The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

There are options for extending your life, but is it worth it? (Photo: Megan*)

This is the second half of our two-part article on real experiments (and successes) in life extension, authored by Dr. Michael Eades. Part 1 covers supporting research for caloric extension (CR) and intermittent fasting (IF).

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Dr. Eades continued from Part 1:

We fooled around with a number of different eat-fast-eat regimens and came up with something that works pretty well. We set up our cutoff time as 6 PM. On the day we started, we ate until 6 PM, then fasted until 6 PM the next day. On the next day we ate supper right after 6 PM and ate breakfast and lunch (and a few snacks) the next day until 6 PM when we started fasting again.

Continue reading “Real Life Extension: Caloric Restriction or Intermittent Fasting? (Part 2)”

March 2, 2008January 16, 2020

Real Life Extension: Caloric Restriction or Intermittent Fasting? (Part 1)

53 Comments

Topics: Physical Performance

Can you slow the sands of time? The research say yes… but what’s the best option? (Photo: Thomas Ellis)

Most people don’t want to die.

Since even before Ponce de Leon and his search for the fountain of youth, man has been on a quest to achieve immortality.

Some people think we’re getting closer. In recent years, caloric restriction (CR) has been demonstrated to increase lab rat lifespans more than 20%. “Intermittent fasting” (IF), a much lesser-known and more lifestyle-friendly alternative, has shown results that even surpass CR in some respects.

Following up on the popularity of his last post on this blog (The Science of Fat-Loss: Why a Calorie Isn’t Always a Calorie), Dr. Eades examines these two options and his personal experiments with both.

If you want to live longer, this two-part article is an excellent place to start for avoiding common mistakes, pain and wasted effort. Continue reading “Real Life Extension: Caloric Restriction or Intermittent Fasting? (Part 1)”

February 28, 2008January 16, 2020

Beating the Morning Rush: The 3-Minute "Slow-Carb" Breakfast

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Topics: Physical Performance

Breakfast is a hassle.

I want it to do one thing: provide nutrient-dense food and proper macronutrient ratios in the least time possible. It’s a functional meal.

The above is a video of the 3-minute high-protein and “slow-carb” breakfast that I find perfect for fat-loss and cognitive performance. Continue reading “Beating the Morning Rush: The 3-Minute "Slow-Carb" Breakfast”

February 27, 2008January 16, 2020

Escaping the Entrepreneurial Seizure: Interview with Michael Gerber (Plus: Tim Speaking)

66 Comments

Topics: Automation

Michael Gerber, the E-Myth evangelist.

Michael Gerber’s name should sound familiar.

I recommend his bestseller, The E-Myth Revisited, as the must-read classic on automation. It brief, it discusses how to create scalable businesses that are based on rules and not outstanding employees; and how to become an owner instead of constant micromanager.

Michael also had a enormous influence on me as a first-time writer. His words to me were simple during our first lunch:

“If you’re going to write a book, write a f*ing book.”

Don’t hedge and don’t think small. I didn’t hold back material for a sequel, I aimed for the top of the top, and I credit Michael’s advice as, in part, responsible for the subsequent success of the 4HWW. It was that recalibration of ambition that made it all possible.

His latest book, Awakening the Entrepreneur Within, examines how to recalibrate the scale of objectives and other facets of the core entrepreneurial experience, which we recently sat down to discuss… Continue reading “Escaping the Entrepreneurial Seizure: Interview with Michael Gerber (Plus: Tim Speaking)”

February 25, 2008January 13, 2021

The Science of Fat-Loss: Why a Calorie Isn't Always a Calorie

251 Comments

Topics: The 4-Hour Body - 4HB

Calorie counting can work, but it’s often based on pseudo-science.

I’ve examined before how people can lose 20+ lbs. of bodyfat — or gain 34 lbs. of lean mass — within four weeks, replete with measurements and photographs, but there is still a chorus: “That’s impossible! You’d need to have a 4,000-calorie daily deficit” or “That’s impossible! You’d need to consume 20,000 calories per day!”

Nonsense. Thermodynamics isn’t so simple, and you can accelerate your body optimization results by understanding the real science… Continue reading “The Science of Fat-Loss: Why a Calorie Isn't Always a Calorie”

February 21, 2008May 20, 2022

The Best (and Worst?) Autoresponders of 2007

89 Comments

Topics: E-mail Detox, Low-Information Diet

Reflecting or deleting e-mail can be an art form. (Photo: marinegirl)

An increasingly popular approach for escaping the inbox is the routine use of e-mail autoresponders.

Love it or hate it, reflecting or deleting e-mail can be an art form.

I’ve collected some of my favorite autoresponders of 2007 from Gmail and included them below.

The styles range from polite and hat-in-hand to direct and full-frontal, and include examples from both employees and business owners… Names have been changed.

February 19, 2008January 16, 2020

I WANT YOU to Become the Editor of a NY Times Bestseller and Travel the World for Free

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Topics: 4-Hour Case Studies, The Book - 4HWW, Travel

I’d like to invite you to leave your personal mark on The 4-Hour Workweek. After 31 printings (!) and more than 25 languages, you can put your signature on a global phenomenon… and travel the world for free… Continue reading “I WANT YOU to Become the Editor of a NY Times Bestseller and Travel the World for Free”

February 18, 2008January 16, 2020

How to Stop Checking E-mail on the Evenings and Weekends

55 Comments

Topics: Low-Information Diet

[Reposted from Lifehacker, where I guest posted this article this morning.]

Investment bankers aren’t known for their impulse control.

Several global firms in Zurich don’t allow their bankers to check email more than twice per day. The reason is simple: the more they check email, the more compelled they feel to send email. Technologist Robert Scoble has said that for each email he sends, he gets 1.75 to 2 messages in return. This phenomenon highlights the unscalable nature of most time-management approaches: striving to do more just produces increasingly more to do.

Fifty email messages beget 100, which beget 200 and so on. It’s impossible to manage this with a results-by-volume (or frequency) approach. There are two cornerstone behavioral changes for reversing this trend Continue reading “How to Stop Checking E-mail on the Evenings and Weekends”

February 17, 2008January 16, 2020

Dating without Speaking? The Weird World of Eye Gazing Parties

31 Comments

Topics: Filling the Void

Michael Ellsberg invented a singles event called Eye Gazing, which took off like an addiction in NYC (“NY’s hottest dating trend” according to Elle) and has been featured in media around the world, ranging from CNN to The Guardian and others.

It is similar to speed dating but different in one fundamental respect—no speaking is permitted.

It involves looking into the eyes of each partner for 2-3 minutes at a time. If you go to such an event, as I did for the first time last Tuesday night, it becomes clear how uncomfortable most people are doing this. I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way to meet your match (and it can attract some strange people, especially in SF), but it’s a very telling social experiment.

For the next two days, test gazing into the eyes of others—whether people you pass on the street or conversational partners—until they break contact.

Here are three tips… Continue reading “Dating without Speaking? The Weird World of Eye Gazing Parties”

February 13, 2008January 16, 2020

7 Tips for Fighting Information Overload (Plus: Competition Winners)

34 Comments

Topics: Low-Information Diet

Do you feel like this when you see your inbox?

[Watch the video first, but this is what caused it]

Here are 7 tips for avoiding information overload from Ron Geraci:

1. Spot the signs. Feel alone even as you communicate with people all day? That’s a signal technology is dominating your life.

2. Take baby steps. Try being inaccessible for short spurts to see what happens. The world probably won’t implode.

3. Repeat these four words: “I have a choice.” People who say, “My boss wants me to be reachable after 8 p.m.” are likely exaggerating the control others have over them.

4. Set limits. Rein in office e-mail and instant message traffic. Who truly needs 35 daily FYIs on the Henderson case?… Continue reading “7 Tips for Fighting Information Overload (Plus: Competition Winners)”