Throughout the last couple years I've gone through several stints and various incarnations of Tim Ferris's "Slow Carb Diet" (ala "The 4 Hour Body"). Recently I've been feeling the season's ripe for change and have taken another look at my notes from the book. These days you can find
a copy on Amazon for about $10 used. If you're looking for the quick rundown of what the "fat loss" section of the book offers, a good
summary cheat sheet can be found here; and the same site provides long list of other summary / cheat sheets (
link here).
This time around I've taken the most minimal approach I can while still employing the principles found in the book. The book states that one's fitness is dictated by (varying degrees, but more or less) 60% diet, 30% exercise, and 10% drugs. I've opted not to employ and supplements other than whey protein. One of my favorite points of the book is the distinction between exercise and recreation. Basically, recreation is whatever you do for fun, be that some sort of physical activity (of various degrees) or not. On the other hand, exercise is done with the specific intent of energy consumption (calorie burning, hormone production, etc..).
So, this incarnation involves several things for me that have some moderate changes from what is prescribed in the book (
fitness and dieting should always maintain a degree of plasticity to adapt to one's intent of implementation: goals, duration, etc...). Below are the practices I've implemented.
Slow Carb Diet:
This is actually easier to list foods that are not "approved": fruit, grains, starch, sugar, and liquid calories. This diet consists of eating a lot of legumes (beans / lentils), lean protein, eggs, and vegetables. For more reasons as to "why"... read the book! For me, a typical day would look something like this:
- Breakfast - Coffee (black), 1 scoop whey protein, 1 whole jumbo egg
- Lunch - ~200 calories worth of beans / lentils, 4oz fish or chicken, 2 servings of fresh vegetables.
- Mid - Afternoon - ~200 calories worth of bean / lentils, 1 serving fresh vegetables
- Dinner - ~200 calories of beans / lentils, 4oz fish / chicken, 2 servings frozen vegetables
- Late Night - 28g nuts, 1 serving frozen vegetables
- *Unlimited green, non-starchy (corn, peas) vegetables -> the nutritional benefits far outweigh any extra calories.
- *The book advises that if you're truly (physically opposed to psychologically) hungry, then one more slow carb meal (See Lunch and Dinner) won't be harmful in the long run. Indeed consistency maintainability are key to long-term success.
- Cost: The book has a quick grocery list for one week totaling < $40. When I went on a grocery run the other day I found that to be pretty accurate. You may spend a bit more to get stocked up, but you'll spare a few groceries if you eat out and on cheat day. All in all, I'd say that things balance out as long as you're modest in your eating out and budget appropriately for your weekly binge. One more thing, don't buy the junk food with your groceries or keep it in the house!
Cheat Day:
The book recommends taking one day off per week to go wild; with some caveats for "damage control."
- Keep a log of food cravings throughout the week - indulge one day / week
- 1st meal of the day should be clean, normal slow carb meal.
- Heavy caffeine (mild diuretic) throughout first part of day.
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon with each "junk" meal.
- 90 seconds of exercise before and after (w/in 90min) of each junk meal.
- Drink plenty of fruit juice throughout the day.
Other Procedures:
- 90 seconds of exercise each morning upon waking.
- 30 grams of protein w/in 30 minutes of waking.
- 30 minutes w/ ice pack on neck in the morning.
- This is easier to deal with than cold showers / ice baths. There has been some debate as to its effectiveness especially if someone is eating hot food / drinks and taking hot showers. However, I look at it this way, if the temperature and duration of your showers and hot beverage consumption stay about the same, you're still getting a lower "net" body temperature throughout the day.
- Add cinnamon (saigon preferably) to coffee.
- Drink plenty of ice water and green tea (decaf) throughout the day.
- The easiest way to accomplish this it to take an empty milk or fruit juice jug, fill it with hot water, add the tea bags and some lemon / lime juice, let it brew / cool, then stick it in the fridge and drink it throughout the day.
- Add lemon / lime juice to drinking water.
- Lots of herbs and spices (particularly garlic) with food.
- 30 minutes w/ ice pack on neck before bed.
- 1 gram of poppy seeds (sleep aid?) before bed.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners.
Now, lets see if this bad boy can fly!
