The 4-Hour Body / Slow-Carb Diet

clb51

Well said...mcferg

sbracken

I couldn't agree more mcferg!!!!! Very well put!!!

walkers345

I come to this thread for positive reinforcement of a healthy lifestyle. No one here is looking for a magic bullet. We are all old enough and I think intelligent enough to know that that is ridiculous. This thread is one of tolerance and inspiration. A lifestyle of lower carbs, no refined foods, with protein, beans and vegetables seems pretty darn clean to me. I love to exercise and it has been part of my life since I was 6 years old. I am baffled as to why you posted. Please go find a thread where people are doing a twinkie diet or a tapeworm or something. This is a method, a lifestyle--a way of eating. If you want to use the word diet, you can, we all eat a diet of something.

To roam the web castigating people in these such forums is misplaced. We wish you well and congratulate you for your healthy lifestyle. Maybe you could post some positive remarks such as exercise you enjoy or training techniques. If not, please repectfully decline to comment in this thread. Good luck.

Stephanie

circadianswing

well said Stephanie and mcferg. The personal motivations and goals are similar in this forum, and we can all agree there are many roads that can be taken on a journey like this. magic pills/bullets, and other sorts of condescending remarks are for those who require another forum, likely littered with ads from pfizer and Merk's latest antidepressants. after 6 weeks, if I had lost no weight, I have discovered the meaning of whole foods versus processed. I have unlocked a new way to cook, and enjoy my food, inside my home, out on the town, and at the store. If that's a fad or the latest marketing gimmick, so be it. I'm comfortable with what I've learned, and treat it with a little more respect than that of a dexatrim tablet, or a trip to a plastic surgeon.

Good luck to my teammates who are with me on this road, and on this journey now.

devuchka

well-said, everyone.

so. getting the thread back on-track...

i am taking your advice, sbracken, and eating more meals. yesterday i had a snacking problem due to hunger, so today i am eating a whole can of black-eyed peas (mmmmmm) and some carrots at 11:30. then i will eat later on, something else. after eating less, or rather more of less types of food, my body is beginning to feel clean & streamlined, after less than two weeks of eating this plan.

my meal costs have gone from $10 for lunch at au bon pain - to $1 for a can of beans & some veggies.

my hourglass shape is beginning to return, my energy is up, and i am more emotionally stable as my blood sugar is not swinging all over the place.

to keep organic raw food in my diet, i am eating salads at night.

i am contemplating getting some nutritional tests done using the services Tim recommended in 4HB. vitamin d, etc. anyone done this yet?

sbracken

I picked up some Calcium and Vit D when I got my new scripts filled today. My prenatal vitamin gives me 100% of most things, but not Vit D, so I figured it couldn't hurt to get some more in.

I'm way behind on meals and such today since I had a doctor appt this morning. I grabbed lunch right when I got home and I'll eat again in another hour or two. I've also got a killer head cold kicking today, so I think my next meal is going to involve some chicken broth to help clear my head....since I'm running on DayQuil right now.

mcferg

Canned Lentils, Baby!

Ferris talks a lot about canned lentils in his book. I know that lentils are dirt cheap, but my efforts to prepare them have resulted in mush. I'm not necessarily done experimenting, but I want canned lentils for convenience. I expect to pay more for canned (largely due to higher shipping and packaging costs), but I'm not willing to pay much more than I pay for other beans. I love lentils, and I think they might be a better choice than others, but I'm on a budget here. I want to be able to have lentils whenever, wherever, and canned is the easiest way to get to that point.

Long story short: Amazon grocery carries them. Since I have an Amazon "Prime" membership, I also get 2-day shipping for free. As an added bonus, I won't have to play California sales tax. The Organic lentils are $20.49 for a 12 pack, which is $1.71 per can, which is higher than the ~$0.99 I pay for most beans, though they are usually not organic.

Now, I can literally keep meals in my desk at work. I can get these, canned chicken and canned vegetables. I'm not a huge fan of canned chicken, and I'll bring leftovers from work when I can, but I can get it down, and it allows me to leave foods at the office that I can eat when I just wanna get out the door without preparing lunch.

On the subject of canned chicken - does anyone have any other room-temperature-safe foods that might work? Please don't say canned tuna...grosses me out. There's always beef jerky, but that's super-high sodium and it's difficult to eat enough of it to meet my protein goals.

chrisdavey

hard boiled eggs? Not sure how long though? not much else I can think of. You know you want the tuna :P I have a stash of about 20 cans at my office hehe

mcferg

hard boiled eggs? Not sure how long though? not much else I can think of. You know you want the tuna :P I have a stash of about 20 cans at my office hehe

Yeah, I don't think eggs can be stored at room temperature. I do keep them in the fridge at home and take them for breakfast sometimes. I love fish, and, to me, canned tuna tastes like rancid fish. It's one of the very few mainstream foods I literally can't get myself to eat.

I can keep canned chili, which I actually don't mind the taste of - I pour it over veggies, but it's not the kind of thing I want to eat a lot of - not something I consider particularly healthy.

chrisdavey

tried canned salmon?

mcferg

tried canned salmon?

Never tried it...BUT...I'm not a huge fan of salmon in general. Of course, it seems to me that most people I know that like canned tuna don't actually like fish, so, perhaps my, let's say, indifference toward fresh salmon indicates that I will like (or at least be tolerant of) canned salmon. I guess it's worth a try.

There's also a fridge at work, so I can keep other things that keep for a long while in the fridge such as cold cuts, but, again, I'm trying not to eat too much of that stuff either.

cutmd

Mcferg,maybe you said but I don't understand why you can't cook a chicken or turkey or patties for the week and bring your lunch fresh or leave it in the fridge? Things that keep for a while are by their very nature sodium and/or chemical laden threes no getting around that

Anyway, here's a cool research article showing the weight loss and health benefits of a legume heavy diet http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20499072

chrisdavey

If you've got a fridge just premake some stuff and put it in a container. That's what I do. Beans, veggies and chicken. Keep it in the fridge. All good I cooked up 8 batches worth

dahlia3

I've just started. Read almost half of Tim's 4hour diet book.

This site tells me I can only lose 0.8 pounds per week on a 1200 calorie diet. I probably eat 3 times that now. Well almost. So that's why I am going with the 4-hour Tim.

I read a lot of these posts and it seems that there is a lot of "resistance" to duplicating his formula. It's not about "What's healthy." It's about "I'm going to try his plan."

If you want to add in dairy, or fruit or soy in the form of Edamame or peas for beans, that's up to you. I -on the other hand- am going to follow what he says. He's all for experimenting, and that's good - be openminded, be skeptical, be inventive. He's detailed how he's found that a small change can make a big difference. That's why I dont intend to change things from what he prescribes. I'm going to set up a baseline of "Following what he says" and then see if I'd like to alter it.

But you follow your way. I remember in the beginning of the est training how people needed to fight with The Rules. As far as I was concerned it was all their individual trips. His rules came down to "be there" and "don't be high." That was it.

Tim wants up to follow his rules. Each meal all three groups. Nothing else. Eat a lot. Eat 30 grams of protein in the hour after waking, better in the half-hour. One day a week, follow the cheat day schedule and plans but eat a lot if you want to. This forces the body to "reset" after getting used to handling carbs one way, back to a different way. This way the body doesnt get efficient about handling food. And red wine is ok,

I'm up for it. Wish me luck. "Proost!":

--- I have a few questions. What about mayo - that contains no sugar- is that ok? What about other veges. He specifically mentioned cauliflower is ok but doesnt include it in any of the lists. Tomato isnt in the first lists but is in later lists. Parsley? Cilantro? Onion (he finally mentioned it once. What of nutritional yeast? I like that a lot and it's half protein and full of B-vitamins. (Montignac doesnt mention it either.) Well thanks for listening.

dyslexicduck

Yeah, I don't think eggs can be stored at room temperature. I do keep them in the fridge at home and take them for breakfast sometimes. I love fish, and, to me, canned tuna tastes like rancid fish. It's one of the very few mainstream foods I literally can't get myself to eat.

I don't think it should be a problem. In many countries raw eggs are stored at room temperature. A hardboiled egg should not spoil from the time you take it out of your fridge when you leave in the morning and by the time you eat lunch; more so if it is next to other cold items.

mcferg

I don't think it should be a problem. In many countries raw eggs are stored at room temperature. A hardboiled egg should not spoil from the time you take it out of your fridge when you leave in the morning and by the time you eat lunch; more so if it is next to other cold items.

Hard boiled eggs will keep at room temp for a few hours, sure - but I'm looking for stuff that will keep for days in my desk. As for those of you recommending precooking a bunch of stuff and sticking it in the fridge here, or packing my lunch - that's what I do...most of the time, but there are also days where I want/need to wake up and just come to work with out futzing with it, and it would be nice to have enough stuff here in my desk waiting when those days arise.

I can't stick a week's worth of food in the fridge here at work - it's too full. Also, I work from home about half the time, and I never know what days I'm going to be here, and I don't want to leave food here to spoil.

Again bringing my lunch really isn't and hasn't been a problem - I was just looking for some stuff to keep for backup.

devuchka

i am looking for light snacks, that i can carry in my handbag. i was using raw organic bars, but trying to avoid nuts due to weight gain. also nuts (almonds) don't pop my blood sugar back up. if anyone has any lightweight uncooked stuff, i'd be interested in hearing. i love edamame, but usually at japanese restaurants...

oh, i also should mention, yesterday was the first day my energy popped WAY UP, in a good way. sbracken, i took your advice and added an extra meal. i had 2 eggs for breakfast, can of black eyed peas and carrots for lunch (11:30), an egg salad sandwich for 2nd lunch (3:30). by time i got home i was bouncing around with energy (very unusual for me) so i went to the laundromat & did all my wash! i got tired later over a glass of wine, but still felt great. had spinach salad at about 9:30. i am so impressed. i gotta say, i did the raw organic diet for about a year, and never had energy like that. we'll see if it was just a fluke, i hope not.

i have FMS, so days like that with lots of good energy are gggrrrrreat!

sbracken

devuchka, I wish I had that kind of energy right now. This cold is seriously kickin my butt in the energy level. I managed to cook up 5 chicken breasts last night so I'm set with "non-dinner" meals for awhile. But right now even getting up to grab a pre-made meal from the kitchen is taking alot of effort.

I'm well below my pre-cheat weight as of this morning. But I have a feeling it's because I didn't eat much yesterday. I'm hoping to at least get most of my calories in today, but it's not easy when eating feels like the last thing I want to do. I am doing better at remembering to take all my supplements.

mcferg

Well, this is the second week in a row that I've carried most of my cheat day weight (I was up 5 lbs and am currently up 4) into Thursday. Last week it wasn't all gone until cheat day came around again. This week, I'm hoping to hit that point a little bit sooner, but whatever.

My last 2 cheat days have been really excessive. I'll be happy to lose another 0.5 lb this week, and have a more moderate cheat day to get things going in the right direction...

Christin09

So I am on day 3 of this and so far I LOVE it! I am actually not craving anything like bread or pasta or rice or anything for that matter... I've lost some weight but not going to celebrate yet as I am sure it could just be water but I actually feel thinner!

Well all I have to say is I am happy with this diet and glad to have you all for ideas/support!

devuchka

thanks everyone for your updates. your progress, and even your frustration, are helpful in not feeling alone & getting motivated.

today i have good news...i weighed-in at my chiropractor's office & lost 2 lbs this week (between friday last week & today, thursday).

:laugh:

can i just add, that before i started the SCD, i had been trying to lose weight for months, unsuccessfully...

circadianswing

I have been stuck at my weight for the past 7 days or so, and I started a strength training regiment 2 times week. In addition, if anyone is having the same issue there was a good post on the 4hbtalk.com forums, with the heading appropriately titled "stuck". http://www.4hbtalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=226&sid=314829fef9eb2fce84955c31257e0344

they have some other ideas in there about not going to overboard and water consumption.

walkers345

I'm still up 1 lb from pre-cheat day on Sunday and it's Friday today! UGGH. I did eat a late dinner at chipotle after work and I wonder if that has something to do with it. I am following this plan to a T. I feel your frustration CircadianSwing and Mcferg. I do feel great eating this way, but I would like to see some faster progress. I did weight training on Wednesday and I am very sore. I wonder if sore muscles and associated edema may have something to do with it? I feel guilty cheating tomorrow, because my last cheat day was super bowl Sunday (only 6 days ago), but I have to get back to Saturday cheat days sometime. Like you Mcferg, my last couple of cheat days have been excessive. I am hoping to have a moderate cheat day tomorrow. I am eating 30g or more of protein within 30 minutes of waking, drinking my water, etc. I would love to get back down on the scale SOON!

mcferg

Like you folks...I'm still up 1.5 lbs from Sunday cheat day. Today will be very active, though, and probably light on the food, as I'm very busy. I guess I'd consider dumping the cheat day weight by Saturday a step in the right direction (it took me until Sunday last go 'round). I'm not really worried about it. Of course, I would very much like to see more movement on the scale, but I actually enjoy the eating plan enough that I'm willing to do it even without weight loss. That will change at some point, I'm sure, but I've had some weeks that were better than expected, so I can live with a few that are worse.

I think this Sunday my cheat day is going to be a "healthy" cheat day. I will focus on eating healthy grains and other healthy things that I can't eat during the week. This is actually what I *want* to eat. I've kind of grossed myself out the last few weeks. I'll probably indulge in a serving of ice cream in the evening, but I'm going to lay off the beer and salty snacks I've been stuffing myself the last couple of weeks.

Walker, I'd say if you prefer having a Saturday cheat day, then go ahead and make the switch. One day in the grand scheme of things shouldn't matter. I do understand not wanting to do it prior to getting the cheat day weight back off (though you still may), but the cheat day weight is primarily water, and your body will let it go at some point.

devuchka

bother. my chiropractor's scale was uncalibrated, and off by 1 lb.

so i only lost 1 lb this week. :sad:

but ... tomorrow is cheat day! :drinker:

and my valentine's day party.

circadianswing

took off an additional 1.8lbs at this morning's weigh in. I'm going to assume it's the additional water, because exercise and diet remained the same. Happy Cheat day to those who do Saturday... I think I'll do the lighter cheat day, don't want to hard of a time getting back to this point.

walkers345

Hooray! I'm down a pound from pre cheat weight last week. I agree about a more moderate cheat day today. It's rough to struggle the whole week, but I definitely need a little cheating today for my sanity.

marchenland

I've been stuck at 209/208 for the last 2 weeks. So frustrated. Trying not to get discouraged, but during lunch (my one REALLY unexciting meal of the day), I wonder why I'm bothering. *sigh* I've upped my water significantly, and it seemed to work briefly, but this is basically now me stuck at about a 7-8 lb loss in 5 weeks now. I now think my 204 day was a scale error. I'm not paying attention to my scale's fat meter anymore; the thing is a menace. ("66%!" it told me one day. Uhm, NO.)

Anyway, how is everyone doing with the workout? What weight are you using for your kettleball swings? I've been using 25lbs plus the weight of the pipes (so ~28-30lbs?), and I still can't do 30 in a row. BF is using 40+ the pipes, and he can do all 50 in one go now. *grimace* But he's also 6'6" and lifts heavy things for a living.

mcferg

Marchenland,

Plateaus are always frustrating. For me, when I've hit plateaus in the past (on other eating plans), I've found that most of the time, the best way for me to break through them is to increase the amount that I exercise. I'm talking about *really* pushing myself past the point that I might have thought I could endure. It's not a long term change, though - usually if I'm at a plateau, I'll do more intense exercise over the last few days before weigh-in. Of course, this is my first time on this eating plan, so it may not apply here. Also, I know Ferris doesn't necessarily recommend more exercise, and a lot of my exercise is different than what he suggests.

I do try to follow the 30-50 reps of air squats, chest pull and wall pushups before each meal on cheat day, though. I don't have a kettle bell, but I think I may pick one up. I also need to re-read that chapter on exercise. I listened to this book as a book on tape while running (bought the actual book later), and I completely missed the whole kettle bell thing somehow.

Are you just weighing yourself, or are you taking other measurements? I always just went by the scale, but I started measuring my waist 2 1/2 weeks ago. I will measure for the 2nd time tomorrow. I also recently ordered a caliper set so I can do an actual body fat calculation. I have NO idea what to expect. I have a scale that does it through electrical resistance, but, much like yours, mine was so over the place that I decided it's of no use.

Who else out there is taking PAGG? I ordered the stack, and I've been taking it, but I often forget to take it before my mid-day meals...so, I usually take it 3 times...breakfast, dinner (AGG) and before bed (PAGG). However, I can't say what effect, if any, it has. It's definitely not affecting me adversely, so I'll continue to take it, but I need to go back and re-read that chapter as well, so at least I know the reasoning.

circadianswing

Mcferg, I haven't been doing PAGG, but I have been doing Psyllium husk tablets and a probiotic a couple times a day, just before a meal. I understand the psyllium acts as a catalyst to coagulate with fat entering the body and moves it through. I think it helps, and I'm afraid to try PAGG, because I don't sleep well as it is, and I imagine this may make it worse. Did you buy the PAGG separately or at one of those newly created stores that have come into existence since the book's release?? I am interested to know about how you feel on it.