I love trying new diets to see if they work and how well they work, and this one has been teasing me for a few months now. Ever since Tim Ferriss’ new book ‘The 4 Hour Body’ came out, I’ve been reading and re-reading the diet section to nut out the finer details. Only thing is, there isn’t any finer details.
It’s called the slow carb diet, based on low GI foods (foods that release insulin slowly) and promises weight loss while allowing you one cheat day a week. A day in which Ferriss himself binges on any junk food he likes.
One of my friends is already having success and dropping weight on the diet, so I’m keen for some more people to try it. Ferriss likes it because it’s easy to stick to, so I’m game to try it for a month and see what happens too. In fact I eat similar to this already. I’m just not as consistent with the lentils.
It basically works like this. He eats 4 meals a day. Each meal consists of a serve of Protein (at least 20 grams of protein, but about the size and thickness of your palm is easier), a serve of legumes and a serve of vegetables.
You can eat as much legumes and vegetables as you like. Legumes can come straight out of the can or you can buy them dry and rehydrate them, whatever works for you.
Here are the rules:
1. You can’t eat any white carbohydrates including wholegrain varieties. You can and should eat cauliflower though.
2. Eat the same meals over again.
3. No liquid calories.
4. No fruit, until your cheat day.
5. Cheat 1 day per week.
You should commit for 30 days and you cannot eat any junk food on the normal days.
I can do a month I’m sure, but before I start I wanna stock up on lentils and frozen veg, and I suggest you do the same. You’ll need to do the same with meat and defrost it the night before so you’re ready to go for the next day.
To avoid bloating or gas from the beans, I suggest rinsing or soaking (overnight is best but not essential) and boiling them before you eat. The difference is definitely noticeable.
Now he does have some tricks he does on binge days which he reports help him to not store the fat, no matter how much he eats, but I can’t explain the process to you as it’s too lengthy and I am not organized enough to use the ‘tricks’ myself.
But one of the ‘tricks’ includes some brief exercises after the binge. Stuff like squats, wall pushups, etc. all help. I recommend doing a proper workout on this day too, preferably before one of your cheat meals.
In fact I wouldn’t binge or cheat all day anyway. You don’t have to binge either. I wouldn’t, as I want the fastest fat loss I can muster. But you do need to increase your calories on this day so eating more is a must. If you wanna keep it healthy, then brown rice, sweet potato, oats and wholegrain bread are probably the best additions to your regular meals.
I’ll probably have one cheat meal and possibly some more unhealthy snacks or dessert, to really prove the diet works.
So there is a simple diet which will fill you up, should be easy to stick to, and will help you drop some weight. Even with the basic details outlined here it could help you, if you stick to it!
If you want to know more, pick up a copy of ‘The 4 Hour Body’ at your local bookshop or order it online. And let me know how you go, any struggles you may have or if you’ve tried it.
Good luck!
