4 Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss

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gdb86
gdb86 Posts: 156 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi MFPs!

I had a session with my Personal Trainer yesterday and we were discussing different techniques and what not and the book "The 4-Hour Body" by Timothy Ferriss came up. He mentioned that I should read it to see his take on weight loss/nutrition.

So, I went to the bookstore yesterday and skimmed it (or rather stayed at the store for an extra hour to read about 50 pages of a 400 something page book - haha) and I'm not sure how I feel about his advice. It seemed like it is the opposite of what everyone hears and made me feel strange about calorie counting even though I know it works for me.

I was wondering if anyone has read it and how you feel about it. I did only skim (which he actually suggests to skip around) but someone who has applied it to their life would probably know better than me if there is quality advice to take from it and I'm curious what that is and just general what the MFP community thinks!

Okay, I'm done ranting... it's time for you to rant - Ready... go!

Replies

  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
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    I haven't read the book, bumping to see your replies. :)
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    It's crap. If your trainer thinks otherwise I would fire him.
  • zippo32
    zippo32 Posts: 1,419 Member
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    There are other 4-Hour body threads on MFP boards. I am a fan of doing a search...............................

    Yesterday there was a thread with the title: 4 Hour Diet...................................oooooh, it kicked up a lot of dirt! Sidesteal has an opinion, I think......................................
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    I haven't tried it and I probably won't.

    I have heard from others that have and the general consensus is that it's hard to maintain. And beans and lentils all the time suck. And cold showers are torture.
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
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    I am a fan of doing a search...............................

    :laugh:
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
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    It's crap. If your trainer thinks otherwise I would fire him.

    Did you read it? I'm not contesting your reply, just wondering. 4 hour body could imply so many things though.....interesting.
  • crystalinda
    crystalinda Posts: 151 Member
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    I think your trainer was right by telling you to read it to formulate your own opinion. I've got the book and haven't gotten through the whole thing yet. One thing Ferris does say is that you can pick and choose which parts are most appealing to you to apply at your discretion. My trainer said the same thing as yours; read it you decide if its worth your time and effort. I think the diet is too boring to maintain long term (w/ exception of the binge days) and that there are a lot of tiny little things that are not possible for me to keep up or apply in a practical sense.

    I plan on reading the whole thing through and trying it out because I think it could be an effective way to cut fat and build lean muscle once I'm at my goal weight. You should look around the forums there is a group of people that post to threads about their progress/experiences on the "Low Carb Diet".
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    Not cover to cover. But even if the unread parts were brilliant, the amount of crap was too great.
  • _Bro
    _Bro Posts: 437 Member
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    I've read the book and felt that it was a bit disorganized and not well tied together.
    Some things were "interesting" but I didn't come away from it feeling like I learned anything significant.

    I did,however, like the experimental approach even though some seemed a bit flawed (not interested in arguing about this).

    I wouldn't recommend it for reading.
  • zippo32
    zippo32 Posts: 1,419 Member
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    Wait till Ronswanson posts..............................................
  • RainbootsToBikinis
    RainbootsToBikinis Posts: 465 Member
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    I've read it all the way through.


    I think there are some good parts to it and it's worth reading, I love the kettle bell work outs he talks about, and I found his supplement section fascinating and I have incorporated some of them into my other vitamins that I take.

    As for the diet itself, I could never maintain it. Maybe for a week, but there's just not enough stuff I like and not enough variation.

    My main complaint is that the book covered too much, and a lot of stuff that wasn't relevant for me, especially the part of gaining a lot of muscle.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I've read the book and felt that it was a bit disorganized and not well tied together.
    Some things were "interesting" but I didn't come away from it feeling like I learned anything significant.

    I did,however, like the experimental approach even though some seemed a bit flawed (not interested in arguing about this).

    I wouldn't recommend it for reading.

    I've read it as well and have similar feelings about it. Basically everything is an N=1 situation and so his results and advice should be taken with a grain of salt
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    I haven't read all of it but found the nutrition advice poor to say the least.

    I read his blog many years ago and he seems to have followed the same love of style over substance he exhibited then.If you want to spend your time mostly manipulating your water balance then achieving permanent fat loss then knock yourself out...
  • gdb86
    gdb86 Posts: 156 Member
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    Thanks all! I got a feeling from the book that made me think it's difficult to be applicable. I did however think his writing style could be very persuasive to someone just starting their weight loss journey. For me though, it really was just interesting skim through and see a different perspective on how to lose weight, but not practical for my personal lifestyle.

    I appreciate all of the replies though! I'm going to search the boards for any other thoughts on the book. Keep em' coming if you have any more!

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