How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise 5,957 Comments
Fat Loss via Better Science and Simplicity
It is possible to lose 20 lbs. of bodyfat in 30 days by optimizing any of three factors: exercise, diet, or drug/supplement regimen. I’ve seen the elite implementation of all three in working with professional athletes. In this post, we’ll explore what I refer to as the “slow-carb diet”.
In the last six weeks, I have cut from about 180 lbs. to 165 lbs., while adding about 10 lbs. of muscle, which means I’ve lost about 25 lbs. of fat. This is the only diet besides the rather extreme Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD) that has produced veins across my abdomen, which is the last place I lose fat (damn you, Scandinavian genetics). Here are the four simple rules I followed…
Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates
Avoid any carbohydrate that is — or can be — white. The following foods are thus prohibited, except for within 1.5 hours of finishing a resistance-training workout of at least 20 minutes in length: bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating anything white, you’ll be safe.
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again
The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the three following groups:
Proteins:
Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork
Legumes:
Lentils
Black beans
Pinto beans
Vegetables:
Spinach
Asparagus
Peas
Mixed vegetables
Eat as much as you like of the above food items. Just remember: keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of french fries or potatoes. Surprisingly, I have found Mexican food, swapping out rice for vegetables, to be one of the cuisines most conducive to the “slow carb” diet.
Most people who go on “low” carbohydrate diets complain of low energy and quit, not because such diets can’t work, but because they consume insufficient calories. A 1/2 cup of rice is 300 calories, whereas a 1/2 cup of spinach is 15 calories! Vegetables are not calorically dense, so it is critical that you add legumes for caloric load.
Some athletes eat 6-8x per day to break up caloric load and avoid fat gain. I think this is ridiculously inconvenient. I eat 4x per day:
10am – breakfast
1pm – lunch
5pm – smaller second lunch
7:30-9pm – sports training
10pm – dinner
12am – glass of wine and Discovery Channel before bed
Here are some of my meals that recur again and again:
Scrambled Eggology pourable egg whites with one whole egg, black beans, and microwaved mixed vegetables
Grass-fed organic beef, pinto beans, mixed vegetables, and extra guacamole (Mexican restaurant)
Grass-fed organic beef (from Trader Joe’s), lentils, and mixed vegetables
Rule #3: Don’t drink calories
Drink massive quantities of water and as much unsweetened iced tea, tea, diet sodas, coffee (without white cream), or other no-calorie/low-calorie beverages as you like. Do not drink milk, normal soft drinks, or fruit juice. I’m a wine fanatic and have at least one glass of wine each evening, which I believe actually aids sports recovery and fat-loss. Recent research into resveratrol supports this.
Rule #4: Take one day off per week
I recommend Saturdays as your “Dieters Gone Wild” day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. I make myself a little sick and don’t want to look at any of it for the rest of the week. Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function, etc.) doesn’t downregulate from extended caloric restriction. That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat. Welcome to Utopia.
###
If you enjoyed this post, check out my latest book, The 4-Hour Body, #1 New York Times and #1 Amazon bestseller. You will learn: the finer details of the Slow Carb Diet (outlined in the above post), how I gained 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days, how to produce 15-minute female orgasms, and more.
You can also get the Expanded and Updated 4-Hour Workweek, which includes more than 50 new case studies of luxury lifestyle design, business building, reducing hours 80%+, and world travel.
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Tim Ferriss interviewed by Derek Sivers
Tim Ferriss articles on Huffington Post
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5,957 Comments
Casey — July 22nd, 2011, 7:54 am
I saw the picture of the pizza and it says you ate that post workout but in the title of the post it says lose weight w/o any exercise? I actually do enjoy working out so I’m just wondering if you don’t think I should work out with eating this food or am I just missing something? Thank you so much!
lam — July 22nd, 2011, 1:16 pm
Read the book. The pizza is only for certain types of extreme muscle building/weight gaining type training. Stick to the diet. No white carbs, at veggies and beans and binge once a week if you want to lose weight.
Mark — September 15th, 2011, 8:11 pm
If you read his initial post you’ll see 7:30-9pm he does sports training. His pizza is after RESISTANCE training or weight training
mary — July 22nd, 2011, 8:06 am
So I ran across this blog, my older sis and i decided to try it. My sis has lost 8lb in one and a half weeks and I have lost 2 and a half. Understadibly I weigh less so it will be slower for me to drop the lbs. The first day we had headaches, I guess its sugar and carb withdrawl, nothing that an advil can’t fix. I did feelt so much energy it was hard for me to go to sleep at night. I am on the second week. I am wearing clothes that I had not worn in a long time. I don’t feel like I have been depriving myself, and do not desire sweets or bread as much as I needed them before. I can honestly say this is does not feel like a diet, but better choices. I had chinese food for my day off and felt so bloated afterwards that I couldn’t imagine how many years I have lived with that feeling after eating. My sis has altered it a bit by adding some wheat crackers in some of her meals and it is still working for her. I would recomend this change for anyone wanting to lose weight and to feel healthier.
Kirby — October 3rd, 2011, 12:27 am
Thanks for the comment Mary, I enjoyed your description of the process. Gonna try this out myself. Cheers.
StaceyGirl — July 22nd, 2011, 12:43 pm
You can’t blame your wife lol I thought the same things once before – I have gained about 20 lbs over the last 7 years with my fiance but really when it all comes down to it – It’s only one person’s fault: yours.
But you can change the way you eat/live. I used to go out for lunch all the time at work. I would get a burger at McDonalds or pizza, burritos. You name it I ate it. I would scarf down snacks and treats all night and go to bed with it all sitting in my tummy, then wake up feeling sick.
I have not wieghed myself while on this diet and I can honestly say I am NOT perfect on it…..But I can tell you that I have changed the way I think and act with food and it is a heck of a lot better then what I was doing before.
I eat 3 times a day. I try not to have pop or heavy sugar drinks. I always try to do the protein, beans and greens and if I dont I am smart about things. I just went on a trip for 5 days and did my due diligence to pick different meals or foods when ordering. My tummy is getting smaller, I dont feel hungry anymore by 10am, I don’t have any treats at night and I am feeling really good about that.
You have to do this for yourself first and then for your family. 31 us very young and I am sure you have seen The Biggest Loser – so you can do it! It just takes dedication and I know that people in the military have that. You just need to resserect that inside yourself.
Good luck! And repost if you can Army guy
wayne — July 24th, 2011, 2:42 pm
I hope this is allowed here, but this is a really good training program that i am sure tim will agree.
http://stronglifts.com/free-stronglifts-5×5-report/
Michelle DeMarco — July 24th, 2011, 11:20 pm
Right now I’m jumpstarting my weight loss with a fast, but I’m definitely going to transition to the recommendations you make for diet. I also am a huge fan of the Four Hour Work Week! Thanks for your awesome work!
sarah — July 29th, 2011, 7:54 pm
can we eat fruit?
Amy — July 30th, 2011, 3:22 am
No fruit, or fruit juice, save that for cheat day. Just legmes, protein, and vegetables. If you are having sweet cravings when you first start out, have a little bit of sugar free jello, or some diet soda to get you through.
wayne — July 31st, 2011, 1:29 pm
Hi Sarah,
Fruit is considered too high in fructose (sugar – anything ending in ‘ose’) on this slow carb diet. That is why milk is not allowed either because of the lactose, unless it is reserved for a cheat day. Too much sugar causes your body to store waste glucose as fat if your body cannot use it for energy.
Stick to your veggies (complex carbs), beans or lentils (carbs and protein) (or a mix) and your meat/fish based protein source or protein shakes if you must.
With regards to exercise go for weighted resistance exercise where possible and don’t worry about turning into a body builder because you can’t unless you supplement your diet with testosterone based steroids.
If I have said anything that is wrong, I apologise and someone will correct me im sure!
Claire — July 30th, 2011, 4:17 pm
What do you mean you got veins across your abdomen???
Virginia Perl — July 31st, 2011, 1:01 pm
Great article, Tim, but I do take issue with allowing diet sodas. Aspartame is a real killer. Its toxins clog up the liver, which in turn, slows down the metabolism. But I do agree that by giving up the “white menace” we can make great progress in ridding our bodies of toxins so we can lose weight. I gave up all sodas thirteen years ago and have never felt better.
Marcus — August 2nd, 2011, 9:00 pm
this eating plan is awesone I have lost 20 lbs and keeping it off and she is down 20 lbs aswell
Leanne — August 3rd, 2011, 5:46 am
So I came across this and was intrigued- I am now 151lbs (was 160lbs) but have been struggling to lose the 20lbs I want to before I get married on October 1st 2011- I have been walking every day at least 30 minutes…play soccer twice a week and try to eat 6 small meals a day…still nothing (and yes I have cheated here and there), but finding this eating plan may just be what I need! I am going to at least try- I like the idea that there isn’t a heck of a lot to chose from, it makes shopping easy and I feel for me it will be easier to stick with…. thanks, I really think I stumbled onto something great!
Mike — August 3rd, 2011, 6:34 am
Tim,
I have been following your diet to the letter for 3-weeks now. I eat <30-40 grams protein in the am (4 whole eggs + smoked salmon) every day. I lost 9.5 lbs the first week and nothing in the past 2 weeks. What could I be doing wrong? I only eat carbs on my cheat day following the normal protein meal in the morning. All other meals on normal days include only items you have listed in rule #2. I do take natural T3/T4 and natural Testosterone. Could these be inhibiting my weight loss? Please comment as I am getting frustrated. (PS Your new book is really great to read).
Kristina Carney — August 3rd, 2011, 6:01 pm
My husband & I are on this diet because of our success my mom started it, about 2 wks ago. She has 2 concerns that I’m not sure of.1 is she only goes to the bathroom every 3-4 days. She is strict on the diet, eats beans every meal & spinach atleast 2 meals so I think she is getting enough fiber, not sure why she is having an issue & my husband and I aren’t. I suggested metimucle or something but she said it makes her bloated.2 she is worried about her cholesterol, the last time she was on a high protein low carb diet it sky rocketed. She is taking the supplements Tim recommended but she’s still worried. Has anyone had a cholesterol problem on this diet? Any input would be appreciated.
wayne — August 3rd, 2011, 11:17 pm
At the risk of repeating what someone may have already said: -
What Tim does is offer what he has found through his own self experimentation. What you must do is follow his quidelines and adjust where necessary to suit you according to your own tracking methods (in the book he offers many ways of tracking your weight, body fat, inch loss, etc).
If your mom is worried about anything blood based then she should get her bloods checked regularly because that will tell her what is happeneing not someones opinion. She can even track her blood sugar if she likes.
With regards to cholesterol eating protein and saturated fats should help to reduce cholesterol problems.
Try psylium husk to help keep regular and drink 3-4 litres of water a day to keep flushing waste. Protein does have a tendancy to slow things down (i have found or me personally).
Please read the book, again and again and again to pick out every detail that can help you.
Kristina Carney — August 8th, 2011, 12:20 pm
Thank you for the input. I told her about the psyllium husk, she tried it for two days and gained a pound each day so she quit taking it. I think she is getting discouraged because of that & it takes atleast 4 days after cheat day to loose the weight. She’s doing everything the book says, same as my husband & I but she’s not dropping weight that quickly.
sugg — August 4th, 2011, 8:22 am
what can i take for blood pressure to keep fluid build up down…i take triamterene and atenol…and your recipe for cholesterol works…policosanol, chromium, reservatrol, niacin…thanks
Robyn — August 4th, 2011, 8:37 pm
Kristina, spinach is also high in iron. If your mum is also taking iron supplements (such as Fefol or similar), this would result in a high iron intake which can cause constipation and a ‘slowing’ of the works.
Pen — August 4th, 2011, 9:26 pm
That Ezekial bread is like eating plywood
Pen — August 4th, 2011, 9:32 pm
I say just make your own whole wheat bread, it’s good fresh out of the oven
Tilly — January 30th, 2012, 12:26 pm
Are any veggies ok? Tomatos? Is there a limit on the chicken breast and boiled eggs per day? I hate feeling hungry. I figure if i can eat the hard boiled eggs with each meal, that will help to keep me full and I really never get tired of them.
Venus — August 5th, 2011, 11:52 pm
omg did he just eat the entire pizza post work out? :O
Jay — August 6th, 2011, 3:47 am
How about salt, pepper (black & cayenne), other herbs for flavor, are these allowed? Onions, Tomato, bell peppers, mushrooms allowed?
Ben — August 26th, 2011, 12:58 pm
Hi Jay
I have all of the above mentioned and have lost 12kg.
Craig Smith — August 6th, 2011, 11:57 am
I know the pizza in your example is for carb load up.
But I have a suggestion of a low carb, possibly slow carb alternative to pizza. I personally love pizza and it is my weakness. So I found a great solution to keep my pizza habit alive while slow/low carbing it. The product is called Simply Wholesome California Lavash wrap. You can find it in whole foods in the bread section. Makes for the best thin crust pizza ever. So just skip the tomato sauce and add veggies and precooked chicken and you are good to go!
10g Carbs for half a sheet.
Claudia — August 6th, 2011, 8:23 pm
Enjoying the slow-carb diet, but have yet to lose inches/weight/fat.
I am 5′ 7”, 135 lbs., 20% bodyfat, and have been following the diet to a T for 4 weeks. Only changes have been very minor fluctuations in inches/fat, both up and down. Nearly back to where I started a month ago.
I don’t need/want to lose any major weight, but I have a lot of fat around my stomach, arms, butt, etc.
Used to do 5 hrs walking + 50 pushups a day per wk. Now I do 1 hr walking + 150 KB swings + a few calisthenics from Tim’s book per wk.
This diet curbs all my carbo cravings! I usually ate a lot of rice/bread/pasta and fruit, but was always hungry 4 more. Now, I get full from the protein/beans/veggies combo. I rarely eat sweets, so the cheat day is new and fun
Seeing as how I don’t have a ton to lose, am I expecting too much from a month on the diet?
Mark — September 15th, 2011, 8:20 pm
Claudia – are you really following to a T? Maybe keep a log and share it. Tim’s book also mentions some other boosters for fat loss. Ice baths, also other supplements that help, etc. It seems you work out a lot, possible you aren’t eating enough?
I am just starting out again and I have to be careful with my schedule because I eat too little and my energy drops heavily. A couple things that helped accelerate the loss for me were eating 30min within waking up and drinking a TON of water. I figured fat has to leave our body somehow and from what I found it is through sweat, pee, etc – nasty but true. Someone correct me if I’m wrong here!
Shelly — August 7th, 2011, 7:40 am
I gained 60 lbs this year by going on beta blockers. I’m off them now and want to lose the weight. Ive never been fat before and it sucks!!!
I started a paleo diet 4 weekds ago. Meat, fats, veggies, nuts, seeds,dairy. I followed it religiously and ate a steady 1200-1300 calories along with cycling 10 miles a day. I think I gained weight and feel bigger now! I don’t get it! My butt is bigger! Is it possible that dairy,cheese, cream eaten in controlled caloric proportions made me gain?
I’m so glad I found this site. I am going to cut dairy and follow this diet and see where what happens. I hope to lose 10-15 pounds a month!
Brad Davis — August 7th, 2011, 12:00 pm
Thanks Tim for the diet ideas. I read it this morning and at lunch started the diet. Got some upper chest and stomach area “activity” happening I want to reduce. My wife (Thai) serves a lot of white rice every meal as part of her normal diet. I think that’s been part of the issue with my “activity”.
Hey, I read a lot of the comments mentioning Vit D and resveratrol as well as other supplements. I’d recommend looking at Eniva’s line of products. Their’s are the purist, most potent I’ve been able to find. If this sounds like hype to you, delete it. Just passing info on.
Thanks again for the diet tips.
wayne — August 7th, 2011, 10:35 pm
No oats and no grains unless it is on your cheat day.
No dairy too much lactose (sugar) unless it is your cheat day. This slow carb thingy is not about counting calories and 1200-1300 calories per day is ok if you have a cheat day to reset your hormone levels but with cycling 10 miles a day it creates an unsustainable defecit.
I dont understand why you would tempt yourself with making pizzas and stuff when it is not your cheat day.
Keep your food choice simple and repeatable for 6 days a week and then have a blast on the cheat day.
If fact Tim suggests you eat away from your home on your cheat day so you never have the crap in the house on your normal days. Just keep your house stocked with veggies, legumes and a protein source.
The more you excercise the more you eat and dont be afraid to eat lots of the above.
J — August 8th, 2011, 5:02 pm
This one’s for Tim and anyone else with insight:
I’ve been doing the diet very strictly for 3 weeks and have seen little change in my waist line. This is unfortunate, as my main motivation to start the diet was to fit back into some work suits after a 3 week vacation.
I’ve been icing in morning and night occasionally, as well as taking all showers cold. I have 2 whole eggs, a cup or more of lentils and some kind of vegetable for breakfast. And then the same, substituting chicken or pork for the eggs, for my other two meals. A few days a week I drink Healthya tea, available here in Japan as a supplemental diet tea, and do some lite exercise prior to gorging on my off day. My cooking oil is olive and Healthy Resetter–again, a Japanese product certified by the government to help prevent the build up of fat.
Despite all this, I’ve seen no real net losses on my waist line. It hovers very near the same marks every week. The only thing I can imagine causing problems at this point is 1/3 things (or a combination of the 3): my 2 days a week at the gym (sparring, heavy bags, body-weight exercises like pull-ups, dips); whey-casein Elite Gourmet protein in morning, post-workout, and before bed (I am quitting protein except for post-workout these final 2 weeks to test this); or the fact that I wasn’t fat at the beginning.
I’d like to know if anyone else (especially an active person who was relatively thin prior to starting) has experienced such stubborn resistance in their area targeted for loss or have had slower results than expected during a strict, sustained regimen.
To assist I’ve included the details of my last 3 weeks.
All measurements are avg. from 3:
7/23
63.8kg
12.6% body fat (from scale, but all weigh-ins are at the same time in the same conditions–immediately after waking on Friday morning)
79cm waist
[From here I changed my light lifting routine--all body weight exercises except bent over rows once a week--to 5 seconds each and quitting a few reps before failure. I keep my sets to 2 per exercise. I also started using calipers to measure body fat]
7/30
64.2kg
12.3% body fat
78-78.5cm waist
Calipers
Chest: 7
Stomach: 14.5
Thigh: 5.5
@ 28 years, the above numbers = 8% body fat
8/5
64.6 kg (the lifting regime may be proving consistently effective at this point)
12.3% body fat (no change here)
78.5cm waist (across belly button)
79.5cm waist (at bottom of belly button)
80.5cm waist (just bellow belly button)
Chest: 5.6
Stomach: 11.3
Thigh: 6.3 (notice nearly a cm gain here)
@ 28 years, 6.8% body fat
J — August 8th, 2011, 6:44 pm
Between 7/30 and 8/5 I quit protein shakes in morning and only drank them the first few days of the week.
skelly — August 9th, 2011, 7:05 pm
How are you preparing your chicken breast? I find it becomes very boring prepared the same way over and over. Thanks!!
wayne — August 9th, 2011, 11:05 pm
For your chicken breasts search the net for meat rubs that you can put on it before cooking. There are mexican, chinese, indian, thai variations.
You can wrap it in bacon or parma ham before cooking it. you can slice it and stir fry it.
You have access to the biggest cook book in the world and it is called the internet. So just google something for ideas!
J,
Seems like you need to stop messing with your diet. Keep plugging away for at least 6-8 weeks before changing anything. Eat you 30grms + of protein within 30 mins of waking and keep it regular throughout the day with your other meals. Aim for about 1gram protein per 1lb of body weight maybe uping to 1.5grm with all that training.
J — August 10th, 2011, 3:41 pm
Wayne,
Thanks for the input. I’ve actually been playing with the diet for 2 months, slowly eliminating factors to isolate the effects. For example, the first 2 weeks, I continued eating oatmeal and honey for breakfast, and snacked on a banana and nuts between lunch and dinner, then switched to the protein shakes and beans, and quit snacking. After that, I started including the grapefruit juice, air squats and wall push ups before the binge. Then I reduced the intensity and frequency of my training. Each change was after a full two week period. Results? Nothing to write home about after a month and a half. Then I switched to lentils and upped the amount of food for every meal, especially breakfast. That’s the 3 week period I’ve included above, as it’s the strictest and conforms completely to the diet as outlined in the book.
When training properly, all I have to do is change my carb sources to slower whole grain sources for better effects than I’ve seen eating beans for 2 months. And then I’m also snacking on yogurt, nuts, and fruit. I’m beginning to believe genetics or pre-diet composition is also an important factor in how effective the diet will be for individuals. As stated in 4HB, those who fail often don’t report their results. Maybe there’s a cohort of thinner and/or genetically effected adherents (like myself?) that have failed to see results.
I have ordered pure casein to include for breakfast and throughout the day. I’ll keep everything the same and do that for 2 weeks. After that, I’ll let you know how it’s gone.
@Skelly–for chicken, I bake with garlic, olive oil and stewed tomatoes; different Indian curry powders; sage, garlic and salt; salsa; cumin, salt, and cayenne. Toss anything on there and see what you think. Keep the combinations you like and stomach the ones you can and toss the recipe after.
Russell — August 11th, 2011, 7:28 am
This diet combined with intermittent fasting is the big time. Losing a ton of fat, waist is getting leaner and holding muscle. The carb-up/cheat day is a MUST!
Clarence — August 12th, 2011, 12:01 pm
In preparing vegetables like collard greens, can one cook them with ham hocks or other cured meat and still be okay on the diet?
Tommeh — August 13th, 2011, 11:32 am
What do I do inbetween meals? Also, are baked beans okay? :3
DL — August 14th, 2011, 10:50 pm
I need some help. I weigh about 200 lbs and have done this diet for 7 full days. i weighed myself today and I am still 200 lbs. What have I done? For the first 6 days I did the diet strictly:
breakfast: low sodium pinto beans (1/2 can), spinach, bell peppers, and onions stir fried, 4-6oz of chicken breast, and 2 eggs.
lunch: same as above but no beans in salad form using non-fat balsamic dressing (5g carbs)
dinner: same as breakfast with no eggs.
Binge day: drank grapefruit juice before every meal. started morning with brownies and ice cream. lunch was a sandwich. Dinner was crispy chinese noodles. I’d say the day was probably 2500-3000 calories easy.
Workout: I’ve been at the gym everyday doing 30 minutes of cardio (eliptical). my heart rate even dropped from 170bpm to 155bpm now so I know it’s working more efficiently. I’ve also been doing 3 sets of some weights to help me burn, sometimes incline bench, rows, or dips. Just 1 of them, not all of them.
Why am I still the same weight? I feel great. Did I just get leaner?
Ben — August 26th, 2011, 1:01 pm
Did you check your body fat % before your started? Maybe you have added muscle?
Are you eating with 30mins of waking and drinking tons of water? Try lentils Tim says they work a treat for fat loss.
LUKE — August 15th, 2011, 1:53 pm
A few things:
J:
Wayne pretty much had the answer to your post, which was to basically stick to the diet as tim has written it. Then you go on to say how you keep messing with it, changing things all the time, including oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, pure casein, etc. Why don’t you quit with all the monkeying around and just try the actual diet for a change? It reads like you have done just about everything but stick to the diet.
Tommeh:
I would say “no” to the baked beans. They generally contain lots of brown sugar, molases and I would guess high fructose corn syrup if you are buying canned baked beans. All of those ingredients are to be avoided.
Bush’s baked beans have 12 grams of sugars per 1/2 cup, just as an example.
Here is a question, can someone explain whey and casein? Aren’t they both dairy by-products? And what is everyone making their protein shakes with? Is it milk? Do the shakes contain milk and dairy? I am under the impression that all of the above is dairy derived. If that’s the case then it seems like they should be avoided on a daily basis as dairy is not part of the diet.
wayne — August 15th, 2011, 2:18 pm
Hi Luke,
Although these are dairy products the protein has been isolated and removed from the rest of the dairy. Milk has lactose which is essentially sugar. There are reportsin the UK that suggest milk is a great post workout drink because it contains a very good ratio of carbs (lactose) to protein along with other vitamins and minerals. Obviously if your body fat is above 15% (or something close) then you shouldnt consume post work out carbs.
My understanding is that whey is quickly absorded by the body and the casein is absorbed at a much slower rate giving you a sustained absorbtion throughout the day.
I just mix mine with water getting 40g protein per serving.
luke — August 16th, 2011, 2:14 am
Wayne,
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
wayne — August 15th, 2011, 2:11 pm
Hi,
I have been on this plan for about 8-10 weeks now and it is working very well for me. I have not reached my body fat goals as yet and i have probably dropped from about 29 to 20ish.
The last 10 days i have noticed that i am just not getting satisfied by eating slow carb food alone and have started resorting to dense oat flapjack (250-350 kcals) periodically to satisfy myself.
The only thing that has changes over the last 3 weeks is that i have started strength training and i am squating, bench pressing and back rowing 70kg 2-3timesa week ( I way approx.86kg). So i guess this is why my hunger has increased.
I eat approx 100g of protien per day, but i wondered how to get back on track with clean eating until my cheat-binge day whilst keeping my hunger pangs at bay.
Thanks again.
Scott — August 15th, 2011, 3:36 pm
Hi Tim – thanks for this nutrition plan. Has been great for me. Question I have relating to workouts. To date I have only had my “pizza” type meals (other than free day) after a weight workout. If I go swim 1500+meters, I am presuming I need to stick to my “normal, no white-carb” meals. Is this correct? thoughts?
cheers in any case. Loving the 4 Hour Body book too.
TCK — August 16th, 2011, 6:32 am
How about subbing Swedish crisp breads (which contain zero carbs/sugars) for bread?
wayne — August 16th, 2011, 2:14 pm
The problem with these products is the fact that there is no nutritional value so you have to ask what is the point?
Eating protein based foods and veggies gives you essential nutrition but the calorie count is usually very low.
Why dont you forget bread type food in all its forms then there is no need for you to look for substitutes or alternatives.
I posted yesterday that i have started eating flapjacks to curb in between meal hunger. However there is a nutritional value to this according to the protein, carbs,and fat content. The carb count is very high in relation to the protein amount so i know it is not a good habit to get into (hence why I am asking for advice). Oats are known to be a slow carb release although there is a very high sugar content from the golden syrup.
TCK — August 17th, 2011, 5:29 am
Thanks Wayne.
Amy — August 16th, 2011, 7:59 am
I must be doing something wrong. I haven’t lost any weight or inches. I have been doing this for two weeks now. I’m hungry almost every 3 hours. I pee like crazy. Is it possible to eat too much on this diet?
Alexis D — August 16th, 2011, 10:16 am
In response to Debra who was asking what she may be doing wrong…..
from reading about this diet (sadly don’t have the book, yet) all over the
internet, I’ve read that fruit is forbidden all week until your cheat day. As
well as legumes being the main bean recommendation….not green beans
because they are not considered a legume. Hope you can kick start
your metabolism back into gear and hope this helps….some.
Dan — August 16th, 2011, 2:16 pm
WOW, Thank you Tim. This plan really works well. In about 5 weeks I have lost 26 lbs of fat and gained about 4 lbs in muscle. I can fit into all my old shirts and jeans again, in fact I have to buy a new wardrobe because everything is too loose! Thanks man this diet was a game changer for me.
Dadnerys — August 17th, 2011, 5:51 pm
hey guys I just wanted to know if anyone had a recommendation for how to loose weight in 30 days as much weight as possible I have a trip coming up and want to loose at least 30 pounds.
Virginia Perl — August 18th, 2011, 1:52 pm
Hi Dadnerys~
That’s a tall order! 30 lb. in 30 days……..hmmm! That’s next to impossible and asking too much of your body. You should not try to lose more than 2 lb. a week in body fat. You will take off the water weight that is hiding in those fat cells too, so maybe the total would be 4 lb. a week or about 18 a month. The heavier you are the more weight you will lose in the first few weeks. I think the best way to lose is through healthy organic nutrition. For fast weight loss, I would recommend a 28-day cleanse. You can read more about that at your weight loss depot or here on this great site. Your body is begging for nutrition. You can make healthy, tasty protein shakes by using whole foods (spinach, berries, protein powder, walnuts, flax seeds, stevia, and cinnamon.) Spinach!! “Yuck,” you say? I promise you will not be tasting the spinach, but will be getting the nutrients your body craves. Your liver will love you and send wonderful messages to your metabolism to speed up.
Amy — August 17th, 2011, 6:40 pm
Can I eat protein bars on the 4HD? It stated in the book that if you can’t stomach much food in the morning you can drink unflavored whey protein shakes. Does it absolutely have ot be unflavored? Has anyone tried this and still lost weight?
anne — October 24th, 2011, 5:17 pm
Yes, I am using strawberry whey protein shakes and still loosing the weight.
Amy — August 17th, 2011, 6:41 pm
I meant to say the SCD. oops
lisa — August 18th, 2011, 11:51 am
is this diet ok for woman or is it more for men?
Darren — August 18th, 2011, 11:52 am
I realize the article suggests no exercise, but just 4 minutes a day, three days a week on an X-iser will dramatically boost the results and let’s face it who can’t spare 4 minutes.
S.A, — August 18th, 2011, 12:07 pm
I love this Blog. It is only day two and I started on a Wednesday. So I guess I will wait till week after next Saturday to have my binge day. Sweet potaotes are considered carb…….. or is it the good kind and can I add it to my lentils? Can I eat two whole eggs instead of the egg whites with one egg. I am yet to find egg white in the supermarket. I love nuts and peanuts. Is peanut butter considered a protein….. Could I have it as a snack? I usually eat it with celery.
You all are my inspiration…….. Keep it up! I can’t wait to see what I look like next Wednsday. I am just a little chubby(15-20) but it’s been over 10 years of yo-yo dieting and I have actually gained 10lbs on my daily, attempted, failed diet.
sonali — August 18th, 2011, 4:35 pm
Sonali
My weight is 85kg,height 5.4′ &age 21 year.I can’t believe that it is possible to loose weight by 10Ib in such a short time.Is it possible?If then how?
Christopher — August 18th, 2011, 11:26 pm
I am writing this post on the morning of my 7th day on this diet and am delighted to say that I have lost 8 lbs. I have never felt hungry whilst on this diet and have done no exercise, something I thought impossible using a calorie in/calories out philosophy before.
My breakfast has consisted of a salami omelette (delicious) and coffee within 30 mins of waking. Lunch is usually lots of chicken or beef (cooked in olive oil) with vegetables. Evening meals are the same but with a glass of good red wine.
For reasons I won’t get in to, I detest lentils and beans so have not included these in the diet and eat extra portions of the other two groups to make the energy up.
The first few days resulted in headaches, probably from carb withdrawal but now they are gone and I have lots of energy.
I have also taken garlic, green tea and ALA supplements as advised in Tim’s book. A little lemon or lime juice in the 4 litres of water I drink every day also seems to help.
I am now on my cheat day and can’t wait to eat all those pastries I have deferred eating all weak.
I hope this serves as inspiration to anyone else thinking of starting the diet.
Special thanks to Tim for making us all aware of how to do this.
Sherrie — August 19th, 2011, 6:45 am
Ok. Well iv just had a baby and I want to look but most of all feel sexy again, before I had my baby even though I wasn’t a skinny size zero and a great flat stomach, I was a size 12 and I did kind of like my body… Ish. Anyway next month in exactly 30 days from now I would love to loose weight and I have found that now I am at home with my child I tend to gaze at the cupboards ALOT. But like I say from today I must commit which is very hard, yes ok it’s only been just 10 weeks since iv had my little boy, but in 30 days we are going out and it is highly important that I feel great. Again yes, I know I shouldn’t care what everyone else thinks but… I DO! I do a few stretch marks across my stomach but hey you know what iv kind of got over them because already they are starting to fade. And I’ve got my outfit hung up ready so everyday o can look at stand say, this is what I am working for. This may sound alot to some people bearing in mind I’m only 20, 21 next friday
bit this is something I really need to do. I just soooo hope that I can do this!!!!!
Russell — August 19th, 2011, 8:11 am
For everyone who is asking if they can eat this or that on this plan, you might as well just not even do the diet. You’re already looking for shortcuts on the easiest most sustainable diet out there. I would have to believe that the people who are really succeeding on this diet (myself included) are doing so because….get this….they’re actually FOLLOWING the diet. Just do what it says, over and over again, and you should see results.
If you follow it to the letter and you’re peeing like a race horse, yet still not losing you might have a food allergy or something.
As for protein powders, in all reality they’re not even food. They’re processed junk that our bodies were not designed to be eating. And I used to sell these as well as supplements…for over a decade. When throughout history did man ever walk through the woods and pick a canister of Whey protein off a tree? As Jack LaLane said “If man made it…beware”.
I would like to thank all the men and women who have contributed to making all those fine wines in the world though. Those don’t apply to the above example…ha.I never tried Malbec before this diet, now I’m hooked!
This diet rocks, I’ve already got some killer before and after photos and I’m going another 8 weeks. I’ve never seen my abs in my life but I’m confident this is going to take me all the way.
Teresa — August 19th, 2011, 8:26 am
I’m so excited to have started this “new way of eating”! I began this on Wed. of this week so hopefully I will be able to maintain this over the weekend. So far so good, haven’t had any major cravings for anything, and I’m a serious chocolate lover but thankfully its been ok for me. I have gone down a pound and a half already, and I think I won’t re-weigh myself until the end of the week which will be Wednesday morning.. so good luck to everyone!!!
Alberto — August 20th, 2011, 7:10 pm
Hi Tim, greetings from Chile!!!
I’ve tried the diet for almost two weeks, and I’m already seeing some changes. Is very interesting for me, because I’m studing to be a doctor (this semester I get my title) and I never heard about this facts, even in my nutrition classes. Physiologically speeking, all the food that you included produces low glicemic index (high glicemic index elevates more insulins levels, wich induces insulin resistance and fatt production). Most of the doctors are resistence to promote a cheat day to their patients, but I think it will be interesting to try for myself that experience to see what happens.
I have two questions:
-Why don’t you like Garbanzo beans? More calories than the rest of the legumes? Because I’ve tried it some days, so upps… But it doesn’t matter because I discovered black beans and are espectacular!!
-I was before the diet fan of the home-made yogurt. Is very simple, because is just only no-fat milk (1 gram of fat per liter of milk), and a spoon of yogurt to add the bacteria. No sugars added. I was wonder if I can try it for breakfast.
Greetings!!
Alberto
Stephan — August 29th, 2011, 11:15 am
He isn’t against garbanzo beans, I think he is referring to hummus there and that eating hummus in large quantities will send you backwards.
I have found yogurt to be really bad for making me gain weight. It isn’t added sugar or fat but the lactose that is the big problem.
Alberto — August 20th, 2011, 7:13 pm
By the way, to avoid international confusions, Garbanzo beans in english langauge are chikpeas
Jamey — August 21st, 2011, 3:43 am
Utopia is right Tim….”Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function, etc.) doesn’t downregulate from extended caloric restriction. That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat.”
maria — August 21st, 2011, 12:40 pm
hi i am maria. i am 15 and i weight 140 pounds. i am not happy with my weight. and i am 1.77 meter. can any one pls suggest me how many pounds i should loose and tell me how
wayne — August 21st, 2011, 4:30 pm
Just found this
http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/could-red-meat-be-the-next-high-fructose-corn-syrup/?eiid=&rmid=2011_08_19_EHD_E02708693&rrid=389374649
What does this mean for red meat lovers everywhere?
Amy — August 23rd, 2011, 7:29 pm
I have a few questions if you anyone doesn’t mind answering for me… I am 5’9” about 170. I only want to lose 10-15 lbs. Are the people who are claiming the fast weight loss typically heavier in the start?? It seems to me that heavier people who have more weight to lose usually drop it faster. I am not seeing that initial drop yet. I don’t feel as bloated so I know I am ridding my body of unwanted toxins through excessive peeing. I am not fat but I would like to see more muscle definition. Is it going to take me longer to se results? Has anyone else been in this position? I haven’t done ant of the kettle bell swings explained in the book.. should I??? PLease let me know what you all are thinking. thanks
Stephan — August 29th, 2011, 11:11 am
I have been on the Slow Carb Diet a few times and I am definitely not a heavy guy (5’10″ and at my heaviest about 170lbs). Using the diet I can lose 10 lbs in a week or two without much difficulty so your initial weight doesn’t make a huge difference.
A large part of how quickly you will lose weight is your metabolic rate and obviously what you eat on the diet. No matter your metabolism though you will definitely speed things up a lot with some kettle bell swings or some weight training. The best part of adding some resistance training to your diet is that any muscle you put on increases your resting metabolism and thereby will forever help to keep you lighter.
Claudia — August 23rd, 2011, 8:00 pm
Hi guys,
It’s been great reading this blog and I’ve learned a lot, but . . .
I have decided to quit the slow-carb eating plan. ?
I’m into Week 7 and have lost no fat/inches/weight.
I have followed the plan to a T, but no dice.
I think the diet works wonders—for some people. I am just not one of them. ?
In the past, I have had great success on a diet that incorporate fruit and whole-grain items. I am going back to this.
Also, the way I’ve historically lost weight/inches is to do way more aerobic exercise than what 4HB recommends.
For those of you who haven’t lost weight on this plan (I’ve read a few on this blog), take heart. Maybe your body requires something different.
Cheers, and thanks for the inspiration!
Teresa — August 24th, 2011, 8:41 am
Ok, so I’m on my first day of the second week and I’ve lost a total of 4 lbs. To me, thats pretty good considering i was able to eat a slice of cake and fruit on my cheat day!! I’m hoping that this 2nd week will continue to show the same results or better!! Good luck to everyone!
Amy — August 24th, 2011, 9:21 am
If I wake up around 8am and go to the gym straight away, is it better to do cardio on an empty stomach, then have my breakfast, or should I follow the ’30g protein with in 30 min of waking up’ and do like a protein shake before I go to the gym?
Ben — August 26th, 2011, 1:07 pm
Amy you should go to the gym AFTER your breakfast. If you like black coffee have that with your breakfast too.
Dont work out too much – read the book – less is more on the exercise front. I do less cardio and more weights now and only do 2 gym visits a week for 1 hr and have lost 12kg in 3 months.
Good luck
Stephan — August 29th, 2011, 11:04 am
Try and eat within 30 minutes, but if this upsets your stomach then try to get what you can for food in you so that your body doesn’t go into a lower metabolic state because of a lack of food.
wayne — August 29th, 2011, 10:19 pm
Would you really have to worry about going into starvation mode? As long as you cheat day every 7th day you dont have to worry as your hormone levels have been reset.
In the book Tim suggests that your protein and carb uptake in your muscles is required pretty quick after excercise; however it could take a few hours to digest your proteins therefore you would be eating a very early breakfast prior to working out.
Go for your exercise and eat sensibly straight after and have something protein based after a further 1.5 to 2 hrs. Perhaps while you exercise drink water with a squeeze of lemon as this will help flush your liver before you send it into overdrive with your days eating.
wayne — August 24th, 2011, 10:18 pm
hi,
I Just picked this out from the book and wondered if anyone has noticed the fat burning effects as suggested?
http://www.tabataprotocol.com/
Stochastic — August 25th, 2011, 6:55 pm
Just read the book, i’m starting the diet in the morning and i’ll let you all know what happens. This is my first time dieting other than 11 months of vegetarianism as a teen. I am 30, male, 220lbs (most i have ever weighed but i have been close many times and back down to 200)
I will report the results.
TB — August 26th, 2011, 2:36 pm
Hi All,
I have been on this diet for over two months now I’ve lost 23 pounds. I started at 151 pounds and am now at my goal weight of 128 but don’t plan on stopping the diet any time soon, I have added in a little fruit and am still losing, for those that say you are stuck and not losing about half way through i did the same thing and I took out the beans at every meal and did them one time a day and sure enough it worked. My first two Saturady cheat days I ate evrything in site and felt horrible but after that on Saturdays i ate egg whites spinach and canadian bacon for breakfast, beans and small salad at lunch and whatever I wanted for dinner and one dessert instaed of going nuts and it works be patient don’t give up I’m really skinny now and never thought I’d see this weight again. I reccomend slowly adding in some fruit but never again will I eat the way I did I can live on this way of eating forever and I plan too. Good Luck!!
wayne — August 29th, 2011, 10:09 pm
Hi TB,
This is what this plan is all about self experimentation.
Your tips are invaluable for those struggling to work out what is going wrong or how to lose those last stubborn pounds.
John — August 26th, 2011, 5:35 pm
Been on this diet for thirty days…and it has worked for me. Not the full 20 lbs but very well.
I have lost 13.5 lbs and just over 2 inches from my waist.
Ate lots of white meat, tinned beans, tinned and dry lentils, nuts, black coffee, wine, water and vegetables. Cheat days were more about the things I was not allowed to be eating, not “bad” food in particular – beer, bread, dairy products, etc.
No cheating. Though it did get a little boring in the middle the results have come up. Will continue for a maybe two more weeks and see if I can get the last 6.5 lbs off and get to my ideal weight.
John — August 26th, 2011, 5:38 pm
I should also of mentioned that like most posters my weight loss stalled after a big intial dip. Stay focussed. Weigh yourself once a week, the night before “cheat day” and at no other time. Trust me on this one. Come the third week I started dropping away slowly.
Amy — August 28th, 2011, 12:44 pm
Is turkey allowed to eat on this diet????
Stephan — August 31st, 2011, 9:36 am
Absolutely, it’s a terrific protein.
MaRelay — August 28th, 2011, 4:37 pm
I started this diet on Monday 22nd of Aug 2011. I have lost 8 pounds so far. No exercise yet. Will start that tomorrow after work. This is my seventh day and so its my cheat day. I couldnt eat much but had sum sweets and pringles. I was worried about gaining too much. I will let you know by wed wat my weight is from the cheat day.
I eat the same thing very regularly. Works a treat cus i prepare them in advance.
Breakfast is scrambled/ boiled egg 1 whole and 1 egg white
Then around 11am i have beans.
Lunch is always a roasted chicken with plenty of veg
Dinner is a mixed of beans and chicken nd veg. tons of fresh veg.
I eat very early in the evening so i don’t end up carrying the meal to bed.
*****Great help is my fat free chewing gum and diet coke. I get through about only 2 diet cokes a day, Lastly drink water, the diet makes you drink more. Might be the chicken that makes me drink though.
Health News — August 29th, 2011, 3:43 pm
Definitely tried and agree. Stuck with lean proteins and low carbs that were recommended. Love lentils with egg whites.
luke — August 31st, 2011, 6:21 pm
I recently heard a podcast interview with Tim and during the Q & A portion, he said to consume 1 gram of protein per pound of your target weight. Is that correct? Assuming my target weight is 155 lbs, I need to consume 155 grams of protein per day. With Chicken, beef, pork, eggs, salmon, etc averaging about 7 grams of protein per ounce, I need to consume 22 oz. of meat per day. That seems like a lot, almost 1 1/2 pounds. It seems like a lot especially when compared to the recommended 30 g of protein for breakfast. That’s a lot of making up to do throughout the day. I obviously have been falling short if the 1 g of protein per lb of body weight is correct.
I have also been eating only 3 meals per day. I suppose it wouldn’t be that hard to add another “meal”, or at least serving of protein every day. I guess if I average 6 oz of meat per “meal”, 4 times per day then I would actually consume 2 oz more than the “formula”. Can someone confirm this or strighten me out?
By the way, I have been folloiwng the diet for a few months and have lost about 15 pounds. I have plateaued as far as weight loss. However, I am comfortable at my weight of about 163. So, I do “cheat” once in a while during the week with maybe a spoon full or two of ice cream or maybe a third glass of wine or something like that but I am not going nuts with cheating during the week. Bottom line is that I am in kind of a maintenance mode as opposed to really trying to drop weight at this point.
However, I have a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament coming up and I would like to drop about 7 pounds to get safely under 160 so that there is no room for error and variance in scales come weigh in time. The weight class I want to compete in has an upper cut off of 159. I will be cutting out that third glass of wine and any other “cheats” during the week to eliminate sabotaging myself.
Thanks in advance for the help.
wayne — August 31st, 2011, 7:09 pm
Hi Luke,
Dont forget your beans and legumes have an amount of protein within a serving as do some of your veggies so dont forget to count the non-meat protein grams.
Perhaps you can shift your extra body weight by reducing any heavy weight training and by reducing your protein intake. If your body doesnt get protein for building muscle from food sources it turns to your muscles and effectively eats them. This would reduce your lean muscle mass and reduce your weight; however this is just an observation and i have no idea how boxers and the like reduce weight pre weigh in. Also perhaps you can try light weights and more reps/sets and perhaps try tabata training 3 times a week. I posted a website a few days ago so check this page and go back a few days.
Andres — August 31st, 2011, 7:18 pm
I adopted these meals plans less than a wk ago, I’m not a fan of the scale. I prefer to use the fit of my my clothes show me how i’m doing. But, I wanted to know, how do peanuts affect the results of this diet? I usually have a couple of hand fulls through out the day.
Stephan — September 1st, 2011, 9:54 am
Peanuts are fine. You have to keep it to a reasonable level, but they are a great snack.
luke — August 31st, 2011, 8:00 pm
True about the legumes (I mostly stick to black beans) and the veggies.
Just for everyones information, Tim mentioned a web site on his podcast called nutritiondata. You can plug in any food and get the protein, fat, calries, etc. According to that site, black beans have 15g of protein per cup and broccoli has about 6 g per cup. Not a lot of protein but I shouldn’t overlook it in my calculations.
As for the weights, I haven’t been weight training at all. I do train BJJ about 3-4 times per week which consists of about 45 minutes of learning and drilling moves and techniques then about 45 minutes of grappling. The grappling is usually 5 minute matches with a little rest in between so I usually get about 4 matches per training session. Other than BJJ class, I am not excercising. I am thinking of adding the kettle bell on the days I don’t train bjj.
Stephan — September 1st, 2011, 9:56 am
Tim previously posted about how to lose weight prior to a weigh-in. It might be an article to take a look at: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/01/18/how-to-cut-weight/
luke — September 1st, 2011, 12:56 pm
thanks!
Paul — September 2nd, 2011, 8:02 pm
Great stuff guys, I like the food combinations. You’re onto something good if you stick to it! I live by food combinations, as well as timing for certain foods at certain times of the day and certain water “break” fasting techniques. Keeps me in great shape as the years go by!
Dan — September 3rd, 2011, 10:08 am
Still staying strong so far… I am down 36 lbs of fat and up 8 lbs in muscle. This is by far the best approach to dieting I have ever encountered. In fact it is happening so quick I feel a little shocked.
S.A, — September 4th, 2011, 3:48 pm
Just want anyone new to this diet to know ……IT WORKS!!!! Started this diet two weeks ago …….. It is simple, I am not hungry and I am full of energy. Lost eight pounds without exercise. I worked out (ran 5K) twice in two weeks due to lazyness. But the thickness of fat is not so heavy on my stomach and legs.
This is a new life style change for me. Main thing for me is to be sure the food is cooked and ready because when I am hungry I need to eat immediately!!
Thank you Mr. Tim.
SA
Dennis Law — September 5th, 2011, 5:15 am
An interesting piece of research that I heard about on NPR indicates that the effects of 45 minutes of aerobic exercise increases the metabolic rate for up to 14 hours.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/a-45-minute-vigorous-exercise-bout-increases-metabolic-rate-for-14-hours-research-review.html
Ben — September 6th, 2011, 10:45 am
I started the slow card diet 3 months ago and have lost 12kg in weight and about the same in body fat. I have followed it religiously. In the last few weeks I have plateaued and tried a few new things but no joy. I increased my protein, drank even more water and did the cold exposure ice pack every night for a week but no more weight was lost.
Has anyone else 3 months in noticed that the weight has stopped coming off?
I weight 14st 3lbs (91kg), 5ft 9 Male.
I do weight training twice a week and including kettle bell swings. Have just started a bit more cardio which I had dropped as per Tims minimum effort required.
Any comments would be appreciate
Thanks
Ben, London UK
Debra — September 6th, 2011, 11:09 am
I posted this in August – I was at a stand still after 3 months. Still at a stand still. I am now doing weight watchers but I have not lost any more weight. I need to lose 19 more lbs to be at “my” goal weight!
August 11th, 2011
4:44 am
I have been on this diet since May 1, 2011 – which means 3 months. I have lost 23 lbs and can not get past the 23 lbs. 23 lbs is great but I wanted to be down 40 by now! What am I doing wrong?
Here is what I have been doing (I actually typed it out for a friend to follow) – every week!!!!
Here is what I eat six days a week:
1st meal – 7:00-7:30 am – green beans, other beans, low fat cottage cheese, slice of 97% deli ham
2nd meal – 10:30-11:00 am – green beans, other beans, 4oz lean meat (ham, chicken, beef)
3rd meal – 2:30-3:00 pm – green beans, other beans, slice of 97% fat free deli meat
4th meal – 6:00-7:00 pm – green beans, other beans, 4oz lean meat (ham, chicken, beef)
On the 2nd or 4th meal I sometimes have a salad! (But no dressing, croutons, fruit, only veggies)
NO SUGAR, nothing white (potatoes, rice), no bread, no fruit.
If you eat canned veggies try to cut back on your sodium they are high in sodium and you will get too much. I had to start buying no salt added green beans – you can add Mrs. Dash to them and they taste better!
Drink Water – Limit your diet drinks to two a day!
***very important – I take 1 beano with each meal! Probably more of a women thing! Guys will usually be guys!
________________________________________________________
On the 7th day eat what you want – I start at 5:30 am and don’t stop till 9:00 pm. I am going to try to cut back at night on the 7th day to see if that helps.
Angle — September 7th, 2011, 11:12 am
Hi everyone,
I have started this diet on 1st of sep after reading all the comments.
My starting weight is 233 pounds and I’ll weigh on Friday the 9th of sep. Saturday is my cheat day. In the past week cheated once (Had three slices of toasts. I was craving for Carbs). No more cheating till saturday.
JeDi — September 9th, 2011, 2:36 am
Hi dear bloggers n Tim!
This is JeDi, 29M, married, from Punjab, India
This book was my only hope for loosing weight( especially waist).
Bcoz i have problem in lower spine, so
1: i couldn’t do most of the crunches n leg-raises.
2: I couldn’t run fast and longer for fat-loss.
3: I have a big appetite so could starve myself for 2 days.
4: I love junk food so saying Bye Bye to all junk was not thinkable.
But the fat-loss system circumvented all these problems, and i started the diet, ice-age and Myotic/Catvomit combo on 5/09/11.
On this day(09/09/11), i have lost 2.7 kgs / 6 lbs (90.2kg->87.5kg) / (198.5lbs->192.5lbs) and waist decreased by 1.8 inches (40-38.2). All this in 4 days!!!!!
and the biggest thing… i am enjoying everything even the diet, its so simple (though it took some time to match indian foods)
I used ur public competition by having a bet with my gym coach that i will make 6-pack abs in 4 months from waist size of 40 inches. n it kicks me to be on system.
Tommorow is DGW day, n I’m both excited n nervous what happens afterwards. Whatever the case be, i’m lovin it!
Will reply soon…
Thnx Tim. (I m ur big fan!!!)
Angle — September 11th, 2011, 1:51 am
Hello Everyone,
Reporting my weight loss of week 1.
Gone from 233 lbs to 224 lbs (106 kgs to 102 kgs). Loss of 9 lbs (4 kgs).
I’m 37, Female, 167 tall. No exercise in the past week.
will update you 17the sep about my second week loss.
Keep eating the right way.
Angle
carol — September 11th, 2011, 2:01 pm
Hi there! I am embarking on the 30day challenge of this eating plan. I have 5 kilo’s to lose after traveling for 6 months. Ill also be aiming to exercise 6 days a week. I’m very skeptical of the binge day,but willing to give it a shot. Ill report back in 30 days! Wish me luck!
Allison — September 12th, 2011, 9:45 am
Is there a portion amount for each to try to stick to? Like must keep to 6oz of meat, so much of vege’s, so much of legumes?
Stephan — September 12th, 2011, 10:40 am
Hi Allison,
You want to aim for at minimum 20g of protein per meal and your plate should generally be broken into thirds. One third of meat, legumes/beans, and veggies. When I started I did a little work and researched how much protein everything I was eating had per cup/oz/kg and worked out how much I should eat. And remember, 20g is the minimum so feel free to go higher; I usually try to hit 30g as I find it increases and evens out my energy levels and actually speeds my weight loss.
Daniel Franks — September 12th, 2011, 4:47 pm
Hi Tim/all
Questions:
Scrambled Eggology pourable egg whites with one whole egg – what ratio (how much is eaten). 2-3 whites and one full egg?
How did you prepare the lentils and pinto beans. They look ‘wet’ as if cooked in a sauce.
Thanks,
Dan.
Daniel — September 12th, 2011, 11:01 pm
Friday is when I started this diet, I kinda changed it a little bit at first but I decided I really wanna stick to this one; It just seems really good. Weighed in on Friday at 204.5, not bad, but the way my belly jiggles at me, I just wanna get cut so all this working out I have been doing lately will show a bit better! Anyway, It’s Monday night and I just weighed in at 196.4! Almost 8lbs in 4 days! So far so good! I have been over 200 since December coming in with a high of 212, now I sound like a weather-man. But I really like how well this diet works! I did not take a screw you diet day on Saturday cuz I had just started. But trust me, I can not wait for this Saturday to pack it all in!
Tea — September 13th, 2011, 8:42 pm
Hi,
I really like your 4HB book. A bit technical at some pages, but very useful. I know the diet you are describing works but I can’t imagine myself eating same thing over and over…but I can see a lot of people would be happy with that. Less to think about what to cook
I would probably try the diet but just when I got the book I was already doing the dukan diet. I had great results. I lost 4kg in first 5 days and 7kg all together untill now. I aim for 3 more. At the end of the day these two diets share some similar thinking about the carbs and proteins. If you are a person who likes diversity with food and likes to cook and you think you will straggle with this diet, then try dukan diet. It works as well!
Cheers
Tea
JeDi — September 14th, 2011, 3:16 am
Help me… Help me…. Help me….
Binge killed my weight-loss!!!!
From 90.2 kg to 87.5 kg ( 2.7 kg / 6 Lbs) in 4 days
…. and then again to 89.2 kgs!!!
At the end of the week, only 1kg lost or 2.2 Lbs… Shit!!
on Saturday, I ate 5 eggs and legumes in morning
and then before crap meals, ate fruits….
even did exercises before and after heavy meals.
Even had coffee and black chocolate…
still gained 2.2 kgs in 2 days!!
Very Disturbing….
I ate 1-2 things every hour i.e. all the things i couldn’t eat the week.
I was really wild i.e. i ate 18 things i couldn’t eat otherwise.
Even eating more didn’t make me poo a lot!(only once)
Maybe that’s the problem….????
Now i have again managed to reach 88 kg with average of loosing1/2kg or 1 lb everyday like the previous week.
Guys …pls help me… on binge!!!
I have to have binge as my safety valve but how??????
Tim, if you are listening…
Pls give me tips before its too late!!!
Eric — September 14th, 2011, 3:22 am
Hi Tim,
Currently, I’m following the diet you prescribed for 6 days a week, with Sunday as my cheat day. Starting next week, I’ll be doing weights/resistance training for 45 min on Mon, Wed and Fri. Can I have a pizza after each workout, or should I save it for the cheat day?
Best,
Eric
Garret Kamps — September 14th, 2011, 11:50 am
Hey there, I’m 24 and have lost 40 pounds over the last six months taking much of the advice given above. I work a pretty active job which I’m sure has helped, but i haven’t done a whole lot more than a few runs week to keep my cardio up. I feel great all the time (a problem before) and actually don’t crave the processed carbs anymore as I did before. This seriuosly changed the way I do life in general, and am very grateful for the free access to this diet plan! Thanks again!
Alpesh — September 14th, 2011, 12:43 pm
Tim,
I stepped on the scale 4 weeks ago and was shocked to see the numbers coming back at me. I didn’t realize how much my weight had ballooned. I used to be at 200 lbs. and when I stepped on the scale I had hit 237 lbs at 6’0 in the span of one year. Also looking at myself in the mirror was a chore to justify why I was at the weight I was. The morning after stepping on the scale and getting my reality check I opened your book that was on my shelf , and proceeded to follow the diet.
I am happy to state I am at 219 which is a weight loss of 18 lbs. in 4 weeks. I couldn’t be more jacked. Thank you for sharing this information it has really helped me lose the weight and not dread going to the mirror.
I had a couple of questions on the diet :
1. I like eating hummus would this hinder my results in the diet?
2. Is chicken fattoush also going to work for this diet (fattoush being a middle eastern salad with pita chips which I have taken out and has vinegar and olive oil for flavor)?
3. I drink one Sugar free rockstar 3x a week to stay up late nights working I know you state that 12 oz’s should be good for sugar free drinks in the book does this apply to energy drinks?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Tim McDougall — September 15th, 2011, 7:46 pm
Help please. I’m allergic to legumes. Could someone please help me with suitable alternatives? Quinoa??
Thanks
Tim
Genie @ Healthy Living Now — September 17th, 2011, 12:56 pm
Your Post-workout pizza with extra chicken, cilantro, pineapple, garlic, sundried tomotoes, bell peppers, and red onions looks divine! Remind me of my mom’s Friday evening pizza mania experiments when I was growing up.
With the exception of Rule#4, your suggestions seem doable. They have worked for you and should work for others too. I guess I will try your ideas if I ever get to the point where I need to lose some weight again. I used the HCG diet plan a year and a half ago and it worked pretty well. I have maintained my steady weight since. Thank you for sharing with us!
“If we all treat each other like we treat ourselves – what a wonderful place earth would be.”
Aldo — September 17th, 2011, 1:46 pm
Hi, I’m 380 lbs and in need of some serious weight loss, duh, LoL. I work nights and was wondering what kind of schedule would you recommend I follow for optimal weight loss. I am a realist and i know its going to take some time for me to reach my weight loss goal but quite frankly I am lost as to where and how to start. Thank You for your time and any help/advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Again,
Aldo
denise — September 18th, 2011, 7:11 pm
I am wondering if i can use pure liquid stevia to sweeten my tea ? I am a huge tea drinker and a southerner that likes her sweet tea.
dasha — September 18th, 2011, 7:14 pm
Ok so i am rely pissd off and confused. so i did this diet, followed it step by step. Yes i have been losing weight. So i take sundays off, and so then last week i started working out and the diet plus the workouts statrd melting a whopping 1 pound a day ! But then came the sunday where i can eat what ever and thats when i took a break from working out also. So i ate a lot of crap on sunday as usual, then the next day i wiegh myself and i see i gained 5 pounds. I thought it was a glitch so continued the day with the regular deit and excercise. But then the next day i weigh my self again and i am still 5 pounds HEAVIER!!
Charlie Hoehn — September 19th, 2011, 9:50 am
Dasha- How many inches have you lost? Number of pounds can fluctuate a fair amount with females.
dasha — September 20th, 2011, 3:18 pm
ummmmm i don know how much i lost but i began to see that my thighs began to get thinner and so did my sides. But i think i lost maybe an inch off my thighs. And then the next day my pants felt so tight on me. So idk i think the fat may have come back or something but idk why thogh! Help!
dasha — September 20th, 2011, 3:26 pm
And just to clearify i haven’t had my period and when i do, i never have and never do fluctuate. MY period never gave me any problems like that. I do measure my self with the tape measure. So 2 days after that sunday(tuesday) i did measure myself and went straight back to where i wass in the beggining. I just don’t know why. Plaese help!
Donna H — September 18th, 2011, 11:50 pm
Hi Aldo,
I have worked nights in the past, it is difficult to schedule food and not graze alnight on crisps/chips and chocolate plus if everyone decides to get fast food or bring in a box of chocolate. I treated when I got up mid afternoon as breakfast and took a dish of homecooked something to heat in the microwave.
I will be going on night rotation next month so I plan on sticking to this way of eating so breakfast (when I get up), eggs etc. Take in a dish of chilli and veg and a portion of veg soup. I have never felt the need to snack on this WOE but night shift can have periods of boredom so go prepared with healthy snacks like almonds or chopped carrots. If you find you still get hungry maybe start with a protein drink straight after waking, then later breakfast.
I best advice I have to anyone is to JUST START this way of eating but DO prepare, shop for beans, veg and spices. On sunday I usually make a huge pot of chilli (you can make 3,5 or more bean kinds), this I will divide into portions and takes only 4 minutes to heat in the microwave. I will also curry some contential lentils or do some beans ranch style also a huge pot. Thats the beans sorted.
For veg I get lots of frozen green beens, brocolli and mixed veg, put the frozen veg in a microwave dish, pour on some water, 4 minutes and drain. These you can mix with the beans or have on the side.
I try and one pot cook as much as possible so soups, stews are my favourite. Look in mexican and indian cookbooks for many ways to cook beans and lentils. One afternoon of cooking can set you up for the week and everything freezes and can be heated in microwave.
Good Luck and do let us know how you get on.
Donna H — September 19th, 2011, 10:45 am
Dasha
I second Charlie’s comment. if I had to choose one method of monitoring progress I would choose a tape measure. On checking my weight on the week running up to my period and the week of my period I fluctuate anywhere up to 5 pounds but all the inches i lost off my thighs, arms and hips stay static. I only gain a bit on my belly, it is the same after cheat day.
Concentrate on your progress by tape measure and I recommend taking pictures of your progress. I now no longer look pregnant although my stomach is not yet flat.
I have being doing this since 8th August.
Female 37, 152cm/ 4ft 11 1/2
start 150 lbs/10st 10 (BMI 29.9)
4 weeks in 135lbs/9st 9 (BMI 26.3)
loss of 15 pounds
In the next 2 weeks i only lost 2 pounds (133/ 9st 7/BMI 25.9) but that is an overall loss of 17 pounds in 6 weeks.
Thanks Tim
This has been with no hassle, stress, hunger or feeling deprived in any way. I take full advantage of the Dieters Gone Wild day, any weight fluctuations only affect my belly inches and reduce after a few days.
I use Tim’s suggested total inches monitoring ie measure the following:
Both biceps mid point
both thighs (i measure widest part)
hips and waist
add them all together to get your total inches.
Start – 143 inches
6 weeks – 134 inches
= 9 inches lost
but I added another measurement to this my belly inches (2 inches below my navel the widest point). I have lost 4 inches here but it is where the fluctations most occur.
This was with no exercise at all although I will start doing yoga as I am getting a bit stiff.
So thanks to all the great comments, it took me nearly all of the 6 weeks to read them all. I will keep posting my progress even though the thread is very quiet.
Cheers
Donna
Donna H — September 19th, 2011, 12:45 pm
To clarify my above post
biceps left and right
thighs left and right
hips
waist
total loss 9 inches
plus belly measurement 4 inches
total inches lost in 6 weeks = 13 inches on a less than 5 foot frame.
How totally awesome is this way of eating.
Thanks Tim and everyone for their success stories.
Ginny — September 19th, 2011, 4:45 pm
Hi, having just finished the book I want to start the diet. There appear to be a lot of contradictions on message boards etc. I understand that sweet potatoes/yams are not allowed on the diet. What about beetroot, butternut squash and other squashes? Also, any explanations as to why brown rice is not allowed?
Many thanks
S.A, — September 20th, 2011, 7:55 am
Hallo all……….. I did the diet for a month and I can actuall suck in my stomach and it looks flat. I haven’t been able to do that for about two years. Sorry to say that since I completed the month. Lost the weight, feel great. I have a hard time getting back on this now lifestyle change. It is now my fifth week and not……. good. I take sneak tastes of sushi and yogurt, licks of chocolate and I know it is because I am now too lazy to cook.
What I need is a good protein drink(Brand please) it is for my partner with a pressure sore that is five months in existence. In the USA he drank Juven which was great but I cannot get it in Germany…….
Revigor (source of HMB)
Helps protect proteins from breaking down in your body, which helps new tissue to build up.
Arginine
Is an amino acid that helps promote blood flow in the body.
Supports building of proteins that can contribute to building tissue.
Glutamine
An amino acid that helps cells produce building blocks needed for new tissue.
Plus L Carigine …….Sorry about spelling. So what to look for ??
JaneyLL — September 20th, 2011, 11:26 am
Hi all,
Any women in their 30′s try this diet and have success (with the cheat/binge day also)?
Thanks in advance!
-J.
xiomara — September 20th, 2011, 12:17 pm
Hi, i want to know if i can eat fish? n also does beef have to organic? Iam starting this diet next week n i want to make sure i can eat fish since its what my family eat 2/3 times a week. Thanks
Dan — September 20th, 2011, 5:00 pm
Tim….Tim…Tim…So far your plan has helped me go down 41 lbs of fat and up 10 lbs in muscle. I had to buy all new clothes and I have to look for different numbers and sizes…for example I went from a 38 waist to a 32 waist, went from an XL to a M (athletic fit), went from boot cut jeans to slim jeans, and had to replace all my belts.
Good show my friend.
Dan
zaku — September 21st, 2011, 12:07 am
Hi Tim,
i am intolerant to lactose and eggs, can you suggest alternatives especially for breakfast!
Jazmyne — September 21st, 2011, 11:17 am
hi, i was just wondering do i ave to eat 4 to 5 meals a day for that to work? i’m a college student 17 at 165 pounds and should i workout before or after i eat?
WI Em — September 22nd, 2011, 7:58 am
Hi all!
I began this change of eating last Friday 9/16
Height: 5’6 or 5’7 depends whose measuring lol
Start weight: 139 Goal: 115
Jean size: 8/9 Goal: 3 – 5 (fit into “old” jeans) and maintain it!
My entire life I have been about 115 lbs, maybe 120 after the holiday garbage buffets. I have usually worn a size 3 to 5 with little variation other than who makes the jeans. In the past year my weight has slowly crept up until I could no longer fit into jeans that previously were quite loose and very comfortable. Long story short, I could no longer look in the mirror at my own body and accept what I was seeing. I knew I had to get back on track with eating healthy and getting exercise like I had lived my whole life previously.
The end of May I began engaging in what used to be my normal routine of exercise and started cutting out the crap to no avail. Sure I have more energy and feel better, but the fat was still hanging around my stomach, thighs and butt with no change in size or body fat. Three months later I found Tim’s book and decided to go for it -strictly. Following the plan was hard the first two days, after that, it has become the routine. I will only be weighing myself the mornin of pig-out on trash day.
Speaking of which, today is eat restricted sugary starchy dairy gooeyness day, so I weighed myself this morning.
I am currently at 133.8 lbs.
That is a 4.2lbs loss, and I would hazard a guess that some of it is water leaving the fat stores (and boy oh boy do I drink A LOT of water). The fit of my clothes has not yet changed. That said, being a female, my monthly friend is in town this week, so I think I’ll wait to get all sad about such “small gains” until next pig-out day a.m. weigh in.
Wishing you all the very best!
Genie @ Healthy Living Now — September 22nd, 2011, 1:37 pm
Congratulations WI Em! You are doing quite well, don’t ever get discouraged. Keep at it and you will soon get to your 115lbs goal. I am rooting for you
JeDi — September 22nd, 2011, 10:30 am
Found the solution on binge gain!!!
Sorry for posting the results late…
The things that prevented my much-feared damage on binge:-
1. kept 4 hrs gap in between meals.
2. ate Bournville dark chocolate after meals.
Result: only 1kg \ 2Lbs of weight gain!! (in place of 2.2kg \ 5Lbs)
Today’s weight update: lost 9 lbs & 2.5 inches on waist in 17 days.
JeDi..
Taylor McArthur — September 22nd, 2011, 6:51 pm
Great post! I just got the new book and I’m excited to get started.
I love the idea of a Minimum Effective Dose. It is something I feel like I already look for in every aspect of life.
Thanks for the great content!
meg — September 23rd, 2011, 8:43 pm
Im a vegetarian. There are faux meat items that i eat that are made by Gardein and are mostly soybeans, tempeh, or seitan. Are they ok to eat? I dont eat eggs at all. So should i double up on the beans?
Janet — September 23rd, 2011, 10:50 pm
What can I substitute beans for? I don’t
Like them and I never have :/. I wa t to try this diet
But the beans are holding me back
Julie Xiong — September 24th, 2011, 5:06 pm
what if you dont even like beans? or other mexican foods?
Charlotte — September 25th, 2011, 7:47 am
Hi.I am 5′ 6″ tall and I am now 150 lbs.I want to lose 30 lbs in a month without damaging my health. Is this diet truly safe for health? Are there any Asian recipes for this diet? And will it be more effective with doing exercises for 30 minutes a day?
Mitch — September 25th, 2011, 10:58 pm
Hey Tim (and anyone else who might know),
I just kicked off my first trial of slow carbing a couple days ago, so far so good, but I had a question about foods containing sugars.
I looked at the nutrition info for Chipotle, which I’m planning to frequent since I live right next to one. They list their fajita veggies as containing 2 grams of sugars per serving, and their tomato salsa has 3 per serving.
Are these amounts problematic? Or are they so small it doesn’t really matter? I only hesitate to cut them out because if I did all that would be left in terms of vegetables is lettuce.
Any suggestions you had would be greatly appreciated!
Mitch — September 25th, 2011, 11:13 pm
Hey Tim (and anyone else who might know),
Just kicked off my first round of slow carb recently, and I had a question about allowable amounts of sugars in foods.
I just read Chipotle’s nutrition info (I live next to one) and it says that each serving of tomato salsa contains 3 grams of sugar, and each serving of fajita veggies has 2 grams.
Is that amount of sugar going to be problematic? Or are they negligible? I’d cut them out right away but if I did there’d be no other veggies than lettuce…
Any info you had would be greatly appreciated!
Gentaro — September 27th, 2011, 4:02 pm
Mitch,
Chipotle is a great option for Slow Carb dieters. None of their foods are processed and you can tell that the company actually spends a lot of money on food. The amount of sugar in their food is so minimal that it is really not an issue however, the thing that should concern you is the sodium content. An average meal at Chipotle packs in about a day’s worth of sodium. They put salt in literally everything. DRINK LOTS OF WATER! My best guess is the sugar in Chipotle’s food is just from using citrus juice they use as an ingredient which contains some fructose and from the bell peppers themselves. Good Luck!
-Gentaro
Mitch — September 28th, 2011, 2:39 pm
Thanks Gentaro!
Mike G — September 27th, 2011, 3:58 pm
Started this diet this morning and I have high hopes. I am planning to follow it with no slip ups and I am 90% sure I can do so. This month is the trial period, and we will see how it works for me. Here’s what I ate today (mind you, I didn’t go shopping for the food until it was around dinner time)..
Breakfast: 5 egg whites, 1 full egg. Green beans. Glass of organic soy milk
Lunch: Canned Tuna, Onions and Celery, Glass of Soy Milk.
DInner: Baked Chicken Breast w/ Garlic, Mixed Veggies, Pinto Beans.
I had to force what I could down of dinner because I wasn’t hungry, which I guess isn’t a bad thing!
Condiments? What are ok and what aren’t do you think? I know mustard is ok. Just need to see what I could spice up some of the food with.
I’ll check back after 2 weeks to let everyone know what I’m seeing. And I’ll update after that.
P.S. I’m 21, male, 5’11 and 220 lbs at the start of this diet. Have a good amount of muscle, but also a large amount of fat. Looking to get to 200 by New Years. More would be better, but I feel that’s realistic.
WI Em — September 29th, 2011, 6:10 am
@Mike G-
I experienced the “too full to eat” issue a lot my first week and sometimes during the past week. Eat small amounts more often if it is possible (I realize schedules can make this difficult) and eat slowly until you are full/satisfied rather than quickly as it will help rev up your metabolism.
Most condiments have a lot of added salt and sugar as well as other “exciting” ingredients, so watch the labels. I use a lot of seasonings/spices so take the liberty to zest your food up with them -just make sure there isn’t any crap in the seasonings you are using since some of the premixed ones have “glue” in them.
You said you have a fair amount of muscle and a fair amount of fat, so take heart! If you took the time to read all of the comments posted you know that you are probably going to see a lot of gains toward your fat-loss goals more quickly than those who have less to lose. Also, 20lbs in 4 months is a very reasonable and realistic goal (unlike my own goal of 24lbs in a month!).
Best of luck to you!!!
Jeffrey — September 28th, 2011, 3:57 am
Ok you people need to understand something weight loss is easy at the begging because your body is like what the hell he/she changed my diet but after a while you do need to work out a little more then an hour because your body is use to loading weight that now it can just burn what you eat and that’s it. So what I’m saying is when you first start this weightloss program you will loss weight fast but that’s because it’s new to your body so what happens is it burns all the calories you eat and some fat because the diet is new. Now when you stay on the diet and you’ve lost lol 10-15 pounds then you need to step it up because it’s use to the idea of you eating and burning those calories so work a little more because the less you way the more you have to work. I found that out at the gym. Me and my friend started going to the gym and yes grant it the machines aren’t acuret to the T but she weighs more then me and she can walk and loss twice as many calories as I can even when I’m running so don’t forget when you do loss weight you need to do more work outs so that your body burns more.
WI Em — September 29th, 2011, 11:42 am
@ Jeffery-
Physics dictate that it takes more energy to move a larger mass than a smaller mass. Thus, those who are heavier will burn more calories than those who are lighter while engaged in the same activity (for example, climbing the same number of stairs).
You also seem to assume that no one here is “stepping up” their exercise routine, and if you have read all of the comments, I think you would find that most people here who are not physically prevented due to injury ARE stepping up their exercise.
Try to be a little more positive and maybe you would come off as encouraging rather than condescending. THANKS!
WI Em — September 29th, 2011, 5:59 am
As I said I would, I am posting my weekly update. This is the end of my second week (hurrah for junk food day), and when I stood on the scale this morning I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed -especially since I am being so strict with this.
Start weight of 139lbs. Weight this morning (2 weeks later) 132.2
So since my first week, I have lost 6.8lbs. I guess that isn’t too bad considering I had only stopped my weight gain since before I began this try-out with slow carbing, ice etc.
As I had assumed, the first week of loss was, to some extent, water leaving the fat. Regardless, I’m planning to stick with it for the entire month and hope I can meet my goal of 115lbs after loss. 17.2lbs in the next 2 weeks seems like a stretch. If I continue to see small gains each week toward my goal, I may continue on until my goal has been met and then modify the diet slightly so I don’t get too skinny. Here’s hoping!
Genie @ Healthy Living Now — September 29th, 2011, 7:14 am
Like I said, I am rooting for you WI Em! I remember when I set my weight loss goal and was working towards it. I had the same enthusiasm you have now, and something is telling me you will be successful like I was, if you continue. So, keep at it, and all the best!
“If we all treat each other like we treat ourselves – what a wonderful place earth would be.”
Mike G — September 29th, 2011, 7:28 am
@ WI Em Thanks for the support and info. I’m on my third day now, and feeling great! I started eating more often yesterday and it seems like a more enjoyable way to go about the diet. I was struggling to find snacks and such that would fit on the diet, at least things that I could eat as smaller meals, and skimming through more of the comments and looking at nutrition info definitely helped.
I’m actually excited to eat breakfast now because I purchased some black bean/corn salsa to throw on the egg whites and beans, kind of make some kind of sloppy burrito like feel I hope.. Definitely going to be a plus since those beans were starting to get to me already lol.
Fun Chick — September 29th, 2011, 9:29 am
Back again… I lost 23 lbs. in 2 months on this, then… I lost my job, then gained a shiny new boyfriend, a new job, we bought a house, and had too much fun, So… starting this lifestyle again. In fact, Tim published my turkey casserole in his recipe book! So this time it’s for permanent.
I am on Day 30 of P90X and have only shed 6 lbs. so I’m a steady 156 at 5′ 6″, so start today with me!
Good luck everyone, and thanks ahead for the support. Will keep everyone posted
WI Em — September 29th, 2011, 11:51 am
@ Genie – Thanks for your support. I have never felt uncomfortable in my own skin before and no one would say I look or am overweight, but I feel uncomfortable and that is what matters, not others opinions. So I am dedicated to losing the weight that I am unhappy with and keeping it off.
@ Mike – I’m glad to have helped but I’m new in this too. If you don’t have Tim’s book, get it as it will offer you more guidance than I can on how to deal with your own unique situation.
@Fun Chick – I love P90X! The plyometrics can really kick me in the can sometimes, but that’s half the fun! I’m glad to see you’re getting back on the healthy horse. I’m still early in it as far as the changes in eating are concerned, but very commited.
Best to all
makeswell — September 29th, 2011, 10:48 am
I noticed there is white corn. Is it alright to eat the yellow kind?
arlevie anne — September 29th, 2011, 7:52 pm
hello everyone,
i really have a hard time losing weight because i hate doing any form of exercises.I am now so interested of losing weight since i gain 55lbs and i want to cut it and back to my normal weight unfortunately the original post for the right foods to eat is very hard for me since i don’t eat veggie and i haven’t try eating green beans i really need some advice of what are the alternatives food to eat aside from veggie and beans..please2 reply
Donna H — October 1st, 2011, 10:39 am
hi all
I have been stuck at 9st 7 ish up and down 3 pounds (for the last 4 weeks),20 pound loss – fantastic) but I feel great the last month stuck at weight. I have been doing PX90 yoga, Feel fit and still need to lose another 14 pounds (152cm). Keep up the good work every one.
thanks again Tim
Donna H — October 1st, 2011, 10:48 am
arlevie anne
Hi I have not been eating beans and veg much this month and my weight loss has stalled, this month. If you follow the rules it works. I plan to return to the 4 rules as i love beans plus the lose of my belly. I am at the weight of two years ago and loving it. I feel lighter and will try the way of eating with my mum as she is very upset with her increased belly fat after the menopause. I use chips as a treat and this has changed the way I view bread.
good luck everyone.
nicole — October 1st, 2011, 7:22 pm
i lost 53 pounds in nearly 3 months by eating every 3 – 3.5 hours only 200-300 calories each sitting… which gives your body time to work the calories off and your then hungry again.. i worked out 1 hr in the morning 1 hr at night 6 days a week… YOU SHOULD NEVER CUT OUT ALL WHITES AND CARBS.. NEVER CUT OUT ANYTHING THAT YOU WILL EAT AGAIN EVENTUALLY…. NEVERRRR… YOU WILL GAIN IT RIGHT BACK … JUST USE THOSE THINGS IN MODERATION …
BouncinBelly — October 2nd, 2011, 1:10 am
This looks like an Atkin’s type diet, however, I was told the pizza and beans aren’t the proper items to eat I had to do some rapid weight loss so here is what my doctor recommended:
morning
1 egg, 1 strip of bacon, and plain grapefruit juice. Oddly enough for a 263 pound 5’9″ 30 year old male this held me from 7am till 11:45am so almost 5 hours. Had a desk job.
lunch
any meat and any vegetables, and plain grapefruit juice. held me till 5 in the evening.
dinner
same as lunch
The grapefruit juice is a little tough to drink at first but you get used to it. It helps break down and pass most of the fats in the food.
You can put butter on the vegetables and drink water or diet soda. As far as carbs go don’t eat any; no bread, potatoe, rice, or pasta. Absolutely no granular sugar of any kind and milk has sugars as well so skip it and take a calcium supliment if needed. With this diet, your body converts your stored fats into sugar to burn in your muscles and if you don’t take in sugars then your body HAS to convert the fat. It can become hard on your liver so it’s not a good idea to stay on this type of diet for a long period of time and it tends to plateu your weight so exercise will be needed. Once your weight is down low enough you can mix in exercise and maybe some carbs and beans occasionally. A can of green beans works just as well as a can of black beans. I worked out every other day and stuck to this style of diet for 4 days on and one day off and lost 60 pounds in 4 months. Went from doing 5 minutes to 45 minutes on an eliptical machine. Trick to dieting is mixing in exercise or else you have to balance your food intake to what you burn off when you’re sitting. Remember if your neighborhood is safe you are allowed to walk around it! It’s a shame mine isn’t so I have to make do with pacing in my apartment.
wayne — October 2nd, 2011, 3:00 pm
Hi BouncinBelly,
Your doc tell you all this? His info sound rather familiar?!?!?!
You dont need to exercise and if you do go for the minimum ie tabata. beats 45 mins of anything or try a good weights program cause it takes more calories to feed/build/maintain muscle, blah, blah.
There is a program on this site
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/12/18/pavel-8020-powerlifting-and-how-to-add-110-pounds-to-your-lifts/
which is very close to what i do except i do back rows and shoulder press too.
maryam — October 2nd, 2011, 4:22 pm
thanks 4 the tip i think over 1 week now ive lost about 5lbs thank u tim
anne — October 2nd, 2011, 6:03 pm
Can I use baked beans with tomato sauce in the tin instead of red beans?
Virginia Perl — October 3rd, 2011, 6:29 am
@Anne – Short answer: no, not if you are doing Tim’s diet. There is sugar in baked beans. Check the label for the sugar content. I wouldn’t even eat it if it was “sugar-free.” Sugar substitutes are poisonous. Good luck!
Anne — October 3rd, 2011, 7:15 am
Thank you for taking the time to answer. I will just use the black beans and lentils then. This is day 2 for me on the diet.
Virginia Perl — October 3rd, 2011, 7:37 am
@Anne~ Again…good luck! It’s a great diet as long as you stay true to Tim’s plan. There are a good number of posts on this site that have altered his diet, like the one above that has you eating grapefruit and butter. Choose which plan you’re going to do, and then stick to it. I hope you let us know how you’re doing in a week or so…or if you have questions before that. Best, ~Virginia
anne — October 4th, 2011, 5:27 pm
Thanks for the encouragement. I am working on it. today is the end of day 3. Question do you see a difference in the weight daily or by the end of the 6 days it decreases? You know how with HCG you see 1lb gone per day. Does it work like that? or When do you see the difference on the scale?
Virginia Perl — October 4th, 2011, 6:53 pm
@Anne
I try not to check my weight every day, but it’s a great temptation. Like any graph, weight goes up and down even when you are on a diet. If I check each day, I remind myself not to get discouraged by any weight gain on a given day. I know that the over all loss in a week will be good. I tend to celebrate the new lows that are sure to arrive if I stay on the plan. I hope that helps. ~Virginia
debrahun — October 5th, 2011, 10:18 am
I enjoy tracking my weight. I find it keeps me accountable. Everyday I weigh I watch my weight go down down down (which I think is fun). Sometimes it goes up a little but not a lot. Then they day after cheat day it goes way up (usually 5 lbs). But then I watch it go down down down till the next cheat day and it is even lower than the last week. I track my weight using the “free” livestrong website Livestrong.com. You register then go in under “tools”. From there you select myplate then there is a tab labeled “weight”. This is where I track mine. You can even go back and add previous days. It is fun to watch it on the graph. You can see the cheat day and then you can see it continually go down.
Anne — October 5th, 2011, 10:39 am
I will weigh myself that way also. Thanks for the tips.
Anne — October 10th, 2011, 5:58 am
I am now on week 2. I lost 4.2lbs last week, I am stoked.
Thanks for your support Virginia, it is greatly appreciated.
Virginia Perl — October 10th, 2011, 7:35 am
@Anne~
Great results! Keep up the good work and stay active on this blog. You have encouragement and support here!
~Virginia
Kelly — October 3rd, 2011, 1:52 pm
So I’m thinking about trying this diet, but I’m only 14. I’m not growing anymore. But I still go to school and have to eat there. Does anyone have advice on what I could take to school instead of bread. Until now I took 3 sandwiches. Are crackers okay ?
Mike T. — October 6th, 2011, 2:50 am
Kelly,
If I were you I would cook some chicken breasts (or have your parents cook them) the night before school. Then bring a couple of them with you for lunch along with a salad.
Crackers are NOT ok as they are white carbohydrates. Instead of crackers bring a small bag of mixed nuts.
Kelly — October 3rd, 2011, 1:55 pm
Oh and forgot to say this but after you’ve lost the weight you want can you go back to eating white stuff like bread again ?
Mike T. — October 5th, 2011, 5:22 am
I started this diet after reading The Four Hour Body back in January 2011. I didn’t do any exercise AT ALL but I lost 20 pounds in about 6 months. I know that may not seem like a lot, but I didn’t do ANY portion control. I simply followed the diet, drank alcohol, but I stayed far away from bread, rice, and pasta.
The best part of the diet for me is that I get to go crazy on Saturday. For example last Saturday I ate a whole pizza for lunch and a super sized McDonald’s value meal for dinner. Then late at night I ate another burger. I love this diet.
On normal days I eat eggs for breakfast, steak for lunch, and chicken for dinner. When I get hungry I simply snack on nuts or make myself another meal.
asnat — October 5th, 2011, 6:55 pm
Hi Tim I started this diet on sunday and I already lost 3 pounds in 3dys am so happy. But today I ate a lot of nuts and one cup of white tea. Iam worried that maybe I didnt do my diet correctly doday. Is that ok to eats penuts and milk on this diet. thanks
Mike T. — October 6th, 2011, 1:52 am
Asnat,
You are allowed to eat nuts on this diet, but don’t go crazy with them. Just grab a handful and snack on that.
As far as milk goes, Tim says it’s a no-no. However, I am sitting here now drinking a coffee with some milk in it. That being said, I’m also working out 5 days a week now so I allow myself a few simple pleasures, but I wouldn’t go so far as to put sugar in my coffee.
Also remember that your weight is going to fluctuate each day. Try to weight yourself only a couple times a week and at the same time. I like to weigh myself in the morning before I’ve eaten or drunk anything.
Good luck!
asnat — October 6th, 2011, 4:24 pm
Thanks Mike. but about the milk i read somewhere that you can have 1% milk of cup . Tim recomended that. also i think maybe I gain the 1 pound because maybe iam closser to my period .
Ruben Niesvizky — October 6th, 2011, 11:47 am
I have lost 40 lbs on this wonderful diet. how do we incorporate carbs when its time for maintenance? and how about almond milk as I am craving dairy?
Anne — October 7th, 2011, 4:18 am
40lbs is incredible, wow. Would you give me some tips on how you did it please? I started it Sunday 2nd, I have kept it strict but so far lost 3lbs this week which is great, I am happy for that but was hoping for 5lbs. I was thinking of using whey protein shake in the morning for breakfast instead.
Sorry to bombard you, I have read the book but just hoping for some more tips.
thanks so much.
asnat — October 6th, 2011, 6:59 pm
Can I eat fish in this diet ? its protein too just wondering if I can have it.
ERIC — October 7th, 2011, 9:47 am
I have lost 25lbs doing this regime, however I hit a wall and cannot lose anymore lbs. Its been three months and still no more lbs lost. I wanted to know if you reached your plateau doing this regime what other options have you done or considered to lose more lbs. Thanks.
WI Em — October 8th, 2011, 6:54 am
@ERIC
If you read my post below, you will find that there is a modification of eating in Tim’s book. When I first started fighting my weight gain of the last year, I wasn’t following this way of eating and I got the gain to stop by getting back to my old healthy habits, but couldn’t lose any of the weight. I considered this a plateau and decided to try the slow-carb method. I have slowly lost about 10 lbs in 3 weeks and while I am pleased, I realized that I needed something different. Give the clock as your drill sergent method a try and see if that helps. That’s my plan. Best of luck.
v — October 7th, 2011, 10:54 am
Hello everyone! Ive read through a lot of your posts, now its my turn to post
I am a 40 year old woman, 5’1″, 149lbs. I have gained 15lbs in one year and have been trying to lose but not working. I’ve tried weight watchers, south beach, counting calories, nothing worked! I am hoping this will work. I love eggs, beans, chicken and veges, so I have no problem with the food. I work out about twice a week, 20 minutes on the elipticle and walking. I do have a question about tomatoes and carrots, on the south beach you were not allowed to eat, are they allowed on this diet? Today is Friday, so i plan to start this on Monday. Ok, well wish me luck, happy dieting. I will post next week with results.
Steve — October 8th, 2011, 12:37 am
Thanks for the great recipe ideas. That very first one you put up, black beans, egg, and something else sounds very appealing. Even though I don’t eat eggs, it sounds really good in that meal. Maybe I should try that eggology…
Lisa — October 8th, 2011, 6:02 am
I can not figure out what I am doing wrong! I have followed this diet to a T for two weeks, I only have 6 pounds to lose and mainly want to flatten my stomach. I have also been doing excercises, the squats, wall press, the ab work outs in the book, even cold showers. I lose and gain 1lb over an over. I thought maybe I lost some inches around my stomach, but I don’t know, wouldn’t it show in weight? I have scanned the internet and everywhere else to see if maybe the way I am cooking is wrong, light sauces, onions and peppers in eggs and beans ect., but seems as though I am not doing anything wrong. Am I eating to much? Says eat as much as you want of these ingredients in the book, I don’t think I’m eating to much. I eat three times a day not four, I’m never hungry so I’m not snacking. HELP!!
Justin A. Martin — October 8th, 2011, 6:20 am
I am an over the road trucker…I have a small fridge in my rig and a microwave. I am curious about a meal plan that I can take with me on the road…I have recently stopped smoking and after 180 days of being entirely smoke free, I have gained 20 pounds. I am sick of this weight gain!!! I am 5`10 and now weigh 220. I was 185 when I quit!!!! UGH! I am looking forward to your diet but I am a little stuck on how to take it on the road for 5 days without spoil. Thanks Tim.
WI Em — October 8th, 2011, 6:44 am
So I am late in posting my update, but here it is. This post is a bit long, but bear with me as there are changes I wanted to share with you all.
Begining weight: 139
Weight as of Thursday: 129.8
So that’s after 3 weeks following this way of eating. I fit back into my first pair of “old” jeans and while they may not fit the way they used to, the point is that I CAN GET THEM BACK ON!!!
I have one week left on this try-out, and I very highly doubt I’m going to lose the 14.8lbs. of weight to reach my target goal of 115lbs. which is 5lbs more than what this diet claims. Regardless, I’m happy with the gains I’ve made in reaching my goal so far using this method.
All of this said, I am going to be (and have been since Friday) following the chapter in Tim’s book, The Last Mile begining on page 149, to lose those last few stubborn lbs. I think recognizing when it’s time to change things is an important part of any healthy lifestyle, and I appear to be one of the people who have tried this that does not make large gains in the short time-span others have. Everyone’s biology is different.
For those not familiar with Tim’s book outside of this blog, the clock is my drill sergent and I can’t skip meals. There is a cheat meal every 7-10 days (which is better for me I think, since I would get a bit nauseaus on cheat day and feel like heck the following day). I have 5 meal options to choose from. I no longer eat beans, and instead eat about 4 oz of protein every 3 hours along with as much vegetables (certain kinds) as I want. I am also allowed to eat very small amounts of nuts or peanut butter (which is nasty and I don’t -peanut butter tastes very bitter to me, yuck!) or a bit of olive or macadamia nut oil. If you want to know all of the details, get the book.
Here’s to getting back into my pre-gain pants!
wayne — October 10th, 2011, 7:27 pm
Hi WI Em,
Well done so far.
The beans have been a big issue for me and probably many others too I don’t know if it is a calorific thing or that the body finds them hard to digest?
Cutting down on the intake of beans or stopping them altogether tends to throw people a life line if they find themselves stuck on a weight loss plateau.
Natalie — October 9th, 2011, 8:19 pm
I just starting people and I read many of your problems and I hope they get better, and I hope I succeed as well.
Anne — October 10th, 2011, 6:00 am
Is Whey Protein Shake a good substitute for the Myoplex Protein Shake?
Tasha — October 10th, 2011, 7:34 am
Can this diet be adapted to a vegetarian lifestyle? ie. minus the meat??
Jas — October 10th, 2011, 11:57 am
Hi, I have 40 lbs of weight to loose. I have gone through many diet websites, but I think this is the one, which will work for me as it never asks you to starve. I have a question here, is it mandatory to exercise while on this diet? I am a working mom and have busy schedule from 5 am to 10 pm. In this routine, I dont have time for exercise, but yes surely can go for this diet.
Anne — October 11th, 2011, 4:05 am
It isn’t mandatory, in the book it says it can be done without exercise but it certainly does help. I understand what you mean though, I am a working single mom and time is tough but I try to get in at least 15 mins of exercise three days a week and it helps. Tim recommended Dr. Phil’s book “Weight Loss Solution” earlier in these blogs, I got it and read it and it helps alot. I also do the air squats and wall press exercise that Tim demonstates in his book when my time is limited. You can try it and see if it works for you. For me, it helped because I started this diet last week and lost 4.2lbs though my “visitor” is due this week and I am in my second week now.
If 15mins is too tough for you, just try being more active in the day, walk more, park the car further from the store, take stairs instead of the elevator, that sort of thing. Every little bit helps.
Though we have kids, as moms taking care of ourselves is just as important, so we can be in a better frame of mind for our family.
Lewis — October 11th, 2011, 7:40 am
Hi Jas,
The post is called ‘How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise’.. So no, you don’t have to do any excercise.
LC
Jas — October 13th, 2011, 9:41 am
Thanks Lewis.
debrahun — October 11th, 2011, 4:43 am
I started this Diet May 1, 2011 at 162 lbs. I am female 49 yrs old – 5’0″
August 1, 2011 – three months later I was weighing 139 lbs (23 lbs lighter). I was at a standstill could not go down any more. So I quit this diet and went to Weight Watchers. After 2 months on Weight Watchers I gained 7 lbs. So here I am back on the “bean diet”. After a week back on this diet I am back down to 141 lbs.
For those new people I want to post my daily menu, this is what works for me!
Here is what I eat six days a week:
1st meal – 7:00-7:30 am – green beans, other beans, low fat cottage cheese, slice of 97% deli ham
2nd meal – 10:30-11:00 am – green beans, other beans, 4oz lean meat (ham, chicken, beef)
3rd meal – 2:30-3:00 pm – green beans, other beans, slice of 97% fat free deli meat
4th meal – 6:00-7:00 pm – green beans, other beans, 4oz lean meat (ham, chicken, beef)
On the 2nd or 4th meal I sometimes have a salad! (But no dressing, no croutons, no fruit, only veggies)
NO SUGAR, nothing white (potatoes, rice), no bread, no fruit.
If you eat canned veggies try to cut back on your sodium they are high in sodium and you will get too much. I had to start buying no salt added green beans – you can add Mrs. Dash to them and they taste better!
Drink Water – Limit your diet drinks to two a day!
***very important – I take 1 beano with each meal! Probably more of a women thing! Guys will usually be guys!
I did not do any exercising on this diet!
________________________________________________________
On the 7th day I eat what I want.
One more tip –
I enjoy tracking my weight. I find it keeps me accountable. Every day I weigh I watch my weight go down down down (which I think is fun). Sometimes it goes up a little but not a lot. Then they day after cheat day it goes way up (usually 5 lbs). But then I watch it go down down down till the next cheat day and it is even lower than the last week. I track my weight using the “free” livestrong website Livestrong.com. You register then go in under “tools”. From there you select myplate then there is a tab labeled “weight”. This is where I track mine. You can even go back and add previous days. It is fun to watch it on the graph. You can see the cheat day and then you can see it continually go down.
Ad — October 11th, 2011, 11:28 am
Dear Tim
I bought the book and am delighted with the results of the diet. As a fairly fit but overweight 44 year old man with a desk job I have lost 6 kg in 6 weeks which I think is good progress. The diet is easy to follow not because of the cheat day but because with the ingredients it is easy to have a healthy and satisfying meal. Brilliant.
A couple of comments. The point about milk is important. As a Brit I like a bit of milk in my tea but over the day – 4 or 5 mugs of tea – that is a fair bit of milk and it mucked up the diet for a bit
Secondly, I am in my forties and I did notice that the diet took time to start to work. I have read this elsewhere so it is worth noting that there is a bit of a shallow start which might make people pause or look to a calorie restrictive or mad diet like Atkins. I am not sure if this is right but it feels like the first week you shed some weight because you are getting rid of toxic white flour ***p. Then there is a bit of a flat period and then it starts afresh.
Finally, Tim, what size is a glass of wine for you. I have read that alcohol inhibits weight loss and you say max 2 glasses.
Many thanks Tim. You do the research and we shall follow like grass fed sheep.
Ad
wayne — October 12th, 2011, 5:17 pm
Hi Ad,
I too hail from that small isle and live in Wales (so watch your comments about sheep – ha, ha).
You hit the mark when you say that perseverance is the key and I believe that Tim (or maybe another poster) suggests that you aim for a month of doing the diet before you really start to understand how your body is really reacting to the changes.
It makes me chuckle to read the posts that are submitted when the person has clearly never read the book (after all it is only a couple of pounds/bucks on amazon) because they ask daft questions that shouldn’t need be asked with the most basic understanding of the book.
Don’t know about you but I have had difficulties with the beans part of the diet. Some posters have suggested that bean consumption can be reduced to experience further fat/weight loss after a stall.
Another thing I find myself doing now is wearing single layers of clothing and basically getting used to feeling the cold, especially with all this inclement weather we are experiencing here in the UK.
I work nights in a very open facility with many drafts blowing cold air. If I do get cold I find myself going for a quick burst of squats or such like to raise my internal temperature rather than adding a jumper.
I believe the thermo control part of the diet is great way of putting our bodies back in control of our core temperature and thus regulating fat for warmth. I must refuse to run around in animal skin with a wolf’s tooth pendant and dirty feet though (except for weekends down the local)!
Keep us posted on your progress!!
Ad — October 12th, 2011, 3:40 am
It is not entirely sure what vegetables are okay to eat. For example, is it okay to eat a green salad like this – lettuce (Iceberg, webbs), rocket (arugola), red onion, raddichio, cucumber and a little olive oil.
JaneyLL — October 12th, 2011, 10:17 am
Well I am on day 22… down 9.4 lbs! This for me, is a huge success in trying to lose that last 20 lbs…. so just about 10 more to go!
Thank you so much for the info on this site, and of course…Saturdays.
Matt Hobson — October 13th, 2011, 11:16 am
So just so I understand, just cutting out these foods will cause me to lose weight?
NO: bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating anything white, you’ll be safe.
wayne — October 16th, 2011, 6:02 am
Hi Matt,
Read the book.
This is a small chink in the chain.
anne — October 16th, 2011, 7:05 am
I agree,the book is very informative and interesting.
Lexia Bailey — October 13th, 2011, 1:59 pm
Hi. I’m 14and 180. I’ve played soccer all my life and started cheerleading 3 years ago. Yet, I’ve still managed to be huskey. I would really like to lose this while I’m still young. Would this help for my lifestyle?
Rona — October 13th, 2011, 5:34 pm
For anyone fretting over how to get enough Omega-3 into their diet, simply buy flax seeds. One-quarter cup equals 7 grams. Toast ‘em lightly, put them in salads and shakes, whip into a butter, lots of good things benefit from flax seeds… and you will, too!
Be well,
Ron
Aiedail — October 13th, 2011, 5:56 pm
Hey guys and gals! I’m thirteen and I way about 165 (not sure my scale doesn’t work right) I think I have about ten to fifteen pounds of muscle and I want to way about 140 (maybe less just working down slowly) I’ve been exercising since january of this year and I’ve lost about 30(ish) pounds…I jog, ride bike, and walk a lot! So now i just need to work on diet! I hope this works!!!
jonathan — October 14th, 2011, 7:08 pm
how does all this effect you if you consume alcohol, and what is the best idea to have for cocktails in low cal and how much, do i need alot of exercise if i do drink to stay on track
jonathan — October 14th, 2011, 7:23 pm
i dont know much about diets and i would love to see a week to week plan for meals, i dont believe in miracle pills and i dont desire water loss only fat loss and to speed up my metabolism , i am a male 44 im 5 foot 10 inches and weigh 180 pounds, i feel real over weight, im looking to loose my belly fat, its been a problem for me for years, my goal is 150 pounds for my body structure, ive been there before but everything ive tried has never worked, i really need a diet plan, and i dont mind a little exercise, and by the way i stand on my feet all day at work but move very little, i want this to be my answer to my problem, i hope to hear from everyone
wayne — October 16th, 2011, 6:12 am
Hi Jonathan,
I Believe there is a recipe book for this plan of eating from Tim (but you may actually have to research to find it).
Try reading his 4hr body book too there are great ideas like squatting before eating to deplete glycogen, etc which will help to increase your calorific burn and strategic eating that cover your questions.
As for alcohol white spirits tend to be the better of the bad bunch but you will be using fruit juices and soda’s as mixers which is a no no except for the cheat day. Unless you just take a finish vodka shot straight from the freezer (yum).
He does suggest red wine outside of cheat day as this didnt seem to impact his goals. 1 Glass per night and lower sugar varieties IE malbec.
Sarah — October 15th, 2011, 9:46 am
Week 1 Update:
Hello,
I started this plan 1 week ago. To date I have lost 4 lbs. I am 33 year old female with an initial 40 lb weight loss goal. Current weight 186. I am happy with the 4 pound loss. The diet is simple to follow…the only drawback for me is getting sick of eating beans! But I am going to follow the plan for a month and hope to see at least a 12-15 pound loss. I will consider that a success.
Today is cheat day. I know one thing for sure…I won’t be eating any beans today! I will be next week with another update. Good luck to all!
Brian — October 16th, 2011, 3:29 am
Great and useful post! Thanx for sharing.
Max — October 17th, 2011, 9:26 pm
I noticed the other day that there is such a thing as white corn, is it still alright to eat the yellow kind? Also, are onions okay to eat?
asnat — October 18th, 2011, 6:36 am
well Iam so discourag, I need help, i started this diet 3weeks ago the first week I lost four pounds. after my cheating day I gain all the weight back and now Iam on the third week and I havent loose any pound. what Iam doing wrong ???? help please
Ryan — October 18th, 2011, 7:29 am
Hi Tim,
I had a couple of questions regarding the diet:
What about dairy? Milk, Cottage Cheese, Yogurt
Was that post workout pizza on or off a cheat day? Better yet, can you eat a big meal right after a workout or do you stick to the diet?
Thanks.
Whitney — October 18th, 2011, 10:26 am
I am 22, 5’8, currently weigh 211lbs. I have averaged 160-170lbs until a major crisis happened in 2009 and I have never been able to get back to that weight. I have 2 big events coming up one next month and another soon after. Have you heard of the bead diet, hcg? Hcg affects your metabolism. The bead diet stimulates certain points behind the ear to control hunger cravings and to reset your body’s view of how much you need to eat to be satisfied and your metabolism. I am fully aware of all that’s involved in both diets and have grown up in an alternative health clinic and therefore know the pros & cons. Here’s my plan (This may sound bizarre but my time is limited plus I have no major health problems.):
Manipulate points behind ear in the manner of the bead diet. Drink water, my body weight in ounces divided in half daily with a drop of Vitamin D. Eat 5 carrots, 5 celery sticks at each meal which will equal 540 calories a day (On the HCG you only eat 500 calories a day). I will also be eating cottage cheese (made with whole milk) for a snack that will give me a boost of protein and calcium. Additional supplements will be Juice Plus & Cognitex for my memory. I will be walking uphill to our family gym and using our Power Plate 3x a week.
I don’t have a set number in mind, well actually I do but I don’t want it to be too high of a goal. I have until the 13th of next month. I am confident though that I’ll be able to lose 25lbs by then by following the above plan.
Please positive advice welcome!
Baylee B!! — October 19th, 2011, 9:41 am
I had a rockin’ body in May.. I ran a marathon and everything, looking the best I ever had. Well due to the downhill marathon, I had to get double knee surgery mid-July! Well needless to say, the rockin’ bod was no more. With school and working 3 jobs I didnt have the time I want to workout. Without working-out, so many aspects of life were going wrong. Not only was I fat, I was also sicker, my skin was horrible, and no energy to get me through the day. I was starting every morning was a 56 oz of Diet Coke (not smart, I KNOW!). Well my mom and I started the GreenTeaDAILY diet. Drinking 2 of their drinks a day made the biggest difference. I had energy, felt better, got me off the Diet Coke diet without the caffeine headaches, and in 2 weeks I was already down 8 POUNDS!!
AMAZING!! My goal of dropping the 13 pounds I had gained from surgery happened in a month. Now I look even better then I did in May
The reason it works: Each packet of the GreenTeaDAILY is worth 45 cups of Green Tea, without the caffeine and tanic acid. So… 450 mg of antioxidants plus 45 cups of green tea, plus NONI, ACAI, and MAQUI BERRY..
Check it out it ships to your house and I swear by it! I wish I could attach a picture of the beginning and after, just like i’m sure you all do!
Jas — October 20th, 2011, 10:51 am
I started my diet on monday with some alterations like I drink 2 cups of tea in a day with 1 tbsp of fat free milk (calories 25, fat cals- NO)in each cup and eating brocolli in mixed vegetables. I wonder if I can eat Bell Peppers in salad. Just wanna know if I am doing it right or need to be more rigid with my diet?
mario c. — October 20th, 2011, 11:58 am
2nd time is a Charm.
I just started on a modified 20 in 30 plan.
I have a protein shake for Breakfast and Lunch and a Salad with
Chicken,spinach, black beans, salsa, and almond slices for dinner.
Lots of Water. > 64 oz
And I have 1 cheat day a week.
So far first week I’m down 12 lbs. I’m only going to do this
For 1 more week and then add lunch of slow
Carbs.
Oh and multi vitamin.
I’ll let u guys know how this goes. Wish me luck.
Mario
Raven — October 20th, 2011, 7:01 pm
I love the idea of this diet. I was recently told by a “nutritionist” that I should only eat one serving of grain a day, and no alcohol, or sweets at all. I think I would be fine working a diet if I could enjoy a glass or two of wine an evening and indulge once a week in whatever I wanted. Restrictions can be really difficult and not allowing myself to have a piece of dark chocolate or something sweet ever is very difficult, then IF I stray and do indulge the guilt kills me. I am looking forward to trying this. I am not terribly overweight maybe 10-15 lbs but my LPA is VERY high due to genetics, so hopefully this will aide in lowering not only my weight but my LPA. Thanks for the advice!
Tera — October 20th, 2011, 10:14 pm
I followed the Slow Carb diet just as a personal experiment and because I have a mad crush on Tim Ferriss… I followed the diet strictly for 6 days, worked out lightly twice during that period, and dropped over 1% body fat and lost half a pound (so went from 16.2% BF and 121.5 lbs to 15%BF and 121 lbs). I’d recommend it, Especially to those wanting to drop a good amount of weight!
Hugo — October 21st, 2011, 7:36 am
Tim what’s a man to do for breakfast if he doesn’t like eggs? The rest is GOOD, lost 5 pounds in 7 days!
Andy — October 30th, 2011, 2:34 pm
Eat a regular meal. I like grilled chicken with black beans and corn or mixed veggies.
Believing that you need to eat “breakfast” foods in the morning is overrated. I love fried & hard boiled eggs, but I don’t worry about only eating them in the morning. Sometimes a small piece of grilled steak with a egg in the evening makes a great dinner.
Donna H — October 23rd, 2011, 10:30 am
For all of those asking about what to do after you drop the weight. i am visting my folks in Scotland and my lovely mum has put on 14 pounds after menopause and ill health. She is 63 does yoga 3 times a week and walks alot so moderately active. Due to ill health she gets very tired so is in bed 14 hours of everyday, tv watching and sleep.
As she is Scottish she will not give up her porridge oats (with milk and sugar) every morning nor her 2 cups of tea and 1 coffee (with milk and sugar).
She has been eating this way of eating with the above each day for 14 days. She either eats no carbs with lunch and dinner or has less than 1/4 plate of carbs (she used to have more than half of the plate covered in chips or some form of bread or potato).
So after two weeks she has lost 2 pounds, that is great as she has only modified her lunch and dinner plus she never ate hugely so she has a fried egg sandwich, crisps and chocolate as her cheat.
She is very pleased we will be doing the measurements tomorrow, to see inch wise how she is. She is never hungry and feels more in control of her body.
I have been only 80 % on way of eating but increased exercise, daily yoga so have also lost 2 pounds but feel much more toned. Have 3 weeks before birthday and hope to lose more, have kettle bells now so hope to incorporate tims training with this.
Good Luck everyone, this works, got 4 hour body from library in Scotland as husband has our copy at home.
Lisa — October 24th, 2011, 2:47 am
hello everybody,
is granola good? im currently planning to lose about 90 lbs ( so im good with eggs, but are they supposed to be hard-boiled? and is it good to eat around 3 to 4 hard boiled eggs in a day? then, is excessive use of salts alright like in baked beans? and im not used to eat veggies but i’ll try to. and i love carrots and i eat them raw. is this recommended?
thanks!
Ryan — October 24th, 2011, 12:44 pm
Granola is terrible. When he says “avoid white” think “avoid grains… of any kind”. Granola is made of grains, and sugar.
Jim A. — October 24th, 2011, 9:35 am
I’m just beginning the slow-carb diet today. Tim says not to use artificial sweeteners, as they can stimulate weight gain. What about Stevia? I drink copious quantities of iced tea and I’ve been sweetening it with stevia.
Ryan — October 24th, 2011, 12:47 pm
Stevia is natural, but I think he would say to keep it to a minimum. In the 4-hour body book, he gives a quick recipe for salad dressing that includes it but, also knocks other natural sweeters because the react in the same why as fructose… which is why you are to avoid fruit.
anne — October 24th, 2011, 5:19 pm
His book (4 Hour Body) stated that stevia was good to use instead of the other sweeteners.
Ian — October 24th, 2011, 2:44 pm
Someone mentioned Beano on here, which I thought sounded like a good idea. However, after I started taking it with almost every meal, and I think it may help defeat the entire purpose of the diet. Alpha-galactosidase helps break down the starches in legumes into Sucrose and Fructose. That seems like a bad idea, as use of the enzyme would then increase the body’s naturally slower metabolism of these foods and lead to a sugar/insulin spike. Has anyone else used Beano or other enzyme product and found it to slow or defeat the fat loss of the diet?
wayne — October 25th, 2011, 2:12 pm
Hi Ian,
Legumes/beans are a mix of carbs, fibre and proteins.
All carbs break down to GLUCOSE in our body which is the simplest of sugars. The ratio of carbs to proteins to fibre is what controls the rate of glucose release into the blood no matter what supplements you use.
That is the nature of it.
Ian — October 26th, 2011, 3:01 pm
Wayne,
I understand your point, but my point is that this supplement allows the body to break down the glucose much more quickly than it normally would from legumes, thus speeding up the release of the sugar into the blood stream.
-Ian
Trish — October 24th, 2011, 9:00 pm
I heard Tim talk last week and he mentioned a thai high protein food he eats for breakfast but missed the name of it! Can anyone tell me what it is?? Cant seem to find it anywhere online and have skim read the book (still reading) and cant seem to find mention of it?
Can someone help?
Josh s — October 25th, 2011, 4:22 am
Wow.. all this feedback has made me start this early tomorrow morning. I am 24 years old and I’m 5’6.. i was as heavy as 168 at one point and now have gone down to 145. Have not been on a diet for about 3 months but luckily my metabolism has kept me at 145 and now I’m trying to shed about 10 more pounds before i focus on pumping iron and getting ripped. ill keep you guys updated… LETS GET FIT!!
Ben — October 25th, 2011, 12:51 pm
Not optimistic about this thread’s liveliness this late to the game, but an answer to this question by Tim or anyone would be great. I have 4 Hour Body, and I’ve done the slow carb diet, as Rx’d, very strictly for 2+ months. The results were not great for me because I *think* ended up eating too much and I was not really getting exercise.
This post advertises in the headline: lose weight without exercise. But how should this diet be tweaked to account for a totally sedentary lifestyle? I feel like ‘making up calories’ with all the legumes should probably get the axe (especially b/c of all the anti-nutrients and the problems with beans the Paleo crowd likes to point out). I also feel like the protein requirements per day/meal are probably steep for someone not working out. Are my instincts correct?
I definitely feel like this diet as prescribed here and in 4 Hour Body is for someone on at least a moderate workout regiment. I want to go for it again, but can’t guarantee any real increase in physical activity. Is the answer to ease back on quantity? That would seem to make sense. Where would it be best to cut from – protein (meats) or beans? Legumes are carb rich, so I would be inclined to cut there first, but are they needed to maintain energy levels?
wayne — October 25th, 2011, 2:16 pm
Hi Ben,
What most people are missing with the 4hr body is that this was Tim’s self-experiment.
In the book he suggests that YOU self-experiment to find how HIS experiments may best serve you.
There is notes attached at the end of chapters and some of them refer to how you can self-experiment to suit your needs so If you don’t have the book then read it and follow the essence of what he is trying to achieve using his methods as a guide.
You are not Tim so there may be considerations and adjustments you may have to make according to your body.
KATIE — October 25th, 2011, 7:59 pm
while most of his meals look as weight loss potential, he states no white carbs yet pizza? and eating at 10pm, even after a workout, then going to bed, a little different from everyone esle ive heard,
30 lbs can be lost within a month, ive done it…..but gained it back…..i agree with a life style change as being the #1 thing on any diet. and mind over matter. this month ive lost 13lbs in about 3 weeks. if i continue to lose, it will be a good thing. if you lose too fast you will most likely gain it back and yoyo dieting is not healthy……
so slow and steady wt loss……and tell yourself this is how you will continue to eat for life to live!
ps/my friend had her own plan and she is doing better than i….she pinned up a pic of a disgusting obese woman on her fridge and a copy in her car to avoid drive thrus as mcdonalds etc…..shes doing great. for me, it didnt work, i told myself thats not me and tore it down and made a sandwich…..to each his own….mindset, tons of greens, some protein but dont overdo it unless you are entering a body-building contest……sleep well…..8 hrs, and water,water,water to keep out any toxins youve been storing the past 15 years.after all, moms cooking was good but comfort food,,,time to grow up and show mom she was loving but not a healthy cook. but we know she meant well. now its our turn to teach her.
Josh s — October 26th, 2011, 9:35 am
So I’m on my second day of this diet plan and I’ve lost a pound BUT…. I’ve put some thought into this and thought, whats the point of having this day if ur heart aint getting anything from it?? Cardio fitness and pushing the body to a limit does not only wonders to ur body but to the emotional side of feeling great after workouts… LOW CARBS = Low energy = no workout.
A few months ago when i was 154 i played basketball 4 days a week for a month with a good diet and lost 9 pounds. So my question is this since i am someone who needs to move around…
Is it bad or dangerous if i do cardio??? I never exceed cardio passed 30 minutes since i don’t like losing muscle. But if i play basketball is for a good 3-4 hours on and off the court…
Ian — October 26th, 2011, 3:10 pm
Josh,
There is nothing wrong with exercise at all. If you follow Tim’s version of the diet, you will find your energy going through the roof. This isn’t an Atkins high fat/chemical diet. You will notice the lack of dairy and sugar greatly improving your overall feeling of health. You really need to read the book to understand some of the logic behind this, but basically you cannot depend on cardio and traditional calorie counting to recompose your body. You have to up your protein intake and post-workout carbs in order to help your body not burn muscle when you do exercise. You will have to find your own sweet spot depending on how much cardio you do.
-I
Toby — October 28th, 2011, 7:20 am
Hey, this is a great post Tim. The amount of times I’ve been talking online to people saying that it’s “what” you eat that’s so important, well, I’ve lost count. Also, many folks have minds that are just stuck in calorie counting mode. They say stuff like “you have to eat the right amount of calories, that’s all that matters”, and I try to emphasize the importance of the nutritional value of what they are eating… and, they just won’t have it.
Though on the subject of calories, thanks for explaining the caloric differences between rice and vegetables. If you didn’t eat some type of carbs, you’d have to eat more fat instead, and then you’d enter he world of the Atkins diet.
I am a bit concerned about not being allowed to drink milk. I find that even sweatened soya milk tastes a bit rank. Please can you tell me, why no milk?
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 9:20 pm
Lactose is a sugar as is anything ending with ‘ose’ i.e. fructose, sucrose and the bodies fuel glucose.
Cows milk is for baby cows anyway!!!!!!!!
Deanna — October 28th, 2011, 10:05 am
Question .. I can’t eat eggs (allergy). So any good suggestions for breakfast?
Mike T. — October 31st, 2011, 5:31 am
Deanna,
If you can’t eat eggs then I suggest eating lentils for breakfast. They are delicious and Tim highly suggests them.
With the lentils you could have avocado or some salsa.
Maggie — November 12th, 2011, 11:09 am
Tofu or protein powder. I would recommend vegetable protein powder, not whey. Watch the sodium content because some are loaded with more sodium than anything else.
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 9:23 pm
Meat, fish, legumes, veg, salad, protein shake – all together if you so desire!
JaneyLL — October 28th, 2011, 11:59 am
Hi all,
Has anyone gotten to around week 6-7 and during that week (or any other week for that matter), not seen any loss? Just wondering if that’s normal, and if i can expect to still keep losing or if this means I’m plateauing.
Thanks!
J.
Mike T. — October 31st, 2011, 5:29 am
Janey,
If you’ve gotten that far without any loss I’m really wondering what you are eating. Can you give me a sample of your meals throughout the day?
Serena — October 28th, 2011, 3:49 pm
Hey everyone,
I followed Tim’s diet 3 years ago for exactly one month and lost 15 lbs – from 130 to 115. 2 kids later, I’m up to 140 (Had my second baby 6 weeks ago). I was wondering if this diet would be okay to follow while breastfeeding my baby. I plan on following this diet and pairing it up with Jillian Michaels 30 day shred workout dvd. I need to lose a solid 20 – 25 lbs.
What do you guys think?
wayne — October 30th, 2011, 2:35 pm
Hi Serena,
The basics of the diet encourage chemical free eating, plenty of water and avoiding unhealthy empty carbs (breads, pastas, cereals, etc.).
You may need to adjust your carb requirements according to your energy levels (night feeding while hubby sleeps and tending to your family) but breast feeding in itself will help you to lose the baby weight.
I cant think of a better way of generating wholesome milk for your new baby than to follow this plan of eating as there is no unhealthy thing about it and it will certainly give you the added vitamins and minerals associated with eating fresh vegetables, nuts (according to your tolerance) and a healthy source of complete protein.
You can even keep all those lovely treats you may receive as gifts for you cheat day.
Congratulations to you and your family!!
Leeza — October 31st, 2011, 11:17 am
Hi Serena,
I followed the 4 hour body diet while breastfeeding my third baby. I dropped weight much more quickly than I did after either of my first two children, but I also lost a lot of my breast milk. While following the diet I did add in extra carbs and yogurt or cheese after walks, to keep myself from losing too quickly, but my son lost weight precipitously, and I had to supplement his diet under a doctor’s supervision.
There are a lot of factors that go into keeping your breast milk supply – it’s a bit of a black box – so there’s no guarantee that the issue was entirely a result of following the 4 hour body diet. I know it’s frustrating to lose slowly. It’s no fun to listen to the adage, “9 months to gain the weight, 9 months to lose it,” and breast feeding alone has never been enough for me to lose the baby weight. In my experience, and according to most doctors, any diet or plan that delivers quick weight loss is best used after you’re done breast feeding. Losing 1 or so pound a week is more likely to keep your supply up. Enough of my meddling – be careful with whatever you choose, and best of luck.
Leeza
TMcCarty — October 29th, 2011, 10:22 am
Would seitan be okay as a protein source for those of us who are on the veggie route?
jason_matt — October 29th, 2011, 10:39 am
Hello, can you eat noodles on this diet? specifically top ramen? or are those considered white carbs?
Mike T. — October 31st, 2011, 5:27 am
Jason_matt,
Six days out of the week you can’t eat any noodles. However, I love noodles, so on the “free day” I can eat all the noodles I want. If I want I can eat noodles all day. Actually, on my “free day” I usually eat more than I want to so that I get sick of junk food. By the end of the day I am happy to get back on the diet again.
Maggie — November 5th, 2011, 3:55 pm
If you have doubts about foods look at the nutrition facts in the back of the box (bag)… look under “carbohydrates” try to stay under 5g per serving. Ramen noodles are usually about 26g per serving… so I would say eliminate them
Stick to black beans and lentils, you will get complex carbs from them.
Emely — October 30th, 2011, 7:13 pm
I want to start this diet tomorrow ASAP! But I have a few questions
1: I have Alot of cans bean, alot of variety BUT they are all cans! Can I still use them or do I have to start boiling my own beans? :/
2: can I drink Gatorade? Or will that mess everything up?
3: I know you said no potatos but can I use other vegetables? Like sweet potato(I know it’s probably a NO, but had to ask), “yucca” plantains ect.?
And lastly if I exercise will that help me
Loose more weight?
Thanks you so much for all the help!
Ashley — October 30th, 2011, 8:19 pm
I am 15 years old and have been on this diet for about a week. I’m not overweight but have a bit of fat around my waist that I would like to lose. I’m somewhat concerned about the dangers of this diet since I am still growing and I’ve read somewhere that low carb diets (even with the binge day, I consider this weight loss plan a low carb diet as well, correct me if I’m wrong please) aren’t good for the long-term bone health of teenage girls. Is this true? Can I continue with this diet plan?
Ashley — October 30th, 2011, 8:29 pm
sorry, one more question. I’m quite short as well and would like to grow taller, so I was wondering if I should eliminate dairy from my diet completely? I need plenty of calcium to keep growing, and I usually have a glass of milk or a slice of low-fat cheese every day to get enough of it. I’ve heard that calcium supplements don’t seem to do the trick. Is it alright if I include some dairy in my diet? thanks in advance.
wayne — October 31st, 2011, 5:02 pm
Milk from cows is for baby cows!
You can get all the nutrients including calcium from other food especially your greens, beans and nuts. Tinned sardines have a very high calcium value and you can also crush up egg shells and drink in a glass of water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium#Nutrition
Too much calcium affects the thyroid gland and this is the effectively your metabolism control.
We really must move away from this westernisation that milk is the only provider of calcium and eat natural food sources.
In fact one brilliant method for bone growth and strength is load bearing exercise i.e. weight training and at the age of 15 you can begin loaded exercise quite safely with the correct guidance.
Ashley — October 31st, 2011, 11:17 pm
Ohhhh I see now. Thank you so much! I’ll stay away from dairy products then. The eggshell powder sounds disgusting but I’ll give it a try tomorrow and then buy some sardines.
wayne — November 1st, 2011, 3:34 pm
Hi Ashley,
Just remember everything in balance.
If you eat as suggested here your body will be getting the very best in nutrition compared with a standard food intake for your age group.
Calcium is just a very small piece of the nutritional puzzle that helps us grow and maintain a trim waistline.
Eric — November 1st, 2011, 10:10 am
I just had a couple of days of feeling quite sick on this diet. I’m taking it day by day now and I’m not going to continue if my symptoms come back (nausea, dizziness, lack of concentration), but I think I’ve figured out what I was doing wrong.
It’s easy to think that we’re eating enough protein when we include it in every meal, but when I started looking at my portions I realized I was only consuming 15-20 g of protein in each meal (3 times per day).
This simply isn’t enough. On this type of diet, your body enteres into a state called ketosis (look it up on Google) and begins to rely on burning fat over carbs for fuel. This is why people can lose big amounts of weight; you become a fat burning organism rather than a carbohydrate burning one. I’d also like to note that there are some scientific studies that suggest that this state isn’t exactly healthy for your body, so it’s probably advisable that you monitor yourself carefully (for example, the liver has to work harder as you’re disposing of much more calcium via your urine). Not putting the diet down (I’m still on it myself), just pointing out risks to keep in mind.
Anyway, not having enough fat intake will surely make you hypoglycemic (having low blood sugar). Failure to treat it (consume more protein for a slow carber, or more carbs for a non slow-carber) results in light headedness, dizziness, nausea, and feeling faint. It’s important to listen to your body if you’re feeling in any way ill, and to take it seriously. The point of loosing weight after all was to feel better, right?
I’m no doctor or medical expert of any kind, but I’ve researched this stuff and I have a better understanding of what’s going on with my body than when I first started.
wayne — November 1st, 2011, 3:08 pm
Hi Eric,
I agree eat more protein 3 times per day or smaller meals with 20g protein 5-6 times a day depending on your preference.
If you are eating beans, legumes and vegetables you ARE having carbs. The body is burning stored fat from all the junk you were eating before therefore your body will have to work harder because of what you did to it but this in not unhealthy this is how your body should react.
Why would you not be eating fat? You are encouraged to eat extra virgin olive oil (or other oils according to the book), grass fed butter, nuts, meat (and plenty of it) all containing FAT. Again it is part of a HEALTHY and PROPER way of eating.
You may find (as suggested in the book) that your body goes through a process of detox as you get used to not eating CRAP thats probably where your troubles stem from. Push through this while drinking 3-4litres of water a day to help flush the rubbish from you. After that you should feel tip top.
Many have said that if they go into white food overload over a cheat day they have the same feelings as you suggest because it is not really good stuff and really affect the body.
Dont forget meat/fish, beans/legumes and veg per plate!
JaneyLL — November 1st, 2011, 12:11 pm
Mike T: I wasn’t that I’ve had no loss at all, i just thought I was having one week where i didn’t lose or thought I plateaued…but turned out i lost almost a pound last week also…for a total of close to 12 lbs down so far. All in all that’s really good for me; my goal is about 16-17, so maybe after a few more weeks I’ll be pretty close (hopefully!)
Thanks!
-Janey
Mike T. — November 1st, 2011, 2:57 pm
Janey,
Best of luck to you in losing that weight. One of the reason Tim suggests measuring yourself with a tape measure is because with this diet you will lose weight off of different parts of your body and gain muscle. I highly suggest it.
Megan — November 1st, 2011, 2:18 pm
i am 14 years old. i am a girl and i go to high school. i do basketball outside of school every year. it i s once a week for an hour and a half. i weigh 133 pounds. i notice that i am over weight. my stomach rolls over, but not too much. i would like to weigh 110-115 pounds. but since i am young, its hard for me to do a diet.i am 5’4 but only about 15 pounds over weight. i am really self concious about my weight. how can i lose what i want to lose by december 1st??
Mike T. — November 1st, 2011, 2:54 pm
Megan,
Since you are 14 years old I would suggest that you be careful about dieting too much. However this isn’t one of those crazy diets that can really harm you (in my opinion).
Just follow Tim’s advice for the next month and you should lose at least 5 pounds. If you add exercise on top of it then you might be able to lose 10 pounds this month. Just make sure that you eat enough. That’s one of the great things about this diet.
wayne — November 1st, 2011, 3:25 pm
Eat, have fun and enjoy your sport.
You should not be worrying about weight, a role of belly fat maybe but not weight.
There are great tips in the book that don’t involve anything to do with food including exercise and thermo-regulation of your body (allowing your body to get cold to regulate body heat).
Biggest tip i have for you is cut the rubbish food. If it grows, falls, [used to] run around or [used to] swim then eat it. Ditch all the factory made processed foods, fizzy drinks and sweets and eat as if you live on a farm (away from a supermarket). Have your cheat day and enjoy!
Basket ball is a really good HITT type sport with lots of sprinting bursts and slower output times so train harder and play even harder, live life to the full and you wont have time to worry about your belly.
Maggie — November 5th, 2011, 4:32 pm
Hi Megan,
Well, you are 14! Lucky you! You are very young and your body will adapt and respond faster than us older people (I’m 31). I am also 5’4″ and weight a lot more than you do… I do remember being 25 yrs. old and weighing 133 lbs and being unhappy with my weight, so I can relate. However, since you are 14, I really think that sticking to exercise will help you lose the weight instead of strict dieting. I would say maybe cut back on the junk food and soda (if you consume any of that of course) and also increase your intake on all of the food items listed on this diet, but since you are so young I wouldn’t recommend cutting back on carbs for so long. Veggies and lean protein are never bad for you, so I really don’t see anything wrong with it. If you are unsure about good vs. bad carbs just run a search on google and read about “complex and simple carbs” that will give you a basic idea on what carbs are. Also, now that I think about it, since you are 14, you might want to talk to your parents about your diet goals, maybe they can help you with your diet, or you can help them. When living under your parents roof you are stuck with their food choices, so communicating with them as far as what you want would really help you as well. Good luck!
Maggie — November 5th, 2011, 3:49 pm
Hi,
I just started this diet plan yesterday. I was following P90X for a month but got injured on Monday (not because of P90X, but because I’ve always had back problems). So now the doctor ordered no exercise for at least 3 weeks. I ran a google search on “how to lose weight” and came across your blog. I am very excited to start this plan as I followed something very similar two years ago… (I lost 10 pounds then). This will work out perfectly now that I can’t do any weights, I can only walk or light jogging until my back muscles heal. I will check back every week to share my results. Although I know I will struggle with the “no white carbs” as I LOVE to eat sub sandwiches and muffins… but I’m willing to sacrifice sweets to reach my goal.
ROBERTO OCASIO — November 5th, 2011, 7:29 pm
Hi, Roberto. Sorry to hear you had a good one who got away. What I’d suggest doing, if you haven’t already, is just to talk to your friends about it
SugarSpice — November 5th, 2011, 10:22 pm
This article is really helpful! I might try it when my vacation starts
Basically, on what I believe, just avoiding the white carbs, eating fiber, white meat, vegetables (limiting fruit, since it’s sugar), drinking lots of water (3 liters preferably), and eating frequently in controlled small proportions is also helpful. Since instead of over restriction of food, you can just replace the food you take. (i.e. replace most of your snacks with carrots and broccoli, but ditch the dressing, boil the vegetables and add some seasoning and it’ll be good. Or eat a variety of salads with no or less dressing).
Sadly even I can’t follow these simple rules, I tend to forget. XD
Yet, you won’t lose weight if you aren’t serious about it, losing fat isn’t magic; it’s hard work, we aren’t the kind of people who has a crazy metabolism. The importance of losing weight is losing it; and keep those unwanted pounds off.
SugarSpice — November 5th, 2011, 10:24 pm
*Last paragraph is for Megan X)
Loic — November 6th, 2011, 11:09 am
Hello,
I am 2 weeks in this diet. I am 84 kg, having lost 2 kg in 2 weeks. I thought I would lose more than that.
Here are my meals:
- Breakfast: 2 eggs, lentils and spinach
- Lunch: chicken breast, lentils and brocoli
- Diner: steak, lentils and spinach
Am I doing something wrong?
Loic — November 6th, 2011, 4:27 pm
Hello all,
I have been doing this diet for 2 weeks now but I have seen little results. I was 86kg and I am now 84.
Here are my meals (always the same):
- breakfast: 2 eggs, spinach and lentils
- lunch: chicken breast, lentils and broccoli
- diner: steak, lentils and spinach
I did not have a huge decrease in body fat either: from 29% to 28%.
I do not see what I could be doing wrong.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Loic
Ken — November 7th, 2011, 9:03 am
How do you know how many calories you should be consuming if your already overweight? These calorie calculators don’t seem to distinguish between 230lbs of muscle vs fat and too many calories will make you keep excess weight on regardless of whether they are carbs or not.
Kristy — November 8th, 2011, 7:11 am
I’m an exercise science major and I think that this is very healthy food and all, but unless you’re pairing it with an exercise routine, you’re not going to get the desired results. Weight loss is pure and simply this: Net calories consumed vs net calories expended. So, if you’re taking calories in but not expending them through activity, fat will not be burned. Losing weight is ALWAYS a two step process: 1. Change your diet/portions and 2. Pair with weight bearing and cardio exercises.
luke — November 16th, 2011, 6:44 pm
Hi Kristy,
The success of myself and many other people here seems to contradict your statement. I generally agree with calories in, calories out as a way to lose weight. However, you are discounting the effects that the diet has on the resting metabolism.
I personally followed the diet, strictly, and I lost weight and many inches. I didn’t increase my exercise at all. In fact, the majority of my weight loss was right after I had a knee operation that kept me from my only form of exercise (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu several times a week) for 6 weeks. It isn’t a matter of just restricting calories as you can eat until you are satisfied as long as you are eating the proper foods. Your body will use the fat that you have stored and you WILL see your legs, waist, etc. shrink. This diet boils down to being about metabolism and using your own stores of fat. And you can and will do it without exercise if you follow the plan strictly. The book goes into other recommendations depending on what your goal is with weight lifting, running, stamina, etc. so depending on your goal (say; adding muscle) there are modifications to the diet.
But, my overall point is that this isn’t calorie restriction and exercise. It’s calory modification (protein heavy as opposed to white carb heavy) to bring about body transformation and exercise is not mandatory.
Trey — November 8th, 2011, 3:33 pm
Very informative blog!!! I have been using Tim’s recommendations on his low carb diet with 20 min. a day workout and have seen an incredible difference in only 3 months. Drink lots of spring water not distilled water too…
Jade — November 8th, 2011, 4:07 pm
why are olives not aloud on the diet if we are allowed olive oil? also is it bad to drink pea protein 3 times a week if i am trying to lose a lot of weight?
Wendy — November 8th, 2011, 4:27 pm
I HAVE THESE ORGANIC TURKEY AND CHICKEN SAUSAGES NO NITRATES OR NITRATES FROM APPLEGATE …. CAN I EAT AS MANY AS I WANT OF THESE?? THEY HAVE 500 MG OF SODIUM EACH.
Xavier — November 9th, 2011, 1:39 pm
Hello.
I have a few questions about your diet. First, when you say cheat day do you mean to eat a lot of carbs? Also you say no dairy, but what about almond milk? I don’t think that it falls into the category. And if almond milk is okay would almond milk and Kashi go lean cereal be a good breakfast?
Anyone can answer because I know Tim is busy.
Xavier — November 9th, 2011, 1:40 pm
Also a follow up question…how does fruit (Apples, bananas…etc) fall into your diet plan?
Maggie — November 9th, 2011, 4:11 pm
HI Xavier, I would suggest reading the rules again. They clearly state NO fruits and no cereals. Kashi is a cereal, so you can’t have it. Nowhere does it say to drink milk for breakfast. It clearly says, one veggie, one meat and one legume. (for ALL meals). So you can have beans, eggs and veggies. Now binging is binging!! eat whatever you want!! anything!!! Apples and bananas are fruits so you can not have them.
Xavier — November 12th, 2011, 4:02 pm
Thank you Maggie for the quick response…I must have missed the no fruits part…Okay so no almond milk even though it contains no lactose?
Maggie — November 13th, 2011, 10:27 am
ok, I’m no expert here and I make decisions in this diet out of pure logic
What exactly do you need the almond milk for? Cereal is not an option so, there goes the almond milk if you were planning on using it for that. I use two ounces of soy milk + water when I drink protein powder. I prefer soy milk because it has more protein than almond milk per serving. If you just want to drink almond milk because you love it, I don’t see a problem, but it doesn’t have much protein you can benefit from, instead it has carbs (like 8g per serving which is not that much)… so, it’s up to you! 
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 8:22 pm
go for coconut milk, great in coffee and amazingly good for you; with that said don’t go drinking pints of the stuff because it does contain some very good saturated fats and as a result has high calories. Don’t forget go fresh and organic where possible.
Soy milk is a poor substitute, sorry Maggie, in my opinion and tastes really bad unless it has been artificially sweetened which is also a no no and if you are worried about protein intake then go for a good protein shake that can be mixed with water. There are many that contain 3 different sources of protein that release protein at different times after consumption.
Or you could just increase your meat/fish consumption.
amy — November 12th, 2011, 4:41 am
hi,nice diet plan
5 tips
1.never,ever,ever starve yourself because your tummy stores some fat to keep you alive .
2.DRINK LOADS OF WATER ,AVOID ALL FIZZY DRINKS!
3.don’t run before you can walk[never try to lose 1kg per day ,that cold be deadly!]
4.if you have a well planned diet then follow it if not then only drink water and eat fruit for the next day
5.keep one day in the week to eat whatever you want [like a celebration]
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 8:38 pm
Hi Amy,
1. I agree and that is why Tim suggests a cheat day to keep your hormone levels in check.
2. I agree again; however drink according to your own needs as there is nothing good about having to use the bathroom every 20 minutes.
3. weight loss is only a part of this plan. Fat loss is the biggest benefit. In fact if you are eating loads of protein and pumping very heavy weights your weight may very well go up as you body fat reduces.
4. Why would you do this? Fruit is encouraged on the cheat day where you consume ANYTHING. Tims plan is the diet so if you don’t follow it then you are not going to have the type of result he has seen.
5. I agree a well deserved celebration of 6 days of controlled eating. Also this cheat day is part of the diet and necessary to control thyroid hormone response to keep your fat burning motor flat out.
if I can add 1 more:
6. Tims book is a guide of self experimentation so food choices and anything else covered in this book work for Tim. There may be parts of this that do not suit you for what ever reason and that is your experimentation according to you and your choices. So have a go for at least 1 month on Tims plan and then start adapting it according to your wants and needs cataloguing everything your doing so you have reference to what is working and what is not.
Jax — November 12th, 2011, 10:42 am
Okay, so this means no butter? Nothing like that, correct? I am going to start doing this along with a few cardio workouts I have found. Carrots, green beans, nuts? Are those okay to deal with or no? I want to be able to get into shape before summer, and with Thanksgiving and Christmas comming up, I’m afraid I might become a little bit over-whelmed, how do I deal with this?
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 7:56 pm
Hi Jax,
Butter (from grass fed sources i.e. Kerrygold – Irish butter) is encouraged according to the book.
Keep your nuts down to small portions because of the high calorie count and the carrots and green beans are good choices (Tim does mention about watching your carrot consumption due to a higher GI but if your having a portion a day I guess that is OK)
Forget cardio go for heavy weights it burns more energy in a shorter space of time and then your body has to repair damaged muscle tissue and that takes more energy. Anything resistance based is better as long as you keep adding more weights or resistance.
Best thing to do is buy the book and all the hints and tips are in there to help you navigate thanks giving and Christmas.
Maggie — November 12th, 2011, 11:05 am
Ok, as promised, Here are my results after week one. I started this diet on November 4. I started weighing 154.8lbs. Unfortunately I snoozed and didn’t check my body fat percentage on that date. Last time I checked it, on October 3rd, it was 31.7%. Well, here is the weird part. This morning I was 151.8lbs, however, my body fat went up to 33.4%. I’ve always been skeptical about scales measuring fat… I’m going to ignore that for now and hope it changes by next week. The big results are the 3 pounds I lost this week. Something that in the past took me 6 months at weight watchers!! wow. I’m not going to lie. This diet is so hard to follow! I am sooo glad I got to eat whatever I wanted this morning. I had a large soy mocha, a small egg burrito with guacamole and one pancake. I literally feel this sugar rush I haven’t felt in a while. It’s not a good feeling. I actually feel a little dizzy, but it will pass. Now I’m drinking lots of water to help with this sugar rush. I was considering dropping out of this diet but after seeing the weight loss this morning I will definitely stick with it for as long as I can. I will check back next Saturday to share my results. Good luck everyone.
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 7:48 pm
Hi Maggie,
When you measure your body fat the book suggests you do it first thing on the day before your binge after drinking about 1 litre of water and going to toilet (or something to that affect) and naked.
This way your results will remain consistent (as much as they can be) because clothing, food and many other factors change your body fat so you try and fine tune your measurements as best as you can. You can also do a 5, 7 or 9 point fat calliper test or just take your measurements as a way of seeing what is happening to your body shape (and don’t forget you CAN look in the mirror).
Have some cinnamon on your pancakes and it will help control you blood sugar spikes and increase the flavour.
Maggie — November 16th, 2011, 7:43 pm
oh Wayne… I had not read the book back then. I wasn’t aware of having to drink a lot of water prior to measuring. and of course I checked my body fat prior to binging! come on! I am now reading the book and catching on several things that are not included on this blog. Unfortunately everything fits the same and I “look” the same. I will however check my measurements on Saturday morning (prior to binging) again. I will check back on Saturday to share my results. I will also try cinnamon on my pancakes
Richard Friesen — November 16th, 2011, 1:02 pm
Maggie, you say that you’re skeptical of bio-impedence scales. So am I. The readings that I get don’t correlate with anything. One day I weighed twice, holding a 3 pound dictionary the second time. The scale reported a 3 pound weight gain of which 2 pounds was fat.
Does anyone know how to make these things work other than drinking 2 liters of water first thing in the morning?
wayne — November 16th, 2011, 7:22 pm
Hi Richard,
Have 0.5 litres then, the importance is consistency and ritual to get uniform results.
Either that or choose another method of monitoring i.e. body measurements.
As long as you see a reduction in FAT stored around the body it doesn’t matter how you observe and record it.
Don’t obsess over the method concentrate on eating correctly and magic Will happen for you.
Maggie — November 16th, 2011, 7:51 pm
I know! I must add that I didn’t have the 1.5liters of water prior to measuring my body fat. I will try it this Saturday and hope it’s different. Besides this method I would just stick to body measurements. Remember that everyone is different. I’ve read comments from people who lost 7lbs the first week, I only lost 3lbs. Everyone loses differently.
Jousephine Araya — November 12th, 2011, 7:06 pm
My diet plan is to avoid eating as much as possible, I only drink a tea in the morning, and eat half a plate of dinner at night if i am hungry during the day i drink water water take away hunger I lost 10 lbs in 1 month without exercising whatsoever. BEST DIET PLAN EVERR FOR ANY AGES!!!!!!!
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 8:09 pm
You have not grasped the concept of this!?!?!?!
Food is not the enemy and starvation is not the answer in fact it is detrimental to controlling your thyroid hormones.
Calorific restriction is achieved by minimising certain foods that are carbohydrate based according to the golden rules posted above. But the idea is you eat the correct food types when you are hungry.
What you say you are doing is NOT Tims method and sounds dangerous long term especially if you are exercising too.
Tracy Bernier — November 13th, 2011, 10:14 am
interesting…
for me it was Isagenix that worked. After all of the other attempts, I finally managed to crack through with the Isagenix 30 day cleanse and followed it with the Isagenix maintenance programs…
it’s been great and I wouldn’t change it.
thanks
Tracy
Hi — November 13th, 2011, 5:56 pm
Hi All,
are canned chick peas ok to eat on this diet?
what about graipfruits, is one a day allowed?
wayne — November 13th, 2011, 8:02 pm
Hi Hi,
Tim suggests keeping chick peas to a minimum and going for legumes instead (lentils and beans). and grapefruits are fine on your cheat day and encouraged due to the naringenin content and its impact on caffine plus the citric acid will help to control blood sugar spikes.
Otherwise he suggests NO fruit due to the fructose content so keep them and your chick peas for your cheat day.
Wendy — November 15th, 2011, 2:09 pm
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION?!
in tim ferris’s new slow carb recipe books it says you can have acorn squash,raisins, hazelnut milk, and 1/4 cup cheese in the recipes… is this true?! im confused because i thought all we can have is meat, beans and veggies?! Thanks.
luke — November 16th, 2011, 6:33 pm
Wendy wrote:
“CAN SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION?!
in tim ferris’s new slow carb recipe books it says you can have acorn squash,raisins, hazelnut milk, and 1/4 cup cheese in the recipes… is this true?! im confused because i thought all we can have is meat, beans and veggies?! Thanks.”
It was news to me that Tim finally had the cookbook out. So, I searched the internet. Sure enough, it IS NOT out yet. Tim’s book, called “The 4-hour Chef” is due out in April of 2012. There are other online cookbooks that are using the name “The slow carb cookbook” but you won’t find Tim’s name on them. This “book” even has a similar logo and color scheme as the 4-hour body. They are made by “followers of the diet”, foodies and chefs, but NOT Tim. So, just to be clear, Tim is not recommending cheese, milk, raisins, etc. somebody else is.
If you haven’t done it yet, pay the damn $25 and get a copy of the book “The 4-hour Body” for yourself. Almost every question on this forum is answered in 2 or 3 relatively short chapters in that book. If you are using only this web site as your diet guide then you are selling yourself short.
to everyone, not just Wendy:
So, no fruits, no milk, no cheese, no bread, past or rice and limit the nuts to VERY few. AS for the protein shakes everyone is using, if you are mixing them with milk, then stop drinking them. I don’t use the protein shakes so I don’t know about what all is in them but if they have carbs, powdered milk, sugar, etc. in them then you probably shouldn’t use them.
If you want to have success on this diet then follow Tim’s advice strictly and give it an honest few weeks. If you can’t follow his advice STRICTLY then don’t be surprised when the results aren’t there. At least until you give the plan a few weeks, don’t tweak the diet with milk, yogurt, outmeal, bread, etc. I feel like I’ve read 50 different posts that say, “I follow Tim’s plan to a T, I have eggs, and veggies for breakfast along with yogurt or sometimes cottage cheese and maple syrup and 5 lbs of almonds and whole wheat toast smeared with cream cheese and peanut butter. But so far I haven’t lost any weight.” Well, no sh*t!!! It’s because you aren’t following the diet!!!!
Sorry for venting. But if people actually read the book (and again, the diet is only about 3 chapters in the whole book) most of these questions would be answered.
wayne — November 18th, 2011, 3:12 am
Hi Luke,
Can I have milk in my cornflakes?
Just kidding!
I have the book, i have struggled at times as this is a very personal journey. Experimentation is the key according to YOUR body. The book is an amazing guide.
I have posted that is have had problems myself but then we have no access to the coaching and support that Tim probably would have received when brining this book together.
It does annoy me when people post on here vary obvious contradictions to the diet and it seems as though they have heard the hype and think without research they can just jump in to it using this blog to get the answers that the book clearly publishes.
Ignorance or arrogance?
For the cost of this book, which is small change considering the price of health, you can consider that you have earned the right and a membership to this wonderful club.
Along with the diet aspect I consider Tims approach to experimentation is very important in all aspects of life because too many people are just happy to bumble along and then blames others for the way they approach life.
PLEASE PEOPLE TAKE THE REINS OF YOUR OWN LIFE AND RESEARCH, EXPLORE, TRY AND EVENTUALLY YOU WILL FIND. IF YOU NEVER FIND THE ANSWERS TO YOUR LIFE’S QUESTIONS THEN YOU HAVE HAD A REALLY INTERESTING JOURNEY ANYWAY.
Now where is my bowl and spoon? Can i sprinkle sugar on these bloody cornflakes?
Joy — November 15th, 2011, 4:12 pm
hey so im 14 and im about 20 pounds over weight, i try eating healthy but i always get too hungry and cheat, how big should my portions be in the day? and what foods in general should i try or not try to stay away from. . . please help me, im getting bullied at school about being over weight and i need help. :I
Latosha — November 15th, 2011, 9:25 pm
Hello to all! I have a question, I am 5″2 and weigh in at 186, I have been a bit on the heavier side most of mt life, last year i dropped down to 142lbs from 165, no diet exercise nothing then in 3 months I gained double of what I lost do youhave any advice because I loved the weight I dropped down to… Can this diet work for me?
wayne — November 16th, 2011, 4:54 pm
Hi Latosha,
We are all different and one method does not fit all; howver there are varying results according to how strict you stick to the plan.
Give it a go and post your results!
Richard Friesen — November 16th, 2011, 12:53 pm
The last 5 or 10 pounds are driving me crazy. I am doing it all – slow carb, PAGG, resistance training. Dropped from 211 pounds to 194 in 2 months. Gained 2 pounds in last 5 weeks. My waist size dropped from 36 to 34 during the first 2 months. The problem? Big tummy! 41 inch relaxed and 38 inch tightened. I think 10 pounds of fat loss would fix that.
I am inviting suggestions to correct what I am doing:
Exercise – 2 times per week, eight exercises, 1 set to failure, both upper and lower body.
Within 10 minutes of rising eat 8 roasted almonds and 1 tbsp peanut butter.
Drink 2 mugs of coffee, black
45 minutes after rising, 1 teaspoon creatine, 1 scoop whey protein shake 26 g protein and 9 g carb.
Mon and Fri finish workout 1 1/2 hours after drinking the shake.
breakfast 2 eggs, 3 bacon, 35g microwaved frozen spinach (everyday)
Lunch 2 cups spinach, 2 cups lettuce, 1/2 avacado, meat or fish, other interesting salad stuff.
mid-afternoon snack celery stick filled with either cream cheese or peanut butter.
Dinner meat or fish,cauliflour, legume, cabbage.
I am 6′-1″, 70 yr old male. I do not count calories.
Gezondheidscoach — November 16th, 2011, 1:14 pm
Seems interesting, though I don’t believe it’s really possible to lose so much weight in such a short period. My current weight is 85 kilo’s, will try to reach 75 within a month!
Maggie — November 19th, 2011, 12:03 pm
I only think it’s possible if you are very tall and very obese :/
Steven Clark — November 16th, 2011, 3:54 pm
Can you combine 2 segments of the book? I need to lose 20 pounds of fat, I also play soccer and would like to increase my aerobic and anaerobic fitness. Should I attack these problems sequentially, i.e. slow carb diet to remodel my body and then do the 5K to 50K section? Is it foolish to try to do these simultaneously? Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Mike Malone — November 17th, 2011, 1:45 am
Hey guys!
I’m going to start this diet tomorrow, My main concern is my job. I have a landscape business and im constantly burning calories all day mowing lawns.. what can i eat to get energy. i need energy to work..
thanks!
JaneyLL — November 18th, 2011, 4:05 am
Hi all,
I’ve been doing the diet for about 9 weeks and as of last Saturday lost a total of 14 lbs. however, this week, I’m fluctuating (??) up 2 lbs. it could be hormonal/water retention, but there’s no way to tell for sure of course.
Has his happened to anyone…where you’ve had a week that you fluctuated up and then the following week still showed a loss?
I’m just disappointed because I’ve lost steadily until this week…and it makes me worry I shouldn’t have the cheat day tomorrow. (should I still have it as normal?)
Thanks!!
JaneyLL
Michelle_Ottawa_Canada — November 22nd, 2011, 10:16 am
Yes, i’ve fluctuatuted during my menstration period. The book says that this is normal and to be expected.
Ozzy — November 18th, 2011, 4:21 am
I have lost 9 kg in 3 months with Slow Carb Diet, and in process to hit 16 in 6 months. It would even be faster if I did not drink at all during the days except the free day (not that I drink a lot but still it is breaking the rules).
I even have a graph of the daily weight results, but cant paste it here..Can provide to anyone if anybody wants..
Ozzy — November 18th, 2011, 5:15 am
And forgot to say a big Thank You to Tim Ferris. I quit smoking (smoking 2 packs a day that is) 2 years ago, and gained immediately 16 kg which I was not able to lose even a gram using the older methods I used (like eating less etc.). Using Tim’s suggestions I was able to change this the day after I started using the diet. Do recommend it to everybody.
And Thank you Tim Ferris!!
Tim Ferriss — November 21st, 2011, 10:40 pm
Congrats, Ozzy!
Maggie — November 19th, 2011, 11:53 am
Week 2 update:
well well well, what do you know? This week was intense. I followed the diet religiously. I didn’t cheat a single time, I ate four meals per day and even drank my glass of wine 3x a week. The scale was not very nice this morning. I only lost 1.5lbs and well, as I said before I started at 31.7% body fat and this morning it was at 34.3%. I was surprised. I relocated the scale to another area of our home and my weight changed. I again relocated the scale and my weight changed again (only by a few ounces). The body fat % didn’t change a single time. I drank 1 liter of water at 8am. It took that 1liter about 2 hours to leave my system. I wasn’t able to “pee it out” before I checked my body fat because I had to leave the house to a breakfast date. (binging is important today). I don’t know if my body fat results have anything to do with the fact that I didn’t pee? Anyway I’ve been at war with that scale for a while so I went to exchange it for a “better” one. I’m a bit upset that I only lost 1.5lbs. I was really hoping for another 3. I’m assuming I perhaps didn’t eat enough at each meal and that’s probably why I’m not dropping enough weight. This week I will focus on larger bean portions. My “meat” portions have been very consistent; 4oz per serving which mostly equal to 20g of protein. Hopefully next week I will have better results. Over all I’m pretty happy that I’m very close to the 140s… very very close. I’m not stopping until I reach 130lb.
Good luck everyone!
p.s. Binging Saturday rocks!!!
JaneyLL — November 22nd, 2011, 7:34 am
Well turns out I didn’t end up fluctuating up two lbs on Saturday morning, I lost… But only 4oz. At least it’s something I guess?
Michelle_Ottawa_Canada — November 22nd, 2011, 9:50 am
This diet works! Thank you Mr. Ferris!
I’m 29 years old, 5 foot 7 inches, I started off on this diet at 140 pounds and by the third week I dropped to 129!
Typically, my meals consist of the following:
Breakfast (I eat 30mins-1 hour of waking up): scrambled eggs with egg whites, sometimes mix in a whole egg in , salsa, turkey bacon, coffee, two TBSP max of table cream (not milk! read his book – he explains)
Lunch: it varies but I always have a piece of lean meat, veggies, black beans and salsa. I got into the habit of warming up my beans in the microwave or stove and mashing them like mashed potatoes. Tricks your mind and it tastes good too! (This is also mentioned in his book!)
Dinner: lean meat again, veggies, beans, salsa
My various snacks: 1-2 glasses of dry red wine, diet coke, beef jerky, sunflower seeds.
Saturdays are my ‘eat-whatever-the-heel-you-want-cheat-days” and every Saturday I’ve gone out of my way and ate everything I’ve been craving that week. Whatever I craved during the week, I wrote it down on a little piece of paper and made sure to eat it come Sat. Since the start of my diet, my Saturdays foods consist of pizza, chicken wings, chips, chocolate, ice cream, donuts, fries, cheese, garlic butter bread, candy, nutella, burgers, pasta, just to name a few..
Like I said, I’ve lost over 10 LBS and now I’m on week 4.
Exercise? Well not sure you consider this a work out, but I walk to work and back everyday. The walk is about 20-25 minutes brisk walking one way. I also go for a long walk during my lunch hour after eating (30mins – 45 minutes depending on the day). This is just brisk walking – not jogging. I’m still in my work clothes and don’t break a sweat kind of walk. I’ve been to the gym ONCE since I started this diet.
The best part of this diet is that YES you can eat whatever you want but only on Saturdays. What other diet allows you to do such crazy thing?
Don’t forget to eat your beans with every meal!!! That is the most important thing! They fill you up (like a regular starchy carb does) and for me personally the beans decreased my cravings more so than before I was on the diet. Also, the book says to stay away from chic peas. I personally prefer lentils and black beans because they make me less gassy than the other kinds.
Kevin — November 22nd, 2011, 1:44 pm
I must say this looks quite good~! I will give it a try than at once return here and give the results. hehehe cya soon.
Kay — November 23rd, 2011, 1:43 am
Help! Is there a fourhourworkweek meal plan for vegetarians? No fish, no eggs, no meat. Thank you in advance.
Michelle_Ottawa_Canada — November 24th, 2011, 11:49 am
Im not sure about a meal plan but there is a small section in the book that talks about vegetarians on this diet.
Maggie — November 26th, 2011, 12:54 pm
Week 3 update:
this week I only dropped 1 pound. I must confess that I began to “cheat” since Wednesday. It was impossible to say not to all the delicious thanksgiving food that I only get to enjoy once a year. Today I binge again and tomorrow will get back on track. No problem.
Brad Barnes — November 23rd, 2011, 8:25 am
Youtube has a video of a doctor giving a breakdown on the science behind Tim’s slow carb diet:
Title: Doctor examines the Slow Carb Diet for Weight Loss
A bit long, however.
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 8:17 pm
Hi Brad,
This is a terrible video and he sounds like he is just regurgitating he info from the book.
I would expect a medical man to put up a scientific argument for and against Tims strategies.
workout — November 24th, 2011, 10:07 am
Right on with less bread and rice. I would eat those things around my workout and they would be brown rice and wheat bread to give me then before and after energy. I also eat fruits to handle any sugar cravings that may occur.
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 8:12 pm
terrible you don’t follow what you read!
Renabena — November 24th, 2011, 9:40 pm
Hi I was wondering if I can do the diet for 60 days and expect to see double the loss. I am hoping to lose 40 pounds in 60 days with this. Please get back to me. Thank you so much
Rebecca — November 24th, 2011, 11:50 pm
The advice is sound. I’ve ordered your book; I’ll try it out and keep you updated. I’m trying to go from 25% body fat to 20%. My road blocks have been mostly mental — I find there is always somethig more fun that gets in the way of my goals (e.g. pumpkin pie)… So my q’s are as follows: 1) Do you have any advice on the mental aspect — a mantra or some method of instant gratification? 2) Because I’m female and not starting in the shape you likely did, would you advise more realistic aspirations than 4 hrs etc.? And 3) Can I incorporate weight training into this plan (what calorie/etc. intake should I aim for?). Thank u! Big fan
Burning Fats Guide — November 25th, 2011, 2:49 am
I actually implement this myself. Great Post. I agree one hundred percent.You really did a great job.To share your information with us.
Katie — November 26th, 2011, 3:11 am
Umm.. is Oatmeal considered a ‘White’ carbohydrate?
wayne — November 28th, 2011, 7:25 pm
Yes.
Stick to eggs for breakfast with beans/lentils and a source of veg.
Alex K — November 27th, 2011, 11:58 am
Greetings Tim,
Impressive and very informative blog. Looking forward to purchase the new book very soon. You mentioned canned foods being fine, but perhaps you were not aware of the effects of BPA, a chemical found in many canned foods.
This article from: [URL removed]
A new survey by a food watchdog group in the UK has shown that trace amounts of an estrogen-mimicking compound known as bisphenol A (BPA) can be found in many canned foods.
BPA is a chemical component of resins used to coat some cans. The group tested 62 samples from canned goods sold in UK supermarkets and found that low levels of BPA could be found in 40.
BPA was detected at up to 0.07 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) in 37 samples and at 0.35 to 0.42 mg/kg in three further cans.
The supposed “safe” limit for BPA is 3 mg/kg, according to the Food Standards Agency.
What constitutes a safe level of BPA consumption is controversial. Some scientists have found that BPA produces effects in animals at very low doses.
Research in animals has shown that BPA enlarges the size of the prostate gland in mice, advances the onset of puberty in females and reduces fertility in rats.
It is not known why BPA migrates into certain foods and not others, though it seems that the risk of seepage is higher when BPA is used as a linking agent between the can and the food rather than just in the lining of the can.
wayne — November 28th, 2011, 7:34 pm
Canned foods are convenient IF you have nothing/nowhere else to prepare your food.
Fresh is always best. Lentils from a can are disgusting anyway as they add something to keep the lentils firm so they dont turn into a mush.
Anthony — November 27th, 2011, 12:59 pm
Hi Tim,
I love this diet plan seeing as I am Hispanic and legumes are a big part of our cuisine anyway
I was wondering if you could clarify on the “no white carbs”, does this mean I can’t eat carbs that are white but I can eat their “wheat/brown” option, such as brown rice or wheat bread? Or are we elimination carbs all together?
wayne — November 28th, 2011, 7:29 pm
Hi Anthony,
Forget rice and bread.
Your carbohydrates come from your veg and also from you beans/lentils so we are not eliminating carbs just changing where it comes from according to how your body processes them.
Bread and gluten are getting very bad press from lots of sources with regards to heath and the damaging effects. Best forget bread forever!
Maggie — December 5th, 2011, 10:26 am
Hi Anthony, forget. ALL bread, tortillas, sopes, tostadas, tortilla chips, (anything with the word chip in it
) No cereal, no milk, no oatmeal, no rice. Keep it clean. Veggies + beans or lentils + choice of meat. 4x a day every 3-4 hours. You will see results. The first week was the hardest for me, but after you step on the scale and see the results you will not regret it. If you like beans, try adding a couple chipotle peppers when you cook them and it will give it the “latin” flavor you crave. (I’m also latina, so believe me, I know what it’s like to miss tortillas and bread). GOod luck.
Tiana — November 27th, 2011, 8:00 pm
could u help me !!!! im 14, i weigh 240bls…. i need to lose at least 100 !!!! Helpp im close to diabeties
Tim Ferriss — November 28th, 2011, 11:39 pm
Hi Tiana,
Please follow the diet and take your doctor’s direction. The slow-carb approach works.
Good luck!
Tim
Kaitlyn — November 28th, 2011, 11:47 pm
What portion sizes should i have of each group? I have issues with eating too much…
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 8:11 pm
Imagine a 8-10″ dinner plate divided into 3rds.
These food choices will fill you up and keep you full for longer. Also if you are still hungry either snack on one of the food choices or eat another full meal.
Eating this way for a month should help you to balance out your eating then you can modify to suit your personal needs.
HRM — November 29th, 2011, 1:59 am
Hello. I am 140 pounds (70 kg) 23 year boy. I decided to try this diet. Could you tell me how much total carbs should I eat to lose weight ? What about proteins ? Couldn’t find this stats on the internet ?
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 7:58 pm
Eat lots of what Tim suggests at the very start of these comments so you never stray until cheat day!
Sounds like your weight is about right anyway!
Amy — November 29th, 2011, 7:58 am
Hi all…I have tried this diet, I have tried Weight Watchers and I have tried The Dukan diet. They all work. It just depends on your lifestyle & what you are prepared to do to loose weight.They all average out to the same weight loss. To be honest I found WW the best in as much as I could eat ‘normally’, go to dinner and eat in moderation, without the scales jumping up by 5 lbs just cause I ate out or went to friends for dinner. The other two are good for more dramatic weight loss, but as soon as you eat sugar the weight goes on again. Everything in moderation and some exercise is best.
marc — November 29th, 2011, 7:57 pm
Really good tips on how to lose 20 lbs fast. The only thing I would add would be a simple exercise routine.
Anyone that places the emphasis on food, understands what it truly takes to lose weight fast.
Anthony — November 30th, 2011, 10:32 pm
Hi, I just wanted to know if fish was okay? It’s not included in Tim’s list of proteins.
Thanks ahead of time for the response
ps. one week into the diet, already seeing results.
Blonde Dove — December 1st, 2011, 10:30 pm
Hi Tim and All….
I am 43 yr old, 5’6″ female.
I have been on every single damn diet imaginable. I bet I have a Guinness record for the most diet/health books available. A Frankenstein-ess of diets. The last was Norditropin (hgh) injections. I went from 290 to 180 (body fat 37.5) in about 9 months. I maintained it for a year then experienced something very traumatic. I had to quit hgh because of the expense.
I am back up to 225 and well over 40% body fat I a sure of it. I have gained PURE fat back. I know without question I am estrogen dominant. I am starting your slow carb program this week along with running, body weight exercises & kettle bells.
My question is: At my age, with this much body fat…it is really possible to strip that much fat off and lean out to around 20%? (Am prepared for plastic surgery for the excess skin, vein, etc)
Need a project for your next book?
Jana — December 2nd, 2011, 9:59 am
I’m 15 year old girl that weighs almost 20 lbs over 200 lbs. i wanted to try this diet, but i’ve tried diets before and none of them have helped me. i exercised every day for a month once and that didn’t work either. recently i started having half a grapefruit for breakfast. i don’t know what to do. i want to lose weight really fast without having to exercise, (it’s really cold outside and i don’t feel like walking
) so what can i do? please help me ):
Alex Ogloza — December 2nd, 2011, 5:36 pm
Wow, those were some pretty good tips. I had trouble loosing some weight myself. Desperately I tried many online programs, and most are really just total BS. However, once in a while you come across one that doesn’t totally s**k. This one I tried myself. Lost almost 15 pounds. Like anything it takes a little bit of work, but it’s definitely doable and you don’t really have to sacrifice much: http://tinyurl.com/burnfat00
Good luck with everyone’s weight loss goals!
Thanks for the article.
April Kocher — December 2nd, 2011, 6:54 pm
Thank you for writing a great article on how to lose 20 lbs of fat in 30 days without doing any exercise. I write a bit about weight loss myself. I like that you mentioned not only not to eat white carbohydrates by told people what these carbohydrates are that they should avoid. I also like the meal examples you gave for what we should be eating and that you should eat legumes in place of the carbohydrates to give you more calories, and to stay away from high calorie drinks. Love the examples of low calorie drinks you can have. Finally, I like that you say wine helps with weight loss, and that you should pick one day a week when you can eat anything you want including junk food and how this helps with weight loss. People need to know they can still eat junk once in a while, but however I don’t think it’s good to eat to much junk one day a week. I also believe you should be able to eat carbohydrates that are whole grain. Thanks again for a great article.
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 7:54 pm
Hi April,
In the name of thorough research read his book, the 4hr body.
What Tim suggests in the book is that these experiments have helped him understand what works for his body and he is offering people a way of following what he does; however a major factor (that people seem to overlook repeatedly) is that the book also refers to self experimentation and finding what suits the individual based on Tims findings.
The research and findings of what food and food types do to you are amazing especially when he is hooked up to the blood sugar monitor and consumes something like 4000-6000 calories a day. What your orange juice intake it will kill ya!!!
We are not really designed to eat grains and there is a load of info out there to support this! They will kill ya too!
Kait — December 3rd, 2011, 6:45 am
Tim rocks!
sabrina — December 3rd, 2011, 8:10 am
is it ok if i eat bacon?
Todd — December 3rd, 2011, 9:13 am
Always a pleasure Tim! I read the Four Hour Body. Although I strongly disagree with gorging on unhealthy food, the Geek to Freak protocol is amazing. Keep up the research!
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 7:46 pm
Hi Todd,
This part is merely a reset for your thyroid hormones to help prevent you going into the starvation mode and retaining body fat.
What he suggests works for him and has been proven throughout his self experimentation. You don’t have to do it, but there seems to be a significant amount of research offered by Tim to suggest why it does and that it does work.
Perhaps you can post a suitable alternative?????
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 8:07 pm
And it is a psychological tool to give you a rest from being an angel!
Fiona — December 3rd, 2011, 2:13 pm
HI
reading some comments and they sound great but im still unconvinced about the diet plan?
1.the food that Tim has listed to eat can we have diffrent like butter beans and other beans or do we have to just stick to those beans he has listed?? and is this the same with vegtables can we have diffrent veggies??
also is this for a short term weight loss or long term i mean after i reach my goal and start eating normal healthy foods will i just gain the wieght again??
really appricate it if someone can email me let me know
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 7:43 pm
Hi Fiona,
Buy the book and it will answer most of your questions.
Tim also has a new book either out now or coming very soon (when will it be available in the UK Tim?) The 4hr chef which will include (I believe) recipes to work with his 4hr body diet.
If you want to lose weight that’s great but if eating the way you eat has made you put on weight then why would you want to go back?
Oh and really what we (westerners eat) is not really normal (even the so called healthy stuff), is it?
Tim has spent lots of time finding what works for his body and then has presented it to us for us to have a go ourselves.
abigail — December 4th, 2011, 6:09 am
Hi,
I wanted to know if quionoa, tuna, lentil soup are ok?
wayne — December 5th, 2011, 8:05 pm
Lentil soup yes if you make it yourself with lots of fresh ingredients, herbs, spices, etc.
Tuna you have to be mindful with due to high mercury content. Other fish are good again as long as it is fresh and unprepared in anyway (until you do the preparing) just check the warnings against fish using sites i.e. http://www.livestrong.com/
Tim mentions Quinoa although i cannot remember the exact sentiments they were along the lines of don’t bother. However if you eat a vegetarian diet quinoa is a very good source or protein (either complete or very near complete) as is chia seeds.
Maggie — December 5th, 2011, 10:15 am
HI all!
I started week five but I would like to share my week 4 results:
My weight did not change at all. I’m still @ 149lbs. I read most of the book and I can come up with a couple of obvious explanations.
1. It was period week. I guess you are not supposed to get great results because of your period.
2. I ate 3x a day each day as opposed to 4. That makes a huge difference as I know for a fact I was not eating enough (was hungry every night).
I might not have lost weight but I did lose another inch off my waist and hips. The scale shows the same number but my clothes fit waaay better. All the tight clothes and skinny jeans I put in storage this last May fit nice and comfortable again.
This week I will focus on making sure I eat 4x a day and see how that changes my results. It was very interesting to notice how different my body feels on binge Saturdays. I felt lazy, tired and even depressed. I’m glad I’m back to eating healthy today.
If anyone who is familiar with this diet is reading or even Tim, I am considering going back to a vegetarian diet. It has been very easy to lose the weight eating chicken and fish. (I haven’t had pork or beef). I really need to get back to vegetarian mode, but I’m afraid that incorporating whole grains again, such as quinoa, or brown rice, couscous and other carb rich whole grains will affect my weight loss. I’m also terrified to eat any soy products like tofu because of GMOs. Can I get some help on this? Should I start counting calories once I switch to vegetarian? Tim, I hope you can answer this one.
Thank you and see you next week!
jenna — December 5th, 2011, 10:37 am
I am a pescitarian, so I do not eat meats like you have listed. can i eat fish that is not breaded for my source of protein?
Blonde Dove — December 5th, 2011, 5:48 pm
Yes, he says in the book, 4HB you can eat unbreaded fish.
jose — December 6th, 2011, 9:40 pm
this helped me lose 30 lbs
Aqilah — December 7th, 2011, 11:59 am
Hi
Thanks a lot Tim
But I think there are to much beans
You need to experiment with food see what yu like not Tim
So try
Im gonna start this tomorrow
Scared but hope fully it works
Want to loose a stone
Could you reccomened what wold be easy for at school
I really want to know
Thanks
Aqilah — December 7th, 2011, 12:01 pm
Tim
How many pounds are in one stone
Thanks
wayne — December 13th, 2011, 7:38 pm
14 and 16 oz in a lb (here in the uk anyway)!
Aqilah — December 7th, 2011, 4:38 pm
Everyone if you want to know how to know how much calories you are losing and gaining download an app on apple and android phones it is called my fitness pal it’s great
It has helped me a lot
You can also access it online
So it’s perfect
Yay
Komal — December 16th, 2011, 8:45 pm
thanks
Failure — December 10th, 2011, 8:23 am
Your Mileage May Vary. This is a review from a real person, who did not get the amazing results promised by the author, but did get better results.
I stuck with this diet for around three months so far, I say around because there was a week off for Thanksgiving (I was moving, sheesh). This morning, the scale read 20 lbs lighter than it did at the beginning. I am now having my Saturday ‘cheating’, and have eaten quite a bit already, with a ‘if you finish it, it’s free’ eating challenge planned for dinner–I have ‘won’ before and am trying to get the restaurant to ban me. Simply put, I went on this diet, because it is the only diet that would allow me to continue to horrify buffet owners.
This diet works, plain and simple. I make no effort to do any kind of portion control, I eat three slow-carb meals per day (as many veggies, as much meat, and a can of beans), and if I get hungry, I snack on eggs. On saturdays, I take ‘binging’ seriously, and eat truly monstrous amounts of food; I have had a bulemic girl tell me that I was eating a lot.
The pattern appears to be about eight to nine pounds of gain on my binge day, with nine to ten pounds of loss through the week. I have never measured body fat, and I did start exercising, so I might be putting on some muscle mass to offset the fat loss. When I find myself having an ‘oops’ moment with carbs during the week (eating the risotto at a fancy restaurant with work), I try to find time during the next half hour to do burpees as fast as I can until I feel myself start to break a sweat. This has happened a small number of times, and has not appreciably impacted my results (most weeks it does not, and the same gain on the binge day, loss during the week numbers apply).
This diet is working, the weight is staying off, and I do not feel deprived. During thanksgiving week, when I said to hell with this and did not control my eating at all, my saturday-to-saturday weight remained stable, and loss afterwards was not affected.
I suppose it could be argued that in the first month, I threw off 20 lbs of fat and gained 16 lbs of muscle, but I doubt it. I am a little past the three months mark and have dropped 20lbs, with another 10-15 to go before I am comfortable and can switch off the diet.
Fun Chick — December 10th, 2011, 3:57 pm
Hey, Peeps!
I started round three 2 weeks ago and am down another 7 lbs.! Yay! (by the way, if you want to figure out the stones:pounds ratio, Google it! Tim gave you all the info you need in this blog–the other research is up to you!)
Here are some good pointers for staying on track for each work week and to save time, which helped me immensely. It is now a new lifestyle–and talk about the grocery savings!
Every Sunday:
Open and store 4 different cans of your fave beans (mine are pinto, black, white, and chili/pinquitos) into 4 Tupperware containers and keep in fridge. Or mix ‘em for flavor.
Cook/prepare 4 different favorite meats (mine are carne beef, chicken, turkey, pastrami, and ham or sausage. Seafood/fish is great, too!), slice ‘em how you would eat them (or buy from the deli), and keep in 4 containers and keep in fridge. Or mix ‘em for flavor.
Cook/prep 4 – 6 different “Tim” veggies (mine are broccoli, green beans, cabbage, squash, zucchini, Brussel sprouts, and spinach) and also keep these in separate containers. Or mix any for flavor.
Each night:
Pack 1/4 – 1/2 c. of each of the meats/beans/veggies into one Tupperware dish. Sprinkle them with whatever spices (there are 100s of packet flavors at the store, from Mexican to Italian; or just some salt, pepper, or Lawry’s! NO BUTTER). This is your lunch at work. If you don’t have a microwave at work, nuke it/cook it at home, and store in a Thermos.
Each morning:
Throw one egg or 3 tablespoons of egg whites/or other meat/protein into a coffee mug (this helps you with portion) with 1/4 cup of beans and 1/4 cup of greens into a coffee mug, Cook/nuke it for 1-1.5 minutes. This is your breakfast. Have 1-2 cup(s) of coffee or tea at work (I cheat with a bit of non-fat creamer for flavor, but that’s okay. NO SUGAR OR REAL MILK/CREAM).
Each night:
Choose 1/4 – 1/2 c. of each of the beans, meat, veggies. Have a glass of wine or a sifter of brandy or whiskey with it or for “dessert”, if you prefer some alcohol in the evening.
–For all of the above, you can “cheat” to add flavor with the following: tiny portion of nuts or nut slices, a sprinkle of feta cheese, a slice of avocado, or a splash of olive oil, or lemon/lime juice. Or all of the above.
Snacks: Nuts (handful), carrots/broccoli/cauliflower/celery sticks, a can of V8, hard-boiled eggs, can of tuna, pickles. As much as you want between meals. Except nuts… they are loaded with cals and fat, so go easy. You will need to prep snacks like you do lunch. I keep them at work in a big Tupperware container, and haul it to work on Mondays.
Do not eat ANYTHING white (except on cheat day)
Do not drink anything that has calories except tea or coffee (Tim says diet soda is okay, but soda is BAD BAD BAD FOR YOU, period).
Drink a shit ton of water every day. It is okay to spike it with lemon or those new “drops” that add flavor.
Walk at least 2000 – 10,000 steps every day (get a counter), by changing small elements of your lifestyle: walk/bike to work/park blocks from work/get off public transpo blocks from work, for example.
Cheat your ass off on Saturdays OR Sundays. I have found that cheat day actually makes me sick if I overdo it, so I keep it to a minimum: pizza? Crackers n’ cheese? More alcohol than usual? I don’t like sweets… I like SALT, so chips/fried chicken!
Last: This is not a “diet”; this is now your life. And if you want to lose weight, you will do it. And get so good at it, you can order the right stuff at a restaurant, and get your friends on your train to a new, healthy life. And those that don’t understand? Who CARES. You will be healthy, happy, and be able to buy new clothes that you love (heart!).
Oh, and I do P90X (only my fave DVDs) 3-4 days a week, and a 30-minute kettle ball routine 2x/week (and I can give the routine for free if you email me: valedictoriantypo AT hotmail dot com).
Good luck everyone! And thanks for the support in this site! You all rock! And remember: NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS THE AIR YOU BREATHE WHEN YOU WALK LIGHTER AND HEALTHIER, WITH EACH PASSING DAY!
Fun Chick
Becky Miller — December 10th, 2011, 7:20 pm
Dear who ever reads this comeent/post,
My name is Becky Miller and im 15 years old im 174.6lb. and i started looking up diets and stuff because im overweight and diebties runs high in my family and i dont wanna get it. also id like to shed a few lbs for wrestling and softball. so id like to now if this diet really works because i have the hardest time losing weight and i was told if you boost you metabolism that you can have more energy and for wrestling thats just what i need so 1. i need to if this diet can really help. ive read most of the coments but i cant be sure.
2. i dont want to tell my parents because theyd go crazy and i really wanna do this because i wanna become thinner with out them cing it.
and ive started working out more with the wrestling boys and i drink like 12 water bottles a dayand the like the aquaphina size. and i use to weigh 181lb. but i wanna now does this one work??
wayne — December 13th, 2011, 10:49 pm
Hi Becky,
Get hold of the book and you and your folks can read and understand the concepts Tim is championing as it is not just food based.
You really need your folks support and at your age you are right to start taking the reins of your food intake because unfortunately the previous generation has left us more than confused about how we are supposed to fuel our bodies and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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Garth — December 13th, 2011, 5:32 pm
I have recently heard from many reputable health sources that beans are not good for you for a variety of reasons, is this true and what can you add that will justify consuming beans daily.
wayne — December 13th, 2011, 7:41 pm
Post the reasons and your sources!
I think it is you Garth who needs to justify on this occasion.
Pamela — December 13th, 2011, 10:55 pm
Going vegan is a great way to lose weight fast. I went vegan for 7 days and lost a few pounds. Plenty fruits and veggies have fiber that is needed to help stay full to help with losing weight
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:18 pm
I agree that you may have lost weight short term (probably due to excessive evacuation).
What is your long term plan? Can you eat like this and maintain a descent body fat count and lean muscle ratio?
Vegan’s still have to satisfy ALL the macro-nutrients to be healthy so I would be interested in your protein and fat source.
RonA — December 14th, 2011, 5:50 pm
Etienne,
I wanted to let you know I fell off my plateau after about 5 months. Since then my body fat dropped from 30.1% to 14.7%, wow! Now I am no longer hung up on the ‘weight factor’ since getting lean was my original goal. Indeed, I lost over 13 lbs but the fat loss is spectacular.
This month, I’ve chosen to loosen up on the rigor of the 4HB with the intention of jumping back in 100% on January 2, 2012. My goal will be to reach 10% body fat.
Happy Holidays!
yoyoma — December 15th, 2011, 5:53 am
i am 24 and i weigh a little over 200 lbs. i cannot exercise without alot of pain. i have the symptoms of fibromayalgia and no insurance. everytime i try to exercise, the next day, my spine and nerves and muscles hurt…which is discouraging…so i eat. i tried shakeology….it started working, but i could never stay on it because i would be somewhere else or just get frustrated and go off of the diet. i can’t stand without lots of pain from a sustained injury and i have to work a sit down job. what can i do. i use to work out so much….i use to train and dance and perform and now i feel like this disabling pain and comfort-eating is stealing my quality of life. any suggestions?
yoyoma — December 15th, 2011, 5:55 am
oh…and i believe that losing weight would give me a chance at healing..and dancing again…..the inflammation gets trapped in access fat and the weight on my injured ankles crushes them and affects my spine which effects my nerves, lungs, heart, etc…so i feel i need to lose weight to save my life.
t.reese — December 15th, 2011, 10:34 am
I’VE LOST 30 lbs .started 1/25/11 .I’ve been on 2 cholesterol meds for 10 yrs. after 2 mo. stopped all meds THANKS TIM.Body fat started at 23 now 16% . 51 yrs old 5′ 8″. 207 down to 175 . Can you have ham on this diet?
yessy — December 16th, 2011, 9:59 am
I have one busy schedule so i have no time to eat. At the end of the day like around 8:00 pm to 10:00pm i go boxing and do cardio.. What should i eat? Im 5’7 and i weight 170.My goal is to lose 30 pounds …what can i do?
Fun Chick — December 21st, 2011, 1:01 pm
You MUST read Failure & I’s posts. You have to plan. Instead of watching television, pre-make your meals for the week. It’s easy as sin!
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:13 pm
Yessy,
You will die then.
Change your lifestyle cause you are doing it to you and no one can help unless you do something.
Jim — December 17th, 2011, 10:46 pm
This is a great plan without a doubt. I have had a lot of problems trying to keep up with a program like this long term. The cheat days make it bearable, definitely. Of course i started out pretty huge. Last year I was 354 pounds at last weigh in I am down to 239.
Something that has become a huge problem for me is my family. I keep hearing that my weight is fine now. When will I stop losing weight. Even the girl I was dating started saying it. 6 1 240 pounds is not fine for me anyway. My goal is … I’ll know it when I get there.
karissa — December 18th, 2011, 5:27 pm
hi guys i weigh 134 pounds and i want to lose some weight. i want to know from someone who has tryed this before if it really works ?
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:19 pm
What?
Read all of the posts!
Louis — December 19th, 2011, 1:19 pm
Im 14, and I need to loose wieght…fast. Im very unhealthy and im afraid im going to get sick. I do play sports, and we have gym at school, and I participate. But eating healthy in my household is hard. Anything you can help with would be great! Thankyou.
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:11 pm
if your parents are killing you with the food they give you its probably time to get help from the welfare services.
There is plenty of information out there to support a reasonably healthy diet so there is no excuse in this day and age to be ignorant.
Speak to a school counsellor and see what help is out there and tell mommy and daddy enough is enough.
vivian — December 19th, 2011, 7:52 pm
ok im going to actually start this diet this week and just one problem….can i substitute any of these foods with something more appealing? i am 19 years old, 5’2 in height and weight just over 140 pounds. i do not have thick bones. i would like to know if i can substitute the beans with anything else, along with the lentils and asparagus. i am looking to lose the 30 pounds that i have gained in the last two years! ?: if i lose the weight that i had gained by going on this diet..then stop the diet…will i gain the weight back? i dont want to gain any weight back and i dont want to lose any more than 30 pounds! what do you guys suggest?
because i want to maintain that weight of 110 lb’s.
Fun Chick — December 21st, 2011, 1:04 pm
Vivian:
Then this is not the lifestyle for you; you must love green vegetables and high fiber beans, and you’re asking for substitutions for over 75% of the menu. I would try the South Beach diet; they have more foods you may be used to. But if you want to lose the weight, you should try learning to like these foods. Good luck!
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:26 pm
What food do you want Vivian?
Donuts and pastries don’t come in the ‘real’ food bracket they tend to be classed as people killers (that’s why you can give in to temptation just once a week).
Veg, meat/fish and a source of beans or legumes. You can make thousands of dishes from any decent mix of these. Use your imagination.
Get your brain working for you because according to your post it is definitely working against you. On your cheat day you can switch brain off again.
Callum — December 20th, 2011, 2:16 pm
I am 14 years old, I do 3 hours of karate, 5 hours of rugby and 2 hours of cycling too. In the new year I’m going to start going to the gym, I’m 6 foot but I’m 13 1/2 stone, mostly fat, I have no idea go I got so big! Can someone please give me some tips on how to lose weight. I’m trying dieting but my mum usually cooks do I’m kinda screwed there
Any help would be appriciated
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:34 pm
keep your weight because at your height you sound just right (for now but pushing up to about 15-16 stone for max. impact in rugby in the next few years).
Increase muscle mass (check out some of the programs Tim has on his site or try here: http://www.t-nation.com/ ) and lose body fat by cutting out soda and sweets!
According to your exercise schedule you may want to push your cal intake up to about 3000 + calories because you may not be eating enough.
Go for 6 meals a day and get a part time job to help your parents pay for your food bill!!!!
yamna — December 25th, 2011, 5:16 am
i am on this diet for 2 weeks on first week i lost 4 ponds but again gained 4 pounds . ( i do 1 hour aerobics daily and take small quantity of carbohydrates ) is it i am gaining muscles ?
Greg — December 25th, 2011, 3:11 pm
I’m thinking about doing this diet for the next 12 weeks to lose about 10% body fat. But my question is what can I drink to mix my protein powder in? I know no milk, or soy milk, I’m guessing rice milk would be a no. Any ideas? I hate drinking Muscle Milk in water.
Thanks for the help.
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:36 pm
How can you be motivated to lose 10% BF if you cant get over taking protein shake with water?
Donna H — December 26th, 2011, 12:00 am
Callum – I punched your stats into a BMI calculator (Not really used for under 18 or over 65). You are weight wise only 6 pounds over the 25 BMI mark.
Now I know that body compesition can be high fat even if you are a normal weight but at 14 you appear to be exercising great. The only suggestion I can give is to cut out junk and soda, don’t drink your calories. Get who ever cooks on your side or take up cooking. Learn to love the beans, like chilli and curries. There is so many great receipes.
Good Luck and hang in there
Happy Christmas and have a great 2012
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:08 pm
BMI is bull.
Arnold whatshisnegger would have been classed as morbidly obese in his prime.
Stick to body fat measurements and in Tim’s book you will find a varied selection (as I’m sure you have read) or google body fat measurements or calculator.
Stick to any measurements except BMI!
liz — December 26th, 2011, 12:57 pm
This is not all accurate. I am a registered dietitian and also have my masters in holistic health. Eating the same meals over again or sticking to similar foods will not provide your body with the accurate nutrition it needs to stay healthy. although those are good foods, they are not the best.
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:05 pm
Have you had a book published with your findings Liz?
If so what’s the link because I would love to hear your story just as Tim has published his.
Veg, meat (or other protein source) and legumes 3 times a day. You can chop and change your veg each meal, legumes or beans and maybe an egg or 6 in the morning,fish for lunch and a steak for dinner washed down with plenty of water and maybe a glass or two of low sugar alcohol in the form of red wine.
What are you talking about? Registered dietician maybe educated though? Doesn’t seem like it according to your silly response.
Buy the book and read!
Sarai — December 26th, 2011, 3:32 pm
Nice information…im very interesting in doing this diet but i have question. What about fruit and fat? are you take some supplements. I need to loss 15 pounds. thanks for the help.
Mora — January 2nd, 2012, 12:53 pm
Hi guys, I’m starting this diet tomorrow and I have a doubt, can I take soy lecithin while on this diet? is it good?, is it bad?, doesn’t make any difference? Thank you
Mora — January 2nd, 2012, 12:56 pm
And, another question, I have to lose 22 pounds, so, is there any time restrictions to follow this diet? Can I eat like this forever?! Or is there any maintenance plan after losing weight?
Thank you
charles — January 2nd, 2012, 9:15 pm
Great article. I have to agree with all your suggestions especially those about drinking your calories. Drink lots of water instead to keep you fit.
Debbie Butcher — January 3rd, 2012, 9:28 pm
I turn 50 in March and my daughter was a champion gymnast that got injured and has lost her way. Together we are going to implement your plan and soar! Devon is one of the strongest kids I have ever seen but was sidelined in her latter teen years with reconstructive ankle surgery. She has coached but still can’t see her way through the fog. I KNOW with her strength she is destined to regain her way, she just needs a little push…I so hope this is just what is meant for us both!
Matt — January 4th, 2012, 11:29 am
I am sticking to this diet; however I began counting my calories and my daily total came out to 1,000. Is that too low? I use Saturday as my free day, but 6 days of 1,000 calories worries me.
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 7:59 pm
Eat about 1600 cals a day min.
stephanie — January 5th, 2012, 8:53 am
i’m seventeen and i weigh 120 pounds and i’d like to lose 10 before i graduate it’s january right now do i have enough time to make this happen or? should i just not even try
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:43 pm
Well you may get knocked over by a bus tomorrow?
Start by starting and see where it goes. If you lose 8lbs great if you lose 18lbs even better. If you put on weigh then you are too skinny to begin with and need help!
lose weight the easy way — January 6th, 2012, 1:17 am
I’ll immediately take hold of your rss feed as I can not to find your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me recognise in order that I may just subscribe. Thanks.
Nikki — January 8th, 2012, 6:53 pm
I am very interested in trying this out. I just really need to lose about 15 to 20 pds the most. I have two toddler and I do need all the energy I can get and yet lose the weight in a great way. ? Should I lay off on Rule # 4 for the first week. Also I need help putting a schedule together with when should I eat what, Any advice?
Ash — January 8th, 2012, 7:31 pm
I am a 23 year old mother @ 130 LBS which is actually quite large for me. Im only 4’10 in height so my weight is not carried well. I like what i have been reading about this diet. it seems simple enough. My worries are that of cheese and milk. I LOVE THOSE BOTH. If I were to not eat cheese except my splurge days but remain drinking milk during my meals at 1% grade will it really be that harmful to my weight lose? Im desperate. I have to drop at least 20 lbs by March.
PLEASE someone help!
Ash — January 8th, 2012, 7:50 pm
ALSO, can I drink a special K protein drink in the mornings to get all my nutrients?
wayne — January 8th, 2012, 8:59 pm
Hi Ash,
Eating as suggested by Tim means you do not need to eat milk or cheese (but you can on your cheat day if you wish).
Dairy contains lactose which is a form of sugar and we don’t want to be eating sugar’s from a direct source if we can help it (just plain old water). Yes eating veg and beans will give us types of sugar to be converted into glucose but in these forms the digestive rate is a lot slower and the glucose release into the blood is slower allowing for a better insulin response, blah, blah, blah (its all in the book).
Out of interest how old is your child and did you/are you breast feeding because the hormone response according to these aspects could help you to control your weight.
Protein drinks are ok any time of the day as long as the carbohydrate content is low (sugar) and i doubt you would get all your nutrients from one shake even if it is fully loaded with supplements. Eating your veg, beans/legumes and a protein source (meat, fish or shake) will hit your macro and micro – nutrients to some degree and they will probably be better absorbed from natural food sources according to the synergie and bioavailability of the whole food and not just a pharmaceutical supplement.
Its mother natures way apparently.
Diva — January 8th, 2012, 9:02 pm
I will begin this tomorrow. I look terrible being fat, it takes away from my looks. I can’t wait to see results. I’ll be back for an update.
Dina — January 9th, 2012, 9:19 am
I am a 44 year old woman and am currently at my highest weight (150lbs) without being pregnant! I realized about 3 years ago that it was getting harder and harder to lose the weight even though I was working out 4x a week at the gym for 45 minutes to an hour, very frustrating!! I’ve tried mixing up my exercise by mountain biking and my husband and I have a tandem bike that we ride twice a week (20-30 miles per ride) but no weight loss; just great cardio conditioning. I even broke down and joined a well known weight loss center where food is pre-packaged: lost 8 lbs. but quickly got bored and it’s expensive.
I want to lose 20lbs and starting Tim’s food regimen tomorrow! Tired of being the dumpy soccer mom, I want to be the fit and healthy mom with the great body!
Send all your encouragement and positive thoughts my way!!!
damir — January 10th, 2012, 7:43 am
Hey Tim,
I love this post, I mean I have read the book anyway.
I think what has worked for me was not eating white carbs.
This way of eating works on many ways for my body so thaks a lot.
Cheers,
Josh s — January 10th, 2012, 8:43 am
so just making sure since i do hear that beans may turn into sugar….
is it ok if i eat black beans and pinto beans??
wayne — January 10th, 2012, 3:39 pm
Hi Josh,
Most foods turn into or have elements that turn in to glucose (the predominant fuel source of the body).
Glucose is the smallest chain of sugar.
The diet is based on veg, legumes (lentils or beans) and meat (inc. fish or direct protein source).
Have you read the very start of Tim’s thread?
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again
The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the three following groups:
Proteins:
Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork
Legumes:
Lentils
Black beans
Pinto beans
Vegetables:
Spinach
Asparagus
Peas
Mixed vegetables
Eat as much as you like of the above food items. Just remember: keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of french fries or potatoes. Surprisingly, I have found Mexican food, swapping out rice for vegetables, to be one of the cuisines most conducive to the “slow carb” diet.
Sometimes you posters crack me up!
Josh s — January 11th, 2012, 2:48 pm
wayne thanks broskii
Lysa — January 10th, 2012, 1:52 pm
Hi there. I am just curious….I am 41 and have always been fit. After the births of 3 kids, I always worked hard to lose the weight and get back in shape. However, i have had a very hard time losing weight since I had my 4th child. It has been three years and the only thing that has helped me has been the hcg stuff…which I don’t really like doing. I only did out of desperation. Everything else and all other workout programs have yielded no results. Until I can go have some bloodwork done and see if there is a thyroid or hormone issue, I have been looking for something to try. This looks very doable…almost too good to be true. My question is, have you had any other women who have had similar issues have success on this? Can I work out? I really want to get back into my strength training routine. I just am looking for some help til I can get tested. Thanks for your time!
Joan — January 11th, 2012, 2:12 pm
About how much fat should you eat each day to lose weight on this diet? An approximate percent of daily calories measure would be best.
I noticed I am not really losing weight though I’m following the diet rather strictly. I think it may be due to very low fat consumption during the week. I have been eating lean meats, veggies and beans only. I read adding fat actually signals to your body that it is ok to get rid of fat. Is this accurate?
Kristie — January 12th, 2012, 4:15 am
I need help on wat i can eat instead of Lentils, Black beans, Pinto beans, Spinach, Asparagus, Peas, Mixed vegetables as I only eat potatoes and carrots. I could probably eat peas but only a few thou. I love tuna so could u eat that instead of the beans??? I just need some ideas!!!
Jcmitchell21 — January 17th, 2012, 9:59 am
well you can’t eat potatoes. my advice would be suck it up and learn to eat what you don’t like. would you rather eat food you don’t like and get thinner or vice versa?
wayne — January 17th, 2012, 2:49 pm
Hi Jcmitchell21,
I agree with your sentiments.
Put the energy in to what you can be doing and not what you can’t be doing and the whole change procedure will be sooooooo much easier!
Deborah — January 12th, 2012, 3:45 pm
Help! I need to know what kind of fat/oil/butter is appropriate for dressing salads and veggies.
Will someone give some add’l ideas?
Thanks!
D
Andrew — January 13th, 2012, 12:37 am
Thank you, Tim for this diet. I randomly came across your book at my local library while browsing for yoga books. The cover looked cool and I was really into the sleeping schedules from the “Becoming Superhuman” chapter. I decided to read the whole book and came across Slow Carb and now have put my dad on the diet and he has lost so much weight. He used to take pills for his high blood pressure, but now he doesn’t need them because he has lost so much weight. I myself have lost 16 lbs. I was only slightly overweight to begin with, but now I am looking and feeling much better and have combined this diet with the P90X workout regimen (day 45 today) and can feel myself getting much stronger and leaner. I go so overboard on the cheat days it’s not even funny. (chocolate chip pancakes, everything bagels, french fries and mayonnaise, growlers of beer, ice cream sundaes, whiskey, pizza). So crazy. A diet that works. Now just gotta market my muse
Thanks again.
tracey — January 13th, 2012, 8:04 am
im 23 and want two loose the weight
Judee — January 13th, 2012, 12:06 pm
Hi TIm!
Im on day 5 of your diet plan….I have lost 6lbs! I must say this whole no tortillias and no bread is killing me!!! Do you have any suggestions for something to replace them with? The hardest part of my day I would have to say is breakfast. Also is soup ok to have? The only thing that I consume that you said not to, is a cup a milk if I wanna eat special K cereal to satisfy the crunch I need. I figure its better then craking and eating chips or something else. Will this interfere with my diet that bad? Love all your advise btw!!!
SK — January 13th, 2012, 1:44 pm
I think it’s great to promote real foods as part of a healthy diet, as well as allowing yourself to indulge (pizza, a glass of wine) every once in a while, but it should be noted that microwaving your vegetables destroys almost 90% of their nutrients. Most people don’t realize that microwaving any food completely alters the chemical structure of it (yuck!) I also thought it should be mentioned in here that all your proteins don’t need to come from red meat or poultry, fish is an excellent source of protein, low on fat, and better for the environment (as long as you are buying responsibly, and not farmed, dyed, etc)
Great article, overall there’s really good suggestions in here : )
Richard — January 13th, 2012, 2:50 pm
Hi! I just wanted to congratulate you on this diet. I’m British so I’m going to talk in stone (14 lbs). I’ve been doing this for about two months, in a fairly strict way. I avoid carbs almost completely. I eat tuna or chicken with beans and cheese or some variation of that for almost every meal. I’ve also taken to huge meat heavy spaghetti bolognese dishes with only 5/6 strands of pasta and a big dollop of meat on top. The one I really struggle with is breakfast – I love cereal so much so I make sure that I don’t have any carbs for the rest of the day. I practically never work out so I don’t eat any of the evening pizza suggested. In fact, I deny myself carbs of any kind after mid-day. I’ve lost about 1.5 stone so far (20lbs or so) in two months. I’ve been a pretty successful dieter in the past – I yo-yo because I love food but this is the only time I’ve ever seen FAT go. The rest of the time, I’ve lost weight but maintained a saggy body, even a thin saggy body. I had a 33 inch waist (5’10″ height) before and I was still saggy. Not on this one though. I’m back down to a 33 inch waist at 12 stone and I still have a little way to go. The BIG huge, enormous difference is that I actually look toned even though I never exercise. I can see my abs and I’m sure that soon the little fatty layer on top will be gone too. Genius. And this is even better than a calorie diet because any time I need a snack, I cook an egg. Great. I do miss fruit a surprising amount but I make sure I stock up on cheat day (and generally get a takeaway like a pizza or fish and chips and STILL manage to LOSE weight!). I love it!!!
rayyan37 — January 15th, 2012, 11:19 pm
Hi,
What about this drink, I heard he is useful and effective for weight loss
- The drink, “Jillian Michaels” famous for weight loss:
The drink, “Jillian Michael” drinks of the most effective in the field of Dieting in America and Europe, has been applied to more than one million people and has proven effective in ridding the body of excess water, which reflects heavily on the weight.
Bring mixture to prepare the following:
- 60 ounces of pure distilled water.
- One teaspoon of sugar.
- One teaspoon of cranberry juice.
- The roots of dandelion tea bag (found in spice shops).
- Malgueta lemon juice.
Add the above ingredients together and my heart, and the amount of drink 60 ounces a day for 7 days and you’ll notice the difference form of the body change for the better.
Sakura — January 15th, 2012, 11:39 pm
Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone has done the slow carb diet and reached their goal weight and then returned to eating the way they did before starting? Just wondering what the reaction of the body is if you become less strict after reaching your goal.
Or do you need to keep following this religiously for the foreseeable future?
Cheers =)
wayne — January 16th, 2012, 7:40 pm
Sakura,
What’s the point of returning to a bad way of eating?
To find out the reaction of your body then become less strict and see what happens, although what do you mean less strict? This is one of the easiest eating plans ever. Every week you get to go wild and eat everything you want.
Follow this religiously if you want to keep your slim/trim self or just go back to eating a poor diet and getting fat and dangerously close to death once again.
I am not a religious person but I do believe there is a choice in life we all have to make without a religious deity holding our hands or we will meet the maker quicker than we perhaps wanted too.
Oh and on your worries about weight forget weighing. Body fat measurements are far more revealing about the state of your relationship with food. Weight is a westernised worry and I would rather be 250lbs and 10%bf than 150lbs and 20%bf.
Sarah — January 16th, 2012, 8:02 pm
So I am 24 and 280 lbs I have tried everything to lose the weight I eat healthy and walk 3 miles everyday to get my daughter from school(up hill and down hill). I am going to start this diet today and see where I am in a week (: Will get back to everyone and let them know (: I am crossing my fingers it works for me because where I am at right now is DEFIANTLY not god for my health and it worries me ):
misha — January 17th, 2012, 4:17 am
I’m gaining wait quickly.. i want to reduce my weight. i take breakfast in morng. 2 chapti and vegetable. and 2 coffee in a day and then i take dinner.in my dinner meal i take 4 chapti,vegetables, milk some time fruit.
plz suggest what should i take in my meals
Geoff — January 18th, 2012, 2:03 am
I agree with your Rule 1: thou break it all the time, my sister jokes that I am the only person that she has seen that would eat a bread sandwhich. Ok I eat to much bread.
I disagree with Rule2: even thou I eat the same meals, varity is good.
I am vegetarian so the proteins I need to replace with soy alternatives.
I actually balloned to 100kg last christmas, I lost 7kg by just stopping eating out all the time and ate at home a lot more.
Rule 3: agree with 100%, and probably need to follow it a lot more
Rule 4: one my mum used to do and one we follow as a family with having Icecream.
Sakura — January 18th, 2012, 4:08 pm
Hi Wayne,
I wasn’t referring to eating badly. Not following this diet to a T doesn’t necessarily equal having a poor diet.
I mean what if after a little while (and having achieved your ideal weight/total inches/body fat percentage) you wanted to include a little fruit in your weekly diet and possibly the occasional slice of ezekiel toast in the morning?
I agree that this is an easy diet to stick to but being a person who thoroughly enjoys cooking and constantly exploring new foods, I think that one day a week of binging isn’t going to always be satisfactory.
Thanks for your feedback, I’m taking from the couple of things I’ve seen that this is something you should continue indefinitely. =)
wayne — January 18th, 2012, 4:23 pm
Hi Sakura,
Great to hear from you.
One thing that people miss most is that Tim has done/is doing a personal experiment and this diet plan is born from his findings.
You can eat whatever you want but the trick is to keep a record of how your choices affect you.
Eat fruit and you sprouted bread and record how it makes changes in your body. If you stay slim and trim then great you have found that these foods do not negatively impact your plan. If they do cause problems then stop doing it.
Tims diet i would consider a base line. Eat this way for at least 2-3 months and see what happens to your body. When you have settled into the diet then start adjusting it to suit YOU!!!!
Take care and keep posting your updates.
I for one stopped eating meat on the 2nd January 2012 (I had my last lamb roast on New Year’s Day).
I am cycling protein shakes (at least 2x daily @ 90gramms whey protein total daily intake) every other day along with intermittent fasting usually for 24 hrs Sunday night to Monday night. I feel trimmer and slimmer and my body fat count has dropped to about 15% from 19-20%. I have included quinoa and chia seeds in my new plan.
That said i haven’t done any heavy weight training since before the winter holidays so i will see what happens when i get back in the gym.
Sakura — January 18th, 2012, 4:35 pm
Hi Wayne,
Thanks for that! Planning to stick with the diet through till April (then travelling to Japan and Bali for two weeks and I’ll take a little break) and was thinking ahead for when I’m back =)
On day 5 of my first week and I’ve seen 2kgs drop. Will be measuring up total inches Saturday morning before my first cheat day.
melinie — January 19th, 2012, 9:15 am
The best way to lose weight quickly is cut calories about 500 daily. You can get a measurement of your body BMR to determine the correct number according to body factors, but it comes down to cutting calories.
There are natural supplements that you can add to help increase the weight loss. Here is one all natural supplement that is getting some good reviews.
http://shrinkingtheplanet.com/weighless/?p=6935
Good luck losing weight is definitely challenging.
James — January 19th, 2012, 1:45 pm
God there’s a lot of comments here.
Just some results.
Almost 5 years ago now I was about 30lbs overweight. I got on the paleodiet (which is a lot like this one) and managed to take all that weight off. I wasn’t working out…so I ended up being hilariously skinny, but…it works.
I’m on something more like the slow carb diet now, I like that it’s easier to adhere to and you get some nice caloric density from the legumes. My only problem there is with the oft mentioned lectins that are found in legumes. You mentioned in one of your posts that soaking them reduced the lectins in legumes and that was an awesome tip.
It brought legumes into my life, so thanks for that one.
anthony — January 19th, 2012, 10:14 pm
can i add a protein shake? or should i not?
Lynore — January 20th, 2012, 6:25 am
@Mina – If you’re breastfeeding, you shouldn’t be restricting your caloric intake that much. You need fats in order to make richer breast milk and the nutrients need to pass onto your child through your milk. Usually when you’re breastfeeding, you need AT LEAST 1800-2k calories a day, especially if that’s your exclusive method of feeding your child. Breastfeeding by itself should help you lose weight. I also believe the reason you are not losing weight is because once your body is not receiving the amount of calories it needs, it slows down your metabolism (aka starvation mode). I would put the “diet” on hold until you cease breastfeeding. You would be surprised what just breastfeeding will do to help you lose weight if you’re getting the proper amount of calories in a day.
CalTek — January 20th, 2012, 8:38 am
Everyone is different. Something that may work for one person may not necessarily work for another.
I have tried Atkins diet and successfully lost 30 lbs in a couple months to drop to almost 200 lbs. I went back to snacking and eating unhealthy and put on 15 lbs in a couple years.
Next I went with Weight Watchers (old style point system). Started at 213 on Nov 1, 2011 and by Christmas I was down to 183. Unfortunately I strayed from watching my portions (combination of some trips down south, trade shows and stress) and I started climbing back up to 210 by Christmas 2011.
I started back on it on January 1 sitting at 210 lbs and this AM I was 200.4. I am including pushups and sit up routines in there and am aiming to be at 185 by March 1. This time I plan on sticking to it and reaching my ultimate goal of 180lbs by Christmas.
Find what works for you and stick with it. A little exercise doesn’t hurt either – afterall our bodies are designed to move not sit.
Best of luck to everyone on reaching their goals.
carlos — January 20th, 2012, 7:44 pm
hey… what about if i do all this things and i keep doing 2 hours in the gym. do you think i can loss more weigh?
Chetan Surpur — January 21st, 2012, 7:16 pm
What about whole wheat bread and pasta?
stephanie — January 22nd, 2012, 7:58 pm
Im about 5’8 and 135 lbs. pretty much all muscle but want to get thinner. Hope this works!
Kent — January 23rd, 2012, 12:04 pm
I wanted to post my experience with 4HB plan. Almost a year ago, I was closing in on 240lbs. At 6’2″, it didnt seem like a lot but, looking back now…I was a lazy fat ass. Basically, 10 years of slow, methodical complacency in regards to fitness and eating…btw, I’m a 42 year old male. Bottom line…strict adherence to the 4HB diet, and 4/5 days of Cross Fit a week and I hit 200lbs in 7 months. That includes all the extra muscle weight I’ve added from CrossFit.
Six days a week, I cut out all carbs (not just white), no sugars (inlcuding fruit), and stuck to the other five rules religiously, including the Saturday cheat day. I would go to Mexican restaurants and lick the salsa off of a chip and throw away the chip. It only takes a few weeks to feel the changes, which should carry you forward and keep you motivated. I still stick to the basics of the plan, although have added a fewe carbs back to my diet as my workouts increase. I would say I’m on more of a paleo plan now.
Eggs, spinach, some other protein for breakfast
Chipotle for lunch, or similar (no rice obviously)
Protein and vegtable for dinner
I’ll grab some almonds for a snack if needed but, I’m usualy good. My habits have been forever changed. If I had known how easy it would be, I wouldn’t have been so reluctant to make the change sooner. Not that it’s easy to change old habits…and Cross Fit isn’t for the faint at heart. Just get after it people…
Kent — January 25th, 2012, 8:39 am
I agree with Drew…you can’t just look to this or any other diet plan for real health changes. Exercise is the only real answer. For me though, this was great for getting over the edge and to a point where I could maintain healthy habits.
To answer some questions though…I cut out all carbs, even the whole wheat variety. Too much pasta of any kind is not a good habit. I included a little cheese…maybe a little on a salad here and there. I don’t drink coffee, so didn’t have to worry about milk there. I include some dairy now, just not for the first six months.
Carbs and sugar are the key…you have to be careful in those areas. Be honest with yourself and I’m telling you…your life will change in a few months. You’ll kick the bad habits and be a new person.
Drew — January 23rd, 2012, 6:51 pm
This isn’t a safe practice AT ALL and it won’t last. The body can’t adjust to losing weight so quickly and maintain that lost weight. Also, there is no health benefit to dropping calories and increasing protein intake with NO knowledge of your basal metabolism or any of your nutritional needs… just dropping calories doesn’t work. Studies have actually now started to show that such practices increase heart disease, blood pressure, and even cancer. Exercise is the best way and the healthiest way to lose weight and live a long, healthy life.
Teresa Hu — January 24th, 2012, 10:13 am
Hi
I was wondering if dairy is okay?? milk? cheese and yogurt?
Garry — January 24th, 2012, 1:25 pm
I suffer from Kidney stones, so I have to avoid foods high in oxelates, I was successful in losing fat doing this slow carb diet but it resulted in a stone. any suggestions to do this and stay with low oxelates?
georgia — January 24th, 2012, 2:25 pm
Hi I’m georgia I have my prom in 5 months and I’m hoping to lose 2 stone by then please could you give me any tips. I have done a lot of dieting before due to being bullied for 7 years and I have lost all my confidence in myself and my body. I am 16 and 13 stone and I wished I could lose a bit of weight so I can feel myself again please help me I really need this help
Brett — January 24th, 2012, 11:25 pm
One thing I found worked for me is go to bed at 9 on weekdays and wake up as late as I can and on weekends go to bed at 10 and wake up as late ad you want more sleep the better
CalTek — January 25th, 2012, 8:25 am
Update to my Weight Watchers trek. Started January 1 at 210 lbs. Currently weighing in at 197 lbs. So in 24 days I am down 13 lbs. Starting to do pushup routine 3-4 times a week as well as ab workout 3 times a week.
At this rate I should be in the 185 range by early March and hopefully low 180′s by spring. Who knows maybe even the 175-180 range by summer.
Feel great and I can still eat most foods that I like. Anyone interested in getting their metabolism back and enjoying the foods they eat should seriously look into Weight Watchers.
Best of luck with your weight loss.
Miranda — January 26th, 2012, 12:10 pm
I have been following this slow carb diet for almost 2 weeks now. I must say that I havent been following the regimen perfectly either, mostly because I didnt realize milk has carbs (duh! I know…) as well as I have been substituting fruits for sweets since I crave sweets a lot. what I didnt realize is that fruit has carbs too…but they are not white carbs so does that still make them ok? Since I found out about my carb fruit choices, I have cut it down significantly to mostly apples and strawberries. I must say that I have lost about 6 pounds already, and I havent followed it perfectly. So this thing really does work. Im sure if I followed it perfectly my loss would be greater!
Dave — January 26th, 2012, 4:33 pm
I LOVE YOU and I Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I was 205.4 lbs on Nov 10th and I used to wear jeans/pants which were 38inches to 40 inches depending on the make and fit.
Today I got on the scale and I was 168.2 lbs and finally I buy jeans/trousers which are 31/32 inches.
Yes I did loose a little muscle mass and still have to get rid of my belly a little but god dammit I feel so damn different and all of this without any exercise. Now I just want to lost another 8 lbs and then finally hit the gym cause I no longer feel lethargic and work and gain muscle.
Thank you once again. You made a difference and I will forever be grateful to you
Warm Regards,
Dave
Tim Ferriss — January 28th, 2012, 6:50 am
Dave!
A huge congratulations to you, and thank you for the very kind comment. That’s a major accomplishment and you should very proud.
You’ll love the gym at your current weight, as your energy will go up, your muscle tone will go up, and you can put the finishing polish on a physique that you’ve totally reclaimed. I highly suggest reading the kettlebell chapter in The 4-Hour Body. Focus on resistance training!
All the best to you and yours,
Tim
Dave — January 29th, 2012, 4:21 pm
Thank you !
I will surely read that and pass on the word.
You Sir, Keep up the good work and God Bless.
Dave — January 26th, 2012, 4:35 pm
If I may add – it’s well worth it to add Whey Protein Shake during breakfast with eggs.
Shannon — January 27th, 2012, 12:43 pm
My husband showed me this diet and I was so skeptical at first. The first 2 days were pure hell for me seeing as how around 85% of my diet prior was made up of everything you’re not supposed to eat! Thankfully after the first 2 days my body seemed to adapt. We’ve now been doing this for about a week and in just a weeks time I’ve lost 10lbs!!! I’m shocked at how well this works and LOVE the fact that we get a cheat day! I haven’t been doing it very long but I’d say so far so good! I’m extremely happy with the results so far!
Hend — February 6th, 2012, 6:24 am
are you serious? did you lose all 10lb in ONE WEEK? I would like to start this diet and I need to lose 20lb by june but I am skeptical cz I am afraid not to lose that much after this diet and working out then I will be disapointed but after I read what you wrote you kind of encouraged me to do so
Helen — January 27th, 2012, 9:04 pm
Hi all! Just finished week two on this diet. Easy to stick to, but a couple small issues…
1. I’ve only lost one pound each week. That’s good but I’m 5’2″ and started out at 156.8 lbs so I really think I should be losing more, faster.
2. BUT I can see visible fat loss on my body (Not actually a problem!) Could it be that I’m not eating enough? I’ve only been having 2 meals a day because of my school schedule, and I have a hunch I haven’t been drinking enough water…or is losing weight on this diet a little slower for women? But I don’t think that should be a problem because I’m only 22.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
jayne — January 28th, 2012, 2:50 am
hi , im 17 years old and i weight 173 lbs . i want to lose as much as i can by the 13 th of feb . pls help .
Teresa Hu — January 28th, 2012, 6:27 pm
Hi,
Can someone let me know if dairy is ok? I love milk, cheese and yogurt. Thanks…also.. please email me the answer because I can seem to find the response in so many pages of comments… thanks!! btw.. this exercise sounds awesome. I can’t wait to start it. I would like to lose some weight before going to the gym… (so I don’t feel so self conscious) ~I know… pathetic of me and I shouldn’t care,but yea… Would someone like to try this diet with me?? We could keep journals of what we eat and see what works best??
With much hope,
Teresa
Luke — January 28th, 2012, 8:23 pm
Reread rule #3. No milk, cheese, etc. no dairy.
Get the book, much more detail in there. You won’t regret it.
Doublerainbow — January 28th, 2012, 11:57 pm
Hey. I’m 13 and 120, and like 5.1. I feel like that is to much wait for me. I want to be atleast 110, or maybe even 100. I hope I can do it. My parents probably cant get all that kind of food, but I know I can get heath stuff. Wish me luck!
David — January 29th, 2012, 3:01 pm
Hello Tim,
In your fantastic book T4HB you mention that scientists use white flour to create diabetes in mice. Would you be so kind to share how one can find out more info about that? What would be your number 1 info source for that statement?
Thanks and regards from Greece,
David
David — January 29th, 2012, 3:20 pm
Some google’ing brought me to this abstract, but may I assume there’s something out there that explains it in words for regular mortals??
http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674%2805%2901171-2
Jack — January 30th, 2012, 3:33 am
That is incorrect, one half cup of rice is 100 calories, not 300.
One half cup of nuts is 400 calories, rice is nowhere near as heavy as nuts.
Alice — January 31st, 2012, 4:39 pm
This is a diet only for those who DONT workout?
IF, I do workout, would it mean I have to eat a little more?
or does this diet not work then if i don’t eat exactly whats on the plan..?
Is this too little food if i do weight and cardio training 3-4 days a week?
John Matthews — January 31st, 2012, 11:42 pm
in my point of views, You should do regular exercise and avoid Junk food.after some time, you feel very healthy.for more information click on stayfitnutrition.
Thanks
Britanica Marie — February 1st, 2012, 12:04 pm
I just want anyone who comes across this to know… IT WORKS! I will be on the diet two weeks tomorrow and I’m down 16lsb! Thank YOU Tim!!! I haven’t even started exercising!
S.A, — February 3rd, 2012, 11:33 am
Well I know this diet works as I have done it for a month. I am not sure how much I lost the last time because I did not have a scale but I looked slimmer and felt great. I just started the diet … again……… as I gained back 10lbs cuyz I was a hog gone wild. Thim time I have a scale and it is now Friday and sorry to have started my binge eating but I did not lose much weight this firt week even though I was a good girl and did not cheat all week long even in the face of many temptations. Started at 127.6 and at present 126.8 lbs now. Still motivated but not to sure what I am doing wrong this time. It can only guess that I ate a lot more nuts this week and over salted the beans.
daniyal — February 3rd, 2012, 12:45 pm
hello i want to ask you that my weight is 85 kg and i want to loose it and wants to get fit and , want a body like beach boy , a model i want to finish my tummy wants smart and slim for that i have join gym also but i want to know what diet should i take for it please do help me
delphine — February 4th, 2012, 1:24 am
Hi, just a question.
it is still possible to lose more body fat if you’re already under acceptable weight right?
and when you say avoid white stuff, can i actually eat sweet potatoes? cause the beans you stated isnt really available to me. any possible substitutes?
cause meat and veggie alone makes me hungry real fast D:
wayne — February 6th, 2012, 4:04 pm
Hi Delphine,
Weight is a misnomer; body fat is a good marker, a health check and blood tests will confirm whether you are healthy or are suffering malnutrition.
Go for fibre rich leafy greens and a regular fibre supplement will help to keep you fuller for longer and maybe add some nuts to your diet if beans are a problem for you to ensure you are getting a sufficient amount of daily calories. The energy, essential fats and minerals will help but monitor you portion sizes carefully because these are very high in calories.
Tim has suggested that you are able to eat extra portions through the day if you don’t feel satisfied so perhaps go for 5-6 meals per day rather than 3-4.
I have 2-3 meals a day and incorporate intermittent fasting as part of my plan and it seems to boost your fat loss but be sure to keep up your protein intake (through protein shakes) on the fast day to ensure you maintain muscle mass or your body may look to muscles as a viable energy source, especially if you are nearing single figure body fat %.
wayne — February 6th, 2012, 4:07 pm
and dont forget you can eat whatever you fancy on your cheat day!
This is a very important hormone reset mechanism!
Hend — February 6th, 2012, 7:06 am
I am 5.5 and weight 184lb…. I do walk and run for an hour everyday and I lost 3lb and I am on diet just cut from fried food and bread rice and things like that…..was googling to see any diet out there that will help me reach 160lb by 1st week of June and I found this blog…I read a little but I want to post it here so I can commit myself on doing this….I really need help so bad cz I am traveling over seas in June and I need to look good and lose at least 20lb…..my major problem is my HIPS. I am a pear shape and I am small in the top but heavy in the bottom…..when I lose weight I lose a lot in the top where I am smaller but very very few in the bottom….will this diet help me lose weight in my hips….I just hate them….I will start this diet today and hopefully by June I will be 20lb lighter…..also as I mentioned above I do walk and run an hour a day I hope this will help too……
Jeff Hamlin — February 6th, 2012, 4:22 pm
I work as a paramedic who usually only has time for cooking on days off. What are your suggestions for eating on the go? This diet sounds appealing.
alexx1011 — February 6th, 2012, 6:32 pm
Hi my names alex,
I just wanted to say that im 15 years old and im at 245 pounds. yea it sucks but you know what, i started working out a couple of months ago and ive been going to the gym about 5 times a week and doing 45 – 60 mins of body building and about 30 mins of cardio. and my weight hasnt really changed. but even though the scale dosent show it i can see it. and it makes me feel great. ive been gaining alot of muscel and loosing some fat so when i look at the scale its pretty discouraging. so i would just like to say it dosent really matter how much weight you lose, what matters is how you feel about yourself and see yourself. i hoped this helped and will motivate those who are discouraged. and ps i havent been doing a diet, what can i say im 15, a kid needs to eat. lol
Margaret — February 6th, 2012, 9:56 pm
I read this whole article (awesome info) and then at the bottom read that this is by the author of the 4 hour body! I own that book it’s strongly recommended by my fiancées doctor! Great book!
Swag — February 7th, 2012, 4:44 pm
what about beer im in college and love drinking booze can i sneak that in there a couple nights a week?
Christina — February 7th, 2012, 8:09 pm
The diet works. For those asking for more tips, and questions about can I eat this or that, I hope you will refer to the book! It’s a reasonable price to pay for a quite astonishing work…
The diet worked for me. I find it difficult to follow for more than two weeks max at a time, but I’ve noticed (as Time states in the book) that the effect can last after the you have gone back to less healthy eating. I certainly found that. In my first attempt (11 days, 1 binge day) I lost 7 lbs. Pretty good odds. Second time I’ve lost another 6 lbs, after about 1 1/2 weeks.
I do find it difficult in some ways. I have more mental clarity, don’t need as much sleep, have more energy; but I found myself becoming depressed, felt hollow and empty inside–I know this is because carbohydrates have a calming effect on the mood, and without them–it’s like going through drug withdrawal!
So over all, with thanks to Tim, I have gone from about 184 to166–with slight changes of a pound or two up or down. However, this has been over the course of almost 1 year, so I do consider this long-term weight-loss success. I did my first diet in April of 2011, weighing well over 180, and today I weigh 167 (at 5’10, very muscular).
I’m suiting up for another go to lose the last 5-8 lbs, which for me will mean no more belly roll to speak of, and small amount of remaining fat on arms and thighs will go.
I found that THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR SUCCESS ON THIS DIET is to have your meals either prepared in advanced or VERY easily preparable–this is not a diet where you can just grab a quick snack, so this time round I will be making large batches of my diet main-stays a few times a week, so I always have a meal ready to heat up!
Up until this point I have always believed it’s not what you eat, it’s how much–I am grateful that I could suspend disbelief long enough to learn from this remarkable person! Thank you, Tim!
KayteeFaye — February 8th, 2012, 12:54 am
I’m stoked to try this diet, I’ve been feeling like a fatty so we’ll see how this goes!
Also, everyone please, PLEASE BE AWARE of the aspartame in diet soda’s they are sooo bad for you!!
Let’s be sexy and super healthy inside and out!!
Best of luck dieting!! And thanks sooo much for the blog!!
Tanya — February 10th, 2012, 5:46 am
Hi, I’m 38 years old and in the last year I have
Gained some extra pounds.
I have NEVER been on a diet before!
I have to say I am truly enjoying the
slow carb method.
All these years without breakfast
I feel great. 3 weeks in and I have
Made a major mistake! I have followed
The food guidelines to a T, but I
Continued to drink about six glasses of wine
a day. After all my hard work, I gained a pound:(
Monday I will continue, no wine and let you
Know if this works!cross your fingers:)
Elizabeth — February 11th, 2012, 10:03 am
Thank you so much for this. I can’t wait to start this diet! It seems natural and not at all forced. Diets never really work on me but, I have a feeling this one will.
joanne — February 11th, 2012, 10:18 am
Hello everyone,I have been searching for weeks for a HEALTHY diet. I finally came across this site. I have read each and every one of the comments and feel like I’m home with friends! The support shared here is exactly what Ive been looking for.
I’m 54 years old,have PAD and really want to live another 54 years !I believe I can using these principals! My question is: On the list of suggested foods above, is there a restriction to the amounts you eat per meal, or do you eat until your satisfied?(naturally, trying not to stuff oneself) Thanks for any help you can give and all “pointers” will be greatly appreciated!
Luke — February 15th, 2012, 7:59 pm
You can eat until satisfied. If you have a similar experience to mine, you will find that you don’t overeat automatically. I generally only eat three meals a day but many people, including Tim, eat four or five. This plan is more about what you don’t eat. The things he says you can eat can generally be eaten at will, excluding gluttony, of course.
MelA — February 12th, 2012, 7:00 am
I am just starting 4HB and am still confused about my morning meals. I workout first thing every day. Which foods should I eat before and after my workouts? Unfortunately, I am allergic to eggs so that is not an option. I welcome all suggestions!
Luke — February 15th, 2012, 7:31 pm
Stck to the protein, veg and beans. If you can’t eat eggs just eat leftovers from last night’s dinner. Breakfast doesn’t have to be “traditional” breakfast foods. Eat some chicken, beef, fish, turkey sausage, etc.
stacey — February 15th, 2012, 3:52 pm
Ok he said keep it simple and you guys ask a million confusing questions and combinations lol
Anyway my QUESTION is:
Can meat or chicken be substituted for : SALMON< FRESH TUNA< WHITE FISH any seafood only? fresh
Luke — February 15th, 2012, 7:49 pm
I don’t know why you couldn’t swap out the meats for fish. It’s protein, it’s fairly lean, good fats, and it’s NOT carbs.
You are right about keeping it simple. Some of the questions on here kill me.
Good luck, just follow the plan, keep it simple and it will work.
Kelly Pitts — February 18th, 2012, 2:04 pm
An easy way to find out how many calories you need to consume is to count the calories you are consuming now if you have maintained your set weight for a while then reduce from there. It’s amazing once you track to see how MANY calories you’re actually taking in. I am 5’2 and have weighed 156 for a year and was consuming at least 2800 calories a day!! Wow! I have cut down to 1800 and the lbs. are melting away! I am not starving either!
FABBY — February 18th, 2012, 4:03 pm
I’ve done this kind of diet for a month and a half and lost 6 lbs. only!! I have some kind of problem!
Gary — February 18th, 2012, 4:45 pm
Hi Tim. Just wanted to say thank you for posting your truly amazing diet routine. Can’t say enough other than ” the proof is in the pudding”. I read your very well outlined method and have gone from 230lbs, to 200 since I began on the 1st of Jan/12. It’s amazing to see the results and best thing was it was soo easy. I followed your steps never verying a single thing. 190 here I come!!!!
Thanks again
Gary
Andrew G — February 18th, 2012, 11:43 pm
While I agreed with most of the nutrition advice in the post, I strongly believe that a good workout plan is a big part of weight loss. I tried the diet no workout thing to lose weight and it never worked because your Base Metabolic Rate slows down without activity thus causing you to burn less calories so even though your intake is reduced the deficit gap gets smaller. Exercise keeps your BMR high so it keeps the deficit gap consistent.Exercise and diet go hand in hand really, you cant do one and not the other.
luke — February 20th, 2012, 12:59 pm
If you only read the brief description of the diet on this web site then I can see why you would say that. However, if you check out the book, you will see that the diet is ALL ABOUT changing your metabolism. The protein etc., kick up your resting metabolism while carbs knock it down, hence avoiding carbs.
Monica — February 19th, 2012, 3:03 pm
Thank you so much for this, I am sure this would work, I am starting today.
I just don’t understand what’s wrong with egg-yolkes. Egg-whites would be bad, since they are white : ) and they are not whole foods.
Sugar is off limits, so how do you feel about honey? I think you don’t have much of a problem with artificial sweetners, would you endorse things like maple syrup, stevia, whole sugar-cane or cane syrup?
I also am uysing a all-natural energizer from Whole Foods while I wean myself off from coffee. It is liquid calories but I feel so tired and I blame my espressos and my alcohool for it. You mentioned you have wine, how about hard liquor? I am waiting for your book (the 4-hour work week should be here soon) and I am sure I will have fun with it.
luke — February 20th, 2012, 1:05 pm
“I just don’t understand what’s wrong with egg-yolkes. Egg-whites would be bad, since they are white : ) and they are not whole foods.”
Who said egg yolks are bad? The only reason he doesn’t eat whole eggs is the cholesterol in the yolks. Are you serious about egg yolks being bad because they are white? I hope you are kidding. Think about it for a minute, what do rice, bread, sugar, etc/ (all the “white” stuff) have in common? Answer – they are CARBS! Do you think egg whites are carbs or protein? Answer – they are protein, hence they are mentioned as ok to eat along with meats, etc.
Please tell me how cane syrup, maple syrup, honey and whole sugar cane aren’t sugar? Just to clear things up, these are all “bad” carbs.
You ordered the 4-hour work week, which has nothing to do with this diet yet you DIDN’T
luke — February 20th, 2012, 1:09 pm
Sorry, I accidentally hit ‘submit’ before I was ready.
Anyway, you ordered his book on business/life but didn’t get the 4-hour body? I don’t get that. This web site is a SMALL portion of what the 4 hour body book is about. The 4-hour body diet is explained thoroughly in the book (it’s only a few chapters of the book). In the book, you will find your answers regarding artificial sweetners (the answer is to limit them, in the book he says to limit sugar free sodas, for example, to 20-24 ounces per day as even artificial sweetners can have an effect on your metabolism).
I think that if you are interested in this diet then you bought the wrong book by Tim. The 4-hour work week IS an interesting book but you won’t find any diet help there.
Annette — February 19th, 2012, 7:42 pm
I am excited to start this diet. I will let you know my progress. my goal is 40lbs. =)
RKD — February 21st, 2012, 10:00 am
Hey everyone…
Dont know when the last time everyone checked in on this was…
I wanted to see what everyone thought and if this was really worth doing…
I am 23 years old and I have always struggled with my weight…the last few years I have yo-yo’d from 190 -215…
I wanna get to be at a solid 175 to 185, I have always been really strict when it comes to my workout routines, usually a jump start in the morning for about 30 to 45min…Then 2 hours in the evening…
Does anyone have any suggestions or helpful hints?
Amanda — February 21st, 2012, 10:38 pm
Hi guys I’ve been on the diet for a week but I’m still not really used to it because I’m having a hard time incorporating beans into an Asian diet. Right now I’m eating too little calories. Anyways I was doing some research and came across this product which is supposed to help “you to lose weight, lower body fat and improve your mood while on a low calorie diet”. It’s called cylodyn http://www.truderma.com/cylodyn-liquid-hormone-free-hcg/ anyone here ever heard of it or tried it before? I look forward to hear you opinions on the matter. Thanks
jennifer — February 22nd, 2012, 6:53 am
When you talk about post workout carbs what exactly are you doing? Can you please explain? Thank you.
JenJ — February 22nd, 2012, 10:10 pm
Hi all, I just started this diet a few days ago but have been sticking to it. Lots of beans and meat and veggies and eggs. No rice, bread, fruit etc.
I have gained 3 lbs and am scared to continue as I really don’t want to put more weight on. I am 195 lbs and want to lose about 40 lbs. Let me know if anyone else has gained in the first few days on this program.
Thanks
Jen
JenJ — February 26th, 2012, 9:44 am
Feeling better, i was down 3.5 lbs at the beginning of my first cheat day. I am interested to see how fast the cheat day weight comes off.
funne sug at facebook — February 23rd, 2012, 1:16 am
“I can definitely vouch for this diet, and if you want to take things a step further, cut out the carb sources, and eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of LEAN MUSCLE MASS.
Do this in 14 day cycles. (or even as less as 7 days).
I lost 14 pounds in 14 days in this way, while strength training and doing 10 minutes of cardio three times per week.
I gained only lost fat.
Then, I cycled back to eating moderately.”
yeah that’s right I think this is best ways to let you body fitness.
Danielle — February 23rd, 2012, 12:51 pm
Hello All,
To help others, here is my average day:
I have been on this diet for about 3 weeks. I am 5’7 with a BF of about 27%. After the first two weeks I lost ~7 pounds (but cheated a few days on my third week). Overall, I went from 132 to averaging 126-127 (when I was not cheating, I got down to 125) just by cutting out the sweets/carbs. This diet WORKS if you follow it. “Subbing this” and “adding that” will not work. If you want to seriously diet, suck it up and grind the nasty foods down to a drinkable shot
Breakfast: 2 egg whites/1 whole egg omelet with onion, green pepper, celery and turkey
Snack: handful of unsalted peanuts
Lunch: spinach salad with either black bean or chick peas (no dressing)
Snack: diet coke
Dinner: grilled chicken or pork with black beans and vegetables (mostly broccoli or cauliflower)
Question for those who are also weightlifting… Is it okay to add an 8 oz. protein shake (myoplex or syntha-6) with water to my daily regime? Or will too much protein cause an inverse effect? I don’t want to pack on the pounds after I’ve worked so hard to lose them. Also, is it better to have the shake before or after the gym? Thanks!
-Danielle
rjjrdq — February 23rd, 2012, 7:58 pm
Basically a high protein diet. Okay in the short term if you can stay on it I guess.
MarkR — February 24th, 2012, 1:51 pm
The more balance and variety we have in our meals, no matter what you’re aiming to obtain is “always” going to be the better choice simply because you’re getting more nutrients.
In example, if you’re going to eat a fruit, be sure to not only eat apples, but mix it up with banana’s, berries and etc.
If you’re going to take carbohydrates, don’t just eat wheat bread every day. Mix it up with some fruits and rice as well.
If you’re going to have proteins, don’t just eat egg whites all day and every day, but try adding a variety of meats and fish as well.
You get the point. =)
Don’t forget to click on my name to learn more on how to eat and diet properly.
clk — February 26th, 2012, 6:12 pm
hi guys, im 25 and 85KGs, 171cm tall, had 2 kids, and my body is looking alittle worse for the wear,, ive got alot of belly fat to lose, im almost following this diet down to the letter, eating alot of tuna and chicken and lots of salad and no dairy, only eat 3 small meals per day,, also i work out 5 mornings a week for an hr, cross trainer, bike and row… but dont seem to be losing much, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
also i cant work out how to count calories, as in “How many” are in each foods???
and i dont know how many per day i should be intaking!!!
would really love to get down to 70KGs if possible
any info and help would be great thanks!!!!
Monica — February 26th, 2012, 6:19 pm
I just found this site, and I’ll be starting tomorrow, need to loose 30 lbs! Can I use soy milk, almod milk, hazelnut milk? I need coffee twice a day and I don’t like to drink it black
fishing event wow — February 26th, 2012, 6:41 pm
Everything wrote was very logical. But, consider this, suppose you typed a catchier title? I mean, I don’t want to tell you how to run your website, however suppose you added a post title that makes people want more? I mean How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise is kinda boring. You ought to look at Yahoo’s front page and note how they create post titles to grab viewers to open the links. You might try adding a video or a picture or two to grab readers interested about what you’ve got to say. In my opinion, it would make your posts a little bit more interesting.
Lokon — February 26th, 2012, 8:27 pm
Hi guys, I need some help. I started this method on Feb.6. The 1st week really work, I got from 140 to 135lb when I weighted myself on the Feb.13. I thought 4 weeks or 30 days, I would lose 5lb each week, 20lb total. But since that very first week I lost 5lb, I’ve been staying 135lb for these two weeks without dropping or rising. I want a regular weight for my height, which is 120lb…… But now I seem no where close to my goal =(. Help or advice ?
Nina — February 27th, 2012, 7:11 pm
Hey… I was 100 pounds last year… in 2011… I’m 24 years old (will turn 25 this July) and now I am 120 pounds! pls help me go back to my old weight or even less… I am having a hard time dieting… I am also a Vegan. What do you suggest?
Mariah — February 28th, 2012, 5:36 pm
My name is Mariah.
I am 19 going on 20.
I weight 239 lbs.
I know that sounds like a lot but it’s not as much as I was.
At the beginning of my senior year of high school I weighed 332 lbs.
I am in my second semester of my freshman year of college.
I don’t know how I lost as much as I did but whatever it was seemed to have stopped working.
At least, stopped working as fast.
I was a size 22 pant when I got to college. Right now I’m a size 18, about to be size 16.
I want to loose weight for my boyfriend.
He loves me the way I am, but I want to do it for him anyway.
I love him and I feel like he would be happy if I lost some more weight, though he won’t admit it.
I really hope this plan works.
I will be sad if it doesn’t.
ganea — February 29th, 2012, 1:14 am
hi my name is ganea an i tryed ever diet an they dident work it seen like i was gaining it all back aging can somebody help me
Amu — March 1st, 2012, 11:03 am
Are nuts ok? like cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts?
Emily — March 3rd, 2012, 1:44 am
I’m 14 and I weight 116 lbs, I want to lose about 15-20 lbs but I’m currently going to school and so I’m eating lunch there, and we usually have something like potatoes and sauce, rice and fish stick, and soup plus desert, all the things I’m not supposed to eat. I was wondering, should I do this diet with those meals or should I wait for Summer and do it then?
Am I really not supposed to eat fruit? It thought it was healthy…
monica — March 3rd, 2012, 5:24 pm
This diet is such a scam. I started 5 days ago on 131 lb and today I’m 136 lb!!!! What the helll???
Danielle — March 5th, 2012, 6:35 am
Monica – there is literally no way you can gain weight on this diet unless your are adding in your own mix of foods. Stop complaining and go to the gym.
Lars — March 5th, 2012, 2:12 pm
I’m 13 years old and I weigh 146lbs I have recently began with this Water Diet where I drink water when I’m not thirst to ‘flush it’ I have lost 4lbs, and I’m planning to add some daily training and a more strict appetite, I usually have eggs with salt and pepper. And 2 glasses of water. I’ll take it together and go strict, I’ll stop with this diet if I get no good results soon and go over to super-low-carbo diet with super strict training that’ll make me heavy dry. Ofc I’ll let myself loose at Saturdays, I think I’ll do fine if I continue my current doings tho. I just don’t want others to notice I’m on a diet.
Naveed — March 5th, 2012, 2:58 pm
hi, i was just wondering that can i still observe this diet, even though i have an underactive thyroid gland (since you mentioned ‘thyroid function…’)?
Sarah — March 6th, 2012, 12:49 am
Hi my name is Sarah I am 134 lbs and I’m 5’9 I want to go down to 115-110 I’ve been working out watching what I eat but I didnt eat anything fattening before I the only thing that I think would make me fat so I’m completely taking it out of my diet I love carrots and only snack on that and bananas and apples I do a 15 minuet work out but I have a lot of fat in my belly and thighs I want to lose them any thing extra I should do to lose weight also I want to do it so that when I got to a modeling casting call I can get picked so anything I’m doing wrong let me know
Nell-Essential oils uses — March 7th, 2012, 5:22 am
Hello
Great article! I will try your advice, I am overweight and I want to be healthy. I am keeping my craving under control using peppermint and grapefruit essential oils, and I was looking for a diet that might suit me. Thank you for sharing, and good luck to everybody who is trying to be healthy!
Kristal — March 8th, 2012, 1:07 pm
I keep seeing people posting that they are skipping splurge days and losing tons of weight. I just have to chime in and say that Tim Ferris created the concept of a splurge day for a REASON. If you don’t splurge, you may lose more in the short term but in the long run you will hit a plateau, and when you go off the diet you will gain the fat back easier and quicker. Your body needs glucose (sugar) in some form. Without it, it goes into starvation mode and grabs onto every fat cell in your body and refuses to let it go. By giving yourself one day a week to ingest glucose in some form, you are telling your body that “Don’t panic. We are not in a famine. You’ll get glucose on a regular basis.” As a result, your metabolism will stay even and when you go off the diet and eat normally, your body will be used to the fact that it never ran out of glucose and will not crazily store up fat in preparation for the next famine. You don’t have to go bonkers come splurge day – you will get the same effect by eating a whole grain sandwich with mayo, or greek yogurt with honey and berries, or pasta primavera with whole grain noodles. So if you don’t want to feel like a beached whale at the end of splurge day, that’s understandable. For that day, just eat some healthy carbs, whole grains, dairy, fruits. Your body will recognize the glucose in its various forms and be content to continue losing the fat. TF has said this in one form or another several times over the years, but people keep skipping splurge days, thinking they’re being virtuous. Trust me, speaking from experience – you’ll regret it in the long run. Once your body thinks it’s heading to famine, next time you try to diet it will panic and make it even harder to lose the 2nd time around. And it makes it harder to keep it off, even eating healthy stuff, because your body will grab that glucose from anything it can and convert and hold onto the fat. All that struggle can be avoided by following Tim Ferris’ advice and having 1 day a week as a “splurge”.
Jessica — March 9th, 2012, 11:53 am
If anybody has tried this tell me if it works or not. Thanks you
Joshua — March 11th, 2012, 4:47 pm
Hey there!
I am 23 years old, I am currently needing to lose 10-15 pounds to reach my goal so I can sign my papers to becomes a United States Marine. The problem is, it’s proving very difficult to be healthy every day. As it stands, I am working out twice a day for 4-5 days a week. I’ll have a mixed berry smoothie Which generally contains the following…
half of a banana (sometimes, if my wife makes the smoothie’s she add’s banana)
couple strawberry’s (fresh OR frozen, depends what we have in stalk)
handful of raspberry’s (always fresh)
couple of sliced peaches (frozen)
and a 1/4 cup of “simply orange” OJ
Lately i have decided to add “hydroxyCut” right after the smoothie, and very soon after I’ll do a 2 mile run at 7.5-8.0 MPH. After this i’ll do some simple weight lifting (always free weights, never isolation). I’ll do incline/decline pushups combined with 20 LB dumbbells (rows), various Tricep workouts, Planking, various types of crunches. and light weight high-rep curls for tone. I’ll also add in Rows at 80-90 LBS 12-15 times and generally end with a wall sit while curling 20lb dumbbells. Right after my workout i’ll consume 1 scoop of 100% Whey protein (23grams). and i’ll do this twice a day.
I do my best to stay away from red meat unless it’s Bison, my meat mostly contains turkey/chicken. I don’t anything but water, and maybe a cup of green tea once or twice a week. I do my best to add veggie’s to my lunch/dinner. I have also recently found out that you want to avoid ALL bread, yes, even the whole wheat breads! as when broken down turn in to sugar!. Also, thanks to a lot of posts I have decided to add lentils and black beans to my meals even though i’m not a bean fan.
So, i know i’m not really following the diet, but it definitely helps inspire me to increase my variety of food so i don’t get bored of the “chicken/brown rice/salad” type of diet i have been doing for 3-4 months. I’m not quite sure what i am asking here. Since i’m not really “following” your diet, but do you (tim, or perhaps anyone else?) have any suggestions for me? i am open to anything, seeing as i have went from 1 extreme to another in the last 5 months to get these last 10-15 pounds off.
Ashley H. — March 12th, 2012, 3:11 am
Or we could try to stick to vegetables, fruits, lower-fat meat, and everything else suggested. The rendition could be exercising more on days when a person gets to enjoy eating whatever they wish.
Lizzie — March 12th, 2012, 6:41 pm
im fat…
im a teenager and i keep trying to stick with diets. like dont each any deserts for a month and dont drink anything but water and its really hard. but i never really thought of trying these things. i am definitely gonna do this. i promise. im really committing to lose weight. i will also run a lot more. i used to do it once a day for 30 minutes but school has been in my way.
Zak Remba — March 12th, 2012, 11:21 pm
I will try this out. Hope it works!
Kelly — March 13th, 2012, 6:51 am
I’m going to give this eating regimen a try, but I wanted to be clear about one thing, so I’m hoping someone can answer this for me….
Am I allowed to eat brown rice?
I have always thought of brown rice as being okay to eat for a cleaner eating lifestyle but I don’t want to eat brown rice with this regimen and end up not accomplishing anything.
Thanks!
alicia — March 13th, 2012, 9:35 am
do u have to eat EVERYTHING on the list? I don’t eat pork or grass fed beef. IF i eat everything else, will i still get results?
Kayla — March 13th, 2012, 6:41 pm
Hi guys I’m going to try this diet but do you think I’m over weight im 123lbs at the age of 12
Nick W — March 14th, 2012, 1:13 pm
I’m glad that you mentioned resistance training in one of your last comments. I still think this is a very underrated part of a workout regiment. At least, it is not as widely known as it should be.
Gerry — March 14th, 2012, 10:25 pm
Tim,
In the pics of your meal, how are you eating pizza (white flour) on your non-cheat day?
-G
Sarah — March 15th, 2012, 10:00 am
That’s a lot of fat in a short amount of time. A more healthy amount to lose is between 1-2lbs per week not what everyone want to hear I know. If you are overweight and have just started exercising and eating a more healthy balanced diet then you are more likely to see a bigger loss per week. As long as you are burning off more calories than you consume you will lose the weight.
Vincent — March 15th, 2012, 10:08 pm
On the dieters gone wild day I could eat anything I want? Even the things you said are prohibited?
najiha — March 19th, 2012, 2:09 am
i can loose weight by following this diet plan without exercise? seriously??
Jacklyn — March 19th, 2012, 1:25 pm
Thank you very much for the info! I am 40 and trying to lose weight after almost 3 years of inactivity. My hardest challenge is to actually commit to regularly exercise and eat the right food.
SK — March 19th, 2012, 6:33 pm
Hi this diet seems like a good one to follow… however im vegetarian will this plan work for me if i replaced the meat with Tofu or Quorn?
Haya — March 20th, 2012, 1:09 pm
Hi fellow dieters-
Can we eat frozen yoghurt after resistance training? Kinda like how he eats carbs within 1.5 hrs – do you think/know if the same is applied for frozen yoghurt/diary?
Deborah — March 20th, 2012, 4:08 pm
I live in San Antonio, and would LOVE to find someone who would cook for me using your diet strategy.
How can I locate someone who would do this, any idea? And barring that – what would you suggest I provide to someone in order that they follow your strategy in preparing my meals for me?
Thanks so much!
Deborah
jUN — March 21st, 2012, 1:44 pm
dose white bean consider as white carbs??
jUN — March 21st, 2012, 1:45 pm
and i am following this diet plan, it works and makes u healthier.
juston — March 23rd, 2012, 4:17 pm
i am 125 pounds now and i didnt use this diet but one thing i did that changed my weight in 2 weeks i stoped drinking pop was the main thing and i was 145 pounds alsostarted eating salads and havent eatin any mcdonalds in a month but pop is a problem!
Girl — March 24th, 2012, 8:07 am
Hi,
I’m female, 18 years old from the UK…I used this diet to kick-start my weight loss, as I have been inactive pretty much my entire life, I felt I needed to lose some weight before I started going to the gym (purely because I felt so self-conscious about my size). I did this diet for a few weeks, and lost a stone straight away – this gave me a boost in confidence, and I began daily walks alongside the diet.
A few months down the line, I am now a regular at my local gym, and so far I’ve lost 4.5 stone…I’ll admit I do not stick rigidly to the diet anymore, but I still use the basic principals of it, such as avoiding white carbs for most of the week. I feel fantastic, everyone keeps telling me how good I look. Thank you!
Ayman Edris — March 24th, 2012, 12:48 pm
Thanks to Tim i lost the 20 pounds not in 30 days but in total of exactly 42 days, nearly without the ordinary starvation struggle you experience in ordinary diets, and without any exercise at all.
It feels great and I’m longing for the next 20 pounds.
Thanks Tim.
Vincent — March 24th, 2012, 1:13 pm
On the dieters gone wild day…I know I could EAT anything I want but can I DRINK anything I want?
Lb — March 25th, 2012, 11:09 am
I weigh 210 and I an 47 years old . I have tried every diet. I have ostaritithris down y back bad my hip, I have a seizure disorder and I am tired all the time I need help what do I do?m
Greg — March 25th, 2012, 2:11 pm
Hi there just thought Id post my sample meal plan that i follow during the week (weekend a little less strict). Along with an active cardio and weight routine it has really shredded me up. Here it is and hopefully it can help someone out. Note: might have to adjust amounts to tweak calorie intake depending on your size (I’m about 192 pounds).
Breakfast
1/3 cup oats 120
1/8 cup steel cut oats 75
1/3 cup all bran buds 80
¼ cup wild blueberries 20
1 small scoop vanilla whey protein powder 40
3 egg whites 105
1 ½ cup green tea
Total = 440
Snack
1 ½ cups skim milk 135
2 medium scoops chocolate whey protein powder 113
2 tbls low fat peanut butter 160
Half small scoop ground flax 80
Total = 488
Snack (Pre workout)
1 Snack sized can tuna 130
20 baby carrots 40
2 tbls low fat salad dressing 50
1 protein cookie 180
1 ½ cup green tea
Total = 400
Dinner (post workout)
1 cup mashed sweet potato (with skin) 180
Chicken breast or salmon fillet 240
2 cups spinach 40
2 tbls low fat dressing 50
½ cup Greek yogurt 80
1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds 30
1 teaspoon sunflower seeds 30
Total = 650
Snack
1 ½ cups skim milk
2 medium scoops chocolate whey protein powder
2 tbls low fat peanut butter
Half small scoop ground flax
Total = 488
Grand Total = 440 + 488 + 400 + 650 + 488 = 2466
Mac — May 4th, 2012, 4:13 pm
You’ve got potatoes and oats in there, which isn’t on the slow carb diet unless on your cheat day. Fellow readers, ignore this post.
lana — March 25th, 2012, 2:37 pm
i have some Q i know how stiupt they will sound bt i need to ask it!!is there a diff. btw dark red beans and black beans and there is green lentils and yellow ones which one is more recomended???pls answer…..
and hve u guys been haveing like 3 to 4 diffrent meals a day and each contained all three groups above…..thank u sooooo much!!!
lana — March 26th, 2012, 8:30 am
hello every one…
you guys think watermelons is alright from now and then..and how abt red kidney beans insted of black bean think that is ok!???!! pls answe!!!thx:)
and thx tim hopfuly this is gonna work…
beans — March 26th, 2012, 3:34 pm
If we cant eat cereal, what should we eat for breakfast?
Fun Chick — April 20th, 2012, 6:09 pm
Your questions (except fish) are foods that come in a box or package. You want fresh or frozen. And “bars” are packed full of crap: sugar, fat, and salt. They are processed.
No “white” food (no dairy, cottage cheese; you could cheat with a shake of dry parm cheese or a pinch of feta or goat for flavor), and no bread, pasta. None. Or fruit (it has “natural” sugar that messes with your insulin and glucose levels when doing this diet).
Rice is a carb, brown or white. However, fish is a good sub 2-3 times a week for the other meats. Just don’t fry it.
I hope that this helps!
Fun Chick — April 20th, 2012, 6:11 pm
Meat, beans, and greens. Every meal. If you think beef is “weird”, have a small omelet with your beans, and a side of greens (beans, asparagus).
Kirsten — March 27th, 2012, 3:06 pm
Tim,
While reading this article I thought it might have some relationship to why your day of eating everything is so crucial to the 4 hour body. Since you are such a data hound, I thought you would find it an interesting caveat.
Check it out.
http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/fatty-diet-may-cause-new-brain-cells-to-spout
Best,
Kirsten
Sakura — March 27th, 2012, 5:30 pm
Hi Beans,
We eat either eggs or steak with re-fried beans and spinach for breakfast on this diet.
I’d suggest getting the book to understand the details further. Tim suggests a lot of alternatives for things you cut out.
Good luck,
Sakura
bigthighs:) — March 28th, 2012, 3:22 pm
definitely starting tomorrow, will be more than happy to update anyone who cares weekly,lol thanks fourhourweek:))march 28th next update April 4th weight:163.02lbs height:5ft8 goal:154lbs
bigthighs — March 29th, 2012, 2:58 am
oh and another thing, im allergic to egg in its raw form so what would be a good sub for breakfast, or shuold i just stick to the other stuff e.g-beans, veg, and meats? i dont have to have a sub, was just wondering if there was any?
thank you
Frances — March 31st, 2012, 7:57 pm
Wow! This is my diet to a tea. Accept the pizza. I get a thin crust with no cheese an tons of veggies. I lost a lot weight from it years ago. Cool! Thanks for sharing!
Rob — April 2nd, 2012, 7:17 am
Hello,
I followed the Slow-Carb Diet to the letter while recovering from knee surgery. In 30 days, I lost 19.5 lbs without exercise. It definitely works. The only tip I can offer for those who may have hit a plateau…adjust your bean intake as the weight comes off and only weigh yourself once a day, preferrably around the same time each day. I went from eating approx. 3 cans of beans per day the first week to eating 1 can per day by the fourth week. If my weight loss stagnated for a few days, I reduced my bean intake and increased my meat/poultry/fish and vegetable intake. I also used the calorie deficit symptoms outlined in Tim’s book as my guide, reducing the beans gradually as long as I didn’t feel hungry at night or got a headache. I didn’t use any of the other weight loss techniques (like cold showers) or supplementation Tim recommended because of the recent surgery or I probably would have lost more. Once you get accustomed to the repetition, the Slow Carb Diet is the easiest diet to stick with that I have ever followed.
Sarah — April 3rd, 2012, 6:58 pm
I started this about 4 weeks ago, but altered it a bit after the second week. I found myself drained the first week. I was cranky and just craving a bit of sugar. Few mixed trail mix nuts fixed that up though. I’ve lost 18 pounds and still going! I started using MyFitnessPal on my iPhone to help me along with calories as well as doing this diet and I have to say it’s also been a great help. Tracks everything you eat with a few keywords, I highly recommend it for anyone needing a little help organizing what you’re putting into your body.
Thanks Tim!
mazi — April 3rd, 2012, 8:09 pm
I am going to try this diet. I have not eat bread and sugar for 2 days and lost 4 pounds already.
Lori — April 5th, 2012, 3:18 pm
What about eating fish?
Nick — April 5th, 2012, 4:22 pm
Just started the diet this morning and I’m already scraping my stomach because of strong cravings for pasta,burgers,pizza, and candy
. Any thing you recommend to satisfy it a bit. An for some reason I am super full after eating a meal but 2 hours later am starving
Rob — April 6th, 2012, 5:53 am
Nick,
The first 2-3 weeks, after I had breakfast within 30 minutes of waking, I had an identical “second” breakfast 2-3 hours later: beans, spinach, 1-2 whole eggs with 3-4 egg whites. I would alson recommend eating more beans with some turkey as a snack between meals. As I progressed, the cravings went away and I progressively needed less and less beans to feel satisfied. First day is always the hardest.
Rob
David — April 16th, 2012, 12:56 pm
This may be against the whole diet that this guy took, but snack on fruit and nuts. Thats what I did. Ive recently lost a lot of weight. Drink a glass of water or two before big meals. That will supress your diet. The first two weeks of any diet is going to suck regardless. It’s just getting used to a different lifestyle. Give it a month and you’ll feel like you have never ate crap food in your life and the craving will go away.
Alan | Life's Too Good — April 17th, 2012, 2:13 am
Hi David,
I really love your comment. I have written about my personal experience with this diet (which to be honest I’m struggling with, but persevering) and I’m probably going to transition to something more like you are suggesting which I have done before, but wanted to make sure I give Tim’s diet a good shot first (I’m now on week #9). In fact I wrote 2 posts, one which kind of mirrors your last comment – i.e. the one really good thing that has come out of this experiment for me is the adjustment to how I think about food. I also wrote about my experience with Tim’s diet here. I would love to get your views in particular on the latter, perhaps the former too (which is referenced in this article anyway).
Windy — April 5th, 2012, 7:42 pm
Hey Party People! Day 1 for me! I need to lose 20 pounds. I am 5’7, 140, feeling a little chunky monkey. I am committed for 30 days.
Tim, If you’re out there…..call me.
Manda — April 6th, 2012, 4:18 am
Hi, really would appreciate some advice here.. I am 44, weigh in at 154 pounds. I have the most shocking diet habits and generally just graze. I cannot abide the taste of water. My daily diet generally consists of 4 cups of coffee white 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar, maybe i’ll grab a sandwich or some toast at some point, a bag of crisps or a small (generally) healthy meal in the evening. I know its completely wrong, i know i need to change it and with 21lb to drop in 8 weeks i need some advice! I don’t exercise much as i find it hard to get time. Any helpful info you can give this sagging, middle aged mum of 3 ???
Marlon B — April 6th, 2012, 12:00 pm
Where is fish in this diet?
How about protein shakes and bars?
Cottage cheese?
Brown rice?
james — April 6th, 2012, 7:56 pm
This is good, but I feel like crap when i don’t get a good workout
Windy — April 7th, 2012, 5:07 pm
Hi Sarah,
Your weight loss is inspiring! If you don’t mind me asking…..what weight did you start at? What meals are you following? Are you foregoing the cheat day or embracing every moment of it? thanks
Ni — April 8th, 2012, 10:02 am
I have never commented on a blog a day in my life.
But, I feel obligated to right now.
I have been working out and *attempting* to eat right for years. I have been 192lbs. for I don’t know how long. I have tried so many things to lose the weight. I’m an 18 year old female and I have hated my body for the longest time. One day, while doing a google search I found myself on this post. I wasn’t excited…at all. I decided to just do it, exactly how it’s worded here and the worst that could happen would be that I didn’t lose any weight, something I’m completely used to. Yesterday, I weighed myself in for the first week. In one week, I’m down 5 pounds. ALL FAT POUNDS! I can’t believe this…I cried so hard because I have been at 192 for so long…to see 186.8 on the scale brought joy to my heart. I check my body fat once a week and also weigh that day. I have been doing that for about a year and I haven’t seen any results. For the first time in my life…I’ve seen results. Wow.
I just want to say thank you so much, Tim.
And also the other commenters, your comments taught me so much and I’m just so ecstatic right now I don’t know how else I can thank everyone.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Windy — April 9th, 2012, 10:22 am
Hi Everyone,
I have a few questions regarding approved food. Having recently started this program, I am currently consuming large amounts of black and pinto beans, tomatoes, peas, broccoli, spinach, salsa (no sugar added), avocado, water and the occasional glass of wine. I am a vegetarian. I do not consume fish or eggs. I would like to add a few other items to my regular menu.
Yah or Nah?
Hummus (no sugar added)
Pasta sauce (no sugar added)
Refried beans (vegetarian)
Tim, If you’re out there, wanna weigh in on this?
thanks guys
Nick Bolton — April 11th, 2012, 1:33 pm
I think these tips you give may be very helpfull. I’m gonna send them to my aunt who is trying to lose weight. Hope that it can help her out.
Stacey — April 12th, 2012, 6:30 am
I have a lot of stomach issues and can not tolerate chicken, beef or pork…currently the only “meat” I can tolerate is fish so I have an abundance or ahi and salmon. Would it be ok to substitute those meats with fish? I have a severe knee and back injury and can barely tolerate walking and have always been extremely athletic, so, putting 15 pounds of weight on in a matter of 6 weeks is severely hurting me as well as starting to depress my body (making me extremely tired all of the time).
rachael das — April 13th, 2012, 3:11 am
hello,
I am a female , 33 years old . My height is 154 cms and I weigh 70 kgs . I gained weight with pregnancy and now trying to lose weight . I have to lose minimum 10 kgs if not more .
Please help.
i am a vegetarian from India. What do i substitute for Proteins:
“Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork”
Also , I wanted to know if i can eat semolina and sago(sabudana in hindi )-both white in colour .
Any help will be appreciated .
Thanks
rachael das — April 13th, 2012, 3:13 am
Hello again,
Also i want to know if i can eat brown bread and wheat pasta .
thanks
Etienne of Developpement-Physique.com — April 13th, 2012, 8:59 am
This type of diet is so interesting !
First of all it do work for real.
Second, it allows us to test our willpower
Last but not least, it allows and encourages us to try and eat crazy one day a week (which is 52 days a year !!!). Doing so we are able to keep a social activity
Thank you Tim !
Etienne
Jack — April 13th, 2012, 9:13 am
I’ll give a try on this diet, i’ve lost around 75kg of fat and gain around 20kg of muscles in the last 3 years, only 2 things. at breakfast i usually drink a protein shake with 0 fat milk, it is ok or i have to take off the milk from my diet? And last thing, i usually use 0 fat yogurt for lunch or dinner (10g protein for 100g) it’s ok or i have to change it too? ty for any answer and sorry for bad english
David — April 16th, 2012, 12:49 pm
You know, I have been working at weight loss for the past 3 months, and 3 months and 40 lbs later I’m 10 lbs away from my goal weight. (I went from 230ish pounds to 190 pounds) I think what did work best for me were some of the things mentioned in this article.
I personally ate 6 meals a day, 4 of which were small or snacks less than 250 calories. Drank 5-10 glasses of water a day (especially at first, it GREATLY suppresses your appetite before meals) Then ate two actual meals, either breakfast and dinner, or lunch and dinner, etc. From what I hear this is supposed to keep your metabolism going and it actually works. And even on cheat days ( I also had it once a week every Friday) I didn’t really gain any weight.
I did not however, watch out for carbs, which is why I am researching this diet strategy. And I also worked out 2-3 hours a day. But even then, half an hour of cardio a day will keep your weight in check under a healthy-ish diet.
My best advice to anyone trying to lose weight, just try to remain active as possible, and eat healthier and avoid fast food and restaurants if possible. And also eat numerous small meals throughout the day. And try to avoid eating 2 hours before bedtime. Theres no secret to weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight, diet right and remain active.
marcie — April 17th, 2012, 5:29 am
The obesity problem today with almost one third of the population obese is a big concern. A major factor causing obesity is processed foods. I lost 73 pounds by eliminating packaged foods and planning out my diet and fitness routine. Today’s population is getting a majority of their food from cardboard boxes and plastic containers. We are getting way too much highly processed foods, stripped of their natural ingredients, and pumped full of unnatural ingredients that make us fat and tired. It is about detoxing and replacing processed foods with real food and you will lose weight.
I also used a weight loss goal sheet to help me plan out my diet and exercise workouts and this helped alot. It kept me on track. This on line weight loss site provided it and I am so thankful.
http://shrinktheplanet-weightloss.com/members/gettingstarted3.php
Marlon B — April 17th, 2012, 10:10 am
I just wanted to report the in my first , week I lost 6lbs. I skipped a meal on Saturday morning, pig out Saturday evening, went back to dieting on Sunday. I only gained 1lb after Saturday’s off day
Deeba — April 17th, 2012, 1:28 pm
So you can have brown carbs?
Joe Schmoe — April 17th, 2012, 3:23 pm
So if you’re supposed to avoid all white flours what’s in your pizza crust?
Windy — April 18th, 2012, 8:48 am
Hi all,
Today makes two weeks in: I have lost 8 pounds! This is somewhat amazing, considering my weight-loss efforts and lack of results in the past.
I am now 132lbs, hoping to drop 12 more. My pre-pregnancy weight was 120, so I don’t feel this goal is unattainable.
David…props to you!
lisa — April 19th, 2012, 1:27 am
Hi,
I am a mother of two. I am 23 years old. I weight about 143 pounds. I want to get down to 120 and lose all my body fat. I try to eat healthy, cut out white carbs. I exercise 3 times a week by playing basketball. I would like to do more exercise but I find it very difficult. By the time I get home from work and put kids to sleep, I am just too tired.
I have about 2 months till the summer and I want to get down to 120 by July.
I want to know can I do anything else that will get the process of losing body fat much quicker.
Can I cut down and only eat 600 calories a day? Is it healthy, possible just for 2 months?
What can you suggest for my situation!
Thanks!
Lisa
Daniel Clark — April 19th, 2012, 10:50 am
I started this on Monday 4/13/12. I am eating a meat (turkey, pork, chicken, tuna) all grilled on the grill, not fried or with anything but ms. dash, beans, a veggie (green beans, peas) and lettuce for each meal. I am eating three times a day. I am having about 4 – 6 mini-carrots between breakfast and lunch and again between lunch and time to go home. I drink one cup of coffee, nothing in it, and water. I also eat two pickle spears for dinner (the sour helps the sweet tooth).
I will keep everyone updates on the progress. My start weight was 243.8. I will tell you that I was able to get into a shirt by Wednesday that I couldnt two weeks ago. So I imagine at least 3-5 pounds…..
Daniel CLark — April 21st, 2012, 9:07 am
Well, week 1 down. Cheat day today. Weighed in today. down from the 243.8 to 237.2 I think I am very excited!!!!
Daniel Clark — May 1st, 2012, 6:26 pm
Update 2…Down another 3.6 pounds. For those keeping track, that is 7.6 pounds in two weeks.
lala — April 19th, 2012, 5:42 pm
hey i am 142 pounds and i am in 7th grade is it ok to exercise and get skinny at this age and if it is ok please help me i am 5.2 inches and i want to loose at lease 5 pounds in a week please help someone
Daniel Clark — April 20th, 2012, 7:47 am
What I will tell you is in the 7th grade just eat right and stay active. Avoid eating a lot of junk food. I have an 18 year old daughter and a 15 year old daughter. They have different body types, but both eat healthy. They do eat the pizza nights and such, but they stay active. Always consult a doctor on your health before doing anything.
Remember, you are still young and your body could be getting ready to grow. Just eat healthy and stay active and see what happens.
Windy — April 20th, 2012, 7:48 am
Hi Everyone,
Come Friday I love my beans, knowing that cheat day is just around the corner! So, today is a glorious day.
Lisa,
I am no expert. However I have followed healthy eating and consistent exercise most of my life. I maintained a 120lbs, 5’7 frame my entire adult life until pregnancy that is. I gained 40 pounds, dropped 20 after giving birth, and was stuck on the scale at 140 for three years.
I have now been on the beloved bean diet for just over 2 weeks and have lost 8lbs! Have you tried it? If not, I say give it a go. As to your question of consuming 600 calories a day for 2 months, don’t do it. You will most likely encounter some setbacks, such as moodiness, slow metabolism, and possibly little in the way of fat loss.
You can certainly reach your goal through healthier means……beans, beans, beans.
Daniel,
Way to go!
Lala,
It does sound as though you could lose a little weight in order to live a healthier life with a healthier body. With that said, there is no need for you to focus on “getting skinny”.
Have you spoken with your parents about your concerns and desires? At your age I was extremely active; I ran a lot. Maybe with the help of your parents you could find some form of exercise outlet.
As for diet, I am not sure this one is for you. It is working for me, but I do not know enough about the long term affects to advise someone your age to try it.
Here are a few healthy tips:
drinking water is key, and at your age I would also drink fat-free milk, don’t drink anything with added sugar
eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, again, not the ones with added sugars, such as fruit cups
protein is key, I get most of my protein from beans (I am a vegetarian), other good sources of protein are lean meats and greek yogurt
avoid highly processed foods, such as, donuts, cookies, cake, candy
Please speak with your parents or pediatrician prior to making any huge changes, good luck.
Shawna — April 28th, 2012, 11:51 pm
Windy, am a vegetarian too. Can you please share what you eat for bfast, lunch n dinner? Thanks so much!
Windy — May 1st, 2012, 12:39 pm
Hi Shawna,
My current SCD is anything but exciting…but here it is:
0600 – 1 can of black beans with peas and tomatoes
1100 – 1 can of pinto beans with cauliflower and broccoli
(twice a week I replace the pinto beans with home-made hummus)
4:00 – 1 can of refried black beans with a low carb/zero sugar pasta sauce
6:00 – 1 or 2 glasses of dry red wine
I will post my week four results in a few days. Week three I was down 12lbs. I am 5’7, last weigh-in 128lbs. My goal is 120, pre-pregnancy weight. By the way, I completely indulge on “cheat days”, mostly with Starbucks, lol. Good luck.
Shawna — May 1st, 2012, 1:02 pm
Hi Windy,
Thanks for your response. I know, the pregnancy weight sucks. I am trying to get rid of the last 15 pounds of my baby weight too. What about exercising? Do you do any at all?
Windy — May 2nd, 2012, 6:31 pm
Hi Shawna,
I do 45 minutes of yoga, 6 days a week.
On cheat day I run for 60 minutes, no yoga.
When did you start the SCD? Any success?
saba — April 20th, 2012, 7:54 am
Hi! That was very useful but what about fruits?
They have calories?
Daniel CLark — April 22nd, 2012, 12:39 pm
My understanding so far is it is not about the calories as much as the type ofcarbs. I actually am avoiding the fruits until my cheat day. I am subbing sweet veggies like carrots as my snacks. Or I also do a sour, like a pickle. Just a thought.
German — April 21st, 2012, 7:31 pm
This diet seems easy and accessible and after seeing all the positive feedback in the comments, I have decided to give it a try. I’m starting tomorrow and will check back here Monday morning with my perspective.
SHILPA — April 22nd, 2012, 2:52 am
is it sure that we can have whatever we want on saturdays..? and it is said in the menu that if we take our preffered food on saturdayz,it wil increase lbs from 4 to 5 and wil reduce it in the next 2 to 3 days..? so does it mean that we have to spend those days just to burn the fat we’ve gained on the saturday..? please do reply
Laura — April 22nd, 2012, 11:52 am
Hey All,
So I have been doing this diet for about four weeks. I would have to say overall I feel better and have more energy throughout the day and dont seem to be hungry in between meals.
My question is this…I have not loss a pound or an inch since I started and after four weeks Im starting to get a little discourage. I was wondering if any one had any suggestions, maybe less beans and more veggies, or meat??
I am 5’3, 38 and right now wieght 120, about 10 pounds more than normal. Also im six to seven inches off my normal measurements. If anyone has any ideas I would certainly appreciate…
Shaun — April 22nd, 2012, 10:16 pm
I tried out the slow carb diet in the months leading up to my wedding, and I can confidently say that it works! I have great wedding photos to prove it!
saba — April 23rd, 2012, 3:08 am
so I can use fruit in this diet!
Marie Thomas — April 23rd, 2012, 12:43 pm
This is my 9th day on Tim’s diet. I am following it to a T but I have only lost 1lb. I don’t have a lot of fat to lose, but I after reading other comments and other people’s results, I really thought I would have lost more in the first week after making all these changes.
Is there anybody else who doesn’t seem to be seeing the big results that most people are?
Marlon B — April 23rd, 2012, 10:46 pm
I lost another 5lbs this week. I cut down on the beans though
Frank — April 24th, 2012, 2:53 am
Hi , i’m Italian and if you take away from me my pasta i’m going to die! But i think you can eat even white carbo as long as you eat them in alow quantity ( no more than 200gr. a day ) and not after 1p.m. in the evening i use meat like chicken breast and salad ( always with natural olive oil ). i’m 60 years old now and i’m doing good ( forget the pizza and the melted cheese…) sitting to long on my pc but eating cool and not drinking beer.
Sky — April 24th, 2012, 5:55 am
I find it hard to stick to low carb because of the reasons stated above! I think that the beans might cure that carb crave? We’ll see, I’m starting today! Has anyone done both low carb and this slow carb? If so, which worked better for you?
Fabiola — April 24th, 2012, 10:14 am
I have lost 20 lbs. I look great even though I’m still 140 lbs. I am 61 and wish to lose 10 more. You think no bread at all is better? I eat for breakfast a half pita bread and 50% less fat cheese. Is this diet a NONO with dairies?? Still I lost a lot of weight, actually 5 lbs. a month, since January. I don’t want to slow down…what should I do?
Nasika — April 24th, 2012, 4:57 pm
Yes, it is possible to lose. But,the only thing that is required is you should know what you are doing. Let me tell you about my experience. I was 86kgs 3 months back and i lost 19 kgs in two and half month without change much in my habits. These are the things I have done:
1. I completely stopped eating white rice and started having brown rice
2. I started taking appetite suppressant pills
3. I started cycling for 20 minutes a day
4. I maintained at least 6 hours a day sleep
5. Normally I drink lot of water and that helped me a lot in this.
6. The only thing i have done which i didnt like is, I started eating fruits, and you know what, I started loving them.
7. I replaced my regular tea with green tea
My suggestion to the people suffering from obesity is, please do not go for unnatural methods like liposuction or other things. If you lose weight in natural methods, it is good for you and more than that, you can maintain it if you lose weight in natural methods.
Matt — April 25th, 2012, 8:24 am
I am on a similar diet, commonly refered to as the “paleo” or “Primal” diet. I eat alot of lean meats, eggs, butter and some leafy greens. No grains, starches, sugars or beans. I lost 10 pounds in 8 days and that included a cheat day on saturday. I can assure you it was not water weight because I am drinking 75-100 OZ of water a day in order to superhydrate. This is no longer a “diet” it is a lifestyle and one that will make you healthier and better looking. try reading “good calories, bad calories” and watching the documentary FAT HEAD!!…the truth is out there.
Rohullah — April 28th, 2012, 6:50 am
hi Friends
my age is 20 and my weight is 96 KG, which is too much , and now i really want to lose my weight, as much as possible, but my Question is, is it possible to lose my Weight with Diet Plan, so my dear friends please help me, and tell me the best diet plan, what should i eat what shouldnt i eat, and also about Exercises and Drinks,
Waiting for your nice comments and Diet Plans,
Regrads
jamie — April 28th, 2012, 3:19 pm
im 33 years old i dont eat a hole alot of food i like i use to i use to all the time i dont no more thats were i gained alot of my weight at i lost ten pounds but i just gained one pound back
Roberta — April 28th, 2012, 11:31 pm
My husband and I have just started the slow-carb diet and have a question about the cheat day. Before starting this diet we were healthy eaters – no processed foods, no refined grains, lots of fruit and veggies, etc. My husband says that on cheat days we need to eat nothing but junk food, none of then “healthy” stuff we used to eat counts. I have no desire to eat junk food ever! I look forward on my cheat days to stuffing myself with the fruits, whole grain baked goods and dark chocolate that I’m not supposed to eat the other days of the week. He says those foods don’t count as cheating — comments??Suggestions??
Windy — May 1st, 2012, 12:53 pm
Hi Roberta,
I can relate to your healthy eating lifestyle. Cheat days are for indulgence, that can equate to donuts and candy or whole grain cereals and an abundance of fruit. Either way you go about it, they are necessary.
If your husband wants to indulge with processed foods, try not to rain on his parade. You should spike your caloric intake with the foods that will keep you in line with the upcoming 6 days.
I tend to spend the day Starbucks! Good luck.
Cindy — April 29th, 2012, 4:00 am
I love this post i’m a mother of 3, so not much time to work on losing weight, but I found a great site with free weight loss offer. with nothing to loss I tried it and it. Ladies do give up and loss the weight I did. Thanks
brook — April 29th, 2012, 5:23 am
What about a Monster Energy drink for breakfast and then follow the meal plan for the other two meals. The monster gives me sooo much energy in the morning.
Samm — April 30th, 2012, 4:40 pm
Hi I’m a 13 year old kid who weighs 198. i want to lose lots and lots of weight for football, I want to lose at least 10-20 lbs if possible. I need lots of help I just researched this website and I DON’T WANT TO BE 200 lbs at all because if I do I will probably have major health problems. So please help me I really need this weight loss and I need to boost my metabolism and it will really take the weight off my mos shoulders.:(
Samm — April 30th, 2012, 4:42 pm
i mean moms shoulders. oops
Melanie Kuhlman — April 30th, 2012, 4:59 pm
Is Quaker healthy…such as their oatmeal and ancient grains snack bars?
How fast can you lose weight with these tips??
Waiting for a reply,
Melanie
les covey — May 1st, 2012, 11:28 am
Great article especially your thoughts on carbs and protien which everyone should abide to .My ideas are similar,check out my blob sometime thanks les
Qasim Ahmed Khan — May 2nd, 2012, 11:16 am
Hello Sir,
i am a 24 year old guy,my weight is 135 kg,i have too much problems in my life,i want to loose weight but i don”t know how i can..i am in very big trouble plz advice me what i can do?
i will be very thankfull to you for your good advice..
Thanks
Regards
Qasim Ahmed Khan
Dan — May 3rd, 2012, 10:35 am
Hi guys, been on this diet for just over 2 weeks now and have lost about 12lbs with no exercise! I have recently (last few days), been taking Whey Protein powder with water to get my 30g protein in the morning. I find it easier to do it this way rather than making food every morning (very lazy I know
), so I was wandering if this is ok for the slow carb diet?
Thanks!
cheryl — May 4th, 2012, 8:25 am
i am almost 45. i have been on this diet for 5 weeks. i never cheat except on my 1 day a week cheat day. i have lost only 2 pounds as of right now. tomorrow is my cheat day, and i always gain 2 pounds back on cheat days. i am doing four 1-hour long zumba classes a week and strength training 1-2 times per week. i started the exercise in beginning of january. The diet i started on april 2. i have lost 7.75 inches total if i always measured accurately.the first week i lost 4 pounds but then gained 2 back on saturday. The weight i gain back on cheat day doesn’t come off till friday and saturday morning weigh-in.Then i gain it right back! What am i doing wrong?! !!Every single morning i eat 2 or 3 eggs with no sugar salsa,with peppers and onions on top. For lunch, grilled chicken breast cut up with 1 tablespoon mayo and curry,2 packets aspartame(equal),half a cup carrots cut up and cashews maybe (15-20),a little lime juice and a pinch cayenne pepper that is my chicken salad which i eat every day. Dinner is chicken breast or lean steak marinated with oil and vinegar and spices, and grilled with peppers and onions and guacamole or i have turkey chili or 96% lean ground beef chili with white, black and red beans. then for “dessert” around 10 p.m.,1-2 tablespoons almond butter, and 1 diet cherry pepsi. The only thing i can think of that i might be doing wrong is drinking about 4 large glasses water a day (not enough)-right? Also, 2 cups sometimes 3 cups coffee a day using 3 packets aspartame per cup (=9 in coffee +2 in chicken salad) Could this be the problem? + a diet pepsi maybe that is too much aspartame although tim says in the 4-hour body, aspartame does not interfere with fat loss. i am so frustrated and on the verge of giving up although i really don’t want to. Does anyone have any advice on my situation? i would really appreciate any help/advice anyone has to offer!!!
Alan | Life's Too Good — May 4th, 2012, 12:10 pm
Hi Cheryl,
I can’t offer you any advice apart from to say your experience is very similar to mine in case that is any reassurance. I have written about it on my own site in a few recent articles. The thing that has kept me going with this diet is simply that I find it intriguing and a challenge, and the fact that I am not getting any worse – I do see a little progress in terms of weight loss but very very little and certainly nothing like the claims about the diet Tim makes in his book.
I also appreciate that everyone is different so maybe that’s something to do with it.
I’m on about week 13 or 14 and want to be sure I’ve given the diet a good chance – I think I have now. I don’t even drink diet sodas, just tea and water. I basically stick to the diet but don’t see huge results – just some (minimal and relatively slow) results. I also don’t do as much exercise as you do, but then the diet and this blog post specifically claims you don’t need to.
Come by my site and say hi if you want to compare notes more – I’d be very interested in your take on my experience as I think it’s very similar to yours. I think I will transition into allowing fruits back into my diet, taking more exercise and making drinking plenty of water a more fundamental part of the diet too.
take care & best wishes,
Alan
Daniel Clark — May 4th, 2012, 8:51 pm
Cheryl/Alan,
Cheryl – I read you post and couldn’t help but note a few things I have avoided. The first is Mayo, cashews, and onions all add carbs. The second is artificial sweeteners. I have been on this for three weeks with no artificial sweetenrs, no mayo, no cashews, and no regular onions. I also only eat green onions. I only use Ms. Dash as seasonings. I have lost several inches and at last weigh-in, which is the day after my cheat day, I have lost a total 7.6 pounds after two weeks.
Cheryl/Alan,
One of the things I have noticed about the posts from othrs with a lack of success is their weight when they start. I was rather over weight, I weighed 243.8 when I started and am down to 236.2. If you have less inches and less weight, this would be a more maintenance diet. THese are all observations I have made. Further, the calorie count I am running into is between 1200 and 1600 depending on bean quanity and carrot snacks I eat.
Alan,
I think I will go ahead and check out your site. I know you were not condemning the diet. I have a co-worker doing this with me and she is down 3 inches in one week. So, I respect the admission that it at least helps you maintain.
jenny — May 6th, 2012, 5:12 am
hey, what about pure veggies…..are only beans(all types) enough for the diet plan and can i have beans all day 3-4times a day???
Daniel Clark — May 6th, 2012, 4:47 pm
Jenny,
3-4 meals. On each of them you want to have beans, veggies, and a meat for each meal. I am 3 weeks in and am now down 10.8 pounds. in between meals I snack on carrots, pickles, or cucumbers. I also have a glass of wine every night. The post says to have red, but do white zinfadel and have had no issues.
On the cheat day I pretty much do what I want. I drink beer, eat chips, eat ice cream, I do whatever. good luck and if you have any questions, post them. I check in once to twice a day. I am very serious about this. I have gone from 243.8 to 233 and am esctatic.
Daniel Clark — May 6th, 2012, 4:49 pm
Update to my mission. Just to recap: Initial weight was 243.8. I am now three weeks into it and I have lost, as of today, 10.8 pounds.
I weigh myself the morning after the cheat day. Week one had a 4 pound loss and since it has been 3 pounds per week. I am about 4 inches down in pant sizes and back into a lot of my old wardrobe.
Another update on my status next sunday.
Valerie — May 6th, 2012, 10:30 pm
hey i weigh 136 and im 5’3 and tryin to get down to 130.
Valerie — May 6th, 2012, 10:31 pm
but i dont know how. vive tried things, but they simply dont work.
Dana — May 7th, 2012, 12:30 pm
can you make a list of foods that are good for vegetarian diets. I just want to loose weight and i dont have time to excersise everyday.
paul — May 9th, 2012, 9:54 am
hi, can someone tell me if we are allowed to eat guacamole on this diet, i know tim says he eats it on one of his meals but i just want to double check if guacamole is ok to eat. i know dairy products are not allowed on this diet but i know guacamole has got cream in it, or do i have to eat a certain low carb guacamole and if so please can someone confirm this for me
Mimi — May 18th, 2012, 10:29 pm
Guacamole is just a smashed up avocado with some salt. Make it yourself. I never heard of guacamole that has cream in it. Yeah, you may add tomatoes, onion and lemon if you want that taste. So just buy the ingredients (basically avocados) and you got clean guacamole.
Beth — May 10th, 2012, 2:16 pm
I like the time elements but some of the food listed is kinda UCK! Lentils?? Are there more mainstream foods that can replace some of these? I am going to try it and I will let you know. Cross your fingers
Namisha — May 11th, 2012, 2:27 pm
I’m 14, 110 lbs and trying to lose 15 lbs so I can be under 100 again. I was looking for a diet that hopefully I could use for the rest of my life to stay skinny, but this diet doesn’t seem to have enough variety nor does it include any fruits. And fruits are my favorite food! I’m also a little skeptical of the cheat day thing because, although I understand that indulging in a treat once in a while is fine, pigging out completely just doesn’t sound healthy. Can someone tell if this diet actually works? Thanks
Jon — May 17th, 2012, 5:46 am
@Namisha – you’re 14!! You have 5 to 10 more years where your body is going to continue growing, even if you think you’re fully grown now. During this point you will store fat, gain muscle, grow bone, and go through many changes that will just keep you discouraged if you focus on weight. Unless you’re less than 4 feet tall, you’re not going to be under 100 pounds as an adult and that’s perfectly OK. You should take care to eat healthy- it is unhealthy to be focusing on weight loss at this age, especially at 110 lbs. Skinny can actually be gross. Most of the time it is.
You can use this diet to focus on eating healthy. Stay away from white and processed foods. Stay away from fruits, or have them on your cheat day (and yes, cheat day works, but where it fails is most people’s self-discipline, when they feel like they can continue cheat day into a portion of the following day. That’s a no-no.) Spiking your food intake load isn’t unhealthy, for several reasons that you can read about elsewhere. The unhealthy part is doing that spike for more than one day a week, which is the trap that most people (including me) have fallen into.
For you, I would use this diet it as a way of healthy eating and not a means to lose weight. I used to love fruits so it was hard to give them up, but now that I have, I don’t miss them. After having been on 4HB for a long time, I’ll allow myself a banana or some fruit right after a workout, but really I don’t bother.
But here is the truth, as laid out in Tim’s book: There is no such thing as a “balanced diet”, ANYTHING Processed is bad for you, sugars are bad for you, Low-fat is bad for you, grains and other animal feed are bad for you. If you want to take care of yourself, focus on eating food and not food-like products. Read the ingredient labels and don’t eat food with anything chemical in it. High fructose corn syrup = garbage. Take a walk around the supermarket sometime and take a look at ingredient labels and look for that infernal stuff. It horrified me when I found out how much it’s in everything.
Again – you’re too young to be focusing on weight loss. If you’re only 110 pounds, then it sounds like there is a bigger underlying problem as well. No matter what weight I have been, I have always seen and STILL see a fat guy in the mirror. Even when I was super lean and skinny. You need to build up numbers and data so that you can know that what you see in the mirror isn’t real. You can do that by taking photos, taking circumference measurements of yourself, and clocking things like mile-run time, or weight lifted, or body fat percent. The scale is like a realtor. It will not tell you the whole story.
Barry Bridges — May 12th, 2012, 2:10 pm
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nagendra — May 13th, 2012, 2:06 am
i am 49 and un able to lose any weight tried for 30 days with all that has been told why pl help me to lose 20 lb of weight
Stephanie — May 14th, 2012, 12:52 pm
I was on this diet for about 5 months. It was awesome that I lost so much weight so fast but limiting myself to only eat meat, beans, SOME vegetables and cheese (no fruit, no carbs, no sugars) was torture. This is the most difficult diet I have ever heard of. Grocery shopping made me angry because there is almost nothing that doesn’t have carbs or sugar.
Though I was so happy about losing all of that weight, as soon as I went off the diet I immediately started gaining it back. It’s been a year since I stopped the diet and I now weight more than I did when I started it. I know who few people who have gone on this diet and they all had the exact same thing happen to them.
angana — May 16th, 2012, 12:30 am
m a mother of a 8 months child.my weight is 77 kgs height 5’5 inch.want to lose 15 kg
Bob — May 16th, 2012, 1:08 pm
This is fantastic information. I have been going throught the ups and downs of weight loss in the last couple of years. There are some great tips in this blog. What I found from reading is the disgusting amount of garbage that is in our processed foods nowadays. I just try to stay away from them and eat 5 times a day instead of 3. Please come visit my site if you get a chance…there’s some great information on there.
Del — May 16th, 2012, 9:33 pm
all these diets are totally misleading. After reading the nutrition section of the wiki article on carbohydrates, I realized that carbs are not an essential nutrient. That means that they are not used in metabolism. Also, in hospitals, feed tubes do not dispense carbs – just proteins and fats. researching how digestion works (max 8 hours) and how long material stays in your system (up to 3 days), I formulated this plan:
Eat whatever and however much you want EXCEPT up until 8 hours before going to bed. Within 8 hours of going to bed, avoid carbs and eat as much GOMBS based meals as possible. After dinner, only have water (no teas or others). Losing 2 pounds a week is easy on this, and you still get to eat all your favourites for breakfast or lunch.
Marlon B — May 18th, 2012, 3:21 am
What’s GOMBS base meals?
amy — May 17th, 2012, 12:44 pm
I love this diet its my 5th day and have lost 7 lbs already !
Claudia — May 17th, 2012, 7:08 pm
I love the foods that you prepare but anyway after reading your post here all i can say is you have made a lot of good points in here. And I think the good thing about avoiding eating anything white is it also keeps you away from sugar
.
Genevieve R.R. — May 18th, 2012, 6:33 pm
I’m going to try a diet like this. I am a growin teenager and every Friday will be my cheat day because of youths group. In fact today I had a bag of popcorn, so much chocolate, and 4 slices of pizza. Duh, I’m still hungry after this but naw I’m good
but really, this diet doesn’t seem harmful. I’m scared because losing to much weight at a time isn’t good for you. Yes, I eat 4 small meals a day and my daily calorie intake (average) is about 1,900, but with activity? About 1,800. I eat fruit, and veggies daily and as a Vegetarin eat protien every meal too. I hope eating fruit, limiting carbs, exersising much much more and joining a sports team as well. and I also hope that this summer in Quebec I will be able to eat healthy and lose weight as well. Summer vacation will be filled with healthy salads and lots of vegetables. Please reply and help me come up with something 
I’m 15 a girl and yeah, I’m a bit overweight, and i weigh around 130 but I really wanna go down. 5”5 small boned.
PS I eat protien powder every morning.
PPS screw calorie calculators, I’m activer in the summer.. In fact I’m going for a bike ride right now. but I use them just to keep my limit
Roger — May 19th, 2012, 10:38 pm
One of the best ways of managing our body flexible, fit and fat free is introducing effective exercises into our daily life. To reduce weight the exercises should be in the way such that whole body will be benefited with it as body parts are fully functioning inter-dependent ones. One who wants to diminish weight is provided with the most successful and motivating exercises namely Swimming, Pilates, Yoga, Kick Boxing, Power Walking etc.
Rob — May 22nd, 2012, 3:34 am
One must also reduce stress to lower the effects of hormones on weight retention. Really like the Idea of repeating the meal recipies because that will form a habit and once embeded that subtle conditioning will be hard to break.
Joan — May 23rd, 2012, 7:12 am
Can the food be flavored? For example the black beans, can I purchase ones that are already flavored? Or do you recommend only purchasing fresh and cooking them myself? What types of flavoring can I use?
Jean Pierre — May 23rd, 2012, 2:22 pm
Since 2004 I work as wellness coach and coach people to a healthy weight. I have a blog with FREE tips. Send me your email and I will send you the FREE tips
Tim — May 24th, 2012, 12:26 pm
Does anyone know if there is a list of recipes for this diet anywhere?
Thanks
Tim
Ed Nattha — May 24th, 2012, 2:51 pm
This a great article and site. I also am working on losing weight and created a blog and website. With my resources I found that drinking water, good nutrition, workout and a good sleep you can have a very fast weight loss. I go for losing 45 pounds in 2 months.
Katy — May 25th, 2012, 2:47 pm
you said rice is bad. Is that all rice, or just white rice?
Morris — May 26th, 2012, 3:01 pm
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Usage of products made of organic fruits, berries herbs and plants are the natural ways of weight lose. And products such as fruits and plants are very for good for health as we know. Food items that contain fruits are rich in anti-oxidant. Anti-oxidants keeps the body lose weight and to the skin to look healthy and beautiful. Hence we can come to a conclusion that natural weight loss pills are safer because they are natural.
Kaylyn — May 27th, 2012, 5:30 am
IM GUNA TRY THIS, starting this week!! woo hoo!!
dar — May 27th, 2012, 5:53 pm
I just wanted to clarify something.. muscle does not weigh more than fat.. one pound of muscle is exactly the same as one pound of fat… it just looks differently on your body.. muscle is tight and contained.. fat is just all over and jiggly.. but a pound is a pound!
Barrett — May 28th, 2012, 12:11 am
Hi all,
My question is if anyone has any experience about wether an “extended” cheat day would be a great problem or not.
I think this slow carb diet is more of a lifestyle than a diet to be maintained for a month or limited time. As a european-mediterranean guy, the restrictions are not difficult and included meals are easier to find out of home than in the US, with lots of recipes everywhere.
But my problem is social & family life. I can’t skip some family breakfast, some dinner, and so on with 3 little kids I can’t see often in the weekdays… So I could do Saturday my cheat day but would need to maybe extend to sunday morning -sunday lunch… Has anyone read or know anything about the effects of 1,5-2 days of cheating per week???
Jean Pierre — May 28th, 2012, 4:41 am
The first step to keeping your weight off for good is exercise. While each person will respond to exercise differently, it is recommended that individuals get at least 30 minutes of some kind of exercise each day.
Jean Pierre — May 28th, 2012, 5:23 am
Since a few years I advise people to give them a better life, with health, Fast weight loss is obviously ineffective and even injurious to your health. The good news is that there is an actual way to lose weight and feel good while doing it! Here’s the part most people don’t want to hear: It takes time. Real weight loss takes time. Here are some FREE tips.
Saba — May 28th, 2012, 2:13 pm
Since having three kids I have found loosing the excess weight really difficult, I was 9stone before having my kids and a dress size 10 now my weight has crept up to 11 and a half stones and I am dress size 14, it doesn’t help that certain members of my family make a point of making fun of my weight gain which makes me feel more depressed and down and so I end up binging on biscuits or chocolates. But now my cousin is getting married in August and I want to loose the weight, I have started eating a healthier breakfast, wholemeal toast(no butter) two eggs scrambled, lunch can be tricky if I am at home then I will eat healthy, fruit or tuna salad but if I have been out shopping with my three year old I will come home famished and end up eating a couple of biscuits and a snack size chocolate bar, the evening meal I prepare from scratch if I cook a chicken curry or beef or lamb curry the meat is always lean and I add onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger,corriander. I still dont seem to be losing any weight, is this due to eating in between meals
in fact some of the clothes I could fit in to last year now feel rather snug. HELP!
Daniel Clark — May 28th, 2012, 6:42 pm
Well,
I started at 243.8 and 6 weeks later on this I am down to 227 and almost 6 inches smaller in my pant size. So, if nothing else I wuld say this is a successful way to live.
I am averaging almost 3 pounds per week.
Birdie — May 29th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Haha, Al – You have dominion over your children too – that doesn’t mean you should eat them (or does it?).
It appears God cannot make up his mind as he gave us only the “seed bearing plants” and then after the great flood decided we should just “get everything,” then later revoked pork….so, yeah.
Birdie — May 29th, 2012, 2:06 pm
But seriously, my question is probably a no brainer – but what of alcohol? I’m under the assumption beer is adding to my love handles. Do you have a suggestion as to what is a safe amount of alcohol to ingest? I mean, are we talking vodka and diet tonics here, or is it mandatory on your diet to just go dry?
(if possible!)
Thanks
Birdie — May 29th, 2012, 2:07 pm
How do we feel about olives? Too high in salt?
Julie Kay — May 30th, 2012, 8:04 am
Hi, Thanks for the tips on weight loss. I gained up to 200 pounds because of a medical snafu. I am dealing with diabetes, and I have always had a metabolic weight problem, so I’m always fightin it.. I lost 50 pounds…just by adding tap dancing and ballroom dancing which is great exercise! It is a little embarrassing to be tap dancing at almost 200 pounds and over 40… lol … but you do what you got to do! Then I got in a car wreck, I ended up back up 15 pounds. I’m 60 pounds from my goal, what I feel a comfortable weight for me would be. I was looking for some tips…Yours are good ones, thanks!
Jean Pierre — May 30th, 2012, 1:40 pm
Hi,
Since 2004 I work as wellness coach and coach people to a healthy weight. Maybe these FREE tips help you to get the right results.
Jean Pierre — May 30th, 2012, 1:58 pm
Since 2004 I work as wellness coach and coach people to a healthy weight. Some approach to weight loss is obviously ineffective and even injurious to your health. The good news is that there is an actual way to lose weight and feel good while doing it! Here’s the part most people don’t want to hear: It takes time. Real weight loss takes time. Maybe these FREE tips help you to get the right results .
Jean Pierre — May 30th, 2012, 2:17 pm
Some approach to weight loss is obviously ineffective and even injurious to your health. The good news is that there is an actual way to lose weight and feel good while doing it! Here’s the part most people don’t want to hear: It takes time. Real weight loss takes time.
Jean Pierre — May 30th, 2012, 2:33 pm
Since 2004 I work as wellness coach and coach people to a healthy weight. hat sugars are unhealthy, we knew already for a longtime. Only now we even know better how unhealthy. Sugar helps for an accelerated aging and increases the chances of cancer.
Jean Pierre — May 30th, 2012, 2:59 pm
Hi,
Since 2004 I work as wellness coach and coach people to a healthy weight. hat sugars are unhealthy, we knew already for a longtime. Only now we even know better how unhealthy. Sugar helps for an accelerated aging and increases the chances of cancer. If you’ve tried countless fat diets and have not obtained the results you want, try making a lifestyle adjustment instead. If you’ve just lost weight and you want to keep it off, make sure to exercise regularly, eat the right kinds of foods and maintain a balanced diet.
Jean Pierre — May 30th, 2012, 3:00 pm
Hi,
That sugars are unhealthy, we knew already for a longtime. Only now we even know better how unhealthy. Sugar helps for an accelerated aging and increases the chances of cancer. If you’ve tried countless fat diets and have not obtained the results you want, try making a lifestyle adjustment instead. If you’ve just lost weight and you want to keep it off, make sure to exercise regularly, eat the right kinds of foods and maintain a balanced diet.
Jean Pierre — May 30th, 2012, 3:05 pm
HI,
Looking at the magazine section in the grocery store can be depressing. “Lose 20 pounds in two weeks!” “How Jane Celebrity lost fifty pounds in three months” “Sexier abs can be yours when you use this one miracle ingredient”. If you’ve ever tried any of these “diets”, you know how frustrating the cycle is.
Joan — May 30th, 2012, 3:42 pm
Jean,
I hope you get blocked
drj — May 30th, 2012, 11:40 pm
What would you recommend for someone that has a slow metabolism and can not excercise due to a serious back injury
hafsa — May 31st, 2012, 1:16 am
thanks for this advice actually my weight was 50 kgs after 30 days it exactly became 30kgthanks
Wiliam Bridges — May 31st, 2012, 1:13 pm
Hi all,
To be completely honest, it is possible to shed pounds through diet alone. It is difficult but possible. It is also possible to be physically fit and have a few extra pounds hanging around. To a large degree we are what we eat. If we consume a high fat low substance diet our bodies are going to lack the fuel required to burn the fat. At the same time if we aren’t providing our bodies with the tools it needs to build muscle it doesn’t matter how many weights we lift. Regards, William bridges.