So a buddy at work was telling me how great and life changing this book was for him. He brought it in for me to borrow. I wonder if anyone else has read it and has any thoughts....positive or negative.
Cheers
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
Last edited by undercoverbrother; 11-21-2012 at 09:07 AM.
Reason: made my age the book title
My buddy went on the diet and lost 60lbs in about 6 months. It changed his life. His friend also did it and his diabetes and apnea went away. His cholesterol also self-regulated and went into the normal range whereas before it was high.
My wife and I tried it and while we were on it it was very positive. I lost 20 lbs in about 2-3 months and quite a few inches. I noticed that all my clothes were fitting a hell of a lot better and had to get a bunch of pants taken in.
However, as soon as you go off of it you notice the weight starting to come back over a course of few weeks. It's natural as this is meant to be a lifestyle change rather than a diet that you come off of once you hit your target weight. We are coming back to the diet this week actually so we are impressed with how well it works. The best part is that you can still eat whatever you want, in fact it's encouraged, but only on your 1 cheat day per week.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Envitro
You mean 4 Hour Body?
My buddy went on the diet and lost 60lbs in about 6 months. It changed his life. His friend also did it and his diabetes and apnea went away. His cholesterol also self-regulated and went into the normal range whereas before it was high.
My wife and I tried it and while we were on it it was very positive. I lost 20 lbs in about 2-3 months and quite a few inches. I noticed that all my clothes were fitting a hell of a lot better and had to get a bunch of pants taken in.
However, as soon as you go off of it you notice the weight starting to come back over a course of few weeks. It's natural as this is meant to be a lifestyle change rather than a diet that you come off of once you hit your target weight. We are coming back to the diet this week actually so we are impressed with how well it works. The best part is that you can still eat whatever you want, in fact it's encouraged, but only on your 1 cheat day per week.
That's the most important thing right there.
There is no such thing as a premanent diet.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you've got to make a lifestyle change for good.
If you want to lose some weight temporarily and put it back on, then a "diet" is the way to go.
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My buddy went on the diet and lost 60lbs in about 6 months. It changed his life. His friend also did it and his diabetes and apnea went away. His cholesterol also self-regulated and went into the normal range whereas before it was high.
My wife and I tried it and while we were on it it was very positive. I lost 20 lbs in about 2-3 months and quite a few inches. I noticed that all my clothes were fitting a hell of a lot better and had to get a bunch of pants taken in.
However, as soon as you go off of it you notice the weight starting to come back over a course of few weeks. It's natural as this is meant to be a lifestyle change rather than a diet that you come off of once you hit your target weight. We are coming back to the diet this week actually so we are impressed with how well it works. The best part is that you can still eat whatever you want, in fact it's encouraged, but only on your 1 cheat day per week.
Did you only do the diet portion or did you do other things in the book. He talks about a reduced exercise regime, but a maximizing of results. Also, what was your wifes take on the sex portion of the book....
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Here's a pretty humourous review from the New York Times. Sounds to me like this book isn't much different from the books that Kevin Trudeau would peddle, it'll probably be helpful for some and useless for others.
I've heard about this. Some guy I know did it and apparently lost 15 lbs.
I wish there was as many options out there for people who have a hard time trying to Gain weight. O'well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by polak
By the way, isn't this the diet that once you to change your sleeping patterns to a few 20 minute naps instead of normal sleep?
You're sort of right. Tim Ferriss broke this book up into sections that describe some pretty sweet things you can do with your body.
What is being discussed in the thread is the section about losing weight as prescribed by the "slow carb diet".
It is a potentially permanent diet as it's pretty easy to eat this way every week.
But to answer your questions Polak, there is a section in this book called "From Geek to Freak" that describes how to quickly gain muscle using diet and simple exercises (mostly kettlebells).
The slow carb diet has nothing to do with sleep. That's another section entirely that tells you how to survive on only a few hours of sleep a day. I haven't read that section yet so I can't really speak to it.
There are some other cool things like how to recover from inuries faster and so on. Its a good book.
That's the most important thing right there.
There is no such thing as a premanent diet.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you've got to make a lifestyle change for good.
If you want to lose some weight temporarily and put it back on, then a "diet" is the way to go.
Don't listen to the skinny kid. Next thing you know he'll be telling you getting into triathlon is a good idea
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If a book helps I say great but ultimately what one needs is to find the inspiration to put them on the right track. While ultimately that inspiration has to be "for me so I can live longer and feel better doing it" you may need a kick to get you there. Early death of a loved one. Birth of a child etc. If the book gives that kick then great. By all means use it.
When it comes to "diets" the old food pyramid still works pretty darn well. Follow it (learn what a serving means!) and lean towards whole grains, eliminate sweets and artifical sweeteners (or greatly reduce) and you'll generally be in the necessary calorie intake portion of things. Some adjustment may need to be made throughout...lower to start as your resting metabolism for a sedentary individual is going to be below average and increasing as you increase activity and fire that metabolism up. Then you throw in the exercise. Start with 3 days x 30 min of cardio a week as this tends to be easiest for people. When you start to desire more add in some strength training and get yourself to 6 days x 30 min and continue on. Before you know it you'll be exercising an hour or more a day 6 days a week, and when not exercising you'll be far more active (and therefore doing more exercise you just won't consider it such). Start slow. You may even want to just start with exercise and worry about diet later on or vice versa.
It isn't easy to be sure. I've battled my weight for 24 years (I'm 38). I've gone up and gone down countless times. It wasn't until my own personal moment of inspiration came about a year ago that I actually really started to change things and change my lifestyle. And to be honest I did start slow. I spent the first 6-8 months slowly changing my diet. I changed the foods I ate but didn't worry about calorie intake too much but was taking in the calories in the end that allowed me to maintain my much too big weight. I've changed the diet too fast in the past and couldn't stick with it. Above all for most overweight people, if you change the foods you are eating they need to taste good so it can take some time to find out the recipes/preparations to make those foods taste as good as anything you enjoyed before.
Once I had that obstacle out of the way I really concentrated on the exercise portion of things starting about 3 months ago (it's sounds cliche now but the P90 series has really been good for me...yes it's essentially the same as many programs but Tony Horton doesn't annoy me like everyone else does. My wife likes Jillian Michael whereas I would love nothing more than to punch Jillian in the face several times). I've dropped 30 lbs in those 3 months. This weekend, for the first time since I was a teenager I bought pants with a waist size that started with a 3. Still it's a struggle everyday but this time I feel I have a much better handle on things because I'm doing it the way it worked for me rather than the way someone else said would work for me.
So after completely derailing the thread the end result is what I said first....if a book works for you great! But it's very individual and you may just need to discover what your program needs to be for you to be successful (as I mentioned my biggest obstacle was diet so I slowly dealt with that first before piling on the other stuff such as better calorie control and intense exercise)
edit: on the other hand after reading the review posted above this book seems to be a minor portion of common sense and major portion of complete whack-a-doodle.
Last edited by ernie; 11-21-2012 at 10:13 AM.
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I read it and followed a lot of the advice. The diet in particular. Had a 20-25 pound shift in weight. Went off the diet eventually about a year and a half ago (maybe?), but kept a few of the principles I guess. Still haven't gained the weight back. Maybe half of it which I'm currently in the process of losing. Losing that weight was one of the easiest things I've ever done. Very confused when people can't stick to diets.
The book is about getting the best results with the least amount of effort. So while posts like the one above are all well and good, they kinda miss the point. I don't want to do 30 mins of cardio 6 days a week. You are more likely to lose motivation and eventually fail. I don't want to do 100 traditional crunches when 10 myotatic crunches do the same thing (numbers being pulled out of my butt).
The dude definitely comes off as a bit of a snake-oil salesman sometimes, but I wouldn't let that disuade you from reading it. The review above mostly takes issue with the author. Yeah, he's a bit of a ######, but what I read worked for me. His other book, 4-Hour Workweek changed my life more than this one.
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I followed the diet last Xmas and did it seriously for 4 months then moved to a paleo diet. Lost 25lbs in the first 2 months then just maintained my weight. It was pretty easy to follow, especially once I figured out the portion sizes that worked for me. I did end up moving from the cheat day to a more relaxed weekend philosophy. If I went out with friends on Friday, I'd have a beer and burger. If I stayed home, I followed my diet.
A food processor was a must for me. I did find myself craving a treat now and then, so I started making nut butters and flours and baking flour less cookies and brownies. You can bu the flour, but its a lot cheaper to make your own.
When my biking mileage got higher, greater than 60km, I found I needed more carbs, so on weekends when I could ride longer, I'd adjust. If I was doing more than 100km, it was no holds barred in the fridge.
Not a fan of any of these "fad" diets, Perhaps because my wife is a health educator (RN) and realizes that many of these diets take away things that your body needs. Isn't this diet based on the cutting of carbs out of the diet? Good in theory but guess what, your brain needs carbs.
Can anyone tell me honestly that losing 25 - 30 lbs in 2 months seems healthy?
Portion control and discovering what your OWN body needs for calories and developing a eating pattern based on that is the best solution IMHO
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Not a fan of any of these "fad" diets, Perhaps because my wife is a health educator (RN) and realizes that many of these diets take away things that your body needs. Isn't this diet based on the cutting of carbs out of the diet? Good in theory but guess what, your brain needs carbs.
Can anyone tell me honestly that losing 25 - 30 lbs in 2 months seems healthy?
Portion control and discovering what your OWN body needs for calories and developing a eating pattern based on that is the best solution IMHO
It cuts out high glycemic carbs. You still eat carbs, but instead of a plate of pasta, you eat a huge spinach salad. I actually think you get more nutrients following this diets than what you'd get from our normal diet of bread, potatoes, and pasta. You eat a lot more nutrient rich foods. My breakfast was 4 eggs, with spinach, lentils, and avocado. Before it was three eggs and toast.
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The book is about getting the best results with the least amount of effort. So while posts like the one above are all well and good, they kinda miss the point. I don't want to do 30 mins of cardio 6 days a week. You are more likely to lose motivation and eventually fail. I don't want to do 100 traditional crunches when 10 myotatic crunches do the same thing (numbers being pulled out of my butt).
The problem is in the end it is simple math.
If you want to lose 20 pounds you need to burn off 70,000 more calories than you intake with the corollary that the intake must be at least reasonably balanced to not lead to other problems. Having read more about his diet, it relies on supplements specifically because what he advocates eating won't get you the nutrition you need. The alternative is just eat a balanced diet and have a basic multi-vitamin.
Great you had success and you've kept the weight off but you did it because you did exercise and you did limit your calorie consumption. I don't disagree that some exercises are better than others and you get more bang for your buck. That is fairly obvious (more muslces engaged leads to more calories burnt). But to tell you the truth if you don't do cardio you likely aren't fit or healthy...even if your weight is down. You cardiovascular system needs exercise or it will deteriorate at a faster rate than for someone who does do cardio. The only way to do that is by getting the heart rate ramped up for extended period of times. I was fat and still am, however having done some pretty difficult (for me) cardio for 3 months I now have far better stamina in hockey than all the young whipper snappers who think they are in shape because they are skinny.
There is no silver bullet to be truly healthy. There are no real shortcuts. You have to put the time in by doing and finding the things that you enjoy doing. Cardio need not be following an exercise video...it works for me because of the responsibilities I have that often prevent me from getting out to go for a run or rollerblade. well I hate running and taking rollerblades along on business trips is a giant pain. I do, however, often have 30-45 minutes in the morning in a hotel room to bust out a workout I enjoy. Or when at home after the kids are in bed that time in the evening.