Hello everyone! I did the 4 Hour Body diet for a couple of months at the begining of 2011 and lost about 15 pounds, 192-175 So, now I am starting it again, today is my first 'free day', fruit and bread and cookies, yay! I started on Monday and weighed in in the morning at 174. This morning I weighed in at 170! I know, I know, a couple pounds are water weight, not to mention its my TOM, so the numbers are probably all screwed up, but I felt good for my effort! I am also doing some workouts, the excersizes TF recommends, plus some knee rehab (ACL repair) and a couple of days of running(Prepping for some road races next summer!!) Anyways, if anyone has good recipe or meal ideas, or just wants to chat about how they are doing, I would love to hear it!!

What exactly do you do on this diet?

Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates. Don’t eat bread, pasta, rice (brown or white), grains, potatoes, breaded fried food or dairy on your slow-carb days.

Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again. Meals should include protein, legumes, and non-starchy vegetables; eat as much as you like, 3-4x/day.

Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Avoid milk (including soy), sweetened soda (no more than 16oz of diet), and fruit juice. One or two glasses of red wine are permitted.

Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. Tomatoes and avocados are okay (the latter in moderation).

Rule #5: Take one day off per week. Go nuts and eat lots. Do at least five days of rules 1-4 before following rule 5.

The five rules above make up the bulk of the diet. However, Ferriss provides a list of mistakes people often make with the diet. They are re-written here as tips:

eat within 30-60 minutes of waking
get at least 20g of protein per meal, especially at breakfast
drink sufficient water, especially on your “cheat” day
avoid artificial sweeteners
don’t overdo with exercise

Hai! I'm the 4 hour body as well. I was on it a few months ago, and loved it! I let a stall derail me, though, and gained twenty pounds. So, back to the grind, I suppose. Still, my boyfriend and his roommate are still on the diet after 6 months and loving. it.

I was about to start on Ideal Protein Diet but i just can't take the fact that I will not be eating whole foods most of the time and that soy plays a big role in this diet. I decided to do what worked for me in the past: ATKINS - The New Way of Doing It . And then I read about the Slow Carb Diet which allows a " cheat day". I am came from a " rice eating culture" and a lot of our foods are best eaten with rice ( I prefer Brown Rice). TF's diet seems more sustainable for me.

Any updates on this? I have been sick and away from this website for a few months, sorry! I am working thru some health issues right now so my current plan is do do some veggie and fruit juices for breakfast and dinner and a very lean and healthy light lunch. Then I plan on going back on Tim Ferris' plan until I get to my goal.

I'm starting this diet plan tomorrow! TF says not to count calories, but I will be counting anyways - last time I tried this diet I ate too many calories per day to actually lose weight. I also went wayyy overboard with the cheat day - i really took his advice to "go nuts" to heart. I ate 6000 calories in one day. It's really hard to get back on the wagon after a binge cheat day... so I'll either not do it, or if i feel I need to, have one cheat meal under 500 calories. I'm gonna play it by ear and see what works for me. I will also be ignoring his advice about limiting exercise. I am confident that I will not see lasting results unless I put in 5 or more hours of cardio per week. Perhaps dieting without exercise works for some, but not for me, so I'll be running. I am also going to try to take cold showers to boost my metabolism in the morning right when I wake up and at night right before I go to bed.

Have you guys made any progress with this diet? I'm starting to wonder if following it to the letter even works... that's why I am making small changes.

I started with this diet but made changes to accommodate my lifestyle. I don't have near enough protein in the morning as I just have a protein shake and I added a glass of full-cream milk into my diet as it helped me off a 1 week stall.

I haven't done any exercise either and my lifestyle is very sedentary but I lose between 1-1.5 lbs a week on average.

Edit to add: Most cheat days consist of more carb-heavy food (pizza/pasta) and at least 1-2 scoops of ice cream or cake. However I still keep a rough idea of portion sizes as I normally eat out on my cheat days.

I'm curious if anyone is still doing this.

I've started and I'm trying so darn hard not to weigh myself because I just don't want to know right now. I'm going to do it for two weeks and see if I need to make some changes. The hardest part for me is I really need to plan my meals to ensure they include all three food groups. And, I miss dairy.

Hello Durian. I am planning on starting this diet in a weeks time. I am going away for a weeks holiday, I'm bringing the book with me to read. So my first day will be next Saturday 26th. I can't find many people here doing it. We could check in on each others progress. Post your progress here. I wont be online while away. Good luck.

Hi TwoTots

I'm doing a version of this... I'm gonna PM ya!

I just had my third cheat day today and still losing weight!

MrsKevin/Suzanne

Yay to my bud MrsK for having the courage to move from a strict Atkins to a modified Slow Carb and incorporating a cheat day!

I've lost 5 pounds in two weeks. I'm not sure if it's the cheat day or what it is, but I'm actually motivated on this diet and I'm sticking to it, something I've really struggled with in the past.

Are you ready to start tomorrow?

Congrats! Tomorrow is my second cheat day and I cannot wait. You say you're doing a modification; what have you modified?

I'm not doing great with the bean eating this week. I'm having them daily, just not with every single meal. I'm going to work on it for next week, but it is a big struggle.

Hi there Durian-- as far as me modifying the 4 Hour Body deal is that I don't eat within an hour or less when I wake up, and I don't even eat the beans (yet).

But I do follow the idea of no white sugar, pasta, bread, rice, flour ("white" most anything is a no-no,even milk-- accept cauliflower, which I adore). And yes, I do a cheat day once a week (today is my Cheat Day... in fact, every Friday is). I don't lose fast (averaging just 1-2 pounds a week, I estimate) but does great things for my moral. As Jacqui_D says, (and she's is who inspired me to try my low-carb eating to include one cheat day a week---and ONE day only, not two, not 1.5 days) when she thinks about wanting something she shouldn't-- she just puts that idea on the back burner, because if she DOES want it (such as a glazed donut or something), she knows that she can have it on her cheat day.

That's my thinking too. I might think something sounds good one day (as I said, a donut, and why that example? Because I had some this morning! WITH Hot chocolate!) but I just write it down to remember to have it on my Friday/Cheat Day. You know-- sometimes what sounds good on Tues doesn't even sound like the treat that I want by Friday.

All I can say is it's working for ME. (YMMV)
MrsKevin

I hope you enjoyed your cheat day.

It isn't always practical for me to eat within an hour of waking, either. It depends on how things are with my (young) kids. And, as much as I want to consume the 30 grams of protein, I just can't imagine doing it without a protein shake, which I won't do until I hit maintenance mode.

Like you, I do write down my cravings. I read that in the book - he said a reader found success writing down cravings, knowing they could have every single one on the cheat day. That has helped me because I don't really feel like I can't have it, I just can't have it yet. For my personality, that really works. And, like you, I find that some of the things I wanted don't even sound appealing by cheat day.

I'm glad it's working for you. I feel like it's working for me, too.