Lose 20 LBS of Fat in 30 Days Without Exercise.

I am big fan of blogger/Geek/Lifehacker Tim Ferriss and I follow his blog at 4hrworkweek.com. Tim gives inspiration to many. Tim also has put together a second book that he will be releasing in December called the 4HR Body. Tim had a post back in 2007 right before his first book the 4HR Work week came out, entitled Lose 20 LBS of Fat in 30 Days without Exercise. I was intrigued as I really would like to try out his methods. Here is the whole concept as described by Tim.

"Fat Loss via Better Science and Simplicity

It is possible to lose 20 lbs. of bodyfat in 30 days by optimizing any of three factors: exercise, diet, or drug/supplement regimen. I’ve seen the elite implementation of all three in working with professional athletes. In this post, we’ll explore what I refer to as the “slow-carb diet”.

In the last six weeks, I have cut from about 180 lbs. to 165 lbs., while adding about 10 lbs. of muscle, which means I’ve lost about 25 lbs. of fat. This is the only diet besides the rather extreme Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD) that has produced veins across my abdomen, which is the last place I lose fat (damn you, Scandinavian genetics). Here are the four simple rules I followed…

Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates

Avoid any carbohydrate that is — or can be — white. The following foods are thus prohibited, except for within 1.5 hours of finishing a resistance-training workout of at least 20 minutes in length: bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating anything white, you’ll be safe.

Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again

The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the three following groups:

Proteins:
Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork

Legumes:
Lentils
Black beans
Pinto beans

Vegetables:
Spinach
Asparagus
Peas
Mixed vegetables

Eat as much as you like of the above food items. Just remember: keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of french fries or potatoes. Surprisingly, I have found Mexican food, swapping out rice for vegetables, to be one of the cuisines most conducive to the “slow carb” diet.

Most people who go on “low” carbohydrate diets complain of low energy and quit, not because such diets can’t work, but because they consume insufficient calories. A 1/2 cup of rice is 300 calories, whereas a 1/2 cup of spinach is 15 calories! Vegetables are not calorically dense, so it is critical that you add legumes for caloric load.

Some athletes eat 6-8x per day to break up caloric load and avoid fat gain. I think this is ridiculously inconvenient. I eat 4x per day:

10am – breakfast
1pm – lunch
5pm – smaller second lunch
7:30-9pm – sports training
10pm – dinner
12am – glass of wine and Discovery Channel before bed

Here are some of my meals that recur again and again:


Scrambled Eggology pourable egg whites with one whole egg, black beans, and microwaved mixed vegetables

Grass-fed organic beef, pinto beans, mixed vegetables, and extra guacamole (Mexican restaurant)

Grass-fed organic beef (from Trader Joe’s), lentils, and mixed vegetables

Post-workout pizza with extra chicken, cilantro, pineapple, garlic, sundried tomotoes, bell peppers, and red onions

Rule #3: Don’t drink calories

Drink massive quantities of water and as much unsweetened iced tea, tea, diet sodas, coffee (without white cream), or other no-calorie/low-calorie beverages as you like. Do not drink milk, normal soft drinks, or fruit juice. I’m a wine fanatic and have at least one glass of wine each evening, which I believe actually aids sports recovery and fat-loss. Recent research into resveratrol supports this.

Rule #4: Take one day off per week

I recommend Saturdays as your “Dieters Gone Wild” day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. I make myself a little sick and don’t want to look at any of it for the rest of the week. Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function, etc.) doesn’t downregulate from extended caloric restriction. That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat. Welcome to Utopia.

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I have stuck to this diet for one week now. I got started on Monday weighing in at 200 LBS on my 6'1" frame. I basically have ate the same food over and over again.

Breakfast
Sausage Patties (Protein)
Water (Hydration)

Lunch:
Grain Fed Hamburger, Steak, Poultry or Pork
Black Beans or Pinto Beans
Baby Spinach Salad

Dinner:
Repeat above with some variations maybe add Peas or mixed vegetables.

If eating out during the week I eat at a Mexican Restaurant. Carne Asada is a plus, with beans, veggies and extra guacamole.

Supplements:
8,000 IU's of Vitamin D3
1 Mens Multi Vitamin (Equate Brand)

Before Bed:
500 MG's of Time Released Niacin (Slo Niacin Brand)
200 MCG's of Niacin Based Chromium (Chromemate Brand)
1 to 2 glasses of Red Wine. (Resveratrol Google its benefits)

Today is my first cheat day. This is whatever you want to eat and I think this will probably make me sick to the point where my body won't get down regulated to the lowered caloric intake I have had all week long.

1. Marcos BBQ Chicken PIzza (Medium)
2. Chick-Fil-A Chicken Biscuit, Hashbrowns, and Unsweet Tea. Cinnamon Bun as a side item.
3. M&M's Pretzel (1 Serving)
4. Reeses Peanut Butter Giant Bar (1 Serving)
5. Ben and Jerry's Snickerdoodle Cookie Ice Cream (1 Serving)
6. Organic Blue Tortilla Chips
7. Mexican Cheese Dip
8. Chicken Fingers (Deep Fried) Rolled in homemade Buffalo Garlic Sauce.

Having all this food after eating clean and Slow Carb all week, really makes you feel different. So far I am trying to regain my composure. I am hoping this helps my thyroid to not get caught up in the low calories I have been injesting all week and rather help me lose more weight (according to Tim).

Jason

Okay folks do I really have to emphasize that the TNT Diet by Mens Health really works. So I woke up this morning and weighed in at 215 LBS. I am down 10 LBS in two weeks. Woo Hoo.

Yo so I woke up this morning and I weighed in at 220 LBS. I have dropped 5 LBS since Saturday. I am really stoked and I am trying to let my body adapt to the diet change before starting into the workout on Monday.

My Introduction

Hey my name is Jason and I have just started the TNT Diet Plan from Mens Health. I am currently on Day 5 of Plan A. I thought I would journal my way to fitness and weight loss.

A little about me. I am 33 I am 6'1". I weighed in at 225 LBS on Saturday April 10th, 2010. I have done the Low Carb Diet/Lifestyle once before in 2007. I had hit a low spot in my life and I decided it was time for me to lose weight and get back into shape. So I found TNT and it worked for me. I went from at the time weighing 230 LBS in late October 2007 to weighing 182 LBS by the following Summer. It was a long journey and I felt great about losing all of that weight.

A couple of things happened after that. I got a new job, moved to new area and I met a girl I ended up dating for a little over a year. A couple of other things happened. I started to neglect my eating habits. I frequently would end a shift which was then night shift and ended at 7 AM. I would stop off at a Krispy Kreme and scarf down 4 or 5 doughnuts, also sometimes I would go to Hardees or McDonalds and eat breakfast. I don't know why I did this. but I started to sabotage all of my hard work. So flash forward, my new job didn't go as well as I had hoped. I am currently working out my last days at my current job.

So Saturday I decided it was time to do it again and lose some weight. My goal is to get down to 180 LBS again.

Here is my sample menu for a day:

Breakfast:

3 Strips of Bacon

Cheddar Cheese

Spring Water

Lunch:

Hamburger Patty

Cheddar Cheese

2 Strips of Bacon

Spinach

Ranch Dressing

Cheddar Cheese

Spring Water

Dinner:

Ribeye Steak

Spinach

Ranch Dressing

Cheddar Cheese

Steamed Green Beans

Spring Water

So yes it looks like I am eating a bunch of Fat and you would be correct. Fat helps you feel full, it makes it easy to stick to the plan, I couldn't believe this myself after finding out last time that I could actually lose weight doing this.

So here is my goal. I will blog at least 3 times a week. I will put in sample recipes and let you know my progress. I will also weigh in once per week on Saturday. This my Low Carb lifestyle and I plan on sticking to it.

Jason