The 4-Hour Body Summary

The Slow-Carb Diet

The slow-carb diet is most widely known as the diet from the book The 4-hour
body by Tim Ferriss. The 4-hour body diet emphasizes low carb intake and
has strict rules on what you are allowed to eat.

You are allowed to eat only certain groups of food. Carbs are limited, and only
slow carbs in smaller amounts are allowed. Sugary food, drinks, and fruits are
forbidden.

In the book, the emphasis isn’t put only on dieting and the types of food you
should eat. The author also talks about how to keep yourself motivated and
achieve long-term results.

Slow Carb Diet Benefits

There are numerous benefits of a slow-carb diet. First, it is an effective way to

Most diets are physically and emotionally exhausting. A slow carb diet will
make you feel full, increase your energy levels, and make you feel better. This
makes this diet sustainable for a longer period, which is key for rapid weight
loss and long-term results.

Allowed Foods

You are allowed to eat only certain groups of food. The allowed foods are lean
proteins, non-starchy vegetables, legumes, fats, and spices. In other words,
you are allowed to eat any whole food, except fruits and grains.

This includes meat, fish, eggs, nuts, olive oil, all vegetables, butter, even small
amounts of wine. You can have up to two glasses of red wine per day.

Avoid these foods

White carbohydrates are carbs with a high glycemic index that quickly raise
sugar levels in the blood. They give only a quick burst of energy, after which
insulin levels quickly drop. This means they will make you feel hungry
afterward, making you vulnerable to overeating and excess calorie intake.
White carbs include bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, etc.

2. Fruits

Although fruits contain minerals and vitamins which are healthy for your body,
they contain a lot of sugar. Fruits contain a sugar called fructose which can
slow down your weight loss. So, there are better ways to add vitamins and
minerals into your diet. Vegetables are a much better choice.

In addition to fruits, any sugary soft drinks and even fruit juice should be
avoided. They contain high levels of sugar, which can postpone your weight
loss progress.

3. Dairy products

Even though dairy products don’t have a high glycemic index, they can still
cause a sudden rise in insulin levels, which can be detrimental to your weight
loss progress. Therefore, it’s best to avoid dairy products. This even includes
soy milk since soy milk often contains added sugar. However, out of the dairy
products, only cottage cheese is allowed.

4. Fried Foods

Fried foods are poor in nutritional value but are high in calories. This makes
them a bad choice if you are trying to improve your health and lose weight.

Meal planning Rules & Tips

1. Keep It Simple

Although the food you are allowed to eat is pretty strict, a slow carb diet has
simple rules to follow. You can eat as much as you like. There is no need to
monitor caloric intake. However, it would be best if you made meal plans. This
will ensure you stick to your diet, and there will be less room for error.
2. TRY THE 30 30 RULE

Within the first hour of the day, for breakfast, eat at least 30 grams of protein.
This will longer make you feel full and stop you from afternoon cravings and
unnecessary overeating. For example, the author’s father had great success
with this rule in his weight loss journey. You should try it too.

3. Limit Calorie Dense Food

Even though foods like nuts are allowed, they are calorie-dense. This means it
is easy to intake excess amounts of calories with even small amounts of these
foods. This means you should be careful how much you consume. It’s easy to
overdo.

4. Eat Slowly

This will help you not to overeat.

Cheat day

The cheat day has two roles.

First, it serves as a way to ease the mental pressure of being on a strict diet. It
allows you to eat anything you want and as much as you want. This makes
staying disciplined easier. Second, the cheat day can make your weight loss
more successful. It can increase your metabolic rate, which will postpone your
weight gain and help you lose weight.

Harajuku moment

The Harajuku moment is a concept that represents the moment in life when
you decide to drastically change your life. Tim Ferriss shares the story of
Chad Fowler, who lost over 70 pounds in less than a year.

The Harajuku moment represents the point in your life where you decide that
you need to change something. You get so emotionally triggered to the point
where staying the same is more painful than doing what is necessary. Even
though taking action seems hard, not doing anything is more painful.
This gives you the internal motivation to ensure you stick to your goals and do
the necessary work. The strong enough “why” is always more powerful than
any obstacles that get in your way.

Tim Ferris also gives you tips on how to stay motivated. He recommends
using some kind of external pressure to get things done. This can be
something like a bet with a friend, rewarding yourself after completing a goal,
creating a deadline for a specific goal—anything to keep motivated and on the
right track.

The Minimum Effective Dose

The minimum effective dose, or shortly MED, is the smallest dose to produce
the outcome you want. Anything beyond that can be considered wasteful.

This concept can be translated into weight loss, too. Do what works and do
the least necessary to trigger the fat loss process. This means choosing a diet
that will trigger the cascade of specific hormones responsible for successful
weight loss. You don’t need any other extra work.

The same goes if you want to trigger muscle growth. Do the least necessary
that will trigger muscle and hormonal growth mechanics.

Russian kettlebell swings

In The 4-Hour Body, Tim Ferriss tells the story of Tracy Reifkind. Tracy was a
mother of two who lost more than 100 pounds with the help of only one
exercise – the Russian kettlebell swing. She did kettlebell swings twice a
week for no more than 35 minutes.

What makes the Russian kettlebell swing so great is that it is a total body
exercise. It emphasizes the posterior chain muscles – your hamstrings, glutes,
and back. At the same time, it is a great cardio exercise too. It will get your
heart rate up and help you burn more calories while also helping you build
muscle.

Cold showers
Tim Ferriss recommends doing cold showers or ice baths twice a day. One in
the morning and once before bedtime. Cold showers can help you improve
your testosterone levels, sex life and improve sleep.