your goal is fat loss, and assuming you are not training for endurance competition:
– If you male and not 12% bodyfat or less, no post-workout carbs.
– If you are female and not 20% bodyfat or less, no post-workout carbs.
In the end, the point of 4HB is intelligent and responsible SELF-EXPERIMENTATION. I will not answer all of your questions, precisely because I want you to think for yourselves and figure it out. Hundreds of you have already done so. It’s not that hard.
The following will address 99%+ of confusion:
– If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
– If you haven’t had blood tests done, I don’t want to hear that the diet doesn’t work.
– If you aren’t measuring inches or haven’t measured bodyfat % with an accurate tool (BodPod, etc. and NOT bodyfat scales), I don’t want to hear that the diet doesn’t work.
– If you’re a woman and taking measurements within 10 days prior to menstruation (which I advise against in the book), I don’t want to hear about the lack of progress.
– On the critical 4-6 week window:
For people over 40 and women (especially after two kids), it’s quite common that the most dramatic fat-loss and weight change comes after 4-6 weeks on the diet. I have no explanation for this. Needless to say, if you haven’t done the diet for AT LEAST four weeks, please don’t post a comment about plateauing and panicking. I can’t give you meaningful advice without a ton of other supporting data (blood tests, etc.), and it’s physically impossible for me to respond to each person.
To reiterate: The entire goal of 4HB is to make you a self-sufficient self-experimenter within safe boundaries. Track yourself, follow the rules, and track the changes if you break or bend the rules. Simple as that. That’s what I did to arrive at my conclusions, and that’s what you will do — with a huge head start with the 4HB — to arrive at yours.
Do it for 4 weeks and then troubleshoot if you’re plateauing.
If you post a plea for help anywhere, include at least two FULL days of your meals and snacks so people can actually help you.
Most of those saying they’re “following the diet to the letter” are doing nothing of the sort. Reread “Slow-Carb II” in 4HB.
Last, I’ll repeat the basic approach to the unknown: If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
4-Hour Body – common questions and Q&As
Most of the questions you could possibly ask about 4HB or slow-carb have been answered, whether related to carb-loading for endurance, orgasms, or other. I’ve done a few Q&As over the last few weeks, and I encourage you to check them out — lots of good questions:
4HB Presentation and extended Q&A at Twitter Headquarters [VIDEO]
4HB Presentation and extended Q&A at Twitter Headquarters [AUDIO] (after clicking the link, just wait 45 seconds to download the file for free)
Presentation and Q&A at Google Headquarters (the preso is the same as Twitter, but the Q&A is different and starts at 18:00)
Audiobook PDF downloads
The PDFs that accompany audiobook downloads (which I have nothing to do with) are apparently really hard to find. Please note: on Audible and elsewhere, there should be a small download link on your purchase confirmation for downloading the PDFs.
4HB reader-generated goodies: desktop wallpaper, etc.
Just for the fun of it, here is some desktop wallpaper created by Cole Morgan.
Media Samples
If you’d like to see how you must compress your sound bites for television, here is a brief clip of me from The View. I REALLY want to get Barbara Walters huge on creatine. She’d look amazing with killer forearms:
I will also be on Dr. Oz this Monday (Jan 24), and it should be a much longer segment and worth seeing. Find your local times here. I’ve been on his radio show twice, and we’ve always had a good time digging into the details. He doesn’t hesitate to challenge.
4HB corrections and typos
Through the editing process, which included more than six passes of the manuscript and a team of copyeditors, typos inevitably ended up in 4HB. I’m thankful to you, my readers, for pointing most of them out. Here are those we’ve found so far. These are my notes sent to the publisher, so forgive the odd formatting, and most bolding has been removed:
1) HUPERZINE DOSE TYPO, PG. 280
“As I double-checked pg.280 of your 4-Hour Body book, I see that you indeed recommend 200 milligrams of the extract, however, the reader suggested that … it should, in fact, be 200 MICROgrams.”
TIM: I’m not sure how this happened, but he’s right. It should be “micrograms (mcg)” NOT milligrams. Please change to “micrograms (mcg)”
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2) IODINE TYPO and add to biotin, PG 524
“Hello,??I noticed two typos on page 524:??* Iodine does not have a USRDA value of 1,500 mcg…it is actually 150 mcg.”
TIM: This is correct. Please change to 150 mcg. I don’t know how this happened, as it was accurate at manuscript stage. Needs to be “150 mcg”
“?* Biotin does not have a USRDA value of 30 mcg…it is actually 300 mcg.”
TIM: He is incorrect here, I believe, but we should still update, as Biotin does not have an USRDA. Put “(no USRDA)” next to biotin like a few others.??
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3) CINNAMON TYPO, PG. 101
“Under DAMAGE CONTROL you state that during your binge you consumed 1 tbsp cinnamon in your coffee. However under THE GLUCOSE SWITCH, when explaining types and quantities of cinnamon you stressed the importance of not exceeding 1.5 teaspoons a day. Which would mean you had consumed double that “safe” amount during your binge. Can you please clarify?”
TIM: “1 tbsp cinnamon” on pg. 101 (under “12:45pm”) is a typo and should be “1 tsp cinnamon”
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4) PG. 26
“That is, if you’re a critical intervention patient, such as a morbidly
obese type 1 diabetic.”
Should be changed to “type 2”:
“That is, if you’re a critical intervention patient, such as a morbidly
obese type 2 diabetic.”
###
5) PG. 116, PAGG
The end result was PAGG.
Policosanol: 20–25 mg
Alpha- lipoic acid: 100–300 mg (I take 300 mg with each meal, but some
people experience acid refl ux symptoms with more than 100 mg)
Green tea fl avanols (decaffeinated with at least 325 mg EGCG):
325 mg
Garlic extract: 200 mg
Daily PAGG intake is timed before meals and bed, which produces a
schedule like this:
Prior to breakfast: AGG
Prior to lunch: AGG
Prior to dinner: AGG
Prior to bed: PAGG
Should be changed to (changes in bold):
The end result was PAGG.
Policosanol: 20–25 mg
Alpha- lipoic acid: 100–300 mg (I take 300 mg with each meal, but some
people experience acid reflux symptoms with even 100 mg)
Green tea flavanols (decaffeinated with at least 325 mg EGCG):
325 mg
Garlic extract: at least 200 mg (I routinely use 650+ mg)
Daily PAGG intake is timed before meals and bed, which produces a
schedule like this:
Prior to breakfast: AGG
Prior to lunch: AGG
Prior to dinner: AGG
Prior to bed: PAG (omit the green tea extract)
6) PG. 120, PAGG PARAGRAPH AND TOOLS AND TRICKS
[SECOND PARAG]
“Until further research concludes otherwise, I suggest using an
aged-garlic extract (AGE) with high allicin potential that includes all constituent parts, including S-Allyl cysteine.”
Should be changed to [changes bolded]:
“Until further research concludes otherwise, I suggest using an
aged-garlic extract (AGE) with high allicin potential that includes all constituent parts, including S-Allyl cysteine. If AGE isn’t available, unaged garlic extract appears to work at slightly higher doses.”
[CHANGES IN TOOLS AND TRICKS]
I currently use the following products. I have no financial interest in any of them:
Vitamin Shoppe— Allicin 6000 Garlic, 650 mg, 100 caplets (www.fourhourbody.com/garlic)
Mega Green Tea Extract (decaffeinated), 725 mg, 100 capsules (www.fourhourbody.com/greentea)
Vitamin Shoppe— Alpha- Lipoic Acid, 300 mg, 60 capsules (www.fourhourbody.com/ala)
Nature’s Life— Policosanol, 60 tablets (www.fourhourbody.com/policosanol)
Should be changed to (please just copy and paste the below):
I used the following products for my testing, but I’ll update links based on availability and reader feedback. I have no financial interest in any of them:
Allicin 6000 Garlic—650 mg, 100 caplets (www.fourhourbody.com/garlic)
Mega Green Tea Extract— 325+ mg EGCG, 100 capsules (www.fourhourbody.com/greentea)
Vitamin Shoppe—Alpha-Lipoic Acid, 100 mg, 60 capsules (www.fourhourbody.com/ala)
Nature’s Life— Policosanol, 60 tablets (www.fourhourbody.com/policosanol)
###
7) CHANGE “Heinrich” to “Henrik” on pg. 256, parag 3
###
8) PG. 15 — “500 scientific citations” needs to be changed to “300 scientific citations”
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.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
I am so happy to have found the 4-Hour Body. I went on a mostly raw-food diet for a year, on which I gained nearly 10 lbs. Ugh! After only 3 weeks, I lost most of it. (I had lost 2 lbs pre-4HB.)
I have been posting on a fitness/calorie-counter website just to track my progress, but I left the site due to the folks that slammed me for doing a modified SCD (slow-carb diet). Yes, it might not be ideal, but I have lost 1 lb/week on the SCD and I am very happy with that. After only a few weeks I have taken off a year of weight-gain.
I noticed in the book that Tim mentioned more than half of the people he quoted did a modified SCD. I know the idea apparently isn’t popular, but my view is this: better to do a half-marathon or walk it, than abandon it.
Regardless of popularity, I would like to salute all of us who follow the SCD nearly to the letter, but still allow real life to creep in, just so we can stay on the plan.
I am so thankful to be back to being in control of my body again! It is just fantastic. Now I can lose weight whenever I want, instead of angst-ing endlessly, not knowing what formula works. If I want to lose more weight, I can just – apply the diet 100% strictly.
One thing I want to comment on, that I have read a bit. I tend to eat mostly vegetarian (with fish, so I guess that’s pescatarian?). But I eat ONLY enough to not feel hungry. This is a weight loss protocol, not all-I-can-eat. When I do this, my stomach tends to shrink, therefore making what I do eat, more filling. If all else fails, I am planning to revert to the refried beans diet. I can’t eat 2 cups of refried beans if I try, so that will be my fail-safe for if all else fails.
Thanks to Tim for sacrificing himself, his time, his passion, his interest in 1 million different topics, the fact that his research stands up to criticism for those of us who are “intellectuals”, and for his remarkable ability to communicate his findings in an irreverent, realistic, & readable fashion for those of us who like life REAL, and are not interested in perfection.
Hugz to Tim, and to all those on this journey toward wellness, and against obesity.
Late last year, and going into the start of this year, I was dealing with a lot of stomach issues. I couldn’t drink coffee, beer, wine…eat anything I really liked (and I’m a fairly moderate guy). I cut dairy (back on again now with organic milk to a certain degree), started taking probiotics, and and sprinkled just about everything I ate with cayenne pepper or sriracha. I had read that capsaicin increases blood flow to the stomach and aids digestion. It really helped. I would even have mornings when I had eaten and it seemed like nothing was happening. The food sat on a my gut like a hunk of lead. I would take some cayenne (literally powder in 4 ounces of water) and I would start feeling better within ten minutes.
I’ve started feeling better and fallen out of the habit a bit. I’m thinking about adding it back in as part of SCD, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to “aid” digestion. Will that speed things up and make me too hungry? Would it mess with binge day? I think I’ll try it, but looking for input.
Can anyone recommend (or would Tim be interested in having some techies develop) a carb/protein counter website that matches the SCD?
Failure (that RED “you are over calories” warning) is not high on my list of things to be excited about, and having a calorie-counter free fitness tracker tell me I’m over-calorie just isn’t the ticket anymore, especially since it’s only taken 3 weeks for me to have a bikini-happy tummy on the SCD…
I worry about “bikinis” in Boston
I don’t know if it “matches” but I like FatSecret.com.
Hi All,
Two questions for Slow Carb Land:
1) I’ve had great success on the diet, but I’m going on vacation in a couple weeks any advice for keeping the damage under control, and from undoing all the progress I’ve made? Tim mentions Super Cissus in the book — will this be enough to keep weight gain under control for a week?
2) I’m going to start training for 100 mile bike ride for charity this spring/summer. Do you think it’s fair to assume I can consumer carbs after doing any training rides over 1.5hrs or so?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Kathryn
Anyone have any recommendations on a non-cheat day alcoholic drink? And how much can I drink?
John,
I like wine, so I follow Tim’s bias on the whole alcohol thing. He does himself drink up to 16 ounces of diet soda in a day, so I’m thinking that a rum and diet coke or whiskey and diet coke would be ok. You obviously want to keep sugar out of it and minimize any other sweetner.
Tim,
Excellent book. I am your target audience, a software engineer by profession and an inveterate experimenter in all aspects of my life. I’ve started the SCD to make a 20lb reduction and hopefully get from my 23.5% BF to about 15%. After 6 days down 3.5 lbs and feeling leaner, although my measurements haven’t yet changed that I can tell. But the trend is clear and meals are good. We raise our own eggs so I’m happy to be urged to eat a few more of them.
I’ve had success with Atkins in the past so I knew that the SCD would work for me but I really liked your simplifications and focus on the parts that really work. That really resonated with me as a software engineer who’s always trying to optimize the code in appropriate ways and often doing little experiments to see what works and what doesn’t and what’s the smallest change that gives the greatest return. And of course the 80/20 rule is fundamental to what I do.
My personal experiment was walking. I have congenital flat feet and have always had severe foot pain from walking, which I love to do. After working at home for a couple of years and not traveling too much I found that when I did travel and had to wear shoes my foot pain was the worst it had ever been, to the point that I would go to bed with my feet throbbing. WTF?
I asked my GP and he said “your feet are weak”. Duh–I’d been living in a chair for the last 3 years.
I had tried various orthotics and different kinds of shoes, arch support, etc. over the years and nothing worked. I also had persistent back pain resulting from too much time at my desk and a silly body-boarding injury that wrenched my lower back and gave me sciatic pain if I got too stiff. I also had frozen shoulder, which the doc said there was no direct intervention for but gave me some exercises to do. Oh, and my blood pressure was at the high end of the normal scale. I was at the time 47 years old. And my daughter is only 6 and I want to live to see her graduate college.
In short, I had reached a minor crisis point and had to do something. I realized I needed to get more regular exercise and in particular just move my body more. My programming job meant that I was sitting for 8-10 hours a day more or less immobile. I mouse with my right arm so my left arm essentially never moved above the wrist. I started to realize that might explain the frozen shoulder (that and a year playing Guitar Hero obsessively for hours at a time–i had to stop doing that).
This was about the time that the whole barefoot running thing was hitting the news so I thought what if I just start walking barefoot. That should address all these things:
– Strengthen my feet
– Move my body (correct frozen shoulder)
– Improve my conditioning (lower BP)
– Strengthen my body (lose some weight)
I tried to get some Vibram Five Fingers but the damn things were back ordered to next century so I said what the heck, lets see what barefoot does.
I started walking a 1-mile loop on sidewalks and eventually extended it to a 3-mile loop. It took about 3 or 4 weeks for my soles to toughen up but my structural foot pain went away almost immediately. I can now do up to 6 miles on sidewalks and the Austin Hike and Bike trail, which is mostly decomposed granite. I haven’t had the clock time to see what the limit of my foot endurance is, but it’s an experiment I want to do.
The other effect was that my gait improved dramatically. I could tell that I was walking in a much more balanced and smooth way. I could feel my back unstressing after 2 or 3 miles and the back pain I usually got from long walks went away.
I finally got my VFFs but I only wear them when it’s cold or I’m going to be on really rough surfaces, otherwise I find even them too far from barefoot for comfort (I also got them 1cm too big and they tear up my foot above the heel and I’m too cheap to just buy another pair when I seldom wear them anyway).
Now I have hobbit feet and can pretty much walk on any surface. I also have an aesthetic appreciation for paved surfaces–there’s a whole world of sensation I never knew about before. I also fear tiny shards of broken glass, but that’s another story.
My feet are definitely stronger–I can do toe lifts for days and I only get any structural pain if I walk more than about 4 miles or stand all day and then walk. My frozen shoulder is all but gone and I definitely got leaner, although my weight didn’t change, but I’m sure I replaced fat with muscle (I didn’t measure so I can’t prove it but there’s no doubt that my legs, in particular, are much leaner and stronger than they were). My BP didn’t change that much–I got a decent BP monitor and was surprised when my readings didn’t go down at all. But the overall change was pretty significant.
After reading about studies suggesting that time spent sitting is a larger contributor to poor overall health than time spent exercising, I decided to try a standing desk. That experiment is going well too. Now I can stand barefoot (on a gel mat) for 8 hours or so with no appreciable foot pain and no back pain at the end of the day. It took a couple of weeks for my back to settle out but now I don’t really even want to sit down.
The Austin American Statesman had a recent article about barefoot walking and running and quoted a podiatrist to the effect of “you can’t strengthen your feet” to which my response was “he’s an idiot” since I think I pretty conclusively demonstrated that you can in fact strengthen your feet. Your general point proved, I’d say.
I am looking forward to more (responsible and thoughtful) experimentation. I’m really excited about the potential for improvement that you’ve made so accessible through the 4HB.
Thanks,
Eliot
Hi Eliot,
You might try Crocs for those ‘really rough surfaces’.
jim
Hi Mr. Ferriss
If I recall correctly you mentioned not seeing results until the 4th week if you have had 2 or more children? I’m wondering if age or length of time between and after your children makes a difference? I’m just a bit curious.
I started the 4HB on January 31st. I’m beginning my 4th week tomorrow (2/20/11) and I’ve lost over 18+ lbs. 3 inches on my waist, and 2 on my arms and legs! I will weigh in again on Tuesday to see how much more I have lost. I’m a 33 year old mother of 2 and my daughter will be 8 in April.
The results have been phenomenal!
Thank you for your book, your hard work, dedication and research. You have changed my life!
Finished week 2 last night and weighed in this morning – I have lost a total of 2.2kg which I am pleased about.
This week my waist stayed the same but I lost 1cm off each limb.
According to the DEXA scan I had late last week I have 7-13 kg of fat to lose so I’ll keep plugging along. It’s too early to tell, but I guess for me (female, 40’s two children) the SCD isn’t RAPID fat loss but nevertheless it is “loss” so I don’t care.
Thanks Tim!
I want to get a DEXA scan for body fat test but I can’t seem to find where to get one. I live near Providence RI. Anyone know where to get one near Providence?
I posted a comment that I was platueing last week, and I didnt leave my food. I am a 28 yr. old female,no children. I’ve been doing slow-carb for 4 weeks,and it’s effective,I just expected more results. I love how its improved my relationship with food and eating,I’m sticking with it! Heres my food plan:
breakfast
2 eggs
2 egg whites (2oz. protein)
1 c. vegetables cooked
1 t. macademia nut oil
lunch
3 oz. protein (chicken,lean beef,salmon)
3 c. cooked vegetables
1 T. macademia nut oil
snack/2nd lunch
8 oz. lentils
1 1/2 c. cooked vegetables
dinner
3 oz. protein (beef,chicken,salmon)
3 c. cooked vegetables
1 T. macademia nut oil
this is repeated until Sat. I walk on the treadmill 2-4 times per week, do the kettlebell swing workout 3 times per week, along with some yoga and horseback riding for excercise. Hope I included everything. I measure my total ” on wed.,and I’ve lost about 4″ overall.
thank you!
I’m reading the Four Hour Body book, but I’ve got two questions that I haven’t found answers for so far:
1. The chick peas. Why are they listed in the section with the ‘evil’ foods like pistachios? Is there a reason why I shouldn’t use those instead of or with lentils or beans in the slow carb part? I generally don’t eat much so I wouldn’t have problems not shoveling a gallon of them for a meal, if that’s the reason for the bad listing
2. Egg yolks. I can handle the egg white part, but is it as effective is I just skip the yolks? I just really don’t like the yolk parts.
I read somewhere that Tim had come around to thinking some whole eggs are preferable. My string hunch is just a little yolk every now and then for nutritional balance. Mostly_egg whites should be just fine.
Good luck.
Etienne Taylor
i’ve only been on the slow-carb diet since last thursday but i’ve been pretty strict with the food that i eat. breakfasts consist of a cup of coffee (little cream and sugar) 2 eggs, either scrambled or boiled with some hotsauce for taste, mixed veggies (either cauliflower, broccoli or asparagus) a small side of beans (canned) and turkey sausages. lunch and dinner is pretty much the same except maybe i’ll have some rotisserie chicken or steak OR pork. I haven’t had any fried foods, any fruits, no juice, no “white foods” no noodles, bread, rice, NADA … i haven’t even had any brown rice or oatmeal…..i weighed myself today and i have not lost 1 lb. i look a bit slimmer but i’m not sure, it could be wishful thinking. i currently weigh 112 at 5’4″ … i thought i would at least lose 2-3 lbs in the first couple of days seeing how i’m taking out most of the sugar in my diet (i have a sweet tooth, eat LOTS of sweets everyday) .. why haven’t i lost any weight? is it because i’m within 2-3 days of menstruation? could that be it? please help… i’m a bit discouraged….
Try to get rid of the sugar and cream in your coffee. I would guess the cream is better then the sugar, but if you can go black. If you can’t, switch to tea.
If you are also working out and gaining muscle, the best tool to gauge your progress is going to be a tape measure.
The book also says water retention before your period will show on the scale. I would suggest staying strict and seeing where your weight is a week again you finish your period.
And like other mentioned, you are already in a low weight class. What are your goals?
I’ve never had coffee black before because I have a problem with acid reflux, black coffee sounds like it would be extremely hard on your stomach…I’m a huge coffee drinker… I used to drink 2-3 cups a day, with two spoons of sugar + cream, of course, I’ve since then cut down to 1 cup a day and just with 2 spoons of cream + 1 spoon of sugar… is that 1 spoon of sugar going to make a big difference while I’m on this diet? Also, is it ok to drink grapefruit juice? I remember seeing it someone in the book that it is ok… I could be wrong though. My goal is to lose about 5 lbs and tone my muscles…. seems hard to lose those 5 lbs for some reason. The reason why I’m trying to lose specifically 5 lbs is because that is how much I’ve gained in the last year. My weight has always been pretty steady until I turned 31. 🙁
Tina,
wow! you wiegh 112 lbs and you want to lose? why? maybe the reason you are not losing is that you are at your body’s optimum weight.
Also, for 112 you are eating quite a bit. I am not sure i could down that much food and i am 5’2″ and 130 lbs, i’m 47.
I know it sounds ridiculous to want to lose weight when I’m at 112lb… but it’s because I’m just frustrated with this extra 5lbs I’ve put on this year…but yes, I’ve got a huge appetite… maybe I should eat less? BTW… I started breaking out on my face BADLY since I’ve started this diet… I don’t know whether it’s the eggs or the meat.. or possibly the beans??? I had to stop the diet for now and my face calmed down immediately. Anyone has any suggestions??
I forgot to mention that have also started kettlebell exercises … 15-20min, every other day….
Your scale is a pretty poor measuring device. I finally got rid of mine (It was hard but I put it in the trash)
The most sophisticated measuring device or system any of us have is our eyes and a full length mirror.
Next up is a good tape measure which unlike a scale is very hard to fool.
Muscle and minor water weight gain most likely. Keep it up and your pants won’t recognize you.
Good luck.
Etienne Taylor
Thanks Etienne and JeffW, I haven’t given up on this diet yet, I had a cheat day yesterday, i was craving sweets like no other! I ate until the point where I felt sick though, and I’m actually GLAD I’m going back on the diet today. Breakfast was beans, eggs and a raw tomato. Didn’t have time to make any meats today. If nothing else, this diet definitely makes me physically feel better. When I eat a lot of sweets/rice/noodle/bread, I just feel bloated and blehhhhh. I think I may be eating TOO MUCH the past few days, I never even let myself get hungry… is that ok? Should I be adding or taking out anything to my diet to help me lose just a bit of weight? I’d like to be at around 108 instead of 112 at my height. What is The Last Mile?
I agree with Etienne. You need better measurements. But, the other item to consider is that you only weigh 112 pounds. You are going to be hard pressed to lose a whole lot of weight IMO. The kettlebells will help change body composition which will probably be your best bet in the long run. Have you read the Last Mile yet?
Has anybody tried the Cirrus Quadrangularis(CQ) supplement? I just ordered some with my PAGG stack. I’ve read about it on line with a lot of positive feedback, almost to good to be true! Just wanted to see if anyone has combined with the SCD.
Thanks
Jeff
One of two studies behind most of the news of Cissus quadrangularis
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1476-511X-7-12.pdf
Funded by Gateway Health Alliances Inc
Oben, the lead researcher, is actually employed at Gateway Health Alliances Inc, which supplied all the testing materials (and probably funded) all of these studies (if you search, you’ll find “All testing materials were supplied by Gateway Health Alliances”).
Apparently, they’ve hired Oben as the “Chief Scientific Officer” at Gateway. How’s that for impartial.
In addition, Oben holds a patent on Cissus’ use as a weight loss aid: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P…S=PN/7,175,859.
Oben is the “inventor” and Gateway Health Alliances is the assignee. Apparently Oben and Gateway Health Alliances have been working together since as early as 2000.
In 2006, Oben published a similar study “The use of a Cissus quadrangularis formulation in the management of weight loss and metabolic syndrome”. In that study he used a different product from Gateway Health Alliances called Cylaris. It was a mixture of several ingredients including cissus. Of course, it had amazing results, results that Gateway Health Alliances relies on heavily in their marketing: http://www.cylarisweightloss.com/
This doesn’t mean that Oben’s research is necessarily bogus, but can you tell me why an American corporation is having an obscure university in a poor West African country do all the research on their products, while simultaneously employing the lead researcher?
Further, how reputable is “Lipids in Health and Disease”, the journal that these were studies were published in?
Some things to think about.
When you read through all this, it does seem that Dr Oben does have a relationship with the Cylaris product, and the Cylaris product does make similar weight loss claims.
Has anybody tried the Cirrus Quadrangularis(CQ) supplement? I just ordered some with my PAGG stack. I’ve read about it on line with a lot of positive feedback, almost to good to be true! Just wanted to see if anyone has combined with the SCD.
Thanks
Jeff
I bought you book on CD a month ago and have some comments. 1. Since I’ve never been a body builder, I don’t know any of the exercises to which you refer. I probably could find them on the internet, but that’s a lot of trouble. Could you make some videos and place them on your blog to illustrate, especially the kettle-bell. I’ve been using a full bucket of paint (never opened) and a oven mitt for cushioning my hands. I feel the muscles growing stronger. 2. You should look up Olingonal and the double blind studies for belly fat. Check ScienceDaily web site for lots of the latest research. 3. I think you mislead people about brown fat. It’s seems from what I’ve read that each individual’s amount may vary with some people having none. We’d have to have quantity of brown fat analyzed, not practical, for each person. 4. I wish this blog had areas. Trying to read the posts is too frustrating with there being topics under which posts are organized. 5. Thank you for sharing all your information and experimentation with us.
I know that we are not supposed to have dairy because of the lactose. but what about goat cheese or goat yogurt. These do have the lactose like a cows milk products do?
Also based on the nutrition label and what I have found on the internet lentils and split peas are pretty much the same thing, so can I use the split peas in place of lentil I think they taste better.
Sugar alcohols??Are they ok? They are ok for diabetics at least thats what I have read, but what about for us?
Thanks
Clarification on SOY MILK and ALMOND MILK.
Tim, you mention no soy milk, but you are allowed to eat soy beans…arent they the same in base?
also is almond milk safe? both are have no dairy nor lactose.
I appreciate the answer.
Clarification on SOY MILK and ALMOND MILK.
Tim, you mention no soy milk, but you are allowed to eat soy beans…arent they the same in base?
also is almond milk safe? both have no dairy nor lactose.
I appreciate the answer.
Continuing in my journey for another SCD compatible sweetener, I ordered PURE xylitol. (don’t want to advertise but I can post the link if anyone wants it) It’s made in the USA from birch bark. Many companies are selling China made corn cob derived Xylitol which is not what you want. It was 75 packets for about $7.95 I think. Kind of pricey. Although the flavor of it is pretty good (better than Stevia I think), it takes twice as much to sweeten. Otherwise it’s great. I don’t notice any difference in weight loss than with Stevia but that’s just me. I’m averaging about 3 pounds a week but not working out right now or doing PAGG.
The interesting lesson I’ve learned from this is, as with EVERYTHING ELSE, many of these manufacturers like to hide things. Going back to my previous favorite, Ideal, it says Xylitol on the box and looks wonderful until you read that it has sucralose (splenda) which contributes greatly to it’s sweetness and is a no-no on SCD. Once I obtained PURE Xylitol, I can see the stark contrast between the two. Do not accept any sweetener without doing heavy research on ingredients even if the label and/or box seem fine. Another example is I purchased “Stevia in the raw” and it has dextrose in it. It’s not pure Stevia. It’s really quite maddening when you try to match SCD with any sweetener unless you can cut thru all the deception and get to the good products. Thankfully they exist but more than likely you’ll need to get them online. I have come to the conclusion that I’ll use a packet or two of either pure stevia or nutrasweet (aspartame) which Tim seemed to mention as the lone acceptable (in small quantities) sweeteners. For the little amount I’ll be using (sweetening my morning coffee) and the fact that I don’t plan to be on SCD indefinitely, I think Aspartame is not a bad option but again that’s just me.
For those who have recently asked, unsweetened almond milk is acceptable but everything in moderation I believe.
Sugar alcohols = xylitol….see above.
I hope I was able to contribute something helpful here. Sweeteners can be a major stumbling block for SCD and I think everyone should know as much as possible about them. In fact, I think Tim should release some sort of blog based addendum dedicated purely to sweeteners. It is a huge issue and so many of us struggle with giving up the sweetener for one reason or another. Based on the posts here I know I’m not alone. Have a great day everyone!
Thank you for this article. I started the slow-carb-diet this week and I’m already seeing major results. I feel healthy, clean, light and fancy. No cheating! Until Saturday that is. I cut out coffee completely because I don’t trust that I won’t be brought down by the fact that I can’t use sugar & cream. Either way, it’s working and I’m very pleased!
I’m looking for some feedback or guidance, I’ve read the book (buffet style) and wanted to make sure I’m not missing anything. I’m having an “age crisis”. I’ve got 12 weeks before turning 40 and like the 20lb recomp goal. I’m currently about 6′, 190lbs, and about 22% bf. Since I would like to add about 10 lbs of muscle and loose 10lbs of fat I was thinking the following:
Beginning with 4 weeks on a bulking schedule (freak to geek or Occam’s protocol) using LOMAD /protein shakes) followed by 8 weeks of cutting using the slow carb diet, kettlebell swings, and continuing the lifting schedule to prevent from loosing muscle.
I also train in martial arts (BJJ) 2-3 times per week. I’m wondering if that will cause over training at some point during the 12 weeks.
Anybody out there have similar goals, or success stories? Any comments, advice, and feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Been doing SCD for 10 days, really love it! My copy of the book is an ebook from borders which i am using on an ipad. I keep trying to select topics from the index thinking that will be a link back to the location of the topic in the body of the book. Does not link to anything. What i am trying to find ? – the recipes shown in the index. What chapter are they in? Or am i hallucinating from lack of sugar?
Thanks for this book Tim, it is terrific.
For those interested, I saw a deal on Vibram FiveFinger shoes today.
http://www.citysports.com/Vibram-FiveFingers-Classic-Smartwool—Mens/190018/Product
TIm,
thanks for the update on 4hb, ATM having fun playing with body recomp to bad my friend who dragged me into this isn’t so happy,
Any ways down to my reasons for disengaging lurk mode.
The recipe for Mike Mahlers protein cookies,are they ok to nom during the week while using the slow card diet? I read up on the dietary break down of the recipe and it turns out that maca is 60% carbs so I’m not sure if it’s ok for weekly snack? or should it be restricted to saturday binges only?
thanks
Gaston
Gaston,
There is no snacking on this diet. You eat enough at meals so as to not snack. A cookie of any sort seems like a domino food that is going to cause problems. I would suggest keeping it simple and realize that if you are using this to loose weight that it is not a forever thing. Commit to 4 weeks as an experiment with no reservations and no cheating except one day a week, and I think you will be really happy with how you feel and with the results.
Hi Guys! I started incorporating kettlebells into my regular workout regimen and have noticed a HUGE difference. The kettlebell swing is probably the best full-body workout I have had, and I am an avid gym goer. I started with the 20 pound weight and plan on increasing when I can do 75 reps in a row (so far I am only able to do about 40 in a row). I strength-train regularly so for someone who is not accustomed to heavy weights, 10 or 15 pounds might be a better option (for women). My husband uses 35 pounds. Here is a link to the kettlebell I use. It is MUCH cheaper than others I came across and functions the same:
http://www.amazon.com/GoFit-15-Pound-Kettlebell-Coating-Training/dp/B000XLXQKC
Check Walmart.com for some reasonably priced kettlebells. …and, you can have them shipped to your local store for pickup and avoid the shipping costs for those heavy items.
Tim, Have you experimented with the medium chain triglyceride effect of coconut oil? You note that you like macademia nut oil and olive oil. I’m just wondering if you found coconut oil to help speed weight loss?
Thanks, Marta
I bought my first bottle/jar (Virgin Coconut Oil) hoping somebody would ask that question. I’ll be experimenting with it in a few weeks unless I learn something new suggesting that I shouldn’t)
LOVE THIS DIET ! I’m having incredible success and feel really good ! One slightly embarrassing question — I am constipated – which is not usual for me – any suggestions ??? Thanks! This is the diet I’ve been searching for for over 30 years ! THANKS!!!
Your body is probably just getting used to a different diet. I’m sure you’ll be fine in no time. I know a few people who have been constipated in the beginning. I assume your eating plenty of greens?
Er me too, a bit earlier during my first week. (It was unusual for me since I used to eat fruit like a drunken chimpanzee and drink coffee like a sailor on a 12 step program)
Mine got better when I upped my water intake to ridiculous. (Because of my newly well irritated self I also supplement potassium/magnesium/zinc+calcium. See Tim’s reference for correct dosing)
Congratulations and welcome aboard.
Etienne Taylor
@Lisa
Get some Psyllium Husks. Big container is cheap.Whatever amount with meals. More expensive are metumucil capsules (more portable too).
Good insurance because constipation can reach nightmare proportions really quick. If you get really stuck, google it, you aren’t alone and you might need someone else’s experience to get out of yours.
Take this seriously. There is “stuck” and there is “really stuck”.
My constipation went away after the 2nd week.
Since childhood I’ve been using olive oil and lemon as my salad dressing. You say you use oil and vinegar. BUT you were surprised how little lemon/lime affected your glucose response…so…can I continue using lemons (1/2 a lemon per dressing) or sadly switch to vinegar?
Thanks!
Lemon lover, Nas 🙂
Nasim,
Actually, Tim said quite the opposite. Lemon is much more effective at glucose regulation than vinegar. I think everybody on this page is using lemon juice. Go ahead!
4HB is (naturally) very man oriented. While you have subjects who are women, most of the experiments that you outline seem to be more geared toward men with women as an afterthought. While I love the book, this point made me frustrated at many times. Should the diet change at all during time of menstruation or other cycles in a woman’s life? Are the supplements you suggested right for women too – at the same levels? How do cold showers and ice baths affect women? Since you deal with hormones an awful lot, it seemed very important. This was especially apparent when my period came 2 weeks early as a side effect of switching to a low carb diet – something google helped me through…
I love the straight forward nature of the book – most diet books for women are flowery or worry more about boosting confidence – and wish there was something out there that focused on maximizing the performance of a woman’s body as 4HB does for men.
I’m a little miffed on the pagg stack as on a lot of the items it says to have max of one tablet a day which would be 200-300mg. But on this stack you would have this 4 times a day, can this really be safe.
Does anyone have a sheet with the eating times on it and how much should be eaten at each meal. Some of the snack meals aren’t list as to what you should have.
Also, I’m lost as to what to have before bedtime to stop my insulin from spiking if I don’t want to take the stack…I think I may start my own blog.
Thanks Russ
Hello Russ,
Have you finished reading “The 4 Hour Body” yet? I believe most of your questions are answered. They are covered rather directly.
Personally I’m not sure I would worry too much about decaffeinated green tea, ALA (which is known to be virtually nontoxic, see the book, and/or check the Google) or Garlic. Admittedly I do not know much about Pollicosanal but the 23 micro-gram dose was tested by Tim and his beta testers reported to be the minimum effective dose*.
Eating times, start with a meal of about 30 grams of protein for breakfast within 30 minutes of waking and extend across your day to a total of 3 or 4 meals of roughly the same size and nutrient profile. (One or more of these meals can be characterized as a snack but by in large if you feel the need to snack you just increase portion size. Again it is in the book)
If you want to control insulin spikes during sleep. 1. Don’t go to bed hungry. 2. Try a tablespoon of almond butter. (It is in the book)
I am sorry you’re miffed. This blog very helpful. If you want to start your own I’ll be happy to check it out.
Good luck.
Best,
Etienne (Call me the “Fonze”) Taylor
*[note: some of the recommended minimum effective doses in the PAGG stack are incorrect in the book. These were cleared up by Tim early in this blog.]
Russ,
I have to agree with Etienne. If you read the book, you’ll see that almost all of your questions are answered. I don’t think anybody knows much about policosinol, but the other three items are known to be safe. Also, they aren’t part of the main program…they are auxiliary. This whole thing is an experiment. Please don’t be miffed. Instead, take the attitude that this is an experiment that may change your life. If it doesn’t, I don’t think you lost anything. Try it out, and really commit to it for a few weeks, and I think you’ll see results. I know for a fact that you’ll feel better.
Just want to say what great fun I’m having on this diet– I started on Valentine’s day and as of this morning have lost 7 lbs! I have about 40 lbs total to lose.
What I enjoy the most is the whole “self-experimenting” thing. I haven’t been able to find anything about corn– except the book states we can eat veggies– corn’s a veggie–. I’ve added (on the stove) popcorn with butter and corn tortillas, all in moderation and haven’t seen a problem occur. I’ll keep trying little things to see what works and what doesn’t. If the scale goes up.. I’ll know, didn’t work. I think that’s what the essence of Tim’s book is– self experimentation.
I’ve also split up the meals as well– I can’t face beans first thing in the morning– I drink my protien shake and coffee, then a couple of hours later I’ll have my eggs, avocado and beans, somewhere in the day I get in the beans and veggies I missed in the morning. So far seems to work.
I did see today that Tim suggests stopping the PAGG stack one day a week and for a week every two months– I’m wondering if there are side effects to this stack and why this might be suggested. I do think the stack is really helping. Good luck to all of you!
Corn is a grain, not a veggie. Also, get a tape and measure as the scale will lie to you. I’ve seen it happen. 😉
Tim,
I am a 56 year old male. I started the 4 Hour Body diet on Sunday and all week my urine flow has been affected. Could the diet possibly have an affect on my urine flow?
I have been searching, but cannot find any information on “Greek Yogurt”. I know the rule of…if we have to ask then don’t eat it, but I thought I remember seeing some clarification somewhere but I can’t find it.
no to Greek Yogurt except for cheat days
Time referred to cottage cheese, not yogourt. NOT the same thing. Yougourt has more sugar and possibly more fat, depending what kind you get.
Quick question for Tim or anyone else who may know the answer. The book says that PAGG has blood-thinning properties. Which particular components of it are blood-thinning? Also, aside from cinnamon, which I know also thins out of the blood, do any other supplements mentioned in the book have blood-thinning properties?
Question regarding neck/back ICE THERAPY:
I bought a wrap that contours perfectly around my neck and incorporates the upper back — but now realize it is not an “ice” pack, but a “cold” pack. I assume cold is not cold enough…however, I hesitate to “assume” since the chapter states “cold…can make BAT appear within WAT…” (p.127).
What is the consensus…cold pack vs ice pack? Do I need it to be essentially a frozen pack?
Tim,
I have probably thanked you 4 times on your blog, but I think its appropriate, based on the life changing events that have taken place in my life since I started your diet. Here is my individual success:
*I have lost 43 lbs. since December 20 th
*I went from 298 and now weigh 255
*I am down to a 43 inch waist….I did not measure initially, but I was probably like 50 inch range.
Those are all measurables that everyone can relate to. What has been most significant is that it has sparked me to start learning again. I have had a successful career in my field and it has taught me to strive to get better in my field an in life. I have helped get 5 other people onto your diet and they have seen success on your diet. My friends and I created our own group on google where we share our successes, celebrate our cheat day, share best practices on recipes. We just started this two weeks ago and has really helped to motivate the 6 of us and keep us going. There is power in feeling that you are “in it” together with a group of people. I can see their lives changing as well. It has made me a more positive person (and I thought I was positive before) and I just have a different perspective on life.
Thanks Tim for the new positive perspective on life, your book is truly inspiring to do things that are not only in the book, but a result of the book!
I have read the 4HB and listened to the tapes several times. I will be starting the Geek to Freak program as soon as I finish what I am currently working on.
Question? Where does a person in Ontario, Canada find some of the supplements? I cannot seem to locate a store that sells Policosanol 23mg, Micellean or BodyQuick.
Is Jamieson’s “Chelated Chromium” a suitable substitute for Chromate?
Micellean appears to be in some protein products but is that the best way to get it and what should I avoid in those products?
I have several weeks to plan but would like to have everything ready for kick-off.
PS worst case, I am going to Ann Arbor MI. in a couple weeks, anysuggestions on stores there that would have those products?
Hi everybody
I haven’t found it in the book – is there an optimal time to take AGG before the meal? With the meal or half an hour before? Does it matter? Anybody have any thoughts on this?
I’ve been wondering about that myself. I am not doing a full PAGG. Pretty much just the garlic pills at the moment and usually with meals.
Hey Nancy!! Tim does say in the cold chapter (I believe…. because I know I read it) that he takes AGG with the morning 500 ml of ice water upon waking and then eats 20-30 minutes later. So I have been taking my AGG 20-30 minutes before each of my three meals and then the PAGG right before bed (I know Tim states on this blog to omit the green tea before bed, but I don’t, and it doesn’t affect my sleep at all). Hope that helps.
Been reading 4HB recently and tonight I ran 7 miles iin 41.30 minutes! Cheers 🙂
Finished week 3 last night and took the data this morning.
No change to the scale, but I had steeled myself for this given I am within a week of my cycle. I reckon the week 4 result (after cycle) will be huge :-D.
The good news was I lost another 2cm from my waist this week, which totals to 5cm lost from the waist since I began SCD. I also lost another 1cm from the torso measured a the navel. Makes a nice difference to wearing clothes which are now somewhat loose.
I’m up to 30 kettlebell swings with the 8kg one.
Quite proud that I negotiated a Friday night wedding. I didn’t want to switch Binge Days so had only water and red wine at the pre-reception, and then *happy days* the entree was a big piece of smoked Tasmanian salmon followed by the main dish of porterhouse steak on a bed of spinach!! It was easy to ignore the bit of potato on the plate.
I drank the lovely red wine all night and only had 2 spoonfuls of the dessert (I reckoned it was close enough to Saturday).
I forgot the Policosanol most nights last week, will make sure I get this in this week.
Thanks Tim!!
Tim,
In regard to the diet. What’s your opinion on 1. Beef Jerky (I’ve been using at as a snack to curb cravings) 2. Gum (to suppress any sweet tooth urges, especially after a meal)
Also, do you have a list anywhere of certain ingredients that help manipulate the body to make it do what you want it to do. You briefly mention grape fruit juice in the morning, and yerba mate. But I don’t see anywhere you have all the information put together? Maybe a good idea to do if you don’t? Could you include compatibility with Slow-Carb Diet (for example no fruit on slow carb diet, but would the grape fruit just help the overall goal)?
Thanks,
Victor
Victor,
I did my best to put everything for the SCD together into a spreadsheet that works as a daily schedule. I’m sure it’s not perfect, but a place to start. There’s a link somewhere around here on one of my posts.
Jeff would really like to see your spreadsheet but cannot find a link.
Here you go.
http://www.box.net/shared/vpk6pogggq
Hello- My husband and I have been enjoying a steady weight/inches loss thanks to Tim’s research.
I do have a question, that I haven’t been able to find anywhere….
Is there a certain amount of protein that we should be consuming as a required minimum daily intake??
just want to make sure I’m gettin all the protein I need…. I normally have a whey protein shake (52g protein) in the morning- skip lunch (work is awful) and have a balanced dinner w/a glass of wine-
Thanks!!!!
Hey,
Tim does say that you should get a minimum of 30g protein per meal. Search protein content of different foods on Google(easy!).
I would be careful with the whey protein: check the calories and the carb content of that. Even though Tim says we are not technically counting calories, the fact is that you cannot consume 4K calories every day and lose fat.
hope this helps>
I’ve been following the Slow Carb diet for a little over a week now and I look like I’m pregnant!! I don’t have that much gas or discomfort at all from the beans/legumes consumption. Is there something I need to change in order to make the belly go down? I have a tendency to store fat/gain weight in my hips so the belly being as large as it is is quite disconcerting! When should I start seeing results?
Hi Tim, and everyone posting to the board:
I turned thirty this year and have been struggling with the effects of PCOS since I was 19. I’ve been on and off Metformin with little to no change in my weight. I look at a chicken finger sideways and I would gain a pound. What made me pick up 4HB was a coworker of mine (we work in a bookstore). Since we have the maturity of five year olds , she was showing me the 15 minute orgasm chapter, and I started looking for a male equivalent (By the way, a good idea for the next book. It’s not just the men who want to rock the bedroom) . I kept flipping and the more I flip the more I was interested, and finally bought the book. This is my second week of SCD, and I’m finding it fun to play with. I tried desperately to include eggs in my diet- no go. I went to all sorts of cafes and restaurants figuring out the perfect SCD tasty lunches and started a notebook I could go to in a pinch: girls want to go to Bobby’s Burgers? “Topless” Turkey/beef/ or chicken burger Philly style no provolone on the baby greens. Panera? Any salad minus strips/croutons, dressing and a bowl of black bean soup.
I started Kettlebells with a lighter weight, but I do them in the morning before work, building up my time and reps. Already I walk and sit taller with less effort. I know I’m losing but the experimenting and effects I feel day to day are what keep me going.
I know I mentioned this before in an earlier reply, but with the help of this blog I found a great way to work my early quick breakfasts: 1 serv 365 peanut/ almond butter (no sugar!), mixed with my protein powder, a small amount of water, and eaten with celery sticks for an extra crunch.
Thanks, this was a great book you put together, and good luck to everyone.
HI
Just a quick question regarding the diet. Spinach seems to be the best green veg to be using but when mentioned are we talking cooked or raw? This really is a question regarding all vegetables. There are 5 of us following the program and really want to follow it to the letter. We range in age from 30-60 so it will be interesting to see the results at the end of the first 4 weeks.
Hi Tim,
I read in several footnotes (I’m mostly through the book by now) that you were experimenting with food allergies.
I picked up the book because I’ve been in a physical self-improvement phase for a while now, improving my strength, body fat, endurance, appearance, mental health and a whole range of such things.
What actually started this whole movement for me was an allergen elimination diet. In October of 2009 I decided I was sick of all my intestinal problems and through the diet identified a large number of foods I am intolerant of or allergic to. The resulting improvement in how I felt overall, my ability to do activities that didn’t require needing a possible bathroom nearby, my nutrient absorption, and the increase in self esteem from all the previous mentioned items was what kickstarted the rest of my exercise, diet, emotional/psychological growth, etc.
But now I have big list of foods I can’t eat, with no solution in sight, and an HMO whose conclusion has consistently been: “well, if you can’t eat that, then we recommend you don’t eat it.” Period, no further treatment.
What’s extra odd is the range of symptoms. My casein and soy intolerances are typical of people with those intolerances. My big collection of vegetable intolerances make my intestines vacate, often within half an hour of consumption. Bananas and watermelon give me mild versions of anaphylacitc symptoms. Avocados make me get huge blisters deep in my lips. Lip. Blisters.
These have shown up over years, starting with milk about five years ago.
If you’re ever intersted into looking into the origin and cures for food allergies and intolerances and want to contact me, I’d be happy to help and try anything you have in mind. I’d love to see what you come up with.
I love the book.
Thanks,
Shawn B.
Denver
Hi Tim,
I suspect this to be a typo as well:
P. 101
2:00 PM:
Citrus kombucha, 454kg/16oz (60kcal)
If not, I have to salute you for munching down 454 kilograms of kombucha 🙂
Oh, and the copy I have is a paperback published by Vermilion, ordered from Amazon.co.uk, in case there are some differences between the UK and US versions.
//sami
Sami,
I imagine that it is correct. 16 ounces of kombucha isn’t really that much. It is an acquired taste however.
454kg is not 16oz. Given that 1kg == 2.2 pounds 454kg is more on the order of a half ton!
My wife and I have been on the SCD for just over a month, the results have been outstanding! Both of us have reduced body fat, weight, and inches. We are getting into some clothes that we haven’t seen in years. I have been absolutely blown away by our results on the SCD.
I do have a question. We will be taking the family on a cruise in about three weeks. Since half of the fun of a cruise ship is eating to an excess, how much damage will I do on a week long binge? I welcome any advice on this subject.
Thanks,
Joe
Congrats, Joe! Read the “Damage Control: Preventing Fat Gain When You Binge” chapter before you head out on the cruise.
Worst case scenario: you gain 10 pounds on the trip, then come back and lose all of it again in a few weeks.
– Charlie
Tim,
Questions about the cheat protocol:
1) bowel habits do not seem to be appreciably different on cheat day. If I read the book correctly, doing the squats prior and 90 min after eating should help keep the ‘bad’ foods from being absorbed, resulting in more frequent movements. Doing the exercises, not noticing any difference.
2) how much weight gain is normal for cheating. First two cheat days, up marginally the day after, but up 3-4 on second morning. If cheat day is Saturday, it takes til Thursday to get close to previous low. This means that loss is about 1-2 pounds a week net. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Mr Ferris I have an important Q:? I am 45yrs old and 4feet and 9in tall and I started the diet about a week ago, and the reason I am writing is my husband and I are wondering if I should have a portion control? how much should I have of beans and veg? I know I am having small portions of meat because we are trying to budget, but I love my beans and he say’s that I am eating a lot? I gained 1 pound, 2 day’s after my cheat day I make my beans from scratch I buy them Organic in bulk its cheaper to buy them that way, and that way I know that their is no hidden sugars or MSG I cook all my meals from scratch for the same reason,I have not cheated and I thought that I would be craving sweet’s and I don’t, I am also exercising I go on my non work out day’s for a 45min to 1hr walks with my husband and on the other day’s I do the work outs from pages 165 and 167 in the mornings I have to admit the kettle bells are an incredible work out I am seeing some changes and in the evenings I do my club bells a total of 30 min work out in the evening that we’ve been doing off and I mean more off than on for 7yrs I’m just now being very consistent since I started this diet I used to be soooooo tiny in shape and well now that is a total different story, I know that my husband is 6ft tall and 275lbs and swings 25lbs clubbells 3times a week and I eat less than half of protein,but when I add the beans it looks very close to his portion. could some one please give me a clue on what to do all I want is to be successful at this way of eating I really do not call this a diet I actually love not needing the carbs. and when toning up is it normal to have the stomach look so distended? I’m seeing my arms and thighs get smaller but I’m looking pregnant?? is this normal? I also lost 5lbs four day’s after I started the diet. Please give me a clue??? Last Q: I buy rotel salsa is that good it has 2grams of sugar is that from the tomatoes I’m toooo lazy to make my homemade salsa it the cost in tomatoes is sort of expensive I add cilantro and onions and fresh lime juice with salt to taste so in total of my whole writing I have 3 important Q? 1= Portion or is my husband eating to little???
2= Distended stomach
3= Rotel Salsa? I pray some one can give me these answers
Hi Any,
Q1 portion control.
Definitely do portion control, you are tiny. At EVERY meal eat NO LESS than 30g of protein. Read the labels on the meats or Google proteing content and how much you need to get the required 30g. This is all in the book. Since you are so small, I would highly suggest that you eat lean meats: this means fish and poultry, no pork or beef. Try beef only on cheat day.
Legumes: try 1/2 cup at first see how that works for you. No there are no difinitive answers, you need to try this and that and figure it out, think!
Do not eat less tha 1/2 c, you will be hungry and want to turn to sugar and bread (almost the same thing!). If you start losing, then you can increase the legumes to 3/4 c and see what happens. Do not change more than one variable at a time otherwise you will not know what is making the change.
Eat as many veggies as you want. I would suggest at least half your veggies raw- more enzymes and nutrients. This means salad and lemon juice, try to stay off dressing unless on cheat day. Cook the rest of your veggies if you want. The more raw the better nutrition (not absolutely, but for the most part).
Also, be careful with some of the veggies. You are ok with anything green, all greens have a low glycemic index. But as soon as you stray off green the sugar content rises and you get an insulin spike. You don’t want that. You can Google Glycemic Index of anything, you want to stay below 40. Do the comparison yourself.
Q2 cream. Get off it. Try having 2 cups of coffee with 2Tbsp 2% milk in each cup and see if it makes a difference. If not go to only 2 Tbsp milk. Period. But you can’t be serious guzzling cream and wanting to lose weight!
Q3 I do not know the specific nutritional content of the Rotel brand. The bottom line is that you want as little sugar as possible. Sugar=BAD. Have no more than 1/4c salsa per serving and see what happens. This is all about trying things out and making intelligent conclusions based on your observations and self-experimenting.
Hi, I have no problem with coffee without milk. Other, bigger, issue for me is how to take it on an empty stomach. It doesn’t matter if it is instant, filter or espresso, if I have coffee before food I am instantly rushing to the toilet – and I feel pretty bad for a while after. This is usually with sweetened coffee, but on the rare occasion someone made it for me and forgot the sugar, I found my body reacted even more violently.
But I can have really strong espresso as long as I have had a very small amount of some food, usually carbs, but protein works as well.
Cinnamon is no problem, a local coffee bar sometimes makes me a cup with some coffee in the Cinnamon (not my choice) and it’s ok. Odd, but OK.
I’m discouraged! Been following SCD since FEB. 1. This past week I didn’t lose an ounce and actually went up 1/4″. Have lost 5″ and 8lbs.total. I am following the diet exactly. The only thing I did differently this week from my usual was to have 1 Tblsp of almond butter before bed a couple of times because I was hungry and a few (10 or less) almonds before lunch and dinner. I have been doing the Kiwi’s exercises and PAGG.
Is it possible that this blog only attracts comments from the fantastically successful and that less than amazing results are actually not unusual just not blogged very often?
At this point, I don’t know whether to forgo my cheat day, eat less during the week, eat less fat, go hungry more or stuff myself more! Or maybe just go back to a calorie reduced diet. I have another 10 lbs. to lose (or about another 6″)
Sorry to say it Nancy, but I am in the same boat. I don’t want to get discouraged and was so happy about this diet right off the bat. I did lose in the beginning (pants that were super tight, now feel somewhat normal) and now I am finishing week five. But it’s definitely not the change I was expecting. My progress keeps slowing and the only days out of the week that I actually feel somewhat thin, are the two days (or even just the day) before free day. The rest of the week, I feel like crap and like I am in recovery mode (I am now scared to put carbs or anything sugary in my system and I was not like that before…..yes, I still do cheat day).
I have seen some women with success, but it seems far and few between and the men are dropping weight like crazy (I know men lose faster, but still…..). I am always questioning if I am doing this right or should I be eating more or maybe I should be eating less……and why don’t I feel thinner??!! Super frustrating. I promised myself I would give it 8 weeks, so I have another two to go, and then I am thinking of changing things up. Don’t really know what to do but I have about another 20-30 pounds in appearance that I would like to see gone. This has been a good jump start, but I just feel lost since I am seeing no more progress. Probably not the post you wanted to see. Maybe give yourself some more time, see if anything changes, and if not, go a different route. It may just not work for some of us women (and yes, for those wondering, I keep a detailed food log so if anyone thinks I am not following it, I can post that, and I have read the chapters a good 5 times, taking notes along the way…I am only 26, no thyroid issues, and no kids…overall, healthy but a little xtra baggage.). KEEP ME POSTED!!
I’ve been having the same problem! Ive lost 11 inches but have gone up half a pound. My one month is tomorrow and i was hoping to be down atleast 15 pounds by now but I’M NOT GIVING UP AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU! Keep eating lots of legumes because that’s what’s giving you energy and (supposed to be) filling you up. How much water are you drinking? I realized last week when i was in the same boat as you that i probably wasnt drinking as much water as i should be so today i kicked it into water overload. For me, i love this program and don’t ever want to stop …. but i still havent lost a pound. HOWEVER he does day that although men drop weight, Women drop inches — so don’t be discouraged!
Tim – I just started your diet last Monday (2/28/11) and weighed myself the previous Sunday. I weighed 197 lbs. On Wed. morning (3/2/11) I re-weighed and the scale said I lost 5.7 lbs. I was thrilled but then on Friday morning (3/4/11) I weighed and I had GAINED 1.1 lbs. What happened? I have tried to do everything as per the book. I get up at 5:00 AM and within 30 min. eat two hard-boiled eggs with a bottle of Propel Zero Calorie water. At around 10:00 AM I eat a black bean soup with chicken and around 2:00 PM eat the soup again. At 6:00 PM I eat half an avacado with celery and black beans. Should I avoid the “cheat” day? And stick to the diet? Am I doing something wrong? Any assistance would be deeply appreciated. I LOVE your book and am sincerely hoping it will help me lose 40 lbs. Thanks for everything!
I am having a terrible time eating all what I am suppose to eat. I wake up and have coffee with cinnamon, Sometimes twice. Breakfast is a mess of egg whites, salsa, green veggies, spinach, swiss chard, beans, usually black, about 1/2=-3/4 of a cup. I eat half of this for breakfast, For lunch I nuke 4 oz of chicken breast, slice up and put it all together. Dinner doesn’t make it sometimes. I am just not hungry. Late night I will take either a spoon full of almond butter or some nuts. I may eat nuts throughout out the day. 4-6 at a time. Point is, I feel great. I’m thinking about what I have to eat, NOTE have to eat, for cheat day. Bread, cheese, have no taste anymore. Being in LA the food has very little taste. Here are my questions. I have some mirin, I would like to marinate some persian cucumbers in it along with some salt and some japanese pepper seasoning. i also have a really good dressing for green veggies which is tahini, parsley, water, umani and it is good, is it ok on 4HRB? I don’t weigh myself and I don’t take daily cold showers, but I feel great. Im going to Target to buy a new pair of $15 Wrangler jeans, size 38 weight, only 8 more inches to go!
I wanted to share my success story. I’ve long had problem with triglycerides and my Dr. has been trying to help me manage it, I’m also prediabetic. My pre 4HB diet blood work show triglycerides at 913 (normal is less than 150) and blood glucose at 121, HDL 26, basically awful numbers.
4 weeks on the the 4HB diet and I’ve lost 14 lbs but my 4 week blood work is now triglycerides 102, blood glucose 75, HDL 53. Excellent numbers that I’ve never seen before. It’s like a miracle.
Thanks Tim
Wow! That’s awesome, Bruce! I’m very happy for you 🙂
– Charlie
Bruce!
Thank you so much for sharing this. It completely made my evening, and I’ll go to bed with a smile on my face.
Congratulations on the huge changes!
All the best to you and yours,
Tim
Wow, I gues that’s one of my must have’s in life. To go to bed at night, knowing that I’ve helped someone. It would make for a nice thought upon rising in the morning. Good job Tim.
I’ve been informally on the diet since December when I first got the book. I say informally because I did not commit to the measurement. Yes, I know, big mistake.
However, I am committed to the 4HB, and have noticed a considerable loss in weight and fat. People have told me I look a lot thinner and my pants are much more loose.
It’s been easy to avoid all things white, and focus on meats, veggies and beans.
And, I love to cooks, so it’s allowed me to create some great meals that don’t have any carbs in them.
I haven’t been able to avoid beer as much as I should, but when I do I stick with bud light and olives.
Yesterday, I was out to dinner and they had “chick pea fried calamari”. I thought it was awesome and wondered if that was considered part of the 4HB approved foods?
Does anyone have a resource to quickly look up what is considered 4HB compliant, and what is not. Maybe, I’ve missed it in the book or on this blog, but it would be great to go look up foods and ingredients at any time.
Tim, I’m very happy with the book and the results.
Thanks,
Your Friend in Omaha who is still trying to get you that Warren Buffett introduction. PS – I know his personal trainer’s husband if you think that’s an in for you.
Joe
Hello Tim,
Thank you so much for your 4HB:) i like it a lot even tho i didn’t lose much weight but i see it is coming off slowly:) I Like the idea that i am never hungry and don’t crave anything at all. Thank you for the coffee tip, i usually had two tablespoons of half and half with my morning coffee but i am going to try cinnamon instead.
I have a question for you about swapping cheat days. I chose my cheat day to be on Sunday but i want to change it for Saturday. So if tomorrow which is Sunday i cheat and the next week i will cheat on Saturday, is that ok? or i should skip one cheating week?
Hi Tim,
Love the book. After 13 years of going to the gym my way, you’ve convinced me to try something different. I just have two questions, whose answers I can’t seem to find anywhere.
First: the slow carb cheat day with Geek to Freak/occam’s protocol…allowed? Some people suggest you say reverse it, dipping 50% in calories one day a week. Which should I do?
And two: I love cardio – swimming, biking, running, yoga…not just for their effects on my physique but also for mind and spirit and energy release. I’ve read some of your comments on this with G2F, but can’t seem to get clear on it. Will doing these things harm my progress on G2F?
Thanks for the book and your help! Truly, it is an inspiration.
Owen
I am50 Y/O male down 20 lbs in 4 weeks. Just finsihed my fourth cheat day and it gets to the point where I almost hate it. I am almost sick and out of whack by the end of the day and looking forward to resuming the diet on Sunday. I feel great on the diet and realize that all the carbs and stuff I used to eat were making me feel tired more than I should have.
Now my question. I have about another 15 or so lbs to go to get to my goal weigh and am trying to figure out what to do when I get there? To make it more complicated I do long distance triathlons so figuring out how to balance those energy needs with not yo/yoing will be critical.
Today my cheat day coresponds with my long bike ride so I have an Apple Fritter in the car that I can eat when i am done. I want to take advantage of the 30 min window for muscle recharge. Also I am experimenting with feeding during the ride.
What are your suggestions to maintaining one I hit the goal weight and getting enough calories to finish my race? In reading the Paleo part of Ultran Endurance you mention cutting out beans which is a staple of the Slow Carb diet.
Thanks
End of week 4 yesterday. No change to measurements and a loss on the scale of 0.3kg for a total loss across the 4 weeks of 2.5kg.
The last two weeks have been frustrating with not much moving on the scale despite 100% compliance with SCD. But overall the body has shrunk somewhat and my clothes are loose so I guess for women (or just me) it is going to be slower.
Also, I know I could be adding muscle, but since measurements didn’t change this week I think that muscle gain was unlikely.
I’ve decided to change a few things this week.
I’m going to pass on the red wine (bugger! the only treat of the day) and see what effect that has.
My PAGG routine has been breakfast and dinner, and for 3 meals on weekends. I forget the P most nights. So I will try to do AGG, AGG, AGG, PAG for 7 days and also up the kettlebell sessions to 3 per week.
I committed to at least 5 weeks but I think the last 2 weeks’ results mean I should experiment with a change now. I was hoping to have dropped 4-5 kg by now but it’s not going to be “rapid”.
I’m aiming for the 20lb recomp goal, with a 10lb muscle gain combined with 10lb of fat loss. Should I cut then bulk, or bulk first and then cut? I’ve got about 10 weeks to reach this goal.
Hey, just wanted to add my husband’s and my results here – husband down 26 lbs in 6 weeks, I am down 6.5 inches in the same amount of time (we decided to measure differently, but we both have clear results). I am getting the “have you lost weight?” questions at work, I need new jeans, and my husband is getting into his shirts that were unwearable last month. We enjoy shopping together, buying cans of beans for the week, buying more eggs than we ever have, and planning out cooking meats so we always have them available in the fridge. Mostly chicken breasts, but some pork also. Broccoli, asparagus, and husband likes salads with radishes, etc. Our cheat days are date nights, so we go out and have a great meal in a restaurant most times. And sometimes start the day with pastries in bed. Anyway, we love it, and I haven’t had so much energy on any diet, ever. This is easy! P.S. I am over 40 with 3 kids… it’s working 🙂
Hey Tim, great book, thanks for helping me change my eating habits. So far, everything is going great!
I want to add the C25K program (couch to 5K) now, but was unsure what your recommendation was as to WHEN i should run?
The morning is more convenient, but not if I have to eat first and then wait 30-60mins before running. I read conflicting answers – most people run first then eat which seems very wrong to me… the next best is to run an hour after my evening meal, then protein shake 1-2 hours after that before bed..
Thoughts?
update:
Thank you Tim!
Since I through away my scale at around 230lbs (down from 263 in a scant few months) I’m relying on my clothes and the occasional mirror to track my process.
I passed a mirror today in a state of undress and while not ready for my after picture yet, my reflection no longer frightens young children.
My hacks to SCD started about a week ago.
Added: Coconut oil, coconut creme and (coconut)milk + lots of fish oil
Subtracted: All beans, legumes.
By getting rid of the beans and lentils I’ve been forced to eat way more freshly prepared vegetables. Much more work but the results sure are tasty. Besides more veggies can’t be bad, or so I’ve heard.
My wife and I have lost over 50 lbs between us, again thank you for opening our eyes to the possibility.
Now I am wondering if you have any advise for the family cat? [He is a 22lbs Savannah, a crossbred wild/domestic cat, and while very friendly nobody wants to break the news to him that he is several pounds over his ideal “fighting” weight.]
Tim!
Thanks brother. I’ve always been in shape, 5’7″ ~150 lbs, looked good but never “shredded”. Before I started the SCD/Ice Therapy/Perfect Posterior 4 weeks ago I was 9.28% BF and 149.2 lbs, now I’m down to 7.10% bf and 148.4 lbs.
My friends ask me how I’m doing it, I tell them lots of Ice Cream, Cookies, and & Snickers. They laugh, then I tell them it’s true.
Thanks again!
Hi Folks,
I hope i am not repeating what people above have said. There are so many posts it’s hard to wade through them all. Not to mention that so many questions are just plain stupid (sorry folks, but most of the answers ARE in the book and those too lazy to read are making it difficult for the people that are looking for authentic swapping of experience and ideas. I am sorry, i don’t mean to be nazty, but really….).
Here is my experience: i am 47 yr old female, 5’2″, 132 lbs. Realistically I would like to lose 12 lbs or so. I initially lost a modest 2 lbs per week. This was not a surprise, the less to lose the slower it goes. On my binge day, I gained 7 lbs and it is NOT coming off so easily. Step backwards I am afraid.
Though Tim says “Eat until you’re in a coma on binge days”, and I was so happy with that that i just about did, lol…. This is not a great idea for everyone. And this is what Tim means when he says “You have to try and see what works for you personally”. I am taking the liberty of translating what he means, but this is what it means to me anyway. I think bingeing for a woman, a small one and not a very young one…. well… you just have to make modifications. This only stands to reason.
I am back to eating the prescribed protein and veggies with a “careful” amount of legumes and fats (that includes nuts, nut butters and avocados. Tim may be able to get away with extra guac, but he is a guy and a young one, he can clearly get away with it and his caloric requirement IS higher than mine, come hell or high water).
I am going to try bingeing less frequently, say every 10 days, and maybe more moderately than (you ready?): 6 oatmeal cookis, 6 butter tarts, 7 slices (veggie) Pizza Hut pizza, Caesar salad with 4 slices sourdough garlic toast, some 3 glasses red wine, one BLT sandwich, 1 large bowl of Just Right cereal with a banana and evaporated milk and several fistfuls of almonds! OK> how many of you said no wonder you gained 7 lbs! Only 7? LOL…. so.. this kind of bingeing is a bit overboard ya?
those of you in the same boat, I will try to keep you posted with my successes and failures. If it helps just one person, I am happy. Like my dad says: “Stupid people learn from their mistakes. Smart people learn from somebody else’e”.
Cheers,
marina.
I had some decent blood results also, after 7 weeks on the Slow Carb diet outlined in 4HB and lost about 20lb.
Tryglicerides – pre:169 post:114
Total Cholesterol – pre:171 post:149
LDL – pre:105 post:92
HDL – pre:32 post:34
Ratio TC/HDL – pre:5.3 post:2.7
HDL is still lower than ideal, but most other values moved from at risk to the normal range.
Thank you, Tim…Thank you all! This book/process/community has been a life saver!! Literally!
Bruce Francisco that is SHOCKING!
I started from a pretty bad place on similar numbers, only my A1C was 8.9 pre 4HB. I haven’t made that first recheck yet, but I’d love to see my triglycerides go below 200. Did you add any other supplements, meds?
I’m using Onglyza and Metformin to regulate blood surgars, compounded with 4HB I’ve had massive success, going from fasting blood sugars pushing 200 to 85, without a single stick over 123 since I’ve started (originally slothfully and not very disciplined) 4HB.
My doctor increased my niacin from 1000mg/day to 1500mg/day but I suspect it had little to do with the massive drop in triglycerides because I was taking niacin before and I was still in the 900-1000 range. Anyways, this month I’ve stopped the niacin to see what the triglycerides will be without it (hopefully no change). I don’t know how to explain it.
I do eat a ton of spinach. A 2.5lb bag from Costco per week. Perhaps that has something to do with it as spinach is an amazing veggie. I don’t take any other supplements. I do take a statin but that’s never boosted my HDL over 30 and with this diet I double to 53. So probably in the following month if the numbers remain good I’ll stop the statins and see what that does. Good luck
a bit of corn you may get away with, depending on how much you have to lose. i don’t touch it.
Corn chips? Tortillas? you heard of corn syrup right? Corn has a high glycemic index, ie it turns into sugar toute de suite, raising your insulin. Bad. Remember, anything that can be made into flour: NO. read the book.
Hey, just wanted to share with anyone who also found some great side effects from this diet. I’m 5′ 7″, asian, and was 210lbs. I was diagnosed with severe hypertension about 4 years ago (280/230). I have been on the DASH diet, I was on Lotrel and Antara, and have constantly battled my weight for the last 10 years. Losing weight and gaining it back. I tried the atkins diet but I have gout and eating a lot of meat aggravated it. With $100 worth of meds/month I was able to have normal blood pressure, I was told by numerous doctors (one of them being my then fiance) that there was no cure, it will only get worse with time. Things started to change slowly after visiting my family in Vietnam 2 years ago. I had relatives living in a fairly polluted city, eating very simple food, and without any occurrence of high blood pressure, cancer, or heart disease. How could this be I thought to myself. When a friend posted on facebook he was reading the 4HB, I recognized the title and the author from when I read 4HWW and from the vids he used to post on youtube. I read it, used kettlebells, thermal diet techniques, slow carb dieting. I’ve lost roughly 3lbs a week doing no more than 1 hour of total workouts in a week (usually three 20 minute workouts). 2 weeks into the program I felt faint at work, I read that lower carb diets sometimes do this. When I started walking around like a drunk at a store I immediately checked my blood pressure at a nearby pharmacy. the machine read 96/67 !!, I have never seen my bp that low before. I had to stop taking my meds, my doctor wants me in for blood work to check everything. Without meds my bp is perfect. Reading this book, I ended up saving about $1200 a year in meds. I just wanted to say thanks and I will post my blood work results when I get tested later this month.
Perhaps someone can help me – I’ve been trying to figure this out on my own but I’m just not sure: is corn okay? I know it’s mentioned in the book in salsas, but it just seems like it shouldn’t be okay to eat. And for that matter, what about corn chips, corn tortillas, or hominy?
I know this is such a small thing but are yellow onions allowed? I love them in my beans and didn’t know if they could be effecting weight loss. Also, in the book you mentioned it was ok to eat Turkey Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Just curious why Turkey is not on the allowed list with the rest. Thanks.
yellow onions are fine. watch the oil in the frying of them, if you are frying.
turkey IS allowed. Poultry. Good.
I have been on the slow-carb for 4 weeks now. Just wondering if anyone else out there is mysteriously not pooping during the week… (sigh, only to a bunch of strangers can I write that!!)
I don’t feel uncomfortable or anything, but it can’t be normal, right? I drink loads of water and eat heaps of veggies… but it’s like I don’t have to go until the sugar and carbs hit my guts on my cheat day.
What’s up with that?
Oh, and so far as weight loss etc. It’s all happening and I’m feeling great and stuff. Once again, I’m fitting into old clothes that I love! Thanks Tim.
Kate, if you are drinking plenty, try some coffee to loosen the stool. Otherwise, increased protein tends to bung you up, so try increasing raw veggies.
Nice post tim! Keep posting and I will keep on reading. ^___^
Hi, i want to find out about rotisserie chicken, i usually buy it cooked and then just it the meat from the thighs and breast is that allowed? oh i have to eat boring broiled one?
Guacamole? i love it and i have two tablespoons with my lunch, is that ok?
Red wine, i drink two glasses every day, is that allowed?
How much protein in ounces should i have? i usually do 4-6 oz?
Rima,
That’s really all in the book.
Hi Jeff, I read the book but it doesn’t tell you how you prepare your meats, how many times a day should i eat beans, doesn’t give you an exact amount of protein per meal, is ones a day guacamole is allowed?
I am about to give up..that is why i am reaching out for help.
Rima,
The book has no prohibitions on preparation, with the exception of deep frying. Red wine at two glasses is ok. Guacamole in limited quantities (two tablespoons should be fine) is ok. But, what are you putting in the guacamole? It doesn’t matter how much meat you eat, as long as you get the right amount of protein. Here’s a simple prescription for proteins. If you’re hungry and wanting to snack between meals, you’re not eating enough protein and legumes. I’m actually trying to gain some muscle/weight so I consume about 60 grams per meal. You’ll probably end up being more like 20-30. Make sure that you are consuming at least that much within 30 minutes of waking.
Again, I’m not trying to bust your ass, but this is all in the book. If you are feeling frustrated, I would recommend rereading it, and using bookmarks/highlighters in the important areas. Also, even if you don’t own a Kindle, buy the Kindle version and have it available on your PC. It has a search function that will quickly let you look up topics that you’re interested in or have forgotten about.
Finally, check this link. I’ve created a spreadsheet with my fitness regimen. Download it if you like. You can mark it up and use it to take notes.
http://www.box.net/shared/vpk6pogggq
JeffW thank you so much, i start reading the book again this morning:)
but if you don’t mind i got one more question, my cheat days are usually on Sundays, so i cheated on Sunday and now i need to switch to Saturday this week, do you think if it ok? And how many times should i eat beans? i eat them break, lunch and dinner.
Again thank you Jeff for your time and patients:)
Rima,
you are trying to lose weight: prepare your meat using a little good fat (coconut oil, EEVO, macadamia nut oil) or grill or poach it and add flavour with spices and garlic. No flour. Rotisserie should be ok in theory as long as you are certaing they do not add flour. This IS all in the book.
A minimum of 30 g of protein per meal. In the Book. Google protein content of specific foods you need.
Legumes every meal. In the book. You will have to tinker with the amounts to see what works for you individually. If you give me some of your stats and exactly what you eat i could maybe be more exact.
I don’t see any problem with switching a day. I don’t eat beans with every meal, but I eat them a lot. The question is, are you hungry or lethargic? If you don’t have enough energy, you’re low on calories and should be consuming more beans at that point in the day.
If I’m in the 2nd week of the SCD, should I add the kettlebell swings or should I wait until after the 4th and I’ve lost my desired weight. People have said to wait as the workout will make my weight stable and I’ll stop losing. I don’t see how something that helps lose weight would stop me losing weight.
Regards,
Russ
The most evil five letter word in your diet.
S U G A R
its only taking me 57 years to figure out I was chasing the sugar blues, lack of blues or whatever it is. Now I don’t Thank you Tim.
However, I did find out that when social obligations arise I have a drink, or two. Only then did I really experience the evils of that five letter word.
Dinner some pork bbq, collard greens, cole slaw, 1 hr later one martini. w/olives. I mention the olives, but I don’t think it was the olives.
I walked my friends back to their house, I was walking my bike,which is one of these funny looking folding bikes, back to their house. They wanted to drive me back to my house and when I said I can ride back insisted that I text them of my self arrival.
But it gets better. THe next morning I slept through both 655am and 755am alarms only to be wake up to a call from my friend Steve. He said he will pick me up for coffee. Our usual routine is Steve picks me up, put bike in trunk, coffee, bike out of trunk, repeat a few times a week.
After I put bike in Steves trunk and half way to coffee I remembered that I rented a car yesterday and could have driven myself to coffee.
Also my sleep is very strange after consuming alcohol. Any one else have similar experiences?
Hi again I wrote on March 3rd @ 2:34pm, and I am still woundering if their is a portion for women of 4ft 9in tall and 45yrs old? I have read the book going on 2wice and their is no limit, but he is refering about himself or about other younger men and some younger women, but they are all average hights, and I’m not, can I eat half of an avocado or half of half of one, If I didn’t like them I wouldnt be asking but unfortunately I love them. and how much beans? and how many times can you have a cup of coffe and have it with heavy cream during the day in the book it says you can have heavy cream only 2 table spoons but not how many times a day you can have that cup of Jo with the cream? Some one please please help me figure this out. I’m under the initials asp wich stands for Any and Sonny P.
Very fit (completed marathons, resistance training 2-3x/week) female, 35 yrs old. I started slow carb about 1.5 months ago to lose ten pounds that I thought would slim me down a bit. First week was rough, food cravings abound. Ate a lot of beans, chili, chicken, fish and veggies. Did not cheat first 2 weeks, except during my cheat days. I stuck closely to diet until I got sick and had to eat bland foods like porridge and toast.
Problem is I did not lose any weight, before or after my sickness. In fact, I think I gained a few pounds even. For various reasons, I stopped exercising around week 2 of the diet though I did do some kettleball swings.
I was lazy and did not take measurements before I started. However, I think I see differences in my body shape due to lower body fat. My pants fit the same.
Overall, I think there are some of us who do not slim down as measured by the scale but by bodyfat and inches. Or is it that I should not be slow carbing but doing one of the other programs outlined in Tim’s book?
Nonetheless, I’ll continue eating like this because it has eliminated the sugar highs and lows I experienced eating the old way.
Hi Kat,
This is in response to your post on March 9th.
I too am a marathoner and do weights (have added Bikram yoga- AMAZING!) and have struggled with weight in the past despite all that.
Yep the last 10 lbs are a …. witch!
It sounds to me like your food intake vs exercise ratio is off kilter.
If you gave me a sample day’s food intake including amounts, and a week’s worth of exercise amounts, I may be able to make some suggestions.
From what you said in your post it does sound like you are a good candidate for the Keto version. My only concern with that is you can’t do Ket for life, it’s just too unhealthy and you’ll feel like poop. Does little for my performance, anyway. Once you get off Keto (It does get rid of the last fat bits), you regain the weight back. So, it is not a very good long term solution in my not so humble opinion.
Let me know!
cheers,
m
Hi Marina,
My diet is pretty random except that I try to stick to 30-50g of carbs a day, including lentils and veggies. No diary (except for when I was sick and cheat days).
Breakfast: 2 eggs plus one white, beans or lentils, spinach, coffee with cinnamon, occasional cream
Lunch: lentils, tuna, veggie OR homemade chili
Dinner: lamb or chicken skewer, veggies, beans or lentils
Snack: 2-3 handfuls or almond butter (has a little bit of sugar– bought w/o realizing it).
I’ve only been on a diet a couple of times in my life and never more than a couple of weeks. I find sports and exercise not only enjoyable but helps maintain a healthy weight. But let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to slim down just a bit? I’m just not interested in starving myself and in fact, you hit the nail on the head… I eat a lot. I’ve replaced carbs with protein and the almonds are probably keeping my weight stable. I have only a little weight I can lose and I want to lose it in a way is healthy and sustainable. What’s the point in torturing yourself to look good but for only a short period before you go back to your old weight plus a little more?
This way of eating makes me aware of the stuff I’m putting into my mouth, and the choices I make about what I eat. The challenge for me is to stop eating when I’m hungry which may be related to emotional reasons, something that Tim admits 4HB does not address.
The diet appears to work very well with people who have > 20lbs to lose and for men. Emotional eating, while not gender-specific, are more prevalent among women. I joke with my friends that it’s ironic that us females struggle with weight and body image for a good portion of our life and only seem to ‘slim’ down when we’re in our advanced years when it matters less!
Argh.
Today marks four weeks on the diet and I am only 5 lbs less than when I started (147 to 142 this morning). I lost this 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks. It seems like some days I even GAIN weight (I’m weighing every day) and I really don’t understand what I am doing wrong.
Everyday I have 2 hard-boiled eggs (mostly just the whites), 2 slices of turkey bacon and about 1/2 cup of black beans with pico de gallo for breakfast. For lunch, it’s some kind of protein (usually tuna or chicken) in a spinach salad with some legumes and an assortment of other veggies, balsamic and olive oil or nothing for dressing, and occasionally 1/2 an avocado (too much?). Then for dinner its chicken or fish with veggies.
I’m only cooking with olive oil or grapeseed oil. I’m not drinking calories (only water, unsweetened tea, or black coffee). I’m not exercising so I’m not gaining muscle weight. I don’t know what’s going on.
The only thing I can think of is the little bits of sugar I’m discovering in things. Did you know turkey bacon has sugar? and some salsas? But I would think that the amount of sugar in these is so miniscule that it wouldn’t affect things THAT much.
On cheat days I’m eating a slow-carb breakfast and whatever the rest of the day. I always gain weight after cheat days that does NOT go away after 48 hours. It’s like I start from scratch every Sunday.
I’m feeling pretty discouraged. I hope someone has some advice for me.
🙁
Hey there Heather,
I am guessing that you maybe picking up some added salt. If this is the case there maybe less of you then you think. 1. More h20 less salt. 2. lemon + Cinnamon on your cheat day. 3. Put your scale in the bottom of a drawer somewhere and make sure to not look at it. 4. Tape measure, add arms, thighs and tummy together (every two weeks) 5. Add the PAGG stack if you want to kick things up a notch. 6. [I’m not quite gone this far yet myself] ICE!
I’ll bet you that over the next month the first 4 will get you another 10 lbs, no.(s) 5+6 could be even more.
Hang in there!
Best
Etienne Taylor
Hi Heather
I felt the same way after 4 weeks. I had only lost 7 lbs. BUT it is very important to take your measurements. I lost 5.5″ in 4 weeks, most of it on my hips and thighs. It is hard to resist, but try to weigh yourself only once/week on the morning of your cheat day.
This week after feedback from Luke at http://www.fourhourbodycouple.com/2011/02/01/4-weeks-of-slow-carb-9-results-and-experiences/ , I stopped exercising so much and ate an extra (small slow carb) meal at 4 p.m. I immediately lost 2 lbs. by eating more and exercising less!
I agree with the hidden sugars – it really adds up. I check nutrition labels very carefully, but best is to just eat unprocessed foods so you know exactly what is in them. BTW balsamic vinegar has sugar too, so I now put oil and lemon on my salads.
Also drink lots and lots of water
Don’t give up.
nancy
Hi Heather,
i think you are not eating enough. Try adding 1/2 cup of lentils to your dinner and see what it does. If you already have that, try increasing the legumes to 3/4 cup for at least a couple of your meals. Try going for a walk 30- 45 mins 3x/week. Drink 2-3 liters (quarts) a day with freshly squeezed lemon juice (not the Realemon variety)
Keep plugging, you’ll get it!
thanks to etienne, nancy, and marina for your advice and encouragement 🙂
i put away the scale (for now) and will whip out the tape measure as soon as i can remember to do it first thing in the morning. i started exercising a bit and kicked up the water. cant really eat a whole other meal because of my schedule but ive increased the legumes a bit as well (blech).
thanks again 🙂
and thanks to marina also for your clarification on the whole corn thing. i did read the book (several times actually), but couldnt figure that one out.
First off I wouldnt call myself fat at all. I do want to remove a bit of fat on my abs and on lower back. Im 33 now but ever since youth had never been skinny thin, always had a bit of meat on me, but never near anything remotely near chubby
I have been on the slow card diet now for 8 weeks and dont seem to have lost anything much, maybe a pound or two. Ive been doing a hard kettle bell work out and press ups (wide arm, narrow aram, inverted etc) about twice a week also.
Ive been eating sh*t loads of isolated whey protein over the period and in the last 2 weeks a casein based one.
There has been a fairly strict adoption of the diet. 2, sometimes 3 eggs in the morning with one yolk, lentils and ham usually, chicken or steak burger for dinner with lentils and veg and 2 simlar meals in the evenings. I have done my best to cheat on a saturday which maybe 2 trips to mcdonalds, croissants, choclate and beer (cannot really stuff away a lot really). No sugar whatsover either. I bought a weighing scale with bosy fat /viceral fat indicator and it always seems to read about 13% in the mornings.
Im wondering whats wrong. I was wondering of I wasnt drinking enough water but surely with the 3 protein drinks a day – probably 3*300 ml – that should cover me water wise?
any ideas?
ON ULTRA-ENDURANCE: a 20k mountain run, with a dedication to Tim Ferriss
So, I basically deviated now from Tim’s training plan in T4HB because four weeks into the training I came across an interesting 20k mountain run around the corner and took the chance to officially kick off the 2011 ‘competition season’. Although I am not a pro, I simply love running, especially on the mountains, so I prefer any competition over training 🙂
Anyway, while running I usually also take videos (don’t ask me why I love to do that 🙂 ) and this time I also dedicated a short video to Tim Ferriss. Excuse my bad English, I am not an English native speaker.
Watch it here in youtube, Tim (and others interested):
After watching it:
Hey, I didn’t start that. You got yourself commited when you wrote about it in T4HB and created the http://www.fourhourbody.com/ultra site which is –still– waiting for content 🙂
Well, we’re waiting 😉
Best regards from Greece,
David
ON ULTRA-ENDURANCE: a half marathon in record time
Although I have to say that my training according to Tim’s training plan lasted only about 4 weeks (then I started the race season by participating in a 24k race around the corner), I am wondering in how far the sprints that were involved in the 3-4 weeks helped me yesterday. I participated in a half marathon on the road here in Greece (nice and flat course with ideal weather conditions) and wanted to break the 1h 45mins mark. Exactly one week before I had participated in a 24k mountain run and only did a slow 5k the day before the half marathon. I ended up with 1h 37mins which was incredible, considering the fact that I am far from being a pro and am not regularly training.
So, like I said: I don’t know how much some weeks of crossfit and sprint training can have done for that (apart from the fact that I really targeted a good time, so obviously also will power played a role). Nevertheless, I do think the training, while it lasted, was good.
Now I am basically participating every 1-2 weeks in a more or less extensive run, either road, trail or mountain (ranging from 25 to 67k), so I can’t stick to Tim’s plan.
@Tim: you can be sure that I will continue recording videos especially dedicated to you during my runs, in order to remind you of your ‘commitment’ and for you to fill the ‘ultra’ section on this blog, which remains empty so far…. 😀
Regards from Greece,
David
Any changes in the slow-carb diet for an endurance athlete? Will be cycling 90-120 mins/day, 3-4 times a week come spring. Am used to using a drink like Cytomax or gel like GU, have used water on shorter efforts but don’t want to bonk. By the same token I have been riding for years and still carry an extra 10-15 lbs so not adverse to making a change. Any endurance athletes have experience with 4HB?
Hi Chris —
I have about the same training load as you on the bike, and the same 10 lbs or so extra after riding for a few years. Saturday’s are usually my longest rides, so I time this with binge day, and go ahead and allow myself carbs (with an egg) at breakfast before the ride, take a couple of gu chomps with me on the bike depending on distance, be sure to have a carb/protein combo within 30 minutes after, and just enjoy the rest of the day.
My weekday rides are a little more challenging. If I’m just doing a cruisy 90 minutes, I’ll take a bottle of nuun and a bottle of water, and be sure to eat ASAP, following the diet (and making sure there are some beans in the meal) after I finish. I’m struggling a bit on hill climbs and interval days…for now, I’ve resorted to taking a few sports beans/chomps with me, and eating every 30 min on the bike; it gets me through, though not with as much energy as a carb/protein meal before hand. On the positive side, the weight continues to come off at a steady 1 kg or so per week; however, I do wonder how much performance I’m sacrificing or if I’m able to push myself hard enough to keep getting real gains on the bike (especially on the hills). I figure the weight I’m losing counterbalances any of the power output I might be sacrificing at present.
Not sure if that helps. Now, a question for you (or any other endurance cyclists out there that are trying the diet) — I’ll be doing a 5 day race in about a month, and will obviously have to up the carb load significantly throughout to ensure that I can make it through every stage. I’m concerned that my body might protest a bit at the sudden increase in carbs. After one binge day, I def have some ‘gastro’ issues; I’d rather not be on the course (in Thailand) suffering the same at the side of the road… the obvious answer would be to slowly increase carbs ahead of time to get the stomach used to it, but I’d rather not, as I’ve had great results so far, and would be thrilled if I can drop the final 10 lbs before the race. Any suggestions on slow burning carbs that seem to be easier on the stomach than others, or carb/protein combos that are effective??
Thanks!
why do the comments only go to February 18th, 2011 on the blog yet I keep getting emails with new posts?
Hi Charlie/Tim,
I’ve searched the blogs and can’t find the answer to this question! Many of the readers are on the Slow Carb Diet, but my husband wants to get bigger! He’s already a weight lifter, but per the books’ suggestion, he’s starting with Occam’s Protocol (as opposed to Geek to Freak).
We are not sure if he should be eating carbs anytime he wants? Tim said he added grains and milk to his diet, but then also says he follows the SCD tenants.
What exactly should you NOT be eating while experimenting with Occam’s protocol?
My 2nd question – is there something that differentiates Geek to Freak and Occam’s Protocol? My husband started his A & B workouts at 50-350% more weight that Neil’s starting weight. Again, he has been lifting weights for years…should he be doing Occam’s protocol or Geek to Freak (since he didn’t start out as a Geek)?
THANKS!!!
Danielle
Hi Danielle,
Your husband can eat yams, sweet potatoes, etc. If he must, he could add in quinoa. The rest is SCD — lots of protein and veggies. For training, I’d still suggest sticking with Occam’s for at least 6-8 weeks before adding exercises.
Good luck!
Tim
Thanks for the reply, Tim. I appreciate you taking the time to answer.
I think you are saying he can have the carbs/milk if he needs them for the calories, but if he’s able to put on muscle without them he should do so.
Danielle
Hey Tim and Everyone,
Exactly 2 months since my boyfriend and I started the SCD (posted 10 Jan and 10 Feb).
Had a bit of a slow and disappointing month, even with incorporating the exercises Tim recommends and just this past week, the kettlebell. Haven’t stuck to it exactly
Total weight lost over 2 months: 6.4 kg’s / 14 pounds (1.2 kg’s of it was this month)
Lost 0.7% body fat
Muscle mass increased 0.9%
Total inches lost over 2 months: 11.3”
My boyfriend has lost 4.7 kg’s in total.
We will keep going, and finding ways to adapt, experiment and improve on weight loss.
Until next month,
Lisa
I’ve been on the 4HB lifestyle for 6 weeks now and I feel great (thanks Tim!). I’ve lost 15 pounds (started at 189, now at 175. 172 is my goal weight) and I can button my jeans again! I’m also using the PAGG stack. I had my cholesterol checked today and it was 203. Typically it hovers between 195 and up to 220, so really no change. Any thoughts? I exercise 5 days a week (run 2miles or stationary bike 6 miles) stretching, yoga and some light 20-60lbs dumb bells or kettle bell exercises. I really don’t want to go on any prescriptions if I can help it. Suggestions anyone?
David, ask your doctor about Niaspan or nicotinic acid. It’s cheap and just another name for Niacin. Niaspan requires a prescription, Slo-niacin mentioned in Tim’s book was recommended by my doctor as cheaper alternative, you can buy it at Costco and Walmart. Either way, those are the only slow release forms of Niacin in most studies, the others have not really shown to have a great effect. I added more Niacin rich foods to my diet, take Slo-Niacin, fish oil, and drink fresh brewed green tea every day. My cholesterol dropped about 30 points in 1 month. Most people can take quite a bit of Niacin as long as you don’t have any liver problems.
Hi Everyone,
Just came home from working in Asia for 2 months. Thought I would give the slow carb experiment a try. When I left I was 242, and 8 weeks later, I’m now 221. Not bad at all! I was never hungry. No Dairy, Lots of Beans, Chicken and Vegatable. The biggest thing is to remember to bring some snacks you can eat on the plane when travelling. A little planning ahead goes a long way.
I’ve been on this diet a week and felt great the first few days but now I find myself not feeling that great — a little nauseous — eating is a chore. This is very unusual for me! My husband and I are on this together and he feels great. He has to lose about 40 lbs but I have to lose 70. Bread is probably my favorite food so this has been a big change. Is there anyway to deal wtih the nausea? I like veggies so I’ve been eating a lot of them and trying to stick to protein, veggies and legumes three times a day but mornings are really hard and I usually feel nauseous before and after breakfast. thanks!
Currently I’m eating half my calories in protein and the rest in legumes and vegetables.
But, I was just wondering if there is a specific proportion of protein, legumes, vegetables to eat that works best?
Thanks
Just wanted to say thanks to Tim. I’ve lost 14 pounds, and dropped around 10% of body fat, though it took me a few months to get there. More importantly, the book has given me a good way to think about healthy eating and given me the tools that allow me to tweak the diet to what works for me. Grass fed beef, KerryGold Irish Butter, and lentils are some of my favorite things now. Overall my energy levels are more consistent throughout the day(no afternoon crash), I look better, and I feel better on a daily basis. It’s not just about a diet, it’s about a way of understanding my body. So for that, thanks Tim!
Here’s my feedback for the group’s consideration – 54-year-old man, six weeks into FHB and I have to say I’m very happy with the results so far.
Now, the pounds aren’t dropping off dramatically but having read – and re-read – the book and these posts, I wasn’t discouraged. The tape measure and clothes are the best measure of progress and I’ve progressed out of much of my wardrobe already.
I found I lost inches more than pounds but I also have worked out an average of four-hours a week; two Crossfit sessions and two kettlebell classes so I attributed the lack of weight loss to transformation. Tim mentioned either in the book or here that this diet tends to develop lean muscle and it really appears to.
I did plateau for two weeks but again, had to re-examine my adherence to the diet and found that “two glasses of wine” a night was in reality three. Or more. To jump start my bod I simply quit drinking AT ALL during the week – wine is unfortunately a domino food for me – and I was soon back on track.
I’ve read quite a bit about the 30/30 protein shakes and the worries about trace amounts of frankenfructose and honestly, for me, I’ve been losing inches and now pounds by drinking a Lean Body shake upon waking and it doesn’t appear to be a problem. Not as much as Pinot Noir, I’m sad to say!
All in all I haven’t found the diet daunting but I have to give a lot of credit to having a Whole Foods less than ten minutes from me. They practically know me by name! Their prepared foods and soups seem ideal for this diet and I’ve cycled about five of the same meals for the past six weeks and it’s not been a hardship at all.
One curious side effect I’d appreciate someone’s input on; I’m lifting heavier KBs and getting stronger in my Crossfit WODs. I had plateaued with KBs well before the diet and I’m increasing sizes almost every other week. Not complaining, mind you!
Hope this helps the other Boomer’s on the diet and the best advice I can give is to just stick with it.
In the book you refer to the “107 calories you burned in that hour session on the stairmaster” and compare that vs. a BMR of 100kcals/hour. Net gain of 7kcals. A 170lb person on a stairmaster will burn 10-15kcals per minute, not 107kcals in an hour. Not that I would ever recommend the stairmaster as a means to fitness.
Tim,
I was reading the Geek to Freak part of your book and had some ?’s before starting.
1.You mention you took NO-Xplode in the morning which is a pre workout suppliment, what was the reason for this instead of pre workout?
2. I tried to find as much info about the BodyQUICK as i could but from what i have found on bodybuilding forums is that its mainly energy pills which has me confused since NO-Xplode or say Jack3d are just that, more pumps and stamina.
Thanks,
End of Week 5 for me and I recorded 0.6kg lost on the scale for a total of 3.1kg across the 5 weeks. Much better than the previous 2 weeks.
I re-read Tim’s book again to try to work out why weight (presumably fat) loss had stalled.
I cut back on the red wine.
Mid-week I bought a vanilla 100% whey protein powder shake (20g protein) had that as the protein component of breakfast for 3 days.
I had AGG/PAG correctly for 6 days with Sunday off.
I did 2 abs etc.kettlebell sessions and a 10km bike ride.
I re-read the section about Binge Day. Menstruation was due in week 4 and never happened. I attributed it to being 47 and it was maybe the start of the changes before menopause. In Tim’s book he mentions a woman he was helping who he thought may have had low leptin levels from the SCD. I checked the rough number of calories I was typically having in a day and it was about 1000-1200. I had my blood work done in Week 1 and my GP said everything was perfect, and didn’t mention any result that might have indicated heading toward menopause.
Could my leptin levels have dropped enough by Week 4 to stop menstruation? If anybody knows the specific blood tests that would check this pls let me know as I got 4 pages of results and can check.
Tim had advised the woman to really up the calories on binge day to increase leptin levels. So far on SCD I have actually barely added anything for fear of gaining what I had lost during the week. So this week I did everything listed in “Damage Control” for binge day except swapped the timed air squats etc for a morning kettlebell workout and a 10km bike ride.
With trepidation I had the normal SCD brekkie, a ham salad roll for lunch with a cafe latte and then 4 Tim Tams (sooo goood!) and a chocolate coated icecream at dinner with 2 Jim Beams with Coke Zero.
And bucketloads of lemon juice in water. This was more calories than the previous 4 binge days.
My bottle of Celluthin arrived mid-week so I started using that too.
The result was 0.6kg off which is the best result for 3 weeks. I also recorded 2cm off the circumference at the navel and 1cm off the hip measurement.
This week I’m going to up the beans for all meals and increase exercise to 3 workouts, and keep the red wine down.
I’d be very keen to hear from women over 40 with children to compare experiences. Perhaps in Tim’s new forum he could stratify the forum members this way so that people with similar gender, age, etc can pool their intelligence.
Onward to week 6.
Oh and by the way, I also want to say there is nothing better for me than doing my glutes, flying dogs, cat vomits, hip flexors myotatic crunches, kettlebell swings etc to some very loud Joe Satriani music – it RAWKS!!!!!
Hi Skippy,
Thanks for not worrying about identifying your age (what’s up with that anyway? i thought by the time we get THAT far (lol!) we are supposed to be fr too mature to worry about s***t like that).
I’m 47, female, 4 kids.
I too wanted to stay in touch with some people in the same situation.
I actually hate this diet. I think it has potential for losing weight, but i feel pretty crappy. I have been vegetarian for a long time; have even tried the raw vegan deal, but got it all wrong. Need to do more research and tinkering, which i will do. So eating this much meat is pretty hard. I feel like i have a stack of bricks in my stomach and my brain is not all that clear.
The people who are saying they feel great are likely feeling that way because they lost 10+ lbs and THAT is what making them feel great, i think. I may well be wrong. I personally felt amazing on raw.
Anyway. back to this. I started out with the regular diet Tim prescribes: protein, legumes, veg. Lost a bit. Binged properly. Gained 7 lbs in the binge and did not take it off in 48 hours that’s for sure! It has been 2 weeks since that binge and i still have 3 lbs to go.
So, clearly that regimen is not working for me.
I am 5’3″ and 130lbs. I am pretty muscular (just naturally) and @12o lbs i look and feel good. So i only need 10 to lose. Maintaining that will be the trick and that’s where i think the extra research on raw vegan will come in. I cannot eat all this meat forever. Gross…..
So since i have only 10 lbs to lose i started the “last ditch” protocol: eat protein and veg every 3 hours, no legumes, 1 cheat MEAL every 7-10 days. This is more likely to work for me. All those legumes was just too many calories and too much starch. OK for someone who has to lose 20+ pounds, but not here.
Having read your stats one thing worries me: no period. It could be a coincidence with perimenopause, though it is a bit early. I am the same age and have not done any of that yet. Has this happened before?
The tests that you would look for in the blood analyses would be the sex hormone levels: testosterone, esrogen, progesterone. You can find the appropriate levels for your age on Google, but even they are reported in RANGES, so it will not be very conclusive. Menopause is a gradual process….
The other thing i noticed is that you are adding legumes AND increasing exercise. If you are testing two variables at the same time you won’t know which is responsible for the change if a change occurs.
It actually sounds to me like you are exerising too much for what you are eating.
oh! my one day of Protein-no-legumes (oh what i wouldn’t do for a fruit salad!) has yielded a pound off, likely water, but…. and i only walked my beastlies (2 gorgeous goldens) for about 1 1/2 hours.
let’s keep in touch. let me know how things go.
cheers,
marina.
Hi Marina,
Thanks for your reply. Hehe, funny how some people have a problem with their age isn’t it? Mind you, I reckon a few readers went squeamish about the menstruation comments too LOL.
I can’t imagine how hard SCD is for vegetarians – good on you! I do miss fruit, cheese and yoghurt. You sound like you don’t have much to lose so perhaps it won’t take that long. I think the results of our gender/age group would be very interesting if aggregated and analysed. Imagine a global database of this data! I think we lose slower and in lower amounts but that’s OK I’ll just stick with it until the next (last) 7kg of fat comes off.
That’s one reason why I checked the calories – adding up what I eat is 1000-1200 per day, so I’m not over-eating and had to look at other factors for the slow weight loss. Also, the DEXA scan man said he estimated my normal daily calorie requirement at 1700, and if I had 1200 I would certainly lose weight.
Have you checked the amount of calories you are having? You’re smaller than me so I imagine you need less than me per day although you probably have more muscle that burns more too. Maybe have ckicken, pork and fish instead of the red meats?
I checked my initial blood work and all indicators were “fine” or within the ranges (the results show the expected ranges too) with regard to oestrogen etc and in fact menstruation started yesterday (2 weeks late). Never missed a beat in 34 years so……who knows. Could the small spike in calories on Binge Day have lifted leptin levels – no way of knowing. I can’t help but think the SCD triggered the late period somehow.
You are right that I have made a few changes so it is hard to isolate which one might have had an effect. Overall, hopefully they all work.
I don’t mind doing 3 session of the exercises, I really enjoy them, especially with my beloved Joe Satriani music (I LURV him). I guess my goal ‘recomposition” and is about adding more muscle too, so if my measurements keep reducing and I don’t see much movement on the scale then that’s hopefully an indicator that I’m swapping fat for muscle. I have the 2nd DEXA scan late April so won’t know till then.
It sounds like you are doing most things right – on binge day I made sure I had so many glasses of water with lemon juice in them I must have had 2 litres easy. And the glass of grapefruit juice before lunch and dinner etc.
Overall I feel fantastic – my eyes are bright, my skin is incredible (my friends have all commented – I guess all the water plumps out the wrinkles :-D), I have alot of energy. I even rode my bike up a local hill that I have for 8 years had to hop off half way up and walk.
Good luck, keep in touch. Two goldies to walk would be lovely.
Skippy
Dear 4 hour body people,
I feel like a fish out of water with all these success stories. I am coming to the end of my 7th week on the diet. The first week I put on 5 lbs, then another 3 after my cheat day. Every successive week, I have put on 3 lbs and lost it again but I am still carrying the original 5lbs. I weigh 200 lbs on a 5’1″ frame and am desperate to lose. I havn’t lost as much as half an inch, either.
I am 63 years old,have had 6 children and am fit and healthy and I know it has been said that it is harder for older people to lose but surely by now, I should have had some result.
I have the book, have read it several times and read all the posts on here.I used cinnamon instead of sweetener in my coffee after the first week because I was worried that the sweetener was stalling me but I only have 2 coffees a day anyway.
I find the diet easy and don’t snack. I drink more than the recommended amount of water and have breakfast of 3 eggs, lentils and veggies within 30 minutes of getting up.
I have only just started with the kettlebell as I have been recovering from a back injury after a fall but I trampoline daily and have done the cat vomit position for over 2 years, though it wasn’t called that when I first read about it!
Grass-fed beef is hard to find and very expensive, here (rural Greece) so I eat a lot of chicken and occasional steaks.We get beautiful local organic beans and lentils here.
I use a tape measure and the scale weekly. My bloodwork (triglycerides etc.) was fine when I was last tested just before Christmas.I only have my pension so can’t afford PAGG or any expensive tests other than the bloodwork which I have done every year.
I would welcome any suggestions that might make a difference. I have taken on board what others have said here and increased my veggies. I use very little onion and, from week 3, have cut out peas and tomatoes but eat cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, salad greens. I am allergic to spinach.
Heather, I am 64 with three kids. I am closely following the plan – I lost only about a pound a week for four weeks, then after a four week plateau I am now losing about a pound a week again. I have had to drop the wine in order to drop any weight (except cheat day). My cheat days now consist of yogurt and fruit and some other “no-no’s” – but not going sky high on the calories. I am also trying to add more activity – walking, fitness classes, etc. I think Tim and probably many of his test subjects were much more active daily than I’ve been. They also probably never yoyo’d in weight as much as I have. John’s advice is great and very comprehensive. Don’t give up!
Hi Heather, I agree with what Jennifer did — try cutting out wine and any alcohol — it does affect your metabolism in some form differing per person. I would suggest you try cutting all carbs for 2 weeks to jump start your system, then switch back to the regular and see what happens. I’m not sure what you are eating, other than what you posted, but drop the beans for 2 weeks. I know they are heavy in the 4HB diet, but they are pretty high in carbs as well as calorically dense. Also drop any starches — corn is a biggie, but there are others. Green peas and some green beans I have seen are also high in sugar. Tracking your calories for a short bit like John suggested also sounds like a good idea to at least know where you are at. Good luck.
Just finished three weeks.
After 1st week I went to get everything measured to ensure the results were correct. Also, started the PAGG Stack after 1st week. The results are as follows:
1st full body test result / 2nd test result (difference in brackets)
weight : 78.6kg / 75.8kg (2.8kg)
bmi : 26.6 / 25.6 (1)
body fat % : 22.6 / 20.8 (1.8%)
body fat mass : 17.7 kg / 15.7 kg (2kg)
This was after already losing a couple of kgs in the first week. I would say I’m down about 5kg in three weeks.
Regards,
Russ
@Heather Bell
Just keep altering your formula until you see some progress.
these are my opinions, below:
women burn less calories than men
older people burn less than Tim F.
You can overeat. It can be emotional/social (no one stuffed that food in while you were sleeping).
I wrap my diet inside Weight Watchers points, sorry if this is too uncool. But I want to lose.
I send this with respect and concern.
Heather,
I use the 4HB as a guideline because I believe it is basically a healthy way to live. Like you, I am older, 59. & had 2 kids. There were some adjustments I have made that have helped me. My weight/measurments were stable for almost 3 weeks so I went off the diet for 5 days. I didn’t go wild, but ate more than the eggs, beans, chicken, vegies I had been eating for weeks. After I did that, I began to lose weight again, about 1-1/2 lbs. a week. I also stopped eating 4-5 hours before bed. During the day, I use the scale to see how much I have gained. For me, the magic number is 3 pounds. If I gain more than 3 pounds, I eat only vegies for the duration of the day. Daily exercise also seems to help. According to Tim, and my doctor, after a certain age-it’s just tough to lose weight, particularly “belly fat”. Besides age and kids, I also have thyroid disease and need a transplant so my modifications may be much stricter than you would need. So far I have lost 20 lbs,3.5 in. from my waist, and would like to lose 10lbs. more. Hope this post will give you some ideas. You should be proud of yourself hanging in there when the results are not coming very quickly, I have no doubt the results you want will come.
Hi Tim and all,
I’ve been following the SCD for the last 3 months and have had great results (weight and measurements), although have plateaued in the last 4 weeks.
Last Friday I had a blood test to check my cholesterol levels and the results are:
5.3 Chol
1.1 HDL
3.7 LDL
1.0 Trig.
I’m not sure why my LDL is so high.
Background: my diet includes eggs (egg whites and 1-2 whole eggs cooked in coconut oil), some beans,cottage cheese, chicken, meat and fish, vegetables, coffee (with cinnamon, sometimes with a bit of low fat milk), tea. I drink 600ml of ice water with 1/2 squeezed fresh lemon juice. Occasionally, I would have a protein shake made of unflavoured WPI, organic peanut butter, a few almonds, some frozen berries, a banana (not anymore after the floods here in Australia) and glass of low fat milk (might have 1-2 a week). At night time, I might have some red wine.
During my binge day I have pretty much everything I want.
I exercise 2 hours, twice a week with martial arts. Have done the exercises from G2F, but haven’t done any since 5 weeks ago,
I’ve lost 8 Kg (~18lbs) in 7 weeks, I feel great. My BF, last time I checked, is 16.7% (Caliper).
What could be the reason that my LDL is so high and how can I make sure it drops under 2.5?
Thanks,
Miki.
Thank you to all the people who have kindly replied. I should have made it clear that I don’t drink wine or use any corn products as, along with spinach, I am allergic to corn.
If I drop the beans/lentils than I will be on Atkins induction and back where I started.
I have done Atkins for 2 years and lost, and maintained the loss of 30 lbs which demonstrates my tenacity.However, I never reached the maintainance phase as I would put on weight immediately and I was stalled for months.
I knew I could not live like that for the rest of my life as the slightest infringement made me put on weight which would take weeks to shift.
On the 4hb diet, I have swapped the little cheese I was allowed on Atkins,for beans and gained a cheat day.Now the cheat day, mine is Saturday, seems to work – 3lbs on, three pounds off again by Thursday, I can live with that.All I have ever wanted is to be able to have fruit and yogurt occasionally and maybe a baked potato, or a slice of savoury pie – this is what I do on cheat day.I have been sugar-free for 10 years, apart from naturally occurring sugars so I don’t eat, or crave, cakes or chocolate.I live surrounded by fruit trees….
I accept that 4HB is about experimenting with what suits the individual but I like the science behind it and believe it should work and I could live with it for the rest of my life. I just need to see a small result to encourage myself…
If you drop the beans and all legumes but keep your cheat day you might be said to be on the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet. After a few weeks of CKD shock therapy try re-introducing a smaller quantity of beans/legumes. Add the PAGG stack to your efforts and I bet you see results.
We’ll leave the ICE therapy for an absolute last resort 🙂
Good luck.
Etienne Taylor
Thankyou Etienne, I hadn’t thought of it that way re the CKD. I can’t afford the PAGG and even if I could, they would have to be imported and last time I tried something similar with some vitamins, they were stopped at customs and I was told I would have to pay 120 euros for them to be analysed and cleared so it will all have to be diet.I am very determined though.
Thanks for replying.