A growing number of experts claim short fasts can accelerate fat loss and make you healthier.
via Experiments with Intermittent Fasting | Precision Nutrition
IF is interesting stuff that challenges how we’ve been told not to skip meals. It’s another form of body hacking worth thinking about.
There’s a great post over at FITBOMB: It’s Not That Hard, People covering the history of USDA food recommendations. The USDA’s latest push is a campaign they’re calling My Plate, using the following graphic:
Still very confusing. What happens when the non-protein portions contain protein, which they usually will? Does the protein portion change? Who knows! The big hunk of grains still baffles me. We know grains pretty much go straight to fat storage in the body, spike your insulin, and make you crave more of them. It’s a vicious cycle. Do yourself a favor and don’t eat grains for an entire week as an experiment. You’ll be amazed how much better you feel.
Take the My Plate graphic and make it fit the Paleo diet:
Pretty fucking easy to understand isn’t it?
I don’t like keeping track of how much I’ve eaten, I don’t like obsessing over how many grams of a particular nutrient I’ve eaten, and I don’t like worrying that I ate too much/little and the end of the day. Not only do I hate counting calories, but I know that calories are really only half of the battle, as they’re not all created equal – 400 calories of Doritos do NOT affect your body in the same way as 400 calories of high-quality vegetables and chicken.
Fortunately, if you can expand your horizons and remove certain types of food from your diet, you can stop worrying about counting calories FOREVER…
I switched to the Paleo diet 4 weeks ago and I’m loving it. I rarely get hungry between meals, don’t get cravings for shitty food, and I’m losing fat at a healthy pace. The diet also allows my body to function at a high level for CrossFit workouts. If you’re not sure what Paleo is all about, take a few minutes to read the post linked above.
When a coworker mentioned The 4 Hour Body back in January my first thought was, “Great, another book like The 4 Hour Workweek.” I read 4HWW a couple of years ago and hated it, so I was skeptical about 4HB. After reading a couple of reviews I picked up a copy of the book and decided to see what all the buzz was about.
I experimented with some of the concepts and programs for the last 3 months. I can tell you the book is the real deal. I concentrated on losing weight for 7 weeks and was able to lose 16.9 pounds and knock 3.6% off my body fat. For 4 weeks after that, I worked on adding muscle with minimal gym time and was able to increase the weight of 4 different lifts between 31% and 57%. Each week I wrote detailed posts which are linked below.
The most important piece of 4HB is the Slow Carb Diet. I found the first 2 weeks a little tough, but after that I rarely had cravings for everything I had stopped eating. Cheat day really helps with this because you can eat anything you want and have something to look forward to. In the beginning I think cheat day is very important, but I experimented with several cheat meals a couple of weeks and was still able to see a lot of weight loss.
In the book, Tim recommends some supplements to help with weight loss and some tricks to minimize weight gain on cheat day. I didn’t take any of the supplements and didn’t do anything special on cheat day. I did however do a lot of walking on the golf course, kettlebell swings, ab exercises, and cardio such as running, biking, and hiking. I think all of the exercise was important to my weight loss and made me a lot more healthy.
Another thing Tim says is a key in the book is to measure inches. I did this for a few weeks but found that it was too easy to game the measurements because there is no way you can measure the same spots every week. I was seeing my weight and body fat drop each week which was good enough of a measurement for me.
After I hit my weight goal I decided to try out Occam’s Protocol to add some muscle and I was strict about following the minimum effective dose concept. Over 4 weeks I spent less that 2 total hours lifting weights and saw gains of more than 30% (up to a 57% increase on one lift) on all 4 lifts. I added milk back into my diet and ate protein bars as snacks. I didn’t up my caloric intake anywhere close to what is suggested by the book.. The only supplement I took was creatine for muscle recovery. While I didn’t see massive weight gains, I wasn’t after a bunch of weight; I wanted to add muscle and was able to very easily.
4 Hour Body doesn’t stop with the book. Many people are writing about their experiences on blogs and forums around the web. You can find support from folks who are either going through the same thing or have already gone through it. A great community has sprung up around 4HB and everyone seems willing to share encouragement, tips, and recipes.
It’s been a week since my last detailed post, but I continue to experiment. Even with a drive across the country when I ate a bunch of crap, I lost nearly 4 pounds and almost a full percent of body fat since Sunday. My weight and body fat are the lowest they’ve been during the journey. I think dropping protein bars out of my diet had a lot to do with this because they contain a lot of sugar and carbs.
If you are looking to lose weight or put on a lot of muscle, I suggest picking up a copy of the book. Start by following the things Tim has outlined in the book. After a few weeks start making changes to experiment for yourself. Different things work for different folks. Give it a try. What have you got to lose?
I’ve completed my eleventh week of 4 Hour Body. This was my fourth week attempting to gain muscle with some of the Occam’s Protocol stuff. If you want to read previous posts about my journey, use the links in the table at the bottom of this post or browse the 4 Hour Body tag archives of my blog.
I started the day with a strawberry protein shake. A bit later I made a turkey bacon and spinach scramble. Walked 5.07 miles playing 18 holes of golf and ate a protein bar on the golf course. For lunch I made baked salmon, brown rice, and baked beans. Drank creatine + water and then did the A workout. I completed 8.6 reps (5/5) of close grip pull-downs with 120 pounds and 9.2 reps on the shoulder press with 110 pounds. Then I also did 10 myotatic crunches and 10 cat vomits. Drank more creatine + water and chocolate protein + milk.
I measured my blood pressure and pulse on a machine at Walmart and everything looks good there. My blood pressure was 122 over 78 and my pulse rate was 60. I forgot to take pictures of breakfast and lunch, so I’ll add the picture of the results from this test. I did a 25 minute easy run (2.66 miles) as part of duathlon training and walked 0.58 miles. Ate another protein bar for a snack. For dinner I had 3 fried eggs, green beans, pinto beans, and a glass of milk. I had a chocolate banana protein shake before bed.
I’ve completed my tenth week of 4 Hour Body. This was my third week attempting to gain muscle with some of the Occam’s Protocol stuff. If you want to read previous posts about my journey, use the links in the table at the bottom of this post or browse the 4 Hour Body tag archives of my blog.
Made a big strawberry banana protein shake for breakfast and headed to the golf course. Also had creatine + water. Walked 18 holes of golf (5.5 miles) and I was exhausted on the back 9. I didn’t know if my legs were going to hold out to finish the round. Not sure if was lack of sleep (maybe 5-6 hours) or being a little dehydrated from a few beers last night. On the course I had a protein bar and some trail mix. For lunch (forgot picture) I had baked salsa chicken, pinto beans, and green beans. Took a 2 hour nap I was so tired. Had a protein bar for a snack and then had to do a 20 minute easy run for duathlon training, which ended up being about 2.2 miles. For dinner I had a glass of milk and made baked salmon, yams, and baked beans. Not exactly a slow carb meal but I need to eat up some of the other food I have in the cupboard so I don’t have to haul it back to Michigan in 2 weeks. Ate another protein bar for a snack.
I’ve completed my ninth week of 4 Hour Body. This was my second week attempting to gain muscle with some of the Occam’s Protocol stuff. If you want to read previous posts about my journey, use the links in the table at the bottom of this post or browse the 4 Hour Body tag archives of my blog.
I had a morning tee time and was strapped for time so I made a big protein shake with milk, frozen strawberries, a banana, and strawberry protein powder. On the golf course I ate a protein bar and two small packets of trail mix. Walked about 5.7 miles while playing 18 holes of golf. For lunch I ate baked salmon, pinto beans, and sugar snap peas. Ate a protein bar for a snack and then went for a 4.9 mile hike. For dinner I had black bean and turkey taco salad. Made a small chocolate, banana, peanut butter protein shake towards the end of the night.
I’ve completed my eighth week of 4 Hour Body. This was my first week attempting to gain muscle with some of the Occam’s Protocol stuff. If you want to read previous posts about my journey, use the links in the table at the bottom of this post or browse the 4 Hour Body tag archives of my blog.
Breakfast was turkey bacon and spinach scramble with a glass of water + chocolate protein. Ate a protein bar as a snack. Did my first Occam’s Protocol workout session, which was close grip pull-downs and shoulder press. Took a pic of my log. I drank creative + water before and after the workout and then had a glass of chocolate protein + water after as well. The session took 30 minutes because I had to determine my starting weights.
For lunch I ate turkey and black bean taco salad with some broccoli. I hit golf balls on the driving range for 30 minute and then walked 5.5 miles while playing 18 holes. During the round I ate a small think of trail mix and about half of the beef jerky pictured. Both snacks were spread out during the round. For dinner I had baked salmon, pinto beans, and peas. A couple of hours after dinner I had a protein bar for a snack and then drank a glass of water + chocolate protein before bed.
It’s kind of weird to be forcing myself to eat the snacks when I’m not hungry, but I’m sure I’m not even close to the recommended calories I should be eating. I don’t want to gain any fat back during this phase so I’ll try the protocol with some modifications this first week and see how it goes. If I don’t gain any lean body mass, maybe I’ll add in milk to make protein shakes and a starch with meals. I’m going to stay off the scale until Saturday morning (my next cheat day).
I’ve completed my seventh week of 4 Hour Body. If you want to read previous posts about my journey, use the links in the table at the bottom of this post or browse the 4 Hour Body tag archives of my blog.
For breakfast I ate hard-boiled eggs, turkey bacon, and spinach. Rode for 13.74 miles on the stationary bike. Picked Mom up at the airport. She’ll be visiting until Thursday, on there will definitely be some extra cheat meals this week. For lunch I had chips and guacamole and a bowl with veggies, pinto beans, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, and guacamole from Chipotle. Ate 3 pieces of pizza and a cannoli for dinner.
I’ve completed my sixth week of 4 Hour Body. If you want to read previous posts about my journey, use the links in the table at the bottom of this post or browse the 4 Hour Body tag archives of my blog.
First time I didn’t weigh myself the morning after cheat day. Drank a large glass of ice water while making breakfast. I ate scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and spinach. Went for a 3.2 mile hike at South Mountain Park. Went to Chipotle for lunch and got a bowl with veggies, pinto beans, chicken, tomatoes, salsa, lettuce, and guacamole (no picture). Played 18 holes of golf with cart. At dinner I had a couple of pieces of bread with garlic butter and we split a plate of fried mozzarella. I had chicken breast topped with prosciutto, spinach, mozzarella cheese, in a light lemon-butter sauce with pasta for my meal. Drank a couple of glasses of red wine and an amaretto on the rocks. Went to a movie and had a small popcorn and Cherry Coke (no picture). Went a little overboard today, but it was good stuff.
Nick Momrik 