Has anyone read 4-Hour body? What do you think of Tim Ferriss’ analysis?
4-Hour body is the new book by time ferriss. He did tests on his own body for over 10 years (and recruited others) and came to the conclusion that we should eat protein (meat), legumes, and greens at 3 meals during the week and take one day every week to binge. Seems crazy, but the research backs him up. What do you think?
I have to agree with Marie. I work with morbidly overweight clients. I have many clients who have tried this diet and have failed. The cheat day is the problem, and then they crave foods that are not allowed. I don’t have one client (out of the 25 who have tried) who was able to lose weight on it. I see this diet more for helping those to lose that last 5% of body fat, not for a plan to help those break a life time of bad eating habits.
I am a fan of kettlebells and liked his workouts. It was a great read and wish I had the resourses to work on myself as he does.
I have read Tim’s book and enjoyed. As with any book, there are things I agree with and others I don’t, but he had a lot of good input. As for the nutrition plan, I agree with it for the reasons stated by Andrew. As for the cheat day, it is used successfully by body builders and many others. I have found it does not work for me or my clients. If someone approaches it with a lean body mass to begin with, I think it is well advised. But when someone approaches it with type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, or morbid obesity and it’s related chemical/metabolic problems, the cheat day becomes a week long binge. For someone with those issues, I have found the cheat day will set off cravings and set them way back in progress. And in my experience for the normal woman, it will take an entire week just to take off those cheat calories, stalling any weight loss progress.
Hi Lauren,
I have read Tim’s book, and I agree with his recommendations. Creating a nutrition plan composed primarily of lean protein, legumes, and vegetables eliminates many of the metabolic and hormonal challenges that occur when consuming sugars and starches. There’s no sharp rise in insulin, which significantly limits calories being shuttled to fat storage. In addition, keeping insulin levels in check allows other hormones (glucagon, for example) to release stored bodyfat into the bloodstream to be used as fuel. The ‘cheat day’ has been employed effectively by active individuals for years, and was popularized in the 90’s by Bill Phillips and his ‘Body for Life’ program. It does sound crazy, but having one day to eat whatever you crave can be an effective motivator in an otherwise sound nutrition program.
Hope that helps,
Andrew