The 4-hour Body: A Review

No makeup today.  I've had some stuff going on at home and on the days when I did wear make-up...it wasn't anything that I was particularly proud of or thought was really worth posting.

Instead of make-up, I want to talk about diets and books.  Or, specifically, a book about a diet.

When Alex gave me my Kindle for Christmas, he also included a gift card so that I could buy some books.  (Although I'm completely floored by the amount of books that are available for free...but that's a different story altogether)  I started wandering around Amazon looking at e-books and I got sidetracked by the book "The 4-hour Body" by Tim Ferriss.  It sounded interesting to me...so it became my first Kindle purchase.

I have NEVER bought a diet book before.  But obviously if you've seen photos of me...I do indeed have a weight issue.  I found myself intrigued by the concept of the book.

From the book's official website:

The 4-Hour Body is the result of an obsessive quest, spanning more than a decade, to hack the human body. It contains the collective wisdom of hundreds of elite athletes, dozens of MDs, and thousands of hours of jaw-dropping personal experimentation. From Olympic training centers to black-market laboratories, from Silicon Valley to South Africa, Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, fixated on one life-changing question:


For all things physical, what are the tiniest changes that produce the biggest results?


Thousands of tests later, this book contains the answers for both men and women.


From the gym to the bedroom, it's all here, and it all works.

My first reaction was that this all sounded completely too good to be true.  But the book was cheap and I'd at least have something to read :)

The book is designed to be a handbook of sorts with the general idea being that one does not need to read the entire book.  Only read the parts that you need. There are sections on diet, sleep, working out, and sex.  From reading the book, my general impression is that the author is a bit looney.  He seems downright obsessed with his body and has subjected himself to insane amounts of medical testing, supplements, training and physical experiments (such as soaking in ice baths in order to increase weight loss).  I did read the entire book and I found myself shaking my head most of the time and thinking to myself that this guy was completely off his rocker.

For example, he offers advice on how to live on two hours of sleep a day.  Are you kidding me?  Who wants to do that??? I LOVE sleep...thanks but no thanks!

But anyway...on to the diet.

Ferriss claims that you can lose up to 20lbs in one month if you follow his diet exactly as written.  It's not really his diet per se.  From what I've read, his diet is also the basis of other diets that are currently floating around (I can't confirm this fact as this is the first diet book that I've ever purchased).  Twenty pounds is a mighty claim, however, and I was up for the challenge.

THE DIET
Six days a week every meal must include a protein (meat), legumes (beans, lentils), and a vegetable
No white foods or any food that can be white (no pasta, rice, bread etc)...you can eat cauliflower as it is a vegetable.
No milk
No fruit
No high fructose corn syrup
No sugar.
Only up to 16oz of any beverage that contains artificial sweetener.
Drink plenty of water
Coffee, if consumed, can only have up to 2Tbsp of cream
Take advantage of super foods like spinach and sauerkraut
Eat four meals a day...the first MUST be within an hour of waking (ideally a half hour)
On the 7th day, it's cheat day and you can eat every forbidden food that you've been denying yourself.
There is no counting calories, or controlling of portion size according to the book

I find that he contradicts himself repeatedly in this book.  First he tells you that you don't need to count calories or control portions but then he tells you that chickpeas can't be eaten in excess because they have too many calories and should be eaten in moderation.  The same goes for almonds.  Either we don't need to count calories OR we do.  You can't have it both ways.  You can't make a claim and then come up with a bunch of exceptions to it. 

Also he says that you should eat until you're full. I can't speak for every seriously obese person in the world but I KNOW that I often eat until I'm overfull.  Years of eating whatever, whenever have rendered my "full mechanism" a little wonky.  He also doesn't address emotional or social eating as he doesn't suffer from either of these problems.  He refers readers to Dr. Phil's book about those concerns.  I pretty much felt like I was on my own with these two obstacles.  Lucky for me, Jeff and Alex were also up for the challenge and we've been a constant source of support to each other while trying to lose weight.

All that being said.....
The three of us started this diet on January 4th.  We've done everything exactly as it's laid out in the book.  The first thing that we began to notice was how good we felt.  Not only did we feel physically better but we felt good about ourselves because we weren't putting anything artificial or processed into our bodies (except on cheat day).  We felt lighter, we had more energy and Alex, who previously lived on Mountain Dew, found himself getting better sleep because he hasn't been all strung out on the Dew.

Waiting for cheat day to eat all the yummies has made me more appreciative of those foods.  I carefully plan out what I'm going to eat on that day and savor every bite because I'm not getting any more for a week :)

And...I've actually had results!! On January 4th, I weighed in at 333lbs.  A week later, I was hovering around 325.  As of this past Sunday, I was 311lbs!!!  I put on my "I'm too fat for these pants but I save them just in case I ever lose weight but I probably won't" pants for the first time in about a year or so and I didn't have to wrestle with them laying down on the bed!  I'm looking forward to more results and I'm going to start adding some exercise into my routine. 

OVERALL IMPRESSION
You don't really need to buy this book to use this diet.  You could google "slow-carb diet" and get enough information to try it on your own. The diet does seem to be working though...or it least it is for me (Jeff and Alex too).  But it's pretty much common sense that it would work...I've cut my portion sizes considerably and I'm eating way more healthy food then I ever have.

The majority of the book's claims strike me as too extreme.  But, I did find the book interesting to read...even if I did think most of it was a bunch of hooey! :)

Random Thoughts on a Wednesday 2

The last few days have been pretty blah for me. I've been feeling under the weather for the last few days. I had a meeting at work earlier in the week and I'd planned a makeup look for that day, but I was feeling waaayyy to crappy to execute said plan.

I've spent the last two days laying around the house drinking tea (both hot and iced) and watching a bunch of television (mostly season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix instant-view--I loves me some Buffy!). I did go to work as well. This week is going by very slowly. I've been to work 3 days this week and it feels like ten. Tonight is my last night of the week and I can't wait for it to be over.

Random Thoughts

I've lost 3 pounds!!! Yay me!!! I've had some mishaps in the eating department and succumbed to the munchies from time to time but for the most part, I've cut my portions back A LOT. I don't really snack much. I like to eat real food--just way too much of it. So, I've been trying to incorporate some healthy snacking into my day and limiting myself to one normal sized helpings of my main meals. I've also been drinking v-8 at lunch time to boost up my vegetable intake and trying to eat a piece of fruit with breakfast and lunch. That's difficult as I am so NOT a fruit person. Despite my mishaps, I got some results so I'm looking to keep up the good work!

I need to stop procrastinating. I really want to go back to school and the program that I'm interested in starts in July. I've had all the information sent to me and the recruiters have called and left me messages several times. I need to call them back and get the ball rolling. *pokes self with a stick*

I'm really irritated that the twitter app for Android is only for the newest operating system. My sweetie has it and it's all cute and efficient looking. I want it too!!! *pouts*

**Today's Tidbits**

My mood: feeling better than I have the last two days, wishing the weather would take a turn for the better, only slightly annoyed with my offspring.

My look: completely plain and ordinary today. No makeup, no prettying of the hair.

My song: 'The way I are" by Timbaland and Keri Hilson. Heard it on the radio this morning on my way home from work. I adore upbeat, danceable music and this totally fits the bill.

My dinner: Spaghetti w/meatballs and sausage, spinach salad, unsweetened iced tea with lemon

Random thoughts on a Wednesday

Usher--he isn’t my favorite singer but I do like him. I always forget how much. Every now and then my ipod will hit upon one of his songs and there I am mentally smacking my forehead like “oh yeah! I forgot…I LOVE this song!!” That being said…..what the hell is up with his new single ‘OMG’. I don’t hate it. When it comes on the radio, I find myself singing along. But I’m not sure. I’m really disappointed that he felt the need to robot-ize his voice via auto tune. Why would someone who sings as lovely as Mr. Raymond feel the need to do that??? Because everyone and their grandma has a catchy robot-y song? I think the song would have been just fine (and perhaps slightly less annoying--at least to me) without it. Oh, and who wrote this song? There have been far better lyrics than “honey gots a booty like pow pow pow, honey got some boobies like wow wow wow” Really? That’s the best you can do? Somehow, I expected better from the man who urged us to take things "Nice and Slow" and wanted to "Make Love in this club" :P

My toddler (or as he says ‘tobbler’), Mathias, was utterly adorable today. He barged in on me in the bathroom. Wait--that’s not the adorable part. That’s the annoying habit I’ve yet to break in him. But anyway…back to adorable--he spots a few pennies on the bathroom floor and squeals “ooooooh money!!” then as he squats down on the floor to get his treasure he says to the pennies “that’s right….come to papa!” Man….I love that kid.

Tomorrow is my sweetie’s birthday. My diet will be off that day, but I’ve been very well behaved and besides birthdays are supposed to be cake filled and fun. He’s requested for his birthday dinner: fried buffalo chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and yellow cake with chocolate frosting. This week is also special because it marks one year since we saw each other in person for the first time. Happy birthday and sort-a anniversary Alex, I love you a bunch!

**Today’s Tidbits**
My mood: Despite being in the emergency room with my ex until 4:30am, I’m surprisingly cheerful and not overly tired.

My song: ‘Respect’ by Erasure. Another one of those songs that I forget how much I love. I sang it today while playing Lips with Alex and I totally kicked his butt!!

My look: (again before work last night, and a good thing too since I spent most of my night at the hospital) Just a basic no-makeup look--Sassy Minerals foundation and finishing powder, colossal mascara, and a little color on my brows from my 120 palette.

My dinner: Two slices of frozen pizza and a big serving of tossed salad with just a little light ranch dressing drizzled over it. Glass of unsweetened iced tea with lemon to drink.

Big Girls.....

I’ve always been a big girl.

I went from chubby toddler to plus size teen in the blink of an eye. And then on to a full fledged BBW in no time at all.

I can remember, when I was a child, being subjected to weigh-ins and measuring food. Posting our individual weights on the refrigerator door to monitor our success (and mostly failure).

My mom telling me you’d be so much prettier if only you weren’t so damn fat that I had “such a pretty face”.

In my early adult years, I became very pro-fat. I ate what I wanted and didn’t care. I had a boyfriend who loved all my curves and rolls (he was also an abusive ass but that’s a different story for a different day….) and I was very into the mindset that it was society that was pressuring us all to be skinny. Society was telling us all that we weren’t good enough. So it was my duty to ‘stick it to the man’ by embracing my fatness and wearing it loud and proud.

A few years later I was pushing 330 pounds and my doctor was worried the weight was causing fertility issues. I desperately wanted to have a family so I started working with a nutritionist and lost 50 pounds.

I also suffer from depression and the long ago ex and I were in the middle of some marital woes. When I’m in the middle of a depression cycle–I either eat everything or I eat nothing. The depression diet (however unhealthy it may be) got me down another 15 pounds. The smallest I’d been in my adult life. But, like so many of us out there, I gained most of it back.

But I was still under 300 pounds and that became my own personal benchmark for what I considered to be too fat.

I figure I’m always going to be a bigger girl, but as long as I’m under that magic number–I’m comfortable. I’m ok with my body.

Fast forward many years and 3 babies later and even though I went up to around 330 with each pregnancy, I would get my self back down into my comfort zone.

Until now.

I’m not sure what happened. Maybe a combination of depression and laziness–I’m not sure. But I’m waaayyyy out of my comfort zone.

I feel huge.

My clothes are getting snug.

I’m neither comfortable nor ok with my body.

So I’m working on changing that. My biggest problems are portion control and emotional/social eating. I’m not going to deprive myself of anything that I like to eat but it’s all going to be in normal portions. I’m going to keep a food journal to help me with the mental stuff. I’m going to try like hell to get all the daily requirements of fruits and vegetables. And drink lots of water.

I’m hoping that writing about it will help me stick to my goals.

I’d like to be under 300 by the middle of July.

I know, overall, this will be good for me. The excess weight is not healthy and I really should be a better role model for my kids. But I know I’ll never be as small as I’m ‘supposed’ to be.

Which is fine with me–as long as I’m comfortable with the body I have.

After all, being happy beats being skinny any day.

**Today’s Tidbits**

My mood: very tired. I haven’t been sleeping at work like I should (yes, I’m allowed to sleep at work…I’m incredibly lucky) I’ve been sleepy and a little grumpy all day.

My look: (before work last night) Face: Sassy Minerals foundation in Cool/Fair, Sassy Minerals finishing powder. Eyes: Sassy Minerals-Break the Silence eyeshadow used as eyeliner, applied over Fyrinnae’s pixie epoxy, and Colossal mascara. Hair tucked behind my ears. (thinking about a major haircut). All in all a very simple look that’s still a bit much for a girl who gets to sleep for a living

My song: Walking in Memphis–although this isn’t typically what I listen to, I heard it on the radio this morning while I was channel surfing. Something about this song always stirs up something very emotional in me and I LOVE singing it.

My dinner: Chicken Patty on a bun with a little buffalo sauce, a small handful of baked fries, and a big portion of broccoli. Unsweetened iced tea with lemon to drink.