1st Week of the 4 Hour Body

Two guys I know who are both pretty fit & healthy have recommended 'The 4 Hour Body' by Tim Ferriss to me this year, so I purchased it some time ago but only got around to reading it a few weeks ago and decided to give it a go.

Some of the key points of the suggested plan that I have been following so far are:

• Avoid white carbs, fruit, drinking calories, dairy
• Eat plenty of eggs, beans/lentils, vegetables & meat
• Take a variety of supplements
• Tracking measurable results
• Taking cold showers
• Having 1 'cheat day' each week where you eat whatever you want, in large quantities!

Of course, that is a highly summarised list, there is considerably more detail, science & findings in the book.

Before starting one of my main concerns was the food preparation. For my whole life so far I've been extremely lazy when it comes to cooking. I'd usually eat cereal for breakfast, eat out for lunch and just not have an evening meal to avoid cooking anything! When I did, it was nearly always a microwave meal. However, I've not found it nearly as difficult as I expected. I am able to make most things in the microwave which is much more convenient when at work.

This has been my meal plan for most of the week:

Breakfast

Supplements: Multivitamins/minerals, odourless garlic extract, omega 3 super, CLA, green tea extract

Scrambled eggs  (mix of whole eggs and egg whites) - Bowl in the microwave, check every 30-60 seconds, stirring occasionally til done

2 pieces of outdoor bred bacon - Placed between kitchen roll, placed in microwave for approx 3 minutes (switching this to turkey next week)

Borlotti beans - From a tin, placed in microwave for 3 minutes

Fresh Spinach - In microwave with the beans

Salsa - Purchased pre-prepared jars

Lunch

Bolognese (organic ground beef, mushrooms, onion, tomato, kidney beans, garlic) - Cooked in bulk on the weekend, reheated in portions in the microwave

Fresh mixed vegetables (spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) - Microwaved with 1 tbsp of water

Dinner

Egg white omelet with spinach, onion, mushroom - Cooked on the hob

Other

Water with freshly squeezed lemon juice added

Black coffee with freshly ground cinnamon

1 tsp of Almond Butter before bed

I started this eating plan on Saturday 13th Oct. I didn't find the first week too difficult. I was feeling fine. I craved chocolate a little though, which is unusual for me. Perhaps surprisingly the day I found most difficult was my cheat day which I had on 6 days in on the Friday! Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: Bowl of Cheerios, orange juice

Mid-Morning: 1/2 bar of 70% cocoa chocolate, hot chocolate with cream, can of Dr. Pepper

Lunch: Hot dog with curly fries, pint of beer (did not finish my fries or beer!)

Mid-afternoon: Struggled to finish the remaining 1/2 of the chocolate bar, lots of water (only wanted to drink water at this point!)

Dinner: Singapore chow mein, bottle of beer

From mid-morning onwards, the food actually made me feel really quite zoned-out and sick! I continued to eat anyway, as suggested in the book (not to a point where I was actually going to be sick). I honestly don't think I'd have struggled with that quantity of food before I started the 4 Hour Body. I certainly haven't been craving any chocolate since Friday! All in all I'd say my first week was a big success.

Almost forgot about the measurements! From the Thursday before I started compared with the Thursday during my first week: -1.4kg weight, -2.4% fat, -3.5 total inches!

Thanks for reading!