Slow Carb Diet Week 1
A few weeks ago, I bought a copy of Timothy Ferriss's new book, The 4-Hour Body, and decided to embark upon his "Slow Carb Diet" for my annual month of New Year's cleansing.
In the past year I started attending fitness boot camp with my lovely wife and experimenting with various diets ranging from high protein to the Paleo diet to plain old low carb. Over a period of about nine months, I lost 20 pounds and cut my body fat percentage from 33% to 19%.
I plateau'd few times along the way and wound up gaining about 5 pounds back by the beginning of December. I was working out very hard twice a week and also playing competitive soccer once a week. I was getting stronger, but not leaner. Although reward-eating was an admitted problem, my eating habits felt, well, pretty good overall.
I turned 40 in December and finding myself hovering at 186 lbs and 23% body fat I was getting pretty frustrated. My goal is to get to 12% body fat. I have another 11% to cut.
For those not familiar with Tim Ferriss' Slow Carb approach to dieting, I'll give you the quick run-down:
Six days a week, eat nothing white. Basically that means no starches or sugars or anything that can be made into anything white. No bread, no pasta, no potatoes, no corn chips. And, no fruits or juices either. That's right, only good ole meats and vegetables are allowed... and lots of water. Unlike other diets, the Slow Carb approach does not impose calorie restriction on your six days. Eat until you are full, but only from the Slow Carb buffet of low glycemic foods.
Then, on the 7th day you binge! Sodas, sweet tea, blueberry muffins, bagels, pizza, and beer are back on the menu. (Ferriss tells us when he binges he actually makes himself a bit sick.) The reported results from this diet have been amazing. People have dropped more than 20lbs in one month. Of course, he has some other little secret additives that help minimize the affects of the one-day binge, but I'll let you read the book to find out what they are.
So, I started transitioning into the diet the week before Christmas by changing to a high protein breakfast of three-egg omelets stuffed with spinach, peppers and onions. I cut out sweet drinks and increased my green vegetable intake. I immediately noticed an increase in my testosterone level, as noted by others in my life. :) This was enough to get me to commit to a month-long experiment with the diet.
Week 1
Honestly, Week 1 of the diet was tough, but unlike other diets I've tried, it wasn't hunger or craving that presented the difficulties. The challenging thing was finding enough protein and vegetables to keep me satiated. I added one protein shake per day and a second helping of meat at lunch. Luckily, I work at Piedmont Hospital where the food is excellent and there are plenty of healthy lunch options involving legumes, green vegetables and lean meats.
By the end of Week 1 I had added so much extra protein to my diet that I found it "beneficial" to add some extra fiber in the form of psyllium.
By the end of Week 1, my weight dropped from 186 to 184.5 and my body fat dropped from 23% to 21.5%. My testosterone levels have increased and this has had a positive affect on both my productivity at work, as well as my relationship. ;)
You might be wondering about my binge day. OMG it was pure food porn. Pancake breakfast with sweet tea. Chick-fil-A for lunch. Large chocolate milk shake. Pub food and burger for dinner with several high gravity craft beers. By Sunday morning I was ill and by Tuesday of week 2 I was still recovering. How did the binge affect my progress?
Next post: Week 2 I'll write more about my experiments with methods from The 4-Hour Body and update you on my progress on the Slow Carb Diet.
