Prep for Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet

I wrote a bit about the Slow Carb Diet in my earlier post and tomorrow is the day I am going to start the diet.

Again, for those who have not read the book, The 4-Hour Body, the slow carb diet is essentially a diet that replaces most of your meals with slow carbs, or food with low Glycemic Index, as well as increasing your protein proportion. There are many other small nitty gritty details, and  you would have to read the book to understand them. Things like having a cold shower, eating within 1 hour of waking up, and all the other small stuffs. Tim Ferriss’ theory is that small things in itself do not do much effect, but adding them together will present a much larger synergistic effect. This together with his theory of Minimum Effective Dose.

I do have 1 big problem though. I don’t eat vegetables. I have not eaten any green vegetables, or vegetables in general since I can ever remember. Save for carrots, potatoes, fruits and seaweed, I practically have not eaten any vegetables. So there lies the problem of eating low Glycemic Index foods. Argh. Will have to figure how to deal with this in the next 4 weeks. Haha!

One idea which I will use to overcome this non-vegetables issue would be to increase the protein intake, as well as trying out different legumes. The problem with this is that essentially the amount of carbohydrates taken in will be increased significantly to a more vegetable friendly diet. The main reason being that vegetables have a low caloric density, whereas legumes have a high caloric density.

At this moment, my general plan would be:

Breakfast
2 half boiled eggs + some baked beans + some lentils + 2 cups of ice cold water

Lunch
1.5 serving of meat (Either chicken, fish since it is easier to find outside) + 1 cup of legumes (I currently have red kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, baked beans. Have not eaten most of it before) + *maybe* carrots (though carrots is not recommended in the diet) + mushrooms (Also not mentioned in the diet, but that could be a American thing, since mushrooms have been traditionally an Asian food)

Dinner
1.5 serving of meat(Probably fish or beef, since more prep time is available) + 1 cup of legumes + carrots and mushrooms.

I would also have mixed nut bars available during the day, in case I get hungry. Have to see how on the first week. I might add seaweed also. Seaweed is not mentioned much by Tim Ferriss, and I suspect it is probably similar to the mushroom thing.

Throughout the day, I would also have green tea to increase the Basal Metabolic Rate, and I have also gotten the supplements recommended by Tim Ferris, which would be Alpha Lipoic Acid, Green Tea Extract, Garlic Extract and Policosanol. Let’s see how these work. Essentially they are known for minor weight loss effects, but the effects are quite small. Again, the Minimum Effective Dose theory and the synergistic effect. Hmm.

His theory was that a person would not have to increase his physical activities by too much in order to lose significant amount of weight. Thus, this 1st month of experimentation would not have any increase in physical activity. Let’s see the results!

As a record, as of this morning, I’m 80.6kg, 24.6% BF (based on 4 point bioimpedence), and total inches of 268cm (add up the measurements for belly, both upper arms and both upper legs). Wish me luck!

Related posts:

1. Progress update: Week 6 of Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet
2. Progress update: Week 5 of Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet
3. Progress update: Week 3 of Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet
4. Progress update: Week 10 of Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet
5. Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Body Diet: The Slow Carb Diet
6. Progress update: Week 4 of Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet
7. Progress update: Week 1 of Tim Ferriss’ Slow Carb Diet

Tags: 4HourBody, Diet, Fitness