Week 1: 4-Hour Body Slow Carb Diet

So last week on Sunday (16 January) I started a new diet. It is called the "Slow Carb Diet" and is authored by Timothy Ferriss in the book The 4-Hour Body. Throughout the book, Tim flies in the face of much of the "facts" I thought I knew about weight loss, lifting, exercise, and many other topics. It is definitely worth the read. Lots of numbers and experiment reporting for the geeks (like me) that helps back up his claims.

Before I run around screaming the gospel of the 4-hour body, I decided to follow one of the plans in the book. The very first actionable chapter in the book is about this Slow Carb diet. I am not going to sit here and spout off all of the details and secrets for fear of copy write repercussions, but basically you avoid white carbohydrates and binge (6000+ calories is ok!) once a week. I have now done my first week and a half. In order to track my progress, I am taking weight and body fat measurements every Sunday (day after binge), Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (before binge). In 10 days, I have managed to drop 10.97 lbs of fat, and add in 2.37 lbs of lean mass for a net weight change of -8.6 lbs! My bodyfat has dropped 3.6% (according to an electrical impedance scale) and I have lost a total of 5.75 inches (Measurements: both arms, two waist measurements, hips, both legs). Not bad at all for a first week of dieting! I plan on starting to document my binge days and see if I can't keep my spreadsheet on here.

So, I'm still not entirely convinced that this new diet plan will work the way I want it to. As I gather more of my own data, I will share it with you and eventually be able to make a suggestion whether or not to invest in the book and use it for advice.

Hope you are striving for your own body changing goals!

-DC