The 4-Hour Body
Kindle Highlights
Nike+ team,
no calorie counting
Get off the Splenda.
How do I measure up?
“before” photographs.
Do I really eat that?
RULE #4: DON’T EAT FRUIT.
Stop wishing and start doing.
RULE #3: DON’T DRINK CALORIES.
For men: If obese, aim for 20%.
Who can I get to do this with me?
RULE #1: AVOID “WHITE” CARBOHYDRATES.
Do I really look like that in underwear?
RULE #2: EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
Overfat? Try timed protein and pre-meal lemon juice.
Removing even a little dairy can dramatically accelerate fat-loss,
Don’t drink fruit juice, and absolutely avoid a high-fructose diet.
Take 5–10-minute cold showers before breakfast and/or before bed. Use
Our constant companions will be circumference and bodyfat measurements.
Change one habit at a time: food selection first, food preparation second.
γνωθι σεαυτόν [“Know Thyself”] —Inscription at Temple of Apollo at Adelphi
Cosmetic Fat vs. Evil Fat—How to Measure Visceral Fat (www.fourhourbody.com/evil
Me? I plan on living to 120 while eating the best rib- eye cuts I can find. More on that later.
all bread, rice (including brown), cereal, potatoes, pasta, tortillas, and fried food with breading.
The only exceptions to the no-fruit rule are tomatoes and avocadoes, and the latter should be eaten in moderation
Fermented foods contain high levels of healthy bacteria and should be viewed as a mandatory piece of your dietary puzzle. I
As William Gibson, who coined the term “cyberspace,” has said: “The future is already here—it is just unevenly distributed.”
Magnesium and calcium are easiest to consume in pill form, and 500 milligrams of magnesium taken prior to bed will also improve sleep.
Rule #1: It’s not what you put in your mouth that matters, it’s what makes it to your bloodstream. If it passes through, it doesn’t count.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. —Richard P. Feynman, Nobel Prize–winning physicist
RAPID FAT-LOSS All chapters in “Fundamentals” All chapters in “Ground Zero” “The Slow-Carb Diet I and II” “Building the Perfect Posterior” Total page count: 98
Running a marathon might burn 2,600 calories, but working out in an 82°F pool for four hours could burn up to an extra 4,000 calories, if one considered thermal load.
My breakfast is often a concoction of mixed veggies with lentils and store-bought, mayonnaise-minimal coleslaw. It’s 100 times better-tasting than the three eaten separately.
DEXA Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), which costs $50–100 per session, ended up my favorite, as it is repeatable and offers valuable information besides bodyfat percentage.
If you want to walk an hour a day, don’t start with one hour. Choosing one hour is automatically building in the excuse of not having enough time. Commit to a fail-proof five minutes instead.
For the vast majority of you reading this book who weigh more than 120 pounds, 20 pounds of recomposition (which I’ll define below) will make you look and feel like a new person, so I suggest this as a goal.
Think of them as insurance against the weaknesses of human nature—your weaknesses, my weaknesses, our weaknesses:
- Make it conscious. 2. Make it a game. 3. Make it competitive. 4. Make it small and temporary.
There are no reminders. No consistent tracking = no awareness = no behavioral change. Consistent tracking, even if you have no knowledge of fat-loss or exercise, will often beat advice from world-class trainers.
just say no to fruit and its principal sugar, fructose, which is converted to glycerol phosphate more efficiently than almost all other carbohydrates. Glycerol phosphate → triglycerides (via the liver) → fat storage. There
BREAKFAST: Egg whites, one whole egg, mixed vegetables, chicken breast LUNCH: Mixed vegetables, peas, spinach (salad) SECOND LUNCH: Chicken thigh, black beans, mixed vegetables DINNER: Beef (or pork), asparagus, pinto beans
Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates (or anything that can be white). Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again. Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts.
Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat-loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function and conversion of T4 to T3, etc.) doesn’t downshift from extended caloric restriction.
To remove stored fat → do the least necessary to trigger a fat-loss cascade of specific hormones. To add muscle in small or large quantities → do the least necessary to trigger local (specific muscles) and systemic (hormonal2) growth mechanisms.
Most breakthroughs in performance (and appearance) enhancement start with animals and go through the following adoption curve: Racehorses → AIDS patients (because of muscle wasting) and bodybuilders → elite athletes → rich people → the rest of us
The Three-Minute Slow-Carb Breakfast (www.fourhourbody.com/breakfast) Breakfast is a hassle. In this video, I’ll show you how to make a high-protein slow-carb breakfast in three minutes that is perfect for fat-loss and starting the day at a sprint.
Gout: The Missing Chapter (http://www.fourhourbody.com/gout) Concerned about protein intake and gout? Read this missing chapter from Good Calories, Bad Calories, graciously provided by stunning science writer Gary Taubes. It might change your mind.
If you want a more typical breakfast, try eggs with turkey bacon (or organic normal bacon)4 and sliced tomato. Delicious. Cottage cheese, my mother’s preference, is also a fine addition. Have you ever cooked eggs with ghee (clarified butter)? Try it and thank me.
People will think that because genes play a role in something, they determine everything. We see, again and again, people saying, “It’s all genetic. I can’t do anything about it.” That’s nonsense. To say that something has a genetic component does not make it unchangeable.
To date I have lost 12 kgs / 26.5 lbs. I am fairly strict during the week (protein + beans + veg and thats about it), and I do circuit training and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3–4 times per week. The only variation I have from Tims guide is a whey protein shake after every hour of training.
Habit Forge (www.habitforge.com) Habit Forge is an e-mail check-in tool for instilling new habits into your daily routine. Decide on the habit you want to form, and Habit Forge will e-mail you for 21 days straight. If you don’t follow through, the e-mail cycle will start all over again.
Jack Stack taught all of his employees how to read the financial statements, opened the books, and put numerical goals alongside individual performance numbers on grease boards around the plant. Daily goals and public accountability were combined with daily rewards and public recognition.
Understanding this principle, IBM led the computing world in sales for decades. The quotas for its salespeople were the lowest in the industry because management wanted the reps to be unintimidated to do one thing: pick up the phone. Momentum took care of the rest, and quotas were exceeded quarter after quarter.
Clive Thompson, “Are Your Friends Making You Fat?” New York Times, September 10, 2009 (www.fourhourbody.com/friends) Reaching your physical goals is a product, in part, of sheer proximity to people who exhibit what you’re targeting. This article explains the importance, and implications, of choosing your peer group.
Put a little olive oil in a pan … add a can of white kidney beans (or some cauliflower), mash them with a spoon or whatever you choose, add a bit of water to get the consistency you want, season with a little bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and some parmesan cheese if you wish … tastes awesome and cooks in no time at all!
Take your “before” circumference measurements. Get a simple tape measure and measure four locations: both upper arms (mid-bicep), waist (horizontal at navel), hips (at widest point below waist), and both legs (mid-thigh). Total these numbers to arrive at your Total Inches (TI). Changes in this total will be meaningful enough to track.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. —Bene Gesserit “Litany Against Fear,” from Frank Herbert’s Dune
Breakfast (home): Scrambled Eggology® pourable egg whites with one whole egg, black beans, and mixed vegetables warmed up or cooked in a microwave using Pyrex® containers. • Lunch (Mexican restaurant): Grass-fed organic beef, pinto beans, mixed vegetables, and extra guacamole. • Dinner (home): Grass-fed organic beef (from Trader Joe’s), lentils, and mixed vegetables.
Nutrition Data (www.nutritiondata.com) Want to find out how many calories are in your favorite splurge meal or family recipe? Just use the “Analyze Recipe” Nutrition Management Tool on this site to calculate the nutritional value of the dish. You can also save your recipes and share them with others. I use this site often, including for the calculations in this chapter.
Consume, as Ray did, at least 500 milliliters of ice water on an empty stomach immediately upon waking. In at least two studies, this water consumption has been shown to increase resting metabolic rate 24–30%, peaking at 40–60 minutes post-consumption, though one study demonstrated a lower effect of 4.5%. Eat breakfast 20–30 minutes later à la the Slow-Carb Diet detailed in earlier chapters.
“Building muscle is, as you know, one of the best ways to burn fat. But geeks don’t know how to build muscle. And as I’ve mentioned, geeks don’t like to do things they don’t know are going to work. We like data. We value expertise. So I hired a trainer to teach me what to do. I think I could have let go of the trainer after a few sessions, since I had learned the ‘right’ exercises, but I’ve stayed with her for the past year.
photograph all of their meals or snacks prior to eating. Unlike food diaries, which require time- consuming entries often written long after eating, the photographs acted as an instantaneous intervention and forced people to consider their choices before the damage was done. In the words of one participant: “I was less likely to have a jumbo bag of M&Ms. It curbed my choices. It didn’t alter them completely, but who wants to take a photo of a jumbo bag of M&Ms?”
Proteins *Egg whites with 1–2 whole eggs for flavor (or, if organic, 2–5 whole eggs, including yolks) *Chicken breast or thigh *Beef (preferably grass-fed) *Fish Pork Legumes *Lentils (also called “dal” or “daal”) *Black beans Pinto beans Red beans Soybeans Vegetables *Spinach *Mixed vegetables (including broccoli, cauliflower, or any other cruciferous vegetables) *Sauerkraut, kimchee (full explanation of these later in “Damage Control”) Asparagus Peas Broccoli Green beans
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 39 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota was found to significantly decrease anxiety symptoms. Probiotics (bifidobacteria is one example) have also been shown as an effective alternative treatment for depression because of their power to inhibit inflammatory molecules called cytokines, decrease oxidative stress, and correct the overgrowth of unwanted bacteria that prevents optimal nutrient absorption in the intestines.
Do you really have to eat beans every meal? No. Which leads up to the rules of omission. I do not eat beans with every meal because I eat out almost every lunch and dinner. If I’m cooking, lentils and black beans are my defaults. Outside, I’ll order extra protein and vegetables for the entrée and supplement with one or two slow-carb appetizers, such as unbreaded calamari and a salad with olive oil and vinegar. If you omit legumes in a meal, you must absolutely make a concerted effort to eat larger portions than your former higher-carb self. Remember that you’re getting fewer calories per cubic inch. Eat more than you are accustomed to.
Get at least 20 grams of protein per meal. This is absolutely most critical at breakfast. Eating at least 40% of your breakfast calories as protein will decrease carb impulses and promote a negative fat balance. Even 20% protein—more than most people consume—doesn’t cut it. First choice: down two to three whole eggs at breakfast. Second choice: if that’s impossible to stomach, add other protein-rich whole foods, such as turkey bacon, organic bacon, organic sausages, or cottage cheese. Third choice: have a 30-gram protein shake with ice and water, as my father did. The first few days you’ll feel like you’re force-feeding yourself, and then it will all change and you’ll feel incredible. Get at least 20 grams of protein per meal, no matter what.
Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger (www.fourhourbody.com/wisdom) This is one of the best books on mental models, how to use them, and how not to make a fool of yourself. I was introduced to this manual for critical thinking by Derek Sivers, who sold his company CD Baby for $22 million. Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger (www.fourhourbody.com/almanac) This book contains most of the talks and lectures of Charlie Munger, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. It has sold nearly 50,000 copies without any advertising or bookstore placement. Munger’s Worldly Wisdom (www.fourhourbody.com/munger) This transcribed speech, given by Charlie Munger at USC Business School, discusses the 80–90 important mental models that cover 90% of the decisions he makes.
Weigh yourself before your first meal on cheat day and ignore the short- term fluctuations, which do not reflect fat-loss or gain. Remember to take circumference measurements on your weigh-in days, as it is typical to gain some lean muscle while on this diet. The mitochondria in muscle increase your ability to oxidize fat, so we want to encourage this, but the muscle gain can keep you at the same weight for one to two weeks. Pounds can lie, but measurements don’t. Some dieters needlessly fall off the train in frustration. Angel, whom we met once in earlier chapters, didn’t. Why not? At the risk of sounding repetitive, let me reiterate, since I know most readers will ignore this: [Week one] Hello all. I just wanted to share my first week with you. I have lost a total of 7 pounds.…
BodyMetrix is a hand-held ultrasound device that tells you the exact thickness of fat (in millimeters) wherever you place it. It ended up being the tool I used most often and still use most often. Ultrasound has been used for more than a decade to determine the fat and muscular characteristics of livestock. Want to see how that intramuscular marbling is coming along on your living Kobe beef? Pull out the pregnancy cam! It’s amazing that it took so long to reach athletics. The next-generation BodyMetrix wand, small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, connects to any PC with a USB cable and is now used by world-famous teams like the New York Yankees and AC Milan football. It is the picture of simplicity: I was able to take frequent readings in less than two minutes, and both data and images were automatically uploaded to my Mac. (The PC software actually runs faster on a Mac using Parallels®, a program that allows you to use PC software on Macs.) Rather than attempt to find a gym that offered this for per-session fees, I decided to own a unit. At $2,000 for the professional unit, it was worth the convenience. There is a personal version in development that will cost less than $500.