What foods are allowed/not allowed

bostonwolf

Not allowed:
Milk
Milk products including cheese (except cottage cheese)
Refined soy products (Soy milk, Tofu, tempeh, soy protein shake)
Fruit
Potatoes (sweet potatoes, yams, yucca, any starchy vegetable)
Bread, rice, grains, oatmeal, tortillas, quinoa
Ketchup
Creamy dressings and dressings with sugar
Sugar, honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, fructose
Deep-fried breaded food (corrected, good catch!)
Corn, popcorn (updated, per Tim's comment)

Allowed:
Eggs
All meat (Beef, pork and poultry NOT treated w/hormones or antibiotics)
Turkey bacon, organic bacon, organic sausages
All fish, seafood (canned is fine)
All beans (chickpeas in moderation)
All vegetables (except potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams)
Hot sauce
Salsa w/o sugar
Any oil (Olive oil, macadamia nut oil, grapeseed oil preferred)
Clarified butter (ghee)
Spices & herbs
Mustard
Non-creamy low-sugar dressings
Brown rice protein, hemp protein, pea protein
Unflavored whey protein isolate
Unsweetened cocoa
Vanilla extract
kimchee

Allowed in moderation:
Mayonnaise
Peas
Tomatoes
Avocado (1 cup/day max)
Peanut butter/ almond, and other nut butter (1 TB/day)
Nuts (5-10 per meal)
Hummus, chickpeas/garbanzo beans
Coffee (w/up to 2 TB cream)
Aspartame / Equal (Diet soda 16oz/day, Sugar-free JELL-O)
Unsweetened almond milk
Kefir
Kombucha

bostonwolf

More clarification from Tim's blog:

Slow-Carb Clarifications

I’m currently getting at least 500-1,000 questions a day via the blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. about the slow-carb diet. Let me clarify a few things:

Do not eat the following, except for cheat days:
Yams
Sweet potatoes
Quinoa
Dairy (this includes cheese and yogurt of all kinds)

I mention cottage cheese at one point as a last resort. It is low in lactose, which is what you need to avoid. Ghee and cream (for coffee) should contain little or no lactose, hence you can use them. The same goes for effectively lactose-free, unflavored whey protein, etc..

The following will address 99%+ of confusion:

- If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
- If you haven’t had blood tests done, I don’t want to hear that the diet doesn’t work.
- If you aren’t measuring inches or haven’t measured bodyfat % with an accurate tool (BodPod, etc. and NOT bodyfat scales), I don’t want to hear that the diet doesn’t work.
- If you’re a woman and taking measurements within 10 days prior to menstruation (which I advise against in the book), I don’t want to hear about the lack of progress.

- On the critical 4-6 week window:
For people over 40 and women (especially after two kids), it’s quite common that the most dramatic fat-loss and weight change comes after 4-6 weeks on the diet. I have no explanation for this. Needless to say, if you haven’t done the diet for AT LEAST four weeks, please don’t post a comment about plateauing and panicking. I can’t give you meaningful advice without a ton of other supporting data (blood tests, etc.), and it’s physically impossible for me to respond to each person.

To reiterate: The entire goal of 4HB is to make you a self-sufficient self-experimenter within safe boundaries. Track yourself, follow the rules, and track the changes if you break or bend the rules. Simple as that. That’s what I did to arrive at my conclusions, and that’s what you will do — with a huge head start with the 4HB — to arrive at yours.

Do it for 4 weeks and then troubleshoot if you’re plateauing.

If you post a plea for help anywhere, include at least two FULL days of your meals and snacks so people can actually help you.

Most of those saying they’re “following the diet to the letter” are doing nothing of the sort. Reread “Slow-Carb II” in 4HB.