eating is fundamental: 6 months on the slow-carb diet #4hb @tferriss
sorry about the formatting and rambling. if i tried to make it perfect it would probably never get posted and i can't fight the posterous rich text editor any more. the images roughly match up with the recipes assuming they stay in order. this could really use some further editing and organization. game on.
eating is a total pain. multiple meals...every-freaking-day. think about it. that's probably at least 3 hours a day spent acquiring and eating food. what a waste. additionally, i hate cooking. more specifically, i hate cleaning up the mess from cooking.
let's be honest. my previous diet was terrible. i ate out pretty much every meal. mostly it was something on a bun (hamburger, fried chicken) with fries or pizza. i normally didn't eat breakfast because i would wake up around lunch time. i was not a morning person either. it usually took several hours for me to fully wake up. i also experienced energy sags and got hungry starting about an hour before a normal meal. after eating, i usually felt lethargic and bloated for about an hour. i usually drank 4-5 cans of coke a day not plus the unnecessarily large drink given with my meals (probably with a free refill). the slow carb diet from "the four hour body" by tim ferriss was the starting point for this experiment.goals
- lose some weight
- gain some muscle
- better strength and endurance playing soccer
results
2011/01: 168lbs, ~24%bf*
2011/07: 150lbs, ~16%bf*
bioimpedance scale.
exercise
usually play soccer 1-2 times a week for ~90 minutes.
2011/01: ok fitness, but would frequently lose energy. drank gatorade
or orange juice and water at half time and after. sluggish after half
time.
2011/07: 1 hour before protein shake w/ instant espresso. water
during and after. protein shake or meal within 1 hour after. have
more energy and feel faster. more gradual decrease in energy. not as
tired after games. especially noticeable on sunny, humid days.
2011/01: 40lb 1 x ~50
2011/07: 80lb 1 x ~40, 1 x ~10 myotatic crunch
2011/01: maybe 5-7 no weight
2011/07: 10-12 ~16lb
initial eating plan
some variance along the way, but this is generally it.
- breakfast
- protein shake (~30g protein, 1 tsp instant espresso, water).
- 2nd breakfast
- 3 large eggs, ~5g freeze dried spinach, 100g black beans
- lunch
- 100g chicken breast, 100g black beans, 100g frozen peppers and oninions, 1tbsp macadamia oil
- dinner
- similar as lunch or eat out somewhere and stay somewhat close to the diet.
- late snack
- sometimes a protein shake with only 1 scoop of powder and water.
current eating plan
breakfast
- ~24oz water. protein shake (~30g unflavored powder, 2 tsp espresso, 2 tsp natural cocoa powder)
- 2nd breakfast
- 3 extra large eggs w/ 5-10g freeze dried spinach lunch: 125-150g raw chicken breast, 100g frozen peppers and onions, 100g frozen either green peas or mediterranean mix, 1tbsp macadamia oil
- dinner
- same as lunch or eat out something on plan-ish, but probably has cheese. late snack: protein shake (~30g protein, 1 tsp natural cocoa powder)
random observations
- fruits and vegetables are about 80-90% water.
- things taste much sweeter. most stuff seems unnecessarily sweet. probably was desensitized to sugar.
- drinking water is really important. 2 glasses of cold water helps me wake up in the morning (usually followed by poop).
- poo is much better. softer.
- less gassy in general.
- bread makes me feel bloated. gluten allergy?
- not eating something before going to bed greatly affects my morning mood.
- we are not good judges of our own health or that of friends. don't rely on what someone you know tells you. measure. take pictures. something in our brain doesn't allow us to truly see someone we know well or ourselves. it's somehow mixed with a memory of what we think they look like. a human cannot be trusted to provide a useful opinion.
- eat while doing something else. people tell you not to because you end up eating too much. this just isn't a problem if you aren't eating crap. saves time and will also distract you from the fact that you're eating the same thing you had yesterday (assuming that's a problem). instead, take a break and walk afterwards.
- cooking by volume is for suckers. use a scale. learn to love the tare function so you can measure everything in one bowl. it's also more consistent if you're using powdered or variable size ingredients.
- minimum effective dose is great, but what seems to be more important is what's the maximum allowable dose and what are the effects if i overdose. this applies to all substances you put in your body.
- eating meat, fruit and vegetables surely can't be wrong. probably should skip "root vegetables". potatoes apparently aren't vegetables either according to wikipedia and the nhs
- don't eat the top four food crops: potato, rice, wheat, maize (corn)
- most common reason for poor eating is probably easy access. fast food is cheap for eating out, but still more expensive than cooking at home.
- if you can't eat it raw, you should probably skip it. beans and pasta are good examples. that doesn't necessarily mean you will eat it raw, just that you could. i can eat raw meat, it just doesn't seem like such a good idea due to food poisoning potential. potatoes similarly have toxicity issues.
- i feel more consistent energy level. when i do get hungry, it doesn't seem as severe as it used to. i think i usually notice a slight dip in energy more than actual hunger pains.
- i didn't take any supplements other than protein powder. i wasn't in a hurry and wanted sustainable patterns with easily available substances.
- what is the difference between food, drugs, medicine and nutritional supplements that matters?
- what are the side effects or unintended consequences of what substances you put in your body?
- obviously, your rate of loss varies based on current weight. women lose slower than men. look at the appendix data in four hour body before setting expectations.
- drink instant espresso or coffee. no sugar or cream. quick and consistent. don't immediately add sugar if it tastes bad when hot. let the drink cool a bit and see if the taste doesn't improve. it does for me.
- remove any stereotypes about what should be eaten at what time of day.
- air dried white onions from north bay traders will make your breath stink. bad.
- stomach and bowels weren't very settled for probably the first month or two.
- skip the beans/legumes and just eat more protein and other vegetables.
- it doesn't matter how much micronutrients or other trendy things are in the food if it comes with a side of a bunch of sugar.
- you don't need gatorade or other sport drinks. period. you're not a 250lb professional football player trying to perform at their highest level at least once a week. just drink water.
- i never really ate candy or desserts regularly. if i do it's usually ice cream or froyo.
- it just doesn't seem like a good idea to eat "fake" sweets. by "fake" i mean things with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose (splenda), etc. health side effects are unknown, but the known part would be that it just feeds your taste for sweet things.
- if you think about it as a short term diet instead of changing the way you eat, you'll probably fail. the easy assumption is: i'm going to eat this way the rest of my life and it really doesn't matter.
- skin seems better. don't know how this could be measured?
- generally don't drink alcohol. maybe some wine or a beer every now and then. i was never a huge alcohol fan anyway.
- if what you or everyone else is currently doing doesn't give the results you want, you need to change what you're doing.
- if you're getting hungry, eat more.
- there's not much variability in what you currently eat. same basic ingredients mixed around in slightly different ways.
- i was originally eating at moe's or chipotle, but then i started cooking at home because it seemed ridiculous to pay so much more for something so simple to make. it also saves time since i'm currently working from home. eating out makes this diet just as annoying for me because i have to decide what to eat. i don't want to decide on a daily basis.
- not a goal, but it's way cheaper. i was probably spending $20+/day eating. i now spend about $50/week for lunch and dinner and some dinners cooked at home plus $10-ish for dinners. i'm shopping at whole foods too. chicken breasts are $7/lb and grass fed beef is $8/lb. it's probably less than that as i just readjusted my portions because i was eating too much.
- as long as i'm not eating bread i can eat way more food. my normal lunch almost completely fills a 4 cup bowl.
- the biggest problem with bioimpedence body fat scales is that it's so dependent on hydration level and body temperature.
- the goal of eating is not to have the best taste sensation at every opportunity. it's to be able to live at all.
- it seems the fda is more concerned with what won't kill you (definitely desirable knowledge) and lobbyists than what is actually good for you. that's opinion and i can't point to any specific facts other than things like grains being its own group in the food pyramid. not that the vast majority of people even consider what the fda has to say when they're choosing something to eat. i don't need an fda nutrition label or stamp of approval on spinach?
- did you read all those?
recipes
pre-requisites
- 2 large bowls with lid (mine is 1qt/4 cup/~1L pyrex with plastic lid)
- 10in non-stick omelet pan or similar with a lid. i really need a bigger pan. the type of pan is irrelevant, just needs to be large enough to hold the food.
- big plastic spoon or other material for use with a non-stick pan.
- food scale (you probably want one that does milligrams since freeze dried food is so light. ask your drug dealer what he uses.)
how to cook scrambled eggs in the microwave
- 3 extra large eggs
- 5 tbsp water (~ 1 per egg)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 5-10g freeze dried spinach
- salt and pepper
- 1 qt/4 cup/1L pyrex bowl with plastic lid
i like scrambled eggs. however, eggs are inedible without salt and
pepper or other flavor enhancers. the freeze dried spinach makes it
easy to add to the eggs. frozen spinach is annoying because it has to
be thawed and then has all this water you have to somehow drain or
else it's impossible to get your eggs to not be watery. cooking time
varies based on the number of eggs and amount of water.
- microwave the butter in the bowl for 30s so it's at least partially melted. move the bowl so that most of the surface is covered with butter. this is highly important as without it, the egg will completely stick to the bowl which is a pain to clean up.
- combine eggs, salt and pepper in bowl and stir with a fork. i do this before adding the spinach as it seems easier to get the eggs to beat. add spinach and stir. i usually put a handlful which is ~5g and break it up some as i put it in.
- microwave with lid covering the top for 60s. the lid should just be resting on the top and not sealed. if you put the lid on all the way it will blow off at some point.
- stir a bit and then microwave for an additional 40-45s
- eggs should still be somewhat runny with a little liquid, but will continue to cook after removal from the microwave. stir and fully close the lid. wait several minutes and then check the consistency. if it's not how you like it, put the lid back on and wait longer. if you get impatient i would just add 5s to the second cook time the next time you make eggs.
how to cook meat and vegetables in one pan
- 100-150g meat (usually chicken or grass fed ground beef). chicken should come from the meat counter and get them to chop it into byte size-ish chunks or stew chunks.
- 100-120g whole foods frozen peppers and onions
- 100g whole foods frozen mediterranean blend, green peas or other allowed vegetables
- 10g freeze dried spinach
- 1 tbsp macadamia oil
- salt
- whole foods valle del sol chili powder or whatever spice you prefer.
note: any cooking times are usually based on how long it takes me
to other prep things so they aren't exact.
- rinse pan and start heating on ~4 on a big eye on an electric stove. i have no idea what the actual temperature is or anything. the food should eventually be sizzling. if it's splattering, turn it down.
- start weighing the meat in the large bowl
- add macadamia oil to pan. not needed for ground beef.
- add meat to pan
- add salt and spices. i probably put a couple tsp of salt and then somewhat cover the visible side of the meat with the chili powder. adjust to your taste.
- rinse the large bowl and measure the vegetables. use the tare functionality on the scale so you can measure in the same bowl. add them to the pan. it doesn't really seem like it matters too much when, but i usually let the chicken cook for a minute or so and then flip the chunks over and add the veg
- put the lid on the pan and let it cook for however long it takes to rinse out the large bowl and measure the spinach in a second dry bowl
- stir and split any large chunks of chicken into whatever size you like. i just use the spoon. if your chicken is too tough to split, buy different chicken. sometimes there's some gristle or something that can't be split easily. just work around it.
- stir and let it cook with the top on for 1-2 minutes. the only thing i'm really looking for is to make sure the meat is done.
- push the stuff in the pan to the sides to make a whole in the middle that should have liquid in it. dump the spinach into the liquid and then stir. it seems like this makes it easier to integrate the spinach. if there's not enough liquid you can add some water or more oil.
- put the lid on and turn off the stove. i leave it for a few minutes like this while i'm cleaning up the other stuff. it seems like this lowers the pan temperature a bit and makes cleaning safer from burns. i usually don't touch the pan though.
- rinse the bowl of spinach dust
- when you feel like it, scoop the stuff into the large bowl and then clean the pan.
- kitchen should be clean. just eat it.
