In roughly 3 weeks, I turn 45. Last October/ December (2020) whilst we were on the cusp of another lockdown here in the UK, I thought to myself, “what will be my goal during this time of forced home working?” I was running, as I have done for a number of years, but not achieving anything in particular. I’d tried my own variation of “dieting”, but that wasn’t working, so, fed up, I resorted to something that HAD worked for me previously, and for some, might be quite extreme…
The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss
I turned to Tim Ferriss and a book he first published in 2011; The 4-hour Body.
A good friend of mine brought it to my attention around that time, when I was separating from my ex-wife and was overweight (close to where I was when the 3rd lockdown happened). Because I was basically on my own I was able to devote time and attention to the system he road tested on himself and a few selected candidates. My question this time around, in a family life scenario, could I make it work?
The low point, and the beginning of the journey
From the above chart, it depends on how you look at it, but my weight had flip flopped for a couple of years, but I came to realise that the flip flopping wasn’t helping me in the least, and I was getting fed up of the “rolls” when I sat down and such. I also saw how many of the runner friends I’d made on Instagram, were progressing, and decided I was going to sort it once and for all!
So what’s different with The 4-Hour Body?
So in real simple terms not much, The 4-hour body is basically a low carb diet. What appealed to me about this style however, was the minuscule changes that you can make to your diet, that can have a maximum impact. For example, I have full fat milk (I used to love half & half in Canada) and sugar in my morning coffee; to help break down the impact of the sugars and cholesterol, I put a cinnamon stick in there. To quote the book directly:
“There is ample evidence that cinnamon can be used to reduce the glycemic index of a meal up to 29%. At four grams per meal even six grams per day, it can lower not only blood glucose but also LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.”
Now admittedly Tim gets very technical with all this stuff, and it can make the eyes glaze over, but it appealed to me! You mean I can have my preferred method of coffee, and just by adding in a cinnamon stick I don’t need to ruin something I enjoy..., imagine that? Furthermore, as he goes on to explain, that having the cinnamon, makes you feel full faster, therefore not consuming as much food in the long run. This is but one example, the “diet” itself can require some work, but frankly, I am fitter and thinner than I have been in 20 years, so I hope that helps.
[While I have hit the goal, incidentally, I still have cinnamon in my coffee, as well as grapefruit juice when eating carbs, which I will explain more of in part two…]
It is worth mentioning, should you choose to get this book, (before part two) that Tim Ferriss mentions in the beginning, that you should rightly question what he’s doing. He uses himself as a human guinea pig and has/ had written this having gone through the process of trying all this out. I was happy following along, but there where plenty and have been plenty of points where I have decided “that’s not for me”… but there was a lot that I took to the letter and has paid off.
To give context, although the picture isn’t the best, this was August 2020.
Coming up in Part Two…
I figured that in writing about my journey, I could sit here for weeks and write up the whole journey, but frankly my (and likely your) attention span won’t last that long, and so I will break this up into parts; not sure how many, (3-4 seems about right), but I will get the other one out in a couple of weeks, and then follow that schedule until I’m done: could take years!!
Things coming up in part two:
The Diet
The PAGG Stack
My Adaptions
…and other items as I remember them
I am open to questions, so feel free to comment, or you can find me on instagram, where I will happily natter away. I will add also, I AM NOT A DIETICIAN, I am just a guy who found a weight loss journey that has worked for him - twice, and loosing about the same amount of weight in the same approximate amount of time - so if that’s something you’re interested in I’d be happy to help with what worked for me, but it is not for everyone, and you should exercise your own choices by not following along if it’s not for you. Hope that makes sense.
Part two in a couple weeks. Be well!!