Screenshot from The 4-Hour Chef iPad app
The 4-Hour Chef app, first available only on Kindle Fire, is now available for the Appleverse (iPad)! Check it out here.
It’s rated 12+ for “Mild alcohol, tobacco, or drug use or references” and “mild profanity or crude humor.” Fun stuff, in other words. Let me know in the comments what you think of things, and don’t miss the exploding cow. The Android version is coming soon.
Two related notes, one for the book, the other for a free round-trip ticket:
– The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life is 50-80% off for a limited time to encourage pre-orders. You can cancel anytime up to ship date, so there is no downside, only a locked-in discount. Click here for the full book details.
– To spice things up, I’m offering a X-mas present: a free roundtrip anywhere in the world that Star Alliance flies. Here’s how you get it…
– Download the app for free. iPad here or Kindle Fire here.
– Take before measurements (detailed below) and before pictures — front, side, and back — now.
– Follow the “Christmas Countdown” in the app from 12/18 – 12/25. For bonus points, let us know how you’re doing in the comments here.
– Take after photos and measurements after 12/25.
– Post your before-and-afters in the comments here no later than 10pm PST, 12/28/11. Requirement for eligibility: indicate in the first sentence the most valuable thing you learned during the experiment.
– Then we’ll pick a winner, based on the results and reporting.
The usual legalese applies: Void where prohibited, minors not eligible, etc., etc…
For measurements:
1) Weight
2) Take your “before” circumference measurements. Get a simple tape measure and measure four locations: both upper arms (mid- bicep), waist (horizontal at navel), hips (at widest point below waist), and both legs (mid-thigh). Total these numbers to arrive at your Total Inches (TI).
3) If possible, body-fat percentage.
More on The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life
Intended to be “the cookbook for people who don’t buy cookbooks,” The 4-Hour Chef will use food as a vehicle to teach the art and science of meta-learning–the skill of learning skills. Whether you want to learn a new instrument or a new sport (or anything in between), you’ll have a field-tested and research-backed blueprint. In addition to insight from world-class chefs, we’ll have an unreal cast of characters helping you to multiply your learning potential.
For a limited time, to celebrate the announcement, you can pre-order The 4-Hour Chef for 50-80% off. Instead of $30 for print, you can reserve a copy for $15. Instead of $22 for Kindle, you can get it for $5.99.
Sidenote…
Why might you buy the physical book, even in addition to the Kindle? Three reasons:
1) It will be gorgeous, a wonderful tactile experience, and truly unlike any cookbook you’ve ever seen.
2) I’ll be thinking up bonuses for people who buy the print edition early.
3) It would really help me out. Inexplicably, The New York Times excludes all advice/how-to books from their e-book bestseller list, so only the print edition counts towards the bestseller list. Silly, but there you have it!
See the full book description, sneak-peek photos, and more here.
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
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Day three – checked!
Productivity – up, in spite of only three hours of night and one hour of day sleep.
General wellbeing – up. I’ve made the best tasting and looking dinner for my family ever.
“Eat like Santa, fly like Jesus”. In spite of triple helping of everything I’m perfectly alert and active. Before, any decent sized meal made me drowsy.
Good thing this is science and can be replicated.
Getting ready for tomorrow started to search for kettlebell swing and the second link on google was http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2011/01/08/kettlebell-swing/
Thanks once more, Tim, for a very clear explanation and video.
Good luck and great evening meal to all!
Today was interesting. I was excited to have my first meal and super surprised to have a bowel movement. I modified all of my meals to my schedule so I was scheduled to eat at 8am and 4pm. Because of my work schedule today, (patients scheduled from 3:30-8:00pm without a break) I had to move my large meal up an hour. I basically consumed solids from 3:00-3:30pm and forced fed myself a 12 ounce bottle of water mixed with 2 scoops of protein powder from 3:50-4:00pm. I over consumed per the Warrior diet prescription to the point of feeling sick. Not sure if I did the right thing but I guess since I now have to fast for 17 hours, instead of 16, I may appreciate it later.
I’m feeling pretty alert and energized tonight. I almost feel like I should complete a mini workout but since this is my first go at Intermittent Fasting, I am opting out. Hope everyone is doing great! Good luck and good night to all!
I’m tired Tim. Like SUPERPOOPED. I’m not one for complaining, but today was pretty average. I was crazy emotional last night and this morning like someone had died. And tonight I’m gonna be in bed before my nan. But I lost 1.8kgs just since Sunday. That’s INSANE!! I really miss breakfast. I like breakfast.
Nighty night.
Blog link via my name on the left.
JX
Day 3 and 4
Feeling pretty good. A little shaky with the 50 swings with no breakfast but otherwise good. Down 8lbs since Sunday which seems weird but I am thinking a lot of that is water weight. Guess I will see on Sunday with my after photos.
Has anyone seen how we are supposed to post our photos and stats?
Second day completed. A couple rough moments of dizziness. Did cardio on my altitude simulator to help maintain my base. So far so good…
Following the Countdown as directed (didn’t have a cheat day on 21st – work weight loss challenge weigh-in is on Sunday). Picked up BCAA and have time off from work to allow me to keep timing on track.
19th Fast day (159 lbs) – not terribly difficult but did enjoy my almond butter and celery at the end of the day more than I ever have.
20th Small/Large (158.4 lbs) – felt pretty off my game in the morning. Once I hit mid-afternoon felt back to myself.
Hi all!
I’ve created Tabata music following the intervals in the 4H Chef. Enjoy: http://bit.ly/tcuzeV
The link takes you to a folder, download the mp3 and play it on any device =)
Two short warning tones are followed by a longer one, start work/break at the end of this tone. Work intervals start with higher pitch, rest – with lower. Beginning of the last “failure” interval is marked with a single very long and very high tone. You might want to check it out before you start your uphill sprinting series =)
Daniel, thanks for the timer!
Kent, welcome!
Made the mashed cauliflower recipe from the 4HC app last night- my wife says its the best cauliflower recipe ever. It went perfectly with meatloaf and roasted carrots. Hoping to make the crab cakes soon.
Yesterday (12/21/11) was a challenge during feeding times and not during the evening fast. The morning fast was difficult for a totally different reason than I was expecting. My stomach felt waterlogged with all of the H2O needed for the green teas and BCAA. I could barely sit down for the 1st meal because I felt there was not enough space for food. I really wasn’t hungry for the second or 3rd meals but consumed them anyway within my window. I again had to modify my feeding to my work schedule and consumed my last meal between 3:15-3:30pm. I was surprisingly not starving at the end of the night. I felt like I had problems falling asleep but was able to get a good night’s rest once I did fall asleep.
Jade, you ok? Haven’t seen any posts since your emotional day. Sending much love from south Florida. You got this girl!!! Only a few more days.
All done Jackie! Thanks for the reminder!
JX
Day 5 – Yesterday – opps forgot!!
Getting busy.
JX
Hey Tim!
During the IF protocol, you mentioned protein powder as optional. You listed Surge Recovery by Biotest as one of the options. I just found a report pointing out that chocolate milk is more effective than a drink like Surge. Have you tested something like chocolate milk as a post work out drink?
(a link to the report, I have no affiliation): http://bit.ly/3iH3
.. countdown Christmas app. is rocking! from 158lb I’m down to 153! Whoo hooo..
… vigorous sex in the evening is helping my soreness too!
Making up for lost time – getting in early with today’s blog about Day 6!! Just click on my name to the left.
Hope you’re all doing well in these crazy times!!
JX
Day 5 (22nd)
I have a special hatred for HIIT training but acknowledge its effectiveness. I am also down 10lbs since the start of the challenge so things must be working.
Not really looking forward to the the KB swings tomorrow. Trying to decide if I am going to go with 1 pood or 1.5.
Any advice on starting a blog to get others to get off their butts and get in shape are appreciated.
hmm, may be to start inspiring others you first need a friendlier avatar? =))
Hi Tim,
I have uploaded your High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) routine as a workout in the free My Session Plan iPhone app in the App Store. Download the app, then go to the download tab in the app and download the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session (probably at the top of recent uploads). Now just go to the Sessions tab and run the session to have all the timers mentioned in the Four Hour Chef app.
Cheers,
Jamie.
Yesterdays’ HIIT was one of the most mentally challenging things I’ve done in quite a while. After a couple of sprinting cycles the holotropic breathing like state of mind took over me, I was literally running for life. The bodily limits were not that important, in the end it was possible to sprint until my legs stopped holding me.
I’m several percents down in bodily fat, but this does not seem to be that important anymore. The main now is how wellbeing of the body affects the state of mind and the thoughts. Depressive ones just do not appear or do not stay for long, with such a level of endorphine =)
Yesterday (12/22/11) I was able to moderate liquid and solid consumption, so that I did not feel sick from either, which made today’s morning fast and feeding periods more enjoyable. I did feel the start of a headache before my first meal and a little bit lingering until my second meal, but nothing to write home about. I had plenty of energy for an active recovery which unfortunately was experienced at the gym rather than at home. My stomach did not start testing me until the evening when we had a small gathering outside and everyone was drinking and snacking. It gave up sooner than a child with reason though which made me feel like the “stomach whisperer.”
Not that esthetic part of fitness bothers me too much, but seeing all six of own six-pack after a kettlebell swing is like meeting an old friend =)
Yesterday went well. Today is perplexing me. Gotta figure out meal timing because we celebrate Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day…off to wrack my brains!
I’ve not taken finals yet (it’s not over yet!) but I did fit into a pair of 32″ waist jeans (a buddy gave me like 9 pair!) which is part of the motivation for this week’s madness!
I look forward to seeing the numeric changes almost as much as I do the visible changes in the mirror.
On a side-note, does anyone have a favorite body scale that does bone density and bodyfat?
Joyoux Noel!
Tim,
I pre-ordered the book and am looking forward to receiving it! I would have liked to participate in this but do not have an IPad or IPhone. Can the information for this challenge and the diet plan that others are following from the app be made available in some way for those of us that preordered? I am eager to try this information out!
Mike
Merry Christmas Tim and everyone else reading (and not reading) this post!!!! I am ready for “Gorge” day and am sure everyone else is as well!
Peace and Love,
Jackie
Happy Gorge Face day everyone! Its been a great day, week, and year! Thanks Tim, your writing has changed not only my life, but my families as well.
Tim,
An article just came out about the Atlanta Falcons using new techniques for conditioning and they include Kettlebells! It is from the NYTimes enititled “Falcons have a Winning Fitness Strategy”, part of a new fitness routine called Functional Movement Systems.
You sir, are revolutionary.
Jim
I was surprised by several things throughout this week. My notes are below. I’m posting my updates rather late because the week leading up to Christmas was full of meetings with accountants, attorneys, and bankers, while still preparing for Christmas with our five children.
Which leads me to the first observation: This plan is very doable and provides great results, even for an extremely busy mother of five children who runs two businesses and has pre-metabolic syndrome and needs to lose about 40 lbs.
December 14: Read Tim’s post re: the contest and preordered the book. I was hooked by the benefits other than the low carb recipes. Then I ordered a Kindle Fire, just so I could use the app!
December 15: Took all measurements at my doctor’s office, including body fat percentage, using BodyMatrix.
December 16: Kindle arrived. Figuring out how to download the app was a bit of a challenge, since Tim’s link is not for the Kindle app. I went through the entire schedule and noticed something right away. Before Thanksgiving I lost 13 pounds in 23 days after I got a glucose tester and focused on keeping my glucose low. During this time I had naturally fallen into a pattern of not eating until lunch time most days, simply because I was not hungry, and this intermittent fasting program basically follows the same pattern.
I took a break for about three weeks starting at Thanksgiving and started eating carbs again, and when I “came back”, I was only 0.8 lbs heavier than my lowest weigh-in during the weeks before Thanksgiving.
It dawned on me that this intermittent fasting regimen may also explain the interesting phenomenon in Tim’s data in 4HB. People who ate a timely breakfast lost more than people who did not, but the people who lost the most weight were those who ate only two meals per day. If the people who ate two meals per day were also the people who were the heaviest to start with, then they could lose massive amounts simply by not eating as many calories.
However, Intermittent Fasting may provide the better explanation: fasting 16 hours most or all days may speed weight loss, regardless of whether fewer calories are consumed in the two meals than in five mini-meals plus one bigger meal recommended by other very effective programs.
December 18: Enjoyed my free day to the fullest, but used none of the “minimize the damage” tricks from Tim’s 4HB. These are really intense times for me, and everything has to be fast and simple. I’ve also decided to test whether when we eat has a big effect, vs. what we eat. So, while I’m not planning to go “whole hog”, I’ve decided to go ahead and eat some carbs, even “crap carbs” during this experiment, since it’s the week before Christmas, and I have family baking, etc.
December 19: The fasting day was no problem. I was rather full from the free day, and I used to fast for a day or longer regularly before I had children. I decided to have a few pieces of Chinese BBQ pork at the end of the day when the family went out for a late meal. As for exercise, I did none of the protocol in the app. All I did was 20 kettle bell swings at 35 lbs weight. I simply forgot to do more after I paused. That happens when you have five kids.
More to come. I recorded notes as I went along, but they are too long to post in one comment.
Just got mine as Christmas gift this year 🙂
I seriously doubted the plan but a week later I lost a little over 1.5lbs of fat and gained a little under .5lbs in muscle. For a 5’1 female I’m pretty excited. I’m now at 19.2% body fat and I would like to get down to around 16.5% or so. I’m going to repeat the program for the next two weeks and hopefully I will see my ultimate goal.
The only changes I will make is a move toward less slow carb and back to a more plant based diet including fruit. Hopefully this will not hinder my results. Thanks Tim!
I’m not sure why my first update didn’t get approved, but in case it was an accident, I’ll post the entire update through today here:
I was surprised by several things throughout this week. My notes are below. I’m posting my updates rather late because the week leading up to Christmas was full of meetings with accountants, attorneys, and bankers, while still preparing for Christmas with our five children.
Which leads me to the first observation: This plan is very doable and provides great results, even for an extremely busy mother of five children who runs two businesses and has pre-metabolic syndrome and needs to lose about 40 lbs.
December 14: Read Tim’s post re: the contest and preordered the book. I was hooked by the benefits other than the low carb recipes. Then I ordered a Kindle Fire, just so I could use the app!
December 15: Took all measurements at my doctor’s office, including body fat percentage, using BodyMatrix.
December 16: Kindle arrived. Figuring out how to download the app was a bit of a challenge, since Tim’s link is not for the Kindle app. I went through the entire schedule and noticed something right away. Before Thanksgiving I lost 13 pounds in 23 days after I got a glucose tester and focused on keeping my glucose low. During this time I had naturally fallen into a pattern of not eating until lunch time most days, simply because I was not hungry, and this intermittent fasting program basically follows the same pattern.
I took a break for about three weeks starting at Thanksgiving and started eating carbs again, and when I “came back”, I was only 0.8 lbs heavier than my lowest weigh-in during the weeks before Thanksgiving.
It dawned on me that this intermittent fasting regimen may also explain the interesting phenomenon in Tim’s data in 4HB. People who ate a timely breakfast lost more than people who did not, but the people who lost the most weight were those who ate only two meals per day. If the people who ate two meals per day were also the people who were the heaviest to start with, then they could lose massive amounts simply by not eating as many calories.
However, Intermittent Fasting may provide the better explanation: fasting 16 hours most or all days may speed weight loss, regardless of whether fewer calories are consumed in the two meals than in five mini-meals plus one bigger meal recommended by other very effective programs.
December 18: Enjoyed my free day to the fullest, but used none of the “minimize the damage” tricks from Tim’s 4HB. These are really intense times for me, and everything has to be fast and simple. I’ve also decided to test whether when we eat has a big effect, vs. what we eat. So, while I’m not planning to go “whole hog”, I’ve decided to go ahead and eat some carbs, even “crap carbs” during this experiment, since it’s the week before Christmas, and I have family baking, etc.
December 19: The fasting day was no problem. I was rather full from the free day, and I used to fast for a day or longer regularly before I had children. I decided to have a few pieces of Chinese BBQ pork at the end of the day when the family went out for a late meal. As for exercise, I did none of the protocol in the app. All I did was 20 kettle bell swings at 35 lbs weight. I simply forgot to do more after I paused. That happens when you have five kids.
December 20: I ate the two meals according to plan. It wasn’t too hard, and the feeling of mild hunger is invigorating! I did not stick to the slow carb diet, although I didn’t pig out. I had some “crap carbs”, including a big handful of candy and some homemade fudge. I did only 20 minutes of slow cardio on my recumbent bike at the highest level while reading a magazine, but I did it in the evening, not the morning. I would have done more, but I got interrupted.
December 21: I did 50 kettle bell swings and followed the eating schedule, although I got only two meals in. I simply wasn’t hungry, in spite of the fact that I ate “crap carbs”, including ice cream drizzled with homemade caramel my husband made tonight. I did none of the BCAA or green tea, etc. I didn’t have either one on hand, and meetings had me too busy to go to the store.
December 22: I decided to weigh in at the doctor’s office, and was shocked. Even though I had eaten “crap carbs” and done almost none of the exercise and taken none of the supplements, I am down 4.8 lbs! And that was right after I drank a 12 oz pop, and while I was wearing heavier clothes than I did on the day I first weighed in.
I followed the eating schedule, but did no exercise. I just don’t have time right now to learn new routines.
As I wandered around WalMart looking for BCAA, a major realization hit me: this intermittent fasting schedule is the one I followed “accidentally” my entire teen years. The reason I followed this schedule is because I couldn’t choose my food. I hated corn flakes (too soggy) and fake Cheerios (yuck!) for breakfast, so I skipped breakfast. I ate only the parts of the lunch at school that I liked. When I liked it, I ate lots. And for dinner at home, I ate as much as I could when I liked it, and ate little when I didn’t.
I could really chow down when I liked the food. I remember polishing off an entire dinner plate full of spaghetti from the time I was seven. But I just ate in fits and starts as I got older, depending on how much I liked the food, falling into a natural intermittent fasting schedule, though without the 24 hour complete fast. I was quite lean and weighed only 102 lbs when I got married.
WalMart doesn’t carry BCAA, so this experiment will continue without any supplements or green tea.
December 23: I followed the eating schedule and ate carbs, and did 50 kettle bell swings. I’m very curious to see my body fat measurements by the BodyMatrix next week. When I did the 13 pounds in 23 days, my body fat percentage decreased during the first part, in which I was doing minimal exercise (kettle bell swings for one minute, 2-3 times a day, most days). However, during the second part in which I did no exercise, my percentage body fat actually increased since I lost muscle mass.
We’ll see if this little bit of exercise is good enough to change the ratio a bit. If not, I’ll need to increase the exercise, but I’ll just go back to what worked with my busy schedule – the “anyone can do one minute of exericise at a time” plan of kettle bell swings most days, 2-3 times a day, with light weight all but two days a week, and my “max” weight on two days, spread apart, to increase muscle mass.
December 24: I had a protein bar in the late morning before lunch. That’s because I get up really early and we would be traveling much of the day. When we arrived, I had a regular size lunch instead of small, and a regular sized dinner, since we do some of the family celebration on Christmas Eve. We’ll see if I’ve undone the benefits when I check in Wednesday, since I’m doing a free day tomorrow.
December 25: I used none of the tricks in 4HB for the free day. I ate a light breakfast, and then ate whatever I wanted for about four hours starting at 1:30 pm. We then spent the rest of the day traveling home.
December 26: This is the fast day. When I was hungry by noon, I used a trick I figured out about a year ago. I drank water and took two fish oil capsules. That knocks away the hunger for a couple of hours, at least. I think I was hungry because I didn’t eat enough yesterday, or, more probably, I didn’t eat my last food late enough in the day, since we were traveling.
I fasted the rest of the day until 7 pm, when I decided to eat dinner and designate tomorrow as my fast day. Tip: don’t ever cook your favorite meal for your family on a fast day! (I just happened to have a roast in the fridge thawed out, so I grabbed that. Big mistake! )
December 27: This is now my fast day. I’ve done fine throughout the day. I took fish oil tablets once. In the evening (8 pm) I did kettle bell swings and ate a bit of hamburger for protein to hopefully help build muscle (or retain it) while I sleep. Tomorrow I weigh in at the doctor’s office and get measured with BodyMatrix.
The most valuable thing I learned during the experiment is that it does not take a Jedi Master to control an untamed stomach.
The most interesting thing that I learned is that when I am depriving myself of food, my sexual drive is increased (Men, this is not an endorsement to deprive your girlfriend/wife of food). I noticed the aforementioned on my first fast day (12/19/11), Friday evening (12/23/11) while everyone else was enjoying a late dinner and on my second fast day (12/26/11). I am going continue this self experimentation to see if this was a fluke or if in fact, how my body responds.
I lost 2.5 pounds in a week. Scale went from 120 to 117.5 pounds. Total inches: 121 (down from 122). Body Fat Percentage per calipers: 21.7% (no change). However, we all know how accurate caliper testing is per 4-hour body.
My girlfriend says that I have lost a few inches in my under arm trouble spots, but I do not have before and after measurements for proof. I hope Tim takes into account that it is harder for a smaller female to lose weight in 1 week span when comparing to a larger person (male or female) for the “results” portion of this challenge. I intend to test my ongoing experiment with a bio-electrical impedance handheld device and hope for some muscle gain. I will also continue to take pictures for progression documentation.
I have a detailed report of all food consumed including pictures and timing available upon request, along with before and after photos of myself.
Thanks Tim for helping us not destroy our bodies during the holiday temptations!!!
My take home message: work with the body regularly and attentively and it helps you to tame the brain.
The full report with photos and all the metrics is here http://bit.ly/rIMlM2 since I didn’t find the way to post the photos on Tim’s blog.
Happy New Year to you all and thank you Tim!
And a longer version of this weeks report:
Take home message is the same: working attentively and regularly with the body helps to shape the mind.
This week was extremely productive and emotionally positive for me. Following Tim’s plan didn’t take more than an hour a day, including going to the gym, and when on Wednesday I’ve bought my own kettlebell the time needed to follow the routine became almost negligible. Clearer working brain, sharper attention allowed to accomplish more everyday. For example, using memrise.com I’ve learned some 600+ words of Spanish, and it took me less than an hour each day.
On the emotional side I feel even greater attachment and understanding with my family and my baby, this to me is also the consequence of more focused attention. And endorphines of course =)
As for the diet I strictly stuck to slow carb eating different lentils with meat and tons of salad. Surprisingly, lentils and meat seem to be a dish I can survive on for ages – on the cheat day I had really no desire to go for anything else.
Now the metrics:
Weight: Was: 64.5kg/143lbs -> Now: 62kg/136lbs Difference: -2.5 kg/7 lbs
TI: Was: 265 cm/104.33″ -> Now: 268 cm/105.51″ Difference: +1.2″
There is, however, a nice redistribution of these inches
Biceps (right and left are equal): 30cm/11.81″ -> 32cm/12.6″
waist: 76cm/29.92″ -> 74cm/29.13″
Hips: 93cm/36.61 unchanged
Thighs (right and left are equal): 36cm/14.17 -> 37/14.57
Gaining more muscles I guess was an easy task for me since I have naturally high testosterone level judging by my short height and typical bald areas on the left and right of the forehead. Also I never omitted drinking the protein cocktail and may be was doing a couple of kettlebell swings every now and then just for the fun of it. Fat percentage definitely went down since now I’m able to see all six of the abs after an exercise session and previously I was not.
That’s it. It was an amazing week, I’m going on, it is definitely changing my life. Thank you, Tim! You made me make myself the best New Year present I’ve ever got, and this is no hyperbole.
Happy New Year to you Tim and all the others!
PS The time stamp on the left seems to be one hour ahead of pacific standard time, so I’m still on time =)
Having read the post my wife insisted on the update =)
Enters Maria:
“The photos don’t give the full picture, the biggest difference can be felt by hand. The love handles, those nice deposits of fat around midabdomen and on the back, are gone.”
I would have to say that the most valuable thing I learned is that my body hates doing the same thing over and over again and will respond better to variety over sameness. Also, the desire to drop an inch or two to fit more clothes helps too!
Tim, a heartfelt thanks to you for putting this challenge out at just the right time and for being who you are, an amazing person who writes amazing books and rallies the troops to improve themselves and others.
My before/after photos and stats are on my blog and my stats are repeated below:
Here are my stats for the Christmas Countdown sponsored by Tim Ferriss:
Area: Before/After/Dif
Upper Arms: (measured in inches)
Left 14.25/14.50/+.25
Right 14.258/14.25/0
Waist @ Navel 38.75/38-.75
Hips 36.75/37.21/~.50
Legs @ Mid-Thigh
Left 21/21.75/+.75
Right 21/22.5/+1.5
Total Inches 146/149.21/+3.21
Weight (Pounds): 170/170/no change
Bodyfat(%): 24/19/-5
The most valuable thing that I learned on this challenge is that going extended periods without food makes me enjoy the meals I have more. I also learned that physical hunger actually goes away after a few hours and is actually quite manageable. Quieting down the voice inside your head is a totally different matter.
Before and after photos are here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42090/4%20Hour%20Chef%20Challenge%20DDS.jpg
Got in a rush so I didn’t set up the background for the afters but not that much of a difference.
Before Stats
Weight 192
BF 21%
Height 6’
Left Bicep 13.5
Right Bicep 14
Waist 36
Hips 40
Left Thigh 22.75
Right Thigh 23.5
Total Inches 128.75
After Stats
Weight 188.5
BF 20%
Height 6’ (Glad I didn’t shrink!)
Left Bicep 13.5
Right Bicep 14
Waist 34.5
Hips 39.5
Left Thigh 22.75
Right Thigh 23.5
Total Inches 126.75
Again, not a huge difference but it was only a week. Definitely going to introduce the intermittent fasting into my routine. Cool stuff I found by John Berardi.
Thanks Tim for prompting another learning exercise. Still working on muse ideas. Got to get out of the plan stage and into the DO stage!
I found it easier to connect with people and focus on the task at hand by eating less over the past week. Hunger (by choice) has positive effects and fasting is not as bad as I had imagined.
My total inches decreased from 157.5″ to 153.75″ and my weight decreased from 207.4 to 201.8 (Still working hard to achieve my sub 200 by NYE). All of my inches lost were in the waist and hips, no change in the arms or thighs. I’ve got before and after photos, but no place to post them. I’d be happy to email them.
Per the 4HB, I made a big bet with a friend back in June of 2011 that I would weigh under 200lbs by NYE (I weighed 239lbs at the time). I’m not there yet, but thanks to the Christmas countdown, I think I’m going to make it. More motivated than ever to pursue more continuing education on health and lifestyle design. Congrats to everyone who participated. Happy New Year.
The most valuable thing I learned during the experiment is how small adjustments can lead to big gains faster. It was hard. It took effort and focus. But I am really happy with the results. An awesome Christmas with great food and I lost weigh in the process!
Here are my before measurements from 12/17:
* Weight: 241.2
* Left Arm: 14.75
* Right Arm: 15
* Left Thigh: 26
* Right Thigh: 26.5
* Waist: 48
* Hips: 44
Total inches: 174.25
And here are my final measurements from 12/28:
* Weight: 237.1lbs
* Left Arm: 14.25″
* Right Arm: 14″
* Left Thigh: 25.5″
* Right Thigh: 25.5″
* Waist: 46.5″
* Hips: 43.5″
Total Inches: 169.25″
So I lost 5 inches and 4.1lbs. Over the course of the week my lowest weight showed a 5.4lb loss. Wow!
Check out my full story, photos, and day by day account in the blog I created linked by my name.
Thanks for the program and the clever app. Nicely done Tim!
I’ve learned that cardio & HIT can have a place in fat loss if
done at the right times (ie while fasted). I also hit PR on 2 of my lifts last week while fasted.
before:
172 lbs
right bicep 11.5
left bicep 11.125
waist 33
Hip 36.5
RT 21.5
LT 21
17.54% bf
TI 134.625
after:
163.8 lbs
Right bicep 11
left bicep 11.5
waist 31.437
Hips 35.5
RT 21
LT 21
12.01% bf
TI 131.437
weight lost – 8.2 lbs
bf% difference -5.53% bf
Total inches lost 3.188
photo before and after:
http://i.imgur.com/tRizR.jpg
The most valuable thing I learned during the experiment is this: It is possible to use Tim’s system to easily lose a significant amount of weight in just a week by paying attention only to when you eat, rather than what you eat — even if you are a middle-aged woman with pre-metabolic syndrome who has five children (all delivered by C-section), and even if you do it only half way right!
Here are my before and after measurements, which were taken at my doctor’s office. Body fat percentage was measured using Body Matrix.
Starting:
Weight: 174.0 lbs
Total Inches: 148.25
Body Fat %: 33.4% (31% is considered obese)
Ending:
Weight: 169.6
Total Inches: 144.0
Body Fat %: 32.4%
(Pictures are available upon request — hence, my first post I used the name Camera Shy.)
In summary, I lost 4.4 lbs, 4.25 inches, and 1% body fat from the start of one week until after the free day at the end of the week, including two free days. And I did it eating carbs the whole time and exercising little.
I already demonstrated to myself in my experiment before Thanksgiving that a woman can lose a lot of weight quickly on a low carb diet. The big learning experience in that experiment was that even very modest exercise makes a huge difference in retaining muscle mass during fat loss. When I exercised 2-3 minutes a day, my percentage body fat decreased greatly. It went back up when I quit exercising for the next couple of weeks, even though I kept losing lots of weight. Not good!
My goal in this experiment was to test whether intermittent fasting would work even if I ate “crap carbs” regularly — in other words, could changing when I eat, rather than what I eat, cause me to lose a lot of weight easily, even though I fit into the demographic of women that has difficulty losing weight on Tim’s slow carb diet.
So far, the answer seems to be yes. I believe my actual results are even better than what I listed above, because sadly, I just happened to end this experiment at a time when my hormonal cycle has packed onto me a couple of pounds of retained “water”. (The timing sucked!)
And here’s another important factor: I did it only half right.
First, I did very little exercise. I did 50 kettle bell swings two days, 20 another day, and only one day did I do cardio, riding my recumbent bike slowly for 20 minutes while reading a magazine. Do you know how fast 50 kettle bell swings goes by? We’re talking almost no exercise. Anyone can exercise one minute at a time, 2 or 3 times a day.
Second, I ate crap carbs. I suspect my results would have been much better had I stuck with the low carb diet I had before Thanksgiving. But I wanted to test only the timing of eating, getting in the intermittent fasting Tim outlined. So I ate things like ice cream and bread and chicken fettuccini alfredo and potatoes and fudge, caramel, and other candy, every single day except the fast day. I didn’t, however, pig out on the sweet stuff except on the free days.
I’m going to test this one more week, and I’ll post my results, in case it helps others. After that, I’m going to go back to low carb most days, simply because I feel better.
From my results so far, it appears that intermittent fasting works to cause fat loss, even for women with metabolic issues, and even with very little exercise, and even while eating carbs.
This is important for women who have difficulty with the slow carb diet, either because they don’t seem to lose weight unless they cut out all starches and sugars, or because once they have a free day, they can’t seem to get back on the program the next day, because they are hooked again on the carbs.
It’s also important for women who feel that they have no time, including moms with young kids who keep them hopping and make it harder to get out to exercise, because the exercise can be done at home in 2-3 minutes a day.
2.7 pounds, a few inches, and % body fat down the drain. No place to post results so I did so on my blog DearPaleo
The most valuable thing learned during this “body fat hack” has been that a small bit of intentionality (read: small bit of planning) is more than half the battle to accomplishing and sticking to any type of program. A small amount of planning (meals, workouts, etc.) leads to greatest success in following of a programs protocol. Second most valuable thing learned – getting a “discrete” leg tattoo that you think no one will ever see is all for not when you post half naked before and after shots on the web! (And no it is NOT a garter, its a Celtic knot work, and when I was a teenager I thought it would look pretty bada$$ on the rugby pitch)
STARTING METRICS (12/18/11): 5′ 11″, 186.6 lbs at 11.5% body fat and total inches of 147.
Weight and body fat measurements were taken every morning prior to breakfast. Experienced a mild up-tick in body fat percentage (up to 12.4% on day 4) towards middle of week which made me skeptical, but I chose to stick with the protocol through Christmas – just for sh*ts and gigs.
The morning of Christmas (pre-binge) I was at 186 lbs. and 11.6% body fat.
The morning after Christmas Cheat Day, or as I like to call it – Fat Kids Gone Wild Day – I was 188 lbs. at 11.1% body fat…still 5’11”. Damn.
This weight increase did not alarm me, as muscle building was a secondary goal of mine, so long as my bf% did not rise. THE MOST INTERESTING part of this experiment was not realized until this morning (Dec 28th)- two days AFTER Fat Kidz Gone Wild Day was over.
END METRICS (12/28/11): Shockingly my metrics on the 28th were 188.4 lbs. and 9.8% body fat despite having increased my total inches to 151. A start-to-finish drop of 1.7% body fat and a drop of 2.6% from my highest percentage during the week! This was incredible and completely shocked me – not only was I able to drop body fat, but my lifting protocol (which loosely mirrors the Geek to Freak as seen in the 4HB) allowed me to increase size simultaneously. No way would I have expected a 2-3% drop in body fat after a two day fest of gluttony (note: I extended my binging into Monday the 26th – eating all the leftovers and desserts, etc. – hence the “two day fest of gluttony”).
All in all I would count this first trial of inter-mitten fasting and Slow-Carb eating a success!
Before and After pictures can be seen here (http://bit.ly/vfSOlU), however I did realize that my ipad camera is really poor when taking still shots unfortunately. The numbers do not lie though.
PS – the tobacco infused tequilla hot cocoa is bomb, Tim…well done lad!
I would agree. What I took away most is that having such an abundance of food is a privileged. Most anywhere else in the world fasting is a part of life. Not for health or looks but out of depravity. My pre occupation with food has nearly vanished after my second full day fast, which is liberating to say the least. Even if this plan is just as successful as any other mode for fat loss, I think we can all walk away with a new perspective.
Posted this last night (comment-116113) and its stuck in moderation after 12 hours. Even if this never posts – it was worth it. Here’s a repost:
The most valuable thing I learned during the experiment is how small adjustments can lead to big gains faster. It was hard. It took effort and focus. But I am really happy with the results. An awesome Christmas with great food and I lost weight in the process!
Here are my before measurements from 12/17:
* Weight: 241.2lbs
* Left Arm: 14.75″
* Right Arm: 15″
* Left Thigh: 26″
* Right Thigh: 26.5″
* Waist: 48″
* Hips: 44″
Total inches: 174.25″
And here are my final measurements from 12/28:
* Weight: 237.1lbs
* Left Arm: 14.25?
* Right Arm: 14?
* Left Thigh: 25.5?
* Right Thigh: 25.5?
* Waist: 46.5?
* Hips: 43.5?
Total Inches: 169.25?
So I lost 5 inches and 4.1lbs. Over the course of the week my lowest weight showed a 5.4lb loss. Wow!
Check out my full story, before/after photos, and day by day account in the blog I created linked by my name.
Thanks for the program and the clever app. Nicely done Tim!
I think my comment didn’t get approved..
.. was it because I added the video link?
anyways.. the xmas count down experiment was fun and I learned that fasting is not that hard.
Here are my before and after measurements:
BEFORE / AFTER
Weight 158.4 / 152.8
upper arms (mid- bicep)
Left 13 / 12
Right 13.5 / 13.5
waist (horizontal at navel) 34 / 32
hips (at widest point below waist) 37.5 / 37
both legs (mid-thigh)
Left 22.5 / 22
Right 22.5 / 21.5
Just stopping by to say great job on the new book. Thanks for being a great inspiration and look forward to all the things the new year brings.
Big Fan.
Just started the 4 hour body diet…already lost several pounds. Can we eat quinoa? Yes it is a grain, but it is a protein. What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
I do not recall where I read this but this was answered elsewhere. The short answer is no. Stick to only what is listed in the book, as it is listed. However, the long answer is after you get a baseline established and your metrics are working. Try it and see. Think of this as a single case research experiment where fat loss is the dependent variable. The whole self-experiment movement and single case research design concept is the theme of the 4HB, try it out.
Hey Tim, just wanted to thank you for this introduction to IF. My sis and I are going strong…4th fast day today. Reviewing the precision nutrition and lean gains info to try and find my perfect combo.
You having any other challenges in the near future?? That $600 cookbook you received a few months ago would be a great prize 😉
Jackie
Same story =) After the end of this christmas challenge I just kept going on and on.
For me it was not the IF and not the use of feed additives, but the schedule of exercises combined with the slow carb diet that transcended into my daily routine. Also from the 4HB I loved in particular the part on measures to be taken during the gluttony and took as a habit to exercise before every meal. On one hand the rule “no meal without exercise” is psychologically easy, easier than introducing several exercise sessions during the day at dedicated times and on the other it allows me to easily amount my push-ups to 300 per day and pull ups to 40 per day. 2100 push ups and 280 pull ups per week might be not that much for someone trained, but for me it’s a lot, it’s exactly 2100 push-ups more than I used to regularly do.
Still, the take home message for me is the same as it was on 12/28 – work with the body and it does help the mind.
Thank you, Tim!
What about creating a 4Hour “culture” App?? Loved the Xmas countdown and wanted more!! Slow carb diet,workouts, food, recipes…and Ferrissness:)
Set up as monthly guide…charge monthly subscription! Sell more books!
So apparently my GI system is not happy with me. My once regular bowel movements (1-2 daily) have not been seen in 2 weeks. I keep finding other sites where other intermittent fasters experience abnormal bowel movements and I seem to have fallen into that category. Any advise from this crowd? Operation GI (gastrointestinal) is officially underway!
To me the salvation from all the weird feelings from my stomach after I started on the diet was to eat sour products regularly (they are recommended in 4hb as well). Home-made sauerkraut, any other home-made sauer veggie, if you can find it anywhere, or home-made kefir. The latter can be easily made if you pour a glass of pasteurized or fresh milk, put a small piece of black bread into it and leave the open glass in a warm place for 12 hours. Then eat. The sour products will normalize the bacterial flora in your intestines and this will help your digestion.
However, two weeks is a long period of time, so you might want to see a doctor, instead of listening to random forum advices.
Thanks Dan. I’m gonna monitor to see if i have decreased my food intake, if the changes in timing (skipping dinner vs skipping breakfast to form the 8 hour feed period), or changes in hydration have anything to do with it. I have increased my kombucha intake for the time being and try to normalize all other factors. I appreciate the feedback!
Hey Tim,
Heads up, your pistachio cookie recipe advises to preheat the oven to 375 but then tells you to bake at 350 for 14min for the frozen batch. Not sure if the fact that they are frozen changes the dynamics of only the temp and not both temp and time, but if it is a typo, here’s a bone.
Jackie
Two of my favorite apps for my iphone are “How to Cook Everything” and “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” by Bittman. The apps are clean, with good looking tabs, easy to understand. Bittman does a good job of pushing new information to them all the time, also. I could see this style of app working really well for the Ferriss line. I’m not so impressed with the unofficial Ferriss apps by the way. But if you had something comprehensive for my iphone I’d be first in line.
I’ve been up and down on the four-hour thing, and there have been times when I put it all away and forgot about it – but here’s the thing: when I was into it, I set Tim’s tweets to text me. That was key.
Frustratingly, I got so much value out of Tim’s twitter feed that even when I was like “if I hear the word ‘Tim’ or ‘Ferriss’ – even if it’s in relation to ‘wheel’ – one more time I’m gonna punch a window”… I couldn’t bring myself to undo that tweet-to-text thing.
So I kept getting those wide-ranging, extremely valuable bits, and of course at some point something’s going to get me back.
Recently I had a breakthrough, mentally, about tracking, and I’m going to give it another shot. I was against tracking because it’s just never worked for me before and may have even been a detriment. And especially when we start talking about thousands of dollars to track stuff… and a lot of it just feels meaningless… But… anyway I won’t go into more but I had an amazing moment where I realized that maybe I could make it work, on a recent road trip to Utah. I’m about the most unsuccessful diet/fitness person who ever lived, but something new happened that makes me curious as hell to try again.
Anyway I’d love to have something dedicated to the iphone because I think that it would grow into something massively useful. I’m an iphone guy. I’m a writer and have written massive portions of two screenplays on my phone, as well as stories, essays, plans, etc. I’m big on this ‘iphoneography’ thing, I shoot and edit and even process video on it – it’s with me everywhere. I got my daughter an ipad but I just don’t like it the same way. If not for the iphone I would probably have shelved 4hbody and never looked back when I didn’t have great results the first time.
Hello,
I had success with the slow carb diet and feel great…. but now i read about the paleo diet and how any grains at all are bad for you. Should i still have a cheat day and eat grains even though they damage the gut? Or should i just eat paleo with zero grains period??? (im currently on lent and am not eating any grains anyway but would love some good answeres)
Thanks