The 4-Hour Body / Slow-Carb Diet

mcferg

Slow going here, too Stephanie. After skipping my cheat day last week, I was able to get off the "extra" weight pretty quick, but I'm still stuck at the same weight. I'm cheating tomorrow regardless of my weight, but I have been feeling like I'm about drop a little...not sure why - just a feeling I get. Any movement - 1/4 lb even - would be fine, but the only thing that would disappoint me would be a gain.

I've got a busy day today, and I'm trying to work in 2 workouts, mostly because I just feel like doing it, and the weather is so nice. I already worked out once (kettlebell), and I'm looking to get a run in this afternoon. Between all my running around and the actual exercise, I feel like I'm poised to at least keep things in check.

I'm not even sure what I want to eat for cheat day tomorrow. I need to start making a list. It's interesting, but after going nearly 2 full weeks without cheating, my desire to cheat is even less than it was when doing it every week.

circadianswing

just want to post this to get this out there.... http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=dBnniua6-oM&vq=small#t=27

umd78

Finally my first cheat day, I went from 218 to 210.6 in first week. Granted I work out 4 times a week and run on the weekends, but this is huge progress. I probably won't go crazy today but I can't wait to enjoy some waffles and pizza!

bluebird321

@circadianswing
Thanks for the link; it was very informative (it was also scary and motivating). I will be forwarding it to some friends.

@umd78
Congratulations on your results and getting through your first week. We are at a similar size and weight, so i'm really looking forward to seeing your progress.

sbracken

Cheat day is here.....and it started out with a loss of 0.4lbs for the week. It was a crazy week on the scale up and down, so I'll take it!!! I started out this morning with a Panera Cinnamon Crunch bagel with cream cheese......and only finished 3/4 of the bagel and only used about 1/2 the cream cheese they give you. 1/2 a Caramel Lattee and a glass of oj. And still my stomach feels over full! Just not used to eating this kind of junk and it takes awhile for my system to process it. Not sure if I'll eat anything for "lunch" but I'm thinking pizza for dinner!!!!

mcferg

Well, I had my first "slip up" after nearly 10 weeks yesterday. I don't feel bad about, as it was somewhat calculated. My original plan was to make Saturday my cheat day, but I really just didn't feel like it, and I like finishing my weekend with my cheat. However, I had plans to go by a local brewery who sells pints out of their tasting room with some friends. So, I figured I wouldn't count it as my cheat day, and I'd just have 1 pint. Well, I ended up having 1 and 1/2 pints. After having my favorite beer in the world (something they call the Hopinator Hefe), I noticed something new on the board - the Hopanero. So, I had a half pint of that. I found myself very hungry having missed lunch, and ended up also eating a few potato chips. I would say it was somewhere between 1/2 and 1 serving. Otherwise, though - I was excellent all day, and I, of course, skipped the evening wine in lieu of the earlier beer.

I should have just had whatever I wanted for dinner, etc, etc, and made it my cheat day, but I just didn't feel like it. It had been a long day, I was tired, so I reheated some leftovers when I got home, and ended up turning in early.

I'm now sitting here, 2 weeks removed from my last real cheat day, and my weight is the same it was that morning. So, I'm going to go ahead and cheat today, despite my beer and chips yesterday. I just feel like, psychologically, I need to give myself permission to cheat, despite the cheating yesterday.

That being said, the things I've been craving aren't necessarily unhealthy...I would like a sandwich on some whole grain bread, maybe some sweet potato fries... My plan is to not eat a ridiculous amount of food, but eat a lot of things I've been wanting that are disallowed by the SCD.

@circadianswing

I watched the entire video last night. Well, OK, I missed the last 10 minutes, as I fell asleep, for real. I'm not saying I disagree with what he was saying - that sugar is bad. I have a sense that sugar, and high fructose corn syrup, in particular, HAS, in fact contributed greatly to the obesity problem the world now has. However, it would be impossible for me to take anything valuable from all of reaction details he gave regarding how the liver processed glucose, ethanol and sucrose. I, in general, have a difficult time buying into information that is so filled with science so far beyond my personal understanding. IF everything he says about all of the reactions is true, THEN, clearly his entire premise is supported. However, it's a huge turnoff (and a giant red flag), when the presenter says something like, "just let me do my thing and count the arrows". It smacks way too much of, "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain".

I'm not saying his motives aren't pure. Often times, however, people often end up hurting their causes, because they start with a valid premise, and focus so much on what they consider to be the most effective spin, that it makes some people (such as myself) ask the question - if this premise is so sound, then why are you trying to spin it all?

Then again, there's personal experience. My weight issues are not and have never been related to sugar. The bread I buy and eat when I've been on a diet that allowed bread, does not contain fructose. I don't consume many sweets. I don't drink fruit juice or non-diet soda. I would have something like ice cream on occasion, but that's something that I know is sweet and am eating FOR its sweetness. So, while my personal feeling is that, yes, sugar is very bad, and a very big part of the problem, it's not the whole story, which is what this guy suggests.

umd78

My cheat day is almost done so it should be interesting what I gained from it (I did run a 10k this morning so I shouldn't be much)! Did anyone else have guilt over what they were choosing to eat during their cheat day? I ended up calorie counting the pizza I wanted for dinner!

Anyways, hope everyone is enjoying the diet as much as me. I think my body enjoys the lack of processed foods I've been putting in it.

Anyone have any good snack food ideas? I've been using 100 calorie nut packs but they are getting boring.

mcferg

@umd78

The whole point of cheat day is that it's guilt free. I have, in the past, made decisions to tone it down a little, and I even skipped it once, but, for the most part, I've gone all out. Whatever you decide to do should be ok. I definitely don't count calories. I do eat a high protein SCD-friendly breakfast, and usually don't start my "cheating" until about noon, and I cut off about 8PM.

As far as snack foods go...

My best advice is to NOT snack. Are you eating 4 meals per day? If you're only eating 3, I would recommend going to 4. If you're already eating 4, I'd recommend eating a little bit more at the meal before the time you tend to feel the most like snacking. Nuts are a good snack, and if they're getting boring, well, that's kind of the point of the diet. Eat the same things over and over. Get bored and only eat when you're truly hungry. Beyond nuts, the only thing I can really suggest are raw veggies with a little olive oil & vinegar or the occasional slim jim or the like. Slim Jim's are not healthy. They're high in saturated fat, and I believe they even have a little trans fat in them, BUT, they have 0g of sugar, unlike most beef jerky.

dyslexicduck

I did not eat a SCD breakfast for my cheat day but I did end up cutting out a lot of the snaking on sweets due to being busy. I gained 3-4 lbs from it and I am interested to see if it will take much longer than normal to loose it.

4 meals seems to be the best way to cut out snacking as I'll end up hungry between a larger meals even if I eat as many vegetables as I possibly can (with a few exceptions.

Has anyone found a decent protein bar for this diet? I'll be doing a lot of driving with nothing for hours on end soon and nuts won't really cut it. I can't find much of anything without either a lot of sugar or malitol. I ordered some quest bars which have sucralose, but I'm hoping not too much.

violynist

well, in spite of my earlier discouragement this week, i DID lose weight after all. i wasn't home to weigh-in on early cheat-day, but the night before i weighed in at nearly 1/2 lb under my lowest weight so far. maybe next week i will be able to tell what my new baseline is.

i am happy with 1/2 lbs. anything that is not stable or gains works for me!

this morning i was sooo relieved to get back home and have a good SCD breakfast. i noticed that things i used to love, like riesling wine, now seem too sweet for me. my taste has changed & i am eating less of some of my former favorites, even on cheat days.

i also enjoy the fact with this eating plan that you don't have to explain everthing to people or look wierd when you go out. you simply order stuff off the menu that you can eat and that's it.

sbracken

I'm up 2 lbs after yesterdays cheat day. No biggie, as I know it will be gone soon. I didn't have my usual SCD breakfast as I was really wanting a bagel with cream cheese.....so I got up and drove to Panera for one. I ended up buying 2 in case I wanted another one later on in the day. It's still sitting in my fridge for me to throw out tonight. I only managed to finish maybe 3/4 of my bagel and Caramel Latte. Dh just watches and shakes his head because he knows I used to be able to just shovel food in, and now I just can't do that, and when I try I end up feeling sick and bloated. I even ordered my favorite pizza for dinner last night and it just wasn't all that great. And I couldn't even finish 2 pieces and 1 breadstick!!!!

This morning I noticed that yet another pair of pants is getting too big on me. They aren't quite at falling off or looking too droopy yet, but another lb or 2 and these are going to end up in the too big box. I'm just hoping that I have enough pants a size smaller than I'm wearing now to get me thru til my goal weight which is 2 sizes smaller than I am right now.

walkers345

So I didn't skip cheat day all together, but I managed to lighten a good deal adding in a lot of exercise that day. I was only up 1.4 lbs on Sunday. That is a lot less than my usual 3 tp 4 lbs. Today, I am .4lbs away from my cheat weight, so I feel I am starting ahead this week,

It was actually more fun to cheat, knowing I wasn't going to go crazy and have to get everything in in one day. I think I'm warming up to the idea that I DON'T have to cheat like it's 1999!

Back on the SCD and enjoying it. Good luck this week everyone.

mcferg

Sounds like everyone is doing pretty well!

I ended up starting my cheat day late yesterday, but made up for it with a bunch of sweets in the evening. I'm not sure I even enjoyed them, but I guess I did. Sometimes you gotta get it out of your system. My weight is up 4 lbs today, which seems about normal. I'm going to try to get more raw veggies in this week, and see if that helps.

I went to the store at lunch and stocked up on grillable lean meats for the week in addition to the veggies. I have to confess - I have a certain ennui about the diet today. I'll stick to it, but I'm just not feeling super gung ho. I can't help but think it's a result of the crap I ate yesterday.

bluebird321

I got a DEXA scan this morning and the fat percentage was at 26.3%. I weighed in at 216.5 with my clothes on (cheat day was Saturday), and 215 when I weighed myself a little later at home (sans clothes). I have nothing to compare it to since it is my first one. I will get another one done in about 30 days. The largest percentage of fat is in my trunk which is 29.8%

I did get a hydrostatic bodyfat analysis done back in 2009; it was 28.5% bodyfat at 226 lbs. Based on that I'm going to guess I was around 29% or higher 30 days ago.

violynist

a whopping 7lb gain after cheat day... this is tough game to play. however, the fish n' chips and all the other stuff I consumed was well worth the mental satisfaction!

i have had similar gains afterward. i think this has happened to me a few times. i am thinking to just weigh self on saturday morning b/c too much weighing = too much needless attention on the fleeting H20 weight...

Goalis180

Hi guys.

I started this diet on 2/26/11

I was at 250 lbs. I didn't do a body fat measure. The way I see it, my belly and the inches on my waist are more than enough to tell me whether I'm losing body fat.

This is now 3/14/11 I'm already down 17 lbs.

I've had 2 cheat days so far. What was really funny is on both days I didn't even "feel" like cheating. My cheat day is Sat. This past Sat, I went to a restaurant. I ordered 2 fried chicken breasts and onion rings. It was all you can eat salad bar. I went to the salad bar and got a salad and 2 rolls. I ate half my salad and my rolls. I was full. I wound up taking my meal home. I was looking forward to eating ice cream and other desserts, but I couldn't get past half my salad and 2 rolls.

On this diet, I honestly don't get cravings. In fact, I'm having problems even eating. I'm slightly depressed for other reasons and this could be affecting my appetite. However, I got into this mess because of stress eating. I don't really know if the depression is causing the appetite change or whether it's just because my stomach is now getting smaller.

I used to weigh 188 lbs at my best weight. The funny thing is, I actually thought I was "fat." I'm sure many of you can relate to this. I held up a pair of pants I used to wear back then and just had to laugh at my foolishness that I thought I was "fat." Grant it, I still had a bit of a belly, which is why I'm shooting for 180.

I guess I just want to point out that big losses on this diet are possible. Considering I've lost 17 lbs in 16 days.

Previous to this, I was on the South Beach Diet, which is similar. I did lose weight, I believe I was down to 225 on it. However, I fell off it and gained back the weight I had lost.

I did try the kettlebell swings the one day. I did them wrong and wound up working my lower back instead of the muscles I was supposed to. I've decided that I just need to do lower weight so I can get the mechanics down. I'm not a very coordinated person so trying to remember when to breathe, keep the butt squeezed, rocking on heels, remembering where to swing the arms to, and tightening abs all in a span of a few seconds is kind of hard for me.

I'm sorry to hear some of you are having problems with the cheat days and not losing or even gaining weight.

The only thing I can tell you is that you need to eat half hour after you wake up. Something from the South Beach Diet that I incorporate into this is to eat all I want until I'm full (which as said though, my appetite is crap lately.) I try to eat 5 times per day. If I feel hungry at all between meals, I eat something with protein. The South Beach diet was nice bc I could eat low fat string cheese, but this diet no cheese is allowed. However, I don't even crave the cheese anymore.

Good luck everyone.

kmacmomma

Hi

Just wondering about cottage cheese, I have seen on other sites that people are eating it on the 4 hour body. Is anyone eating it and still losing?

Thanks

mcferg

@Goalis180

I'm one of the people gaining a bunch on cheat day, and not always losing it before the next week, but no worries - still loving the diet. That's something I keep reflecting on - I care so much less about the scale on this diet, because I feel so good eating this way, that it's not a big deal. I no longer see my goal weight as the end of some road, because I fully intend to change nothing once I get there. I think on other plans, I thought I'd be able stick to it until I reached goal, then just forget about what I was eating.

I also have done South Beach. I was successful to a point. When I was doing SB AND counting calories, I did very well. However, the South Beach plan is just too flexible for me, but mostly, it really didn't do much to curtail the cravings, and I would continually fall off the wagon. Now, with SCD, there's two things that help with that. Firstly, I think the style of eating results in fewer cravings, but, secondly, with the guilt-free cheat day seemingly always around the corner, even if I have cravings, it's easy to just hold them off until cheat day.

@kshand

Ferris refers to cottage cheese as a "last resort". I know it can be really convenient, but my recommendation would be to try it without it first, then, if you're still dying for it - add it in and see if it makes a difference. I personally think cottage cheese tastes like someone drank milk then puked it up, so it's not an issue for me, but I do realize that's not the prevailing opinion.

Goalis180

Mcferg:

"but mostly, it really didn't do much to curtail the cravings, and I would continually fall off the wagon"

This is exactly what happened with me on the South Beach Diet. I wanted to have some cookies, cakes, candy, pizza, etc.

That's what I like about this diet is that I know I can have these things once a week (even though as of late even when that cheat day comes around, I really don't want them) Maybe this is more of a mental thing. On SBD you KNOW you can't have them, so you crave them more. On this diet, you KNOW you HAVE to eat them so your mind is like "No, I don't want it" It's kind of like a reverse psychology thing I think. I know that for me, I'll be changing my cheat day to Sunday for Easter. Just so I can have mashed potatoes and gravy and maybe a filling ball or two.

Today is the first day I didn't lose a whole pound in a while. I'm kind of befuddled by this development. I'm still down I think it was a quarter of a pound.

I did also want to mention some of you who are gaining weight but doing kettlebell swings, don't forget muslce weighs more than fat. (I used to really be into lifting weights, thankfully, I still have muscle tone even though I haven't lifted in years Which I think is what saved me from becoming WAY over-weight) If you are doing weight training and this diet, don't be discouraged if you see the scale going up. All that really counts is if you're losing body fat and inches around your waist. I know happiness for me lately was when I wore a button down shirt and I didn't have to untuck as much of my shirt so that all you saw was my belly. Also a few pairs of pants that were really snug now fit me comfortably. That's my problem area is my stomach. They say that if you have the largest fat deposit in the stomach as a male, it's because you don't convert carbs efficiently. I truly believe that as since both SBD and this one limit carbs and I was able to lose a lot of weight quickly, I think the carbs are to blame. I really don't have fat anywhere else, except my face and my belly. My Mom told me that my face looked like it was starting to slim down.

I look at old pictures where my face is angular like it's supposed to be and how flat my shirts laid against my stomach and it makes me feel sad that I let myself get to this point. As I said before, I know it was stress eating that got me into this mess. I know that by recognizing that, I can when I get to my ideal weight not ever be like this again. Also as you said mcferg, this diet is very doable for life. Lean meats and veggies and staying away from domino foods but allowing yourself to go crazy once a week, is perfect.

mcferg

@Goalis180

I'm not sure how much muscle gain I could possibly attribute to kettlebell swings. I know that's heralded as some sort of magic exercise, and I believe it's effective, but I don't think it's realistic to think that even 1 lb of muscle gain per week is possible. All of that being said, I've taken waist measurements and my caliper body fat measurement the last couple of days. My waist is down a full inch from when I last measured, and my body fat is now measuring consistently in the 18.6% range (down from 20.6%). These are both very obviously terrific developments.

For body fat, I'm using a caliper with a single measurement, so, I know that's not the most accurate, but, at the same time, I know that I'm measuring it at the same location, the same way every time, and it's going down, which is really all I'm concerned about.

I've got 5.5 lbs to go until I reach my weight goal. My goals beyond that were a waist under 34 inches and body fat % under 18%. I'm starting to think now that, given how slow the scale has been to move lately, I may well reach those other goals before I lose that last 5.5 lbs - and that's not a bad thing.

One thing I lament a little is that I have only been running about 10 miles per week. I've just found that the kettlebell workout is just as effective, and requires less time. However, I spent a long time building my running endurance and speed (over distance), and I know that when I decide to start racing again, I'll probably be starting from scratch. I'm not sure I care about that too much, because I feel so wonderful now, but it's in the back of my mind.