The 4-Hour Body / Slow-Carb Diet

sbracken

I don't recall a rule on the sugarfree gum. I chew it daily....maybe as much as 5 pieces a day....and I have yet to experience any crazy side effects from it. Looks like the stomach discomfort hits around 30g...which would be 15 pieces at a time! I don't think I could fit 15 pieces in my mouth at a time, let alone actually want to do that.

I had a very satisfying cheat day yesterday! Breakfast with the family for eggs, bacon, wheat toast with butter and jelly, and pancakes!!!! Lunch was Taco Bell (Chalupa and Nacho Bellgrande and Mt. Dew) after hitting Target and the grocery store. Then dinner was pizza with DH and FIL!!!! I ended up feeling sick after the Taco Bell. Crazy cause that's no where sclose to what I would have eaten back in the day. I had to stop after 2 slices of pizza so I didn't over stuff myself again. Normally I would have polished off at least 4 pieces! DH kept commenting all day how if looked like I was just eating a ton of food, but if he thought about it, he realized I used to eat a lot more of the junk food. By the end of the day he was actually teasing me for my stomach shrinking and not being able to stomach a 3rd piece of pizza. I even bought a small container of chocolate ice cream to have, and just couldn't manage it.

I'm up 2 lbs this morning. Not too bad considering all the crap and sodium I took in.

mcferg

I don't recall a rule on the sugarfree gum.

It's not one of the main rules, but he definitely recommends avoiding artificial sweeteners....speaking of which...

As a new coffee drinker, I'm looking for ways to get rid of the coffee breath. I'm thinking probably the best thing to do is just brush my teeth, but if there's something more convenient you've come up with, lemme know.

Christin09

As far as the coffee breath goes I find that if I continuously drink water with my coffee and then chug like 8 oz when I am done it takes away any coffee breath I may have. I haven't taken a poll from my friends regarding the smell of my breath but my mouth seems to taste better.

I agree with the artificial sweetener thing, I had to quit gum when I started this because of that rule, I would say sugar free gum isn't part of this diet.

What do you guys think of pork rinds? Are they ok for this diet? I would think so just because its nothing but pork skin but I want to confirm with you guys cause the crunchiness like a chip is throwing me off...

mcferg

What do you guys think of pork rinds? Are they ok for this diet? I would think so just because its nothing but pork skin but I want to confirm with you guys cause the crunchiness like a chip is throwing me off...

So long as you stay away from ones with sugar (i.e. BBQ flavor), they probably can technically be considered "OK", because they are, all after all, primarily pork...however... I stay away from them for the following reasons:

1. While they are pork, they are just pork skin, which is primarily fat. The spirit of the SCD meal is to choose a "protein", and while pork rinds do contain some protein, the ratio of fat to protein is significantly higher than if you were eating actual meat.

2. They are calorie dense, yet contain very little nutritional value. I.e. - they are empty calories.

All of that said, you might be okay if you limit the amount you eat to only a few, but I would think that anything chip-like in nature could very easily become a domino food. It's much easier for me to abandon the entire idea of eating chips, than to try to limit myself to things that are not chips, but satisfy the same cravings, but, as always YMMV.

mcferg

Scrapple, err I mean: Lentils, anyone?

It's unbelievable to me that I've been on this diet for 9 weeks, and I have, until now, completely forgotten about this recipe. This is actually the only recipe that I can take credit for as my own creation (aside from a couple of marinades that I use regularly). I grew up outside of Philly (Wilmington, DE to be precise), and if you've spent any time in diners there, you know the glory that is scrapple. Scrapple is a breakfast meet made of pig scraps ground up with spices and corn meal. It's formed into loaves, then sliced and, most frequently, deep fried. The result is a magnificent crispy on the outside, mushy on the inside breakfast meat.

Awhile back, when experimenting with a vegetarian diet, I stumbled upon a horrendous recipe for vegetarian scrapple. It tasted awful, but, strangely, the texture was pretty close to the real thing. So, I took that, and combined it with a number of recipes I found for pork scrapple to concoct what I consider to be a pretty darn good vegetarian scrapple. Since the bulk of it is lentils, this may help some of you that have trouble with your legumes in the morning.

So here's what you do:

1. Mix 1 1/2 cup lentils (I use brown) with 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes. Blend them in a blender until they form a powder. I use the magic bullet for this. Works great.

2. Mix 4 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.

3. Chop about 1 cup of onions (I don't measure, but about 1 small onion chopped) and 4 cloves of garlic and saute them in a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil.

4. Take the onions/garlic and some of the water/soy sauce mixture and blend it until it's a liquid. Again, I use the magic bullet for this. It doesn't matter how much of the liquid you use, so long as it's enough to liquify the onions/garlic - it's all going in the same place.

5. Bring the remaining liquid to a boil. Once it's boiling, put in the following:

1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

Once you've added the spices, whisk them in and let it boil for about 30 seconds.

6. Gradually whisk in the powdered lentils. Keep whisking until it's thick and pops. It happens fast - usually just a very short time after you get the entire mixture whisked in.

7. Put the mixture into a loaf pan, let it cool to room temperature, then put in the fridge overnight. I use an Emile Henry loaf pan that I liberally spray with PAM, and the loaf pops right out the next day.

You can actually eat it as is (like pate), but to prepare like scrapple, cut into slices about 1/2" thick and pan fry it. You can do this using PAM, which works fine (though, again, I recommend being fairly liberal with it), but it works a little better with some oil.

Very, very low fat...mostly lentils, and IMO, delicious. It works great w/ eggs, but also fine with just about anything, and super-convenient.

Christin09

@mcferg I agree with the pork rinds I will keep them to a minimum but they are a nice salty crunch when needed.

Thanks for the recipe I was just thinking about how I was going to have filling enough breakfasts on the no meat days during Lent. Can't wait to try it!

violynist

As a new coffee drinker, I'm looking for ways to get rid of the coffee breath. I'm thinking probably the best thing to do is just brush my teeth, but if there's something more convenient you've come up with, lemme know.

this isn't what you asked but just to make you feel better...i've never noticed coffee breath on a guy i dated, ever. garlic, yes. smoking, yes. morning breath, yes, but coffee, never.

in fact, if i did, i would consider it kinda sexy. but never a problem like some of the other stuff.

maybe you don't like the taste of coffee so much? if so, try rinsing out with water afterward, that might help...

Christin09

Does anyone have some ideas what I could do with crawfish? Since its fat Tuesday I really want to make something with crawfish in it for dinner but I want to have it be SCD friendly... I could have just straight up crawfish sauteed in some oil but if anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it

mcferg

@violynist - I'm developing a taste for coffee, but my coffee breath concerns are based more on stuff I smelled on other people prior to being a coffee drinker. There's a pretty big distinction between the smell of coffee and coffee breath. I've always LOVED the smell of coffee, but found the smell of coffee breath particularly heinous.

In other "news", after not cheating on cheat day for the first time, my weight is back to the prior cheat-day's weight. I guess I just needed one more day. I have to say - I think that cheat day is important, but I really didn't miss this one, I'm not craving anything, and I'm happy to just stick to plan this week. It's kind of nice being pre-cheat-day weight on Monday, too, but I'm going to go back to cheating next week, regardless of what happens between now and then.

umd78

Hey all!

I just started the SCD yesterday. I will say I'm confused by one thing. I remember getting the impression from the book that one shouldn't measure their food. I do know that a majority of your calories come from beans. I'm not the biggest fan of beans so I've been downing a beef chili with various veggies added for variety each day.

My question is, should I be measuring out my food before consuming or just eat as much as I want within the SCD rules?

Thanks!

Steve

walkers345

Steve,

I have been measuring my beans at 1/2 cup limit per meal. I think Tim had recommended a serving of each (protein, legumes, and vegetables) per meal.

I have also started measuring my chicken and other proteins. I limit 3 eggs in the morning. BUT, I am a woman with 10-12 lbs to lose. I imagine that as you get closer to you weight loss goal, perhaps calories in calories out may matter more. I know a lot of people who do not measure. I would imagine that you could take it a week at a time and measure your progress, and change accordingly. That being said, I do not think he had limited portion sizes.

Good Luck!

Mcferg,

I, too, am considering NOT cheating this week. I'm going to see how this week goes. My scale has remained pretty steady-no weight loss. I wonder if one week with no cheating may move it in the right direction. I find that if I tell myself I can have a cheat meal, it just ends in chaos, because I overcompensate from not cheating all day.
As for coffee breath, I find that brushing my tongue as far back as I can helps a lot.

A little happy update..

My fat monitor has moved from 26.1 (first measurement 2 weeks ago) to 23.9 today! I don't know again how accurate it is, but I do it the same time in the morning on an empty stomach. I feel a little firmer too!

I'm running 3 times a week and doing kettleball and some squats and other weights.
I have a wedding to go to in April, and my goal is 140! So I need to get a move on. That is one lb a week til then.

Cheers,
Stephanie

sbracken

umd78 - I don't measure out my foods, but I do pay attention to potion control. So, while I might not be right on the mark with a 4oz serving of chicken, I know I'm not at 8 or 12 oz either. I do measure out anything that could be considered a domino food (almonds) or anything like salad dressing or oil for cooking. For example....last night I cooked up some ground beef with seasoning and 1 can of black beans. When it was done I split it into 3 containers for lunches this week. 1 lb of beef/3 - 5oz-cooking loss=approx. 4oz serving + approx. 1/3 can of black beans. If my weight loss starts to plateau or slow down as I get closer to my goal weight, I'll probably start weighting to ensure I'm staying under my cal count for the day.

circadianswing

My question is, should I be measuring out my food before consuming or just eat as much as I want within the SCD rules?

Steve, I've never measured a portion, and I eat till I'm totally content. sometimes upwards of 3/4 can of beans if I'm really hungry with a full size bonless chicken breast, or a steak. One day I even downed an 8 piece El Pollo Loco... it was awesome to see I lost weight the following day!

Stephanie, and all those who have been afraid or not doing/avoiding cheat day. I have basically gone out of control every cheat day, be it fried foods, alcohol, pint of ice cream, etc... eg. last Sunday, i was up 7lbs after, and lost all but 1 as of following tuesday (this morning). it's been a great part of the diet for me, so I assure myself I am not giving up all the things I want.

walkers345

Circadian, Yes, I agree. Cheat day is very important, both mentally and for that calorie spike. I have also been going hog wild (no pun intended). I definitely agree it is a great, if not crucial part of the eating plan. I just may try to skip one. We'll see how this week goes.

mcferg

@Circadian, Stephanie...

I think cheat day IS essential. I love eating the SCD meals (truly), but that diet is not sustainable long-term (and by long term, I'm talking about years, not weeks or even months) without it. I did skip this one, because I was still carrying weight from the prior cheat day, and I'd be surprised if I didn't do it again at some point, but my plan is as follows:

- Never skip a cheat day so long as my weight is at or below the prior cheat-day's morning weight. I don't care if I haven't lost weight, so long as I didn't gain any.

- Never skip 2 cheat days in a row, even if my weight is up. I guess I'd re-evaluate this if things kept rising.

Once I reach my true goal, I will probably have some scale allowance that determines if I need to skip a cheat day or not. I haven't really determined what that is. I don't think my current goal of 175 lbs is my ultimate goal, but I'm not changing it now, because I want to have the satisfaction of having met that goal. Beyond that, I will establish a new goal that probably focuses more on waist circumference or body fat % than the number on the scale. Until that final goal is established and met, my plan is to follow the cheat day rules above.

eponai

guys, i think yesterday might have been a wash.

i had to go on-site to a client location for work, and lunch was an option of either chinese food across the street or a place that served filled baked potatoes a block down. we opted for the chinese, and even though i thought i was being good, i know it was not even close to SCD friendly. i ordered chicken and garlic spinach. sounds healthy, right? but it came soaked in this thick sweet sauce. i literally had a heart palpitating sugar rush after lunch since i'm not used to sugar anymore (been cutting it out for months now).

the scale i know does lie, but it's not saying good things. trying not to worry too much since i'm heading in to my cycle.....

i think i just wanted to complain about chinese food, which i don't even particularly like, so cheating because of that seems extra sucky.

umd78

Hey guys!

I just wanted to ask them men a question about weight loss on this diet. I weight myself at the beginning (2 days ago, 218.3) and then I weighed myself this morning at 213. I know a lot of this is water weight but I have been drinking way more water than I normally do (I'm down to 1-2 cans of diet soda a day now, everything else is water).

Are these normal weight swings? Just a info about me... 5 foot 11 and I have a pretty athletic build from playing football. I feel much skinner only after 2 days (wow my diet must have sucked before!)

Thanks!

violynist

@Circadian, Stephanie...

I think cheat day IS essential.

good point. tim mentions that skipping cheat day on a regular basis is unhealthy for women, especially...i guess it messes up the hormonal balance if we don't return to normal regularly.

circadianswing

umd78 - I see wild weight swings, especially between Sunday and Wednesday. I was 223 on Sunday morning (after day off), i weighed in this morning at 215.4. If you feel you're getting stuck, drink more water. If I'm lucky I'll see 214 before Saturday, and drive that back up past 220 on the weekend.

mcferg

Hey guys!

I just wanted to ask them men a question about weight loss on this diet. I weight myself at the beginning (2 days ago, 218.3) and then I weighed myself this morning at 213. I know a lot of this is water weight but I have been drinking way more water than I normally do (I'm down to 1-2 cans of diet soda a day now, everything else is water).

Are these normal weight swings? Just a info about me... 5 foot 11 and I have a pretty athletic build from playing football. I feel much skinner only after 2 days (wow my diet must have sucked before!)

Thanks!

Welcome!

I think what you're experiencing is typical. You do see a pretty dramatic dropoff in weight (largely water). The worse you were eating before hand, the more water you were likely retaining. If you gave yourself any kind of "last hurrah" prior to starting, that could have pushed it even higher. This is pretty well evidenced by what circadianswing is describing.

That being said - a lot of people say things like "just water weight", but it's still weight, and, for me, carrying extra water makes me feel just as bad as other weight. I feel bloated and just generally blubbery.

bluebird321

Hey guys!

I just wanted to ask them men a question about weight loss on this diet. I weight myself at the beginning (2 days ago, 218.3) and then I weighed myself this morning at 213. I know a lot of this is water weight but I have been drinking way more water than I normally do (I'm down to 1-2 cans of diet soda a day now, everything else is water).

Are these normal weight swings? Just a info about me... 5 foot 11 and I have a pretty athletic build from playing football. I feel much skinner only after 2 days (wow my diet must have sucked before!)

Thanks!

The first week, I seemed to lose a lot of weight. I didn't see any fluctuation from that, but I only weigh myself once per week -- Saturday morning before eating anything on my "cheat" day.

After the first week, the weight loss seems to have stabilized to just a couple lbs. per week.

Day #1 227.8 lbs
Day #7 221.4 lbs
Day #14 218.4 lbs
Day #21 -- 215.6

circadianswing

Welcome!

I think what you're experiencing is typical. You do see a pretty dramatic dropoff in weight (largely water). The worse you were eating before hand, the more water you were likely retaining. If you gave yourself any kind of "last hurrah" prior to starting, that could have pushed it even higher. This is pretty well evidenced by what circadianswing is describing.

That being said - a lot of people say things like "just water weight", but it's still weight, and, for me, carrying extra water makes me feel just as bad as other weight. I feel bloated and just generally blubbery.

I just want to also mention that in addition to losing weight by diet alone, my exercise routine includes daily 30 min of cardio, strength training 2 times weekly w/ trainer, and a weekly strenuous 2 hr competitive basketball game at a gym. definite agree that I get a lot of water weight issues, and I also feel bloated day after workouts.

bluebird321 - you're doing awesome, ~12lbs in 3 weeks!!!

mcferg

After the first week, the weight loss seems to have stabilized to just a couple lbs. per week.

Don't poo poo a "couple lbs. per week". That's a good rate of weight loss. If you maintain that for a few more weeks, you'll be surprised how much better you feel. I personally find that I enjoy the way eating the SCD makes me feel that I am less concerned about the scale than I've been on other plans. I'll take 1/2 lb per week if I can maintain that.

violynist

well, a bit of a progress update.

i was discouraged this week, gained back a couple lbs, sick of the diet (as i am eating mostly vegetarian), and generally unhappy with my progress. until this morning. when i put on my rain-coat, that i was going to have altered. the belt has always sat too high on my waist, and it is uncomfortable and makes me look like a babushka.

this morning, surprisingly, the waist sat lower! i couldn't believe it. now i don't have to get it altered after all.

so i guess i must have lost some girth somewhere, because just last week my raincoat still didn't fit right.

maybe i will keep up with the SCD after all...

bluebird321

Welcome!

I think what you're experiencing is typical. You do see a pretty dramatic dropoff in weight (largely water). The worse you were eating before hand, the more water you were likely retaining. If you gave yourself any kind of "last hurrah" prior to starting, that could have pushed it even higher. This is pretty well evidenced by what circadianswing is describing.

That being said - a lot of people say things like "just water weight", but it's still weight, and, for me, carrying extra water makes me feel just as bad as other weight. I feel bloated and just generally blubbery.

I just want to also mention that in addition to losing weight by diet alone, my exercise routine includes daily 30 min of cardio, strength training 2 times weekly w/ trainer, and a weekly strenuous 2 hr competitive basketball game at a gym. definite agree that I get a lot of water weight issues, and I also feel bloated day after workouts.

bluebird321 - you're doing awesome, ~12lbs in 3 weeks!!!

Thanks. I'm pretty sure a decent portion of my weight loss is water, but it's nice to see the scale moving in the right direction. It will be interesting to see the results at 90 days.

My workout consists of just walking the dog between a mile and 2 miles everyday.

caiphus

I initially picked up the book to see about rapid muscle gain for a lazy person. When I got my DEXA scan I came out as 24.5% body fat which was a massive shock, I thought I might have been around 18% but to realise that being as slim as I thought I was and carrying 22kgs of body fat was pretty unhealthy. I jumped into the slow carb diet and over 6 weeks i dropped 4-5 kgs by the bathroom scale, thought I was losing a little slower than I expected and hadn't noticed any change in body shape. I went back for my second dexa scan, I had lost 3.9kgs and only 0.6kgs was actually fat the rest was lean mass. I was 4 kilos lighter, but my body composition was WORSE than before at 25.1%. I am feeling quite devastated and have no Idea how that could happen. My activity levels have increased since I went on the diet, but I haven't really been excercising. I had been quite sedentary for about 8months before I commenced the diet. Any Idea why I am losing so much more muscle than fat?

sbracken

The scale has not been my friend this week. Could be the time of the month (within 10 days of my cycle starting).....and therefore water retention would start factoring in more than usual. After Monday's weight in and being up abit after the cheat day on Sunday, I figured all was normal. Until I was up another pound on Tuesday morning. No change on Wed, down to Monday's weight on Thursday (figured the water weight was finally deciding to come off) but I'm back up a pound this morning!!!! My diet hasn't changed this week.....same stuff as usual. But on Tuesday evening I was crazy hungry!!!! My DH thought I was crazy, cause he even commented "You're never hungry".

mcferg

Shannon...not sure what's going on. I'm, more or less, in the same boat. I never lost all my weight last week, so I skipped cheat day (Sunday). As of Monday morning, the previous cheat day weight was gone, but on Tuesday morning, I was up a half pound. Now, Friday, I'm back down to the original weight I was before my cheat day nearly 2 weeks ago.

I'm not going to sweat it, though -I hit my current low after losing 3 lbs a week that followed 2 weeks of no loss. So, if I end up on a cycle that goes 0-0-3, that's still a pound per week, which I'm more than happy with right now.

I've decided that I clearly prefer the during-the-week plan this diet suggests more than any other I've been on, because I don't really care if my weight loss is slow, or how long it takes me to lose it, as I'm not planning on altering things once I do, anyway. I'm trying to make this the way I'd eat "if I wasn't dieting", because I feel confident, based on my energy level and everything else, that, if at some point I stop losing weight, then I must be at the weight I should be.

bluebird321

I initially picked up the book to see about rapid muscle gain for a lazy person. When I got my DEXA scan I came out as 24.5% body fat which was a massive shock, I thought I might have been around 18% but to realise that being as slim as I thought I was and carrying 22kgs of body fat was pretty unhealthy. I jumped into the slow carb diet and over 6 weeks i dropped 4-5 kgs by the bathroom scale, thought I was losing a little slower than I expected and hadn't noticed any change in body shape. I went back for my second dexa scan, I had lost 3.9kgs and only 0.6kgs was actually fat the rest was lean mass. I was 4 kilos lighter, but my body composition was WORSE than before at 25.1%. I am feeling quite devastated and have no Idea how that could happen. My activity levels have increased since I went on the diet, but I haven't really been excercising. I had been quite sedentary for about 8months before I commenced the diet. Any Idea why I am losing so much more muscle than fat?

Caipha,
I recommend keeping an online diet/exercise diary -- people can give you helpful feedback based on their own experience. I've kept one on another forum for the last 30 days, and i started one here about a week ago. I will be getting a DEXA done on monday; unfortunately, I didn't get one at the outset, so I have no basis for comparison yet.

walkers345

Weigh in day today. I'm down to 148lb.- pre cheat weight from last week, no loss. I am ok with that, because I lost 2 " since my last measurements. (one month ago), and 4.25" total since January10th. It's slow going, but at least it's going! The plan today is to do a mild cheat day.

Caiphus, if ther is any advice I can give based on my slow journey, it's to keep going. This is a livable food plan with long term sustainability ( with some small tweaks). I would give it more time and possibly add some weight training to avoid losing muscle.
How long did you go between Dexa scans? were you doing the SCD exclusively during that time?

For me, it has been slow, but I feel more toned and less bloated. I have increase my water intake more than ever in my lifetime.
And it has allowed me to take the emotions and thinking out of eating.

Good luck and keep at it.

Stephanie