Slow Carb Diet by Tim Ferriss

I'm not sure how many other people have heard of this, but I'm starting this tomorrow. I am normally not a fan of restrictive type diets in any way but this seems more doable considering one day a week you can cheat and eat whatever you want. He says you don't have to count calories, but I'm going to stick to my calories. I'm going to try it for 60 days (reason I say 60 and not 30 is because he says women tend to start losing more fat at 4-6 weeks into the diet). He also states not to take measurements/weights for the 10 days prior to starting your period (women, obviously! lol) but the first day is ok.

So, tomorrow I'm going to take my beg measurements, pics, and weight. I don't have a body fat caliper or anything so just going to find a crappy way to calculate it online and go with that.

If anyone wants to join me, feel free! I'll post frequent updates on my blog on here as well!

For anyone interested in this, here is a quick breakdown of what's involved.

4HB’s Slow-Carb Diet
The 4HB’s slow-carb diet involves following four rules for six “slow-carb” days per week and one rule for one “cheat” day per week (bullets are my primal/paleo editorial comments):

Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates. Don’t eat bread, pasta, rice (brown or white), grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, breaded fried food or dairy on your slow-carb days.

No big surprise here; white foods have been targeted before in various diets. In general, white foods are energy-dense and nutrient-poor, so avoiding them is an all-around good diet strategy.

Ferriss mentions grains only very briefly re the slow-carb diet (answers “no” to the question “Can I eat whole grains or steel-cut oats?”).

Dairy may be a bit of a surprise, but Ferriss advises against it because of a high insulin response to dairy despite its low GI ranking. [Ed note: this may or may not be a problem at an individual level. You may want to avoid dairy if including it stalls weight loss.]

Grains aren’t part of a paleo/primal diet because of their anti-nutrients; dairy is included by some.
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again. Meals should include protein, legumes, and non-starchy vegetables; eat as much as you like, 3-4x/day.

Yes, it’s boring, but according to Ferriss, the diet is “intended to be effective, not fun.” Unless you really have the time and skills to cook every day, he advises to go with frozen and canned foods — at least initially — that make meal prep easier.

Meats and veggies are definitely part of the paleo/primal diet. Because of their anti-nutrient content, legumes aren’t. Eating to satiety is paleo/primal, but given the ancestral link, there isn’t a focus on eating every so many hours (in fact, many paleo/primal folks practice intermittent fasting).
Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Avoid milk (including soy), sweetened soda (no more than 16oz of diet), and fruit juice. One or two glasses of red wine are permitted.

Red wine is enjoyed by some on a paleo/primal diet.
Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. Tomatoes and avocados are okay (the latter in moderation).

Ferriss suggests avoiding fruit (especially fruit juice) on slow-carb days because of the way fructose is metabolized.

Fruit is part of a paleo/primal diet, though limiting high-sugar fruit may be useful (Cordain, PāNu) for some.
Rule #5: Take one day off per week. Go nuts and eat lots of calories to keep your metabolic rate (thyroid function, conversion of T4 to T3, leptin) up. Do at least five days of rules 1-4 before following rule 5.

Eating lots of non-paleo/primal foods one day a week is definitely not paleo/primal!
Other tips
The five rules above make up the bulk of the diet. However, Ferriss provides a list of mistakes people often make with the diet. They are re-written here as tips:

eat within 30-60 minutes of waking
get at least 20g of protein per meal, especially at breakfast
drink sufficient water, especially on your “cheat” day
avoid artificial sweeteners
don’t overdo with exercise
Re supplements, Ferriss suggests potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

Re fats, Ferriss suggests eating “decent quantities of fat at each larger meal” (typically lunch and dinner). Saturated fat is fine if the meat is free of hormones and antibiotics. Otherwise, go for olive oil, butter, ghee, or macadamia oil (which has more monounsaturates and less omega 6 than olive oil).