The 4-Hour Body

Well. I don't think that any studies or facts I place here would change your mind. You believe what you believe and nothing will change that. I understand.

I wish you luck and no matter the how..as long as it is healthy and long lasting..I wish you all the weight loss you need.
 
vespergirl said:
...before I was burning an average of 1500 calories a week running...
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How do you know that? I've been wondering if there's a way to calculate my calories burned during a run, but because it depends on speed, effort, and the efficiency of my body to maintain aerobic activity (unless I pass into anaerobic), I just can't figure there's any reliable way to even guess at how many calories I would burn... not to mention the afterburn :)
 
Toddless said:
How do you know that? I've been wondering if there's a way to calculate my calories burned during a run, but because it depends on speed, effort, and the efficiency of my body to maintain aerobic activity (unless I pass into anaerobic), I just can't figure there's any reliable way to even guess at how many calories I would burn... not to mention the afterburn :)
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Hi Toddless, I was basing the calories that I was burning on the treadmill calculator - it asks my age, weight, etc., and then calculates based on how fast I'm running & the incline. I was burning about 300 cal per run according to that.

Here is my update for day 6 on the diet.

I am now 162, down from 167 on Monday, so a 5 pound loss this week, and 2.5 inches lost total from my body (waist, hips & thighs combined). I am enjoying my cheat day today eating out with my family, but it's funny, because I thought I would be dying for a piece of cheese but I wasn't. We'll see if I gain any back tomorrow after the cheat day is over.

I will post again in a couple of days ... only 14 pounds left to my goal!
 
Hate to say it, but the calculators on treadmills and the likes are notoriously incorrect, so I'd be careful with basing calories burned solely on those.
 
I agree with people (again) saying that all of the information in this book is on the web, available here, etc. for free. That is not an argument. But plenty of things in life are that way. Marriage for example. We all know how to have a good marriage right? Treat your sig. other the way you want to be treated, respect, etc. There is countless blogs/ sites dedicated to marriage, JUST like weight-loss. But marriages still fail, just like diets. Sometimes couples need a spark, an impetus to re-kindle the marriage, dare I say, maybe even something "gimicky" at times (couples retreat, etc.)...

Books like this provide that same thing for people trying to lose weight. Everyone knows that too many calories are bad, so why are so many people obese? Because it's easy to become complascent with things. If you read a book and think... "that's pretty cool", or "I can get down with that method of weight loss" then it's good for that person making the choice...

Point is (I know it's lost :)..): These books are good for the weight-loss community as a whole. I read the small preview on Amazon, and he is smart (the author) about how he phrased the material. Sometimes, things just need to be spun in the right direction to connect with a lot of people, and if people have been struggling for a long time, and not succeeding with weight-loss, than it's time for contrary action... time to do something different.
 
Toddless said:
How do you know that? I've been wondering if there's a way to calculate my calories burned during a run, but because it depends on speed, effort, and the efficiency of my body to maintain aerobic activity (unless I pass into anaerobic), I just can't figure there's any reliable way to even guess at how many calories I would burn... not to mention the afterburn :)
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The most accurate is supposedly to go by heart rate - most of the treadmills tend to overestimate your calories. You can find online heart rate to calories burned calculators, and they're supposed to be pretty accurate.

The BodyBugg/BioMediaFit devices are also supposed to be within 5% of your actual calories burned, but they're not el cheapo :D
 
Also - as a comment on the thread in general. I actually think the debate is more than pointless, there's some good information going around, we're discussing things, and as the author himself says in the book, you should inspect what he says because parts of it may be wrong, and this way you learn something.

So despite the fact that it might get a bit heated at times, I think this is a good discussion whether or not you want to help fun Tim's self-experimentation :D
 
Jeanette401 said:
The most accurate is supposedly to go by heart rate - most of the treadmills tend to overestimate your calories. You can find online heart rate to calories burned calculators, and they're supposed to be pretty accurate.

The BodyBugg/BioMediaFit devices are also supposed to be within 5% of your actual calories burned, but they're not el cheapo :D
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You are correct. My wife has a Polar Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) from Sport's Authority, and I have a Timex HRM... both seem to be fairly accurate (I keep track of BMR + Calories burned as well as consumed and the net differential comes within a reasonable distance to the amount of weight that I actually lost.

That being said, if you input all of the accurate information into the treadmill (the newer ones) or the newer elliptical, I have found that it's reasonable close. For example: I was on a newer Life Fitness treadmill for over an hour. I checked my Timex against the Life Fitness, and it was as follows: Timex - 788 calories. Life Fitness - 823 calories.
That is not too bad all things considered. I am 170 pounds or so right now, and I always input 5 pounds less on the machines.

I agree, an HRM is the best way to go if you can drop $129 bucks or so (don't buy a cheap one), but if you don't have the $$ lying around, the newer machines are okay too!
 
Jeanette401 said:
Also - as a comment on the thread in general. I actually think the debate is more than pointless, there's some good information going around, we're discussing things, and as the author himself says in the book, you should inspect what he says because parts of it may be wrong, and this way you learn something.

So despite the fact that it might get a bit heated at times, I think this is a good discussion whether or not you want to help fun Tim's self-experimentation :D
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Wait, the author of the book informs his readers to research his information because he might be incorrect?

HAHAHAHA, what? That's absurd.
 
Melancholy said:
Point is (I know it's lost :)..): These books are good for the weight-loss community as a whole.
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I won't quote the whole thing and take up a bunch of space, but I couldn't agree with this more.

I also wanted to comment on the author's saying to do your own research because he might not be right. It would be something a humble guy that's not out to get everyone's money would say... or a guy that knows that and says it to make himself look humble when he really is out to get everyone's money...
Either way, that's precisely why I brought it up here - I wanted to see what people's thoughts were.
 
Oh..so it's not a guide so much as 'suggested ideas that may or may not work'

So it's not being sold as a weight loss guide?


QUOTE: 'An uncommon GUIDE to rappid fat-loss, incredible sex, and becoming superhuman'


Let's see what else

* How to prevent fat gain while bingeing (X-mas, holidays, weekends)
* How to increase fat-loss 300% with a few bags of ice
* How Tim gained 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days, without steroids, and in four hours of total gym time
* How to sleep 2 hours per day and feel fully rested
* How to produce 15-minute female orgasms
* How to triple testosterone and double sperm count
* How to go from running 5 kilometers to 50 kilometers in 12 weeks
* How to reverse "permanent" injuries
* How to add 150+ pounds to your lifts in 6 months


.....yeah. I understand some of the info is good. I just disagree greatly in the presentation.
 
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No, JERICHO, it's just saying that what he's recommending is not absolute. It takes the pseudo-religious blind faith out of the equation and encourages people to test his methods.
 
I just wanted to check in with my results (I started the diet last Monday). I had an insane cheat day on Saturday - it was actually kind of stupid, because I wasn't even really craving bread/sugar/dairy anymore but I thought I should eat it since it was cheat day & it was my only chance. I had french toast with syrup for breakfast, a fried chicken sandwich for lunch, a burger and mashed potatoes for dinner, and also a dairy queen blizzard. I literally felt like puking after I ate the blizzard - SO sugary.

Sunday morning I was up to 164, so regained two pounds from the cheat day. But, the book said that might happen, so I was OK with it. I felt so gross & bloated after the bacchanalia on Saturday that I ate super-clean on Sunday. After doing some research, I really think that I probably am lactose intolerant & just never realized it before ...

Anyway, this morning I am back to 162 like I was on Saturday (before the cheat meals) so that still tallies 5 pounds lost since last Monday. I also lost more inches on my measurements.

Last Monday my measurements were:

Bust: 40
Waist: 32
Hips: 42
Thighs: 23

This morning my measurements were:

Bust: 39
Waist: 30.5
Hips: 41
Thighs: 22

So, I'm happy with the results so far. However, next Saturday, I am definitely not going to go whole-hog with the cheat day again. It really did a number on my digestive system. Probably I'll do one cheat meal & maybe a cookie or something. I'll check in again on Saturday ...
 
Which is great! That is exactly what you can do anyways. You can eat anything you want, just in moderation. You saw that by overdoing your 'cheat' day that it costed you a little. You don't need the book to tell you that. All these things about you can't eat this or can't eat that is false. You can have anything..in moderation.

I know you will do well, just keep up the good spirits.
 
I had posted something similar in another thread, but two weeks in a row now I've skipped dinner on my cheat days because I go all out in the morning. It's funny, but I'm not sure I actually took in any extra calories skipping dinner like that, which (again, funny) I think could actually hinder my weight loss.

Like I complained to my gf, "I haven't eaten enough today. If I skip dinner, I'm not going to lose any weight!" This, after a donut, croissant, cupcake, mocha latte, double cheeseburger, fries, and soda.
 
Jericho said:
You can have anything..in moderation.
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It's great to use the term "moderation", but who defines it? Who defines "excess"? Who defines "not enough"? Someone on the slow-carb diet might argue that most people eat fruit, bread, pasta, and rice in excess. They probably eat not enough of vegetables, meats and fats. In other words, your "moderation" is my "excess".

...Maybe I'm just sick of hearing it all the time.
 
Well, maybe in a way many of us are as sick of hearing 'eat as much as you want, just don't do X' as you are of the 'moderation' ;) And I think they both have their pitfalls.

On the moderation side, what is moderation? Obviously if you're not losing weight, then it's not moderation! ... but I'm of the opinion that if you can't actually predict what a term like that is in advance it's useful. It would definitely not make it into a software requirement spec :p That's why my definition of moderation is 'not so much that I can't stay under my calorie, protein & fiber goals for the day!'

On the 'eat as much as you want, but...' I think there's a real risk. Low fat dieting did work, before the days of Snackwells and freely available high calorie density, low fat foods. I'll use my current gluten free experiment as another example. Right now it works to control calories. I recognize several times where I'm 'skipping' hundreds or more calories a day because I'm eating what I would have before, minus the wheat containing item. I don't order extra eggs because I skip the toast, I didn't get extra meat at Ghengis Grill because I didn't add the honey soy sauce I usually go for... In short, a 'free' deficit while eating mostly the way I want. Except... not only would it be easy to add extras to make up for the breads etc. but there are some delicious gluten free options out there. I can snack on high calorie cheese, I can have some awesome gluten free waffles, I can... in short, while eating as much as I want, suddenly end up eating more and more as the calorie dense food makes it's way back in.

Which is a long and rambling way of explaining why in general my rule is 'eat less than 1800 calories a day, plenty of protein and fiber, and try to eat less processed stuff' rather than going back to my meat and cheese Atkins days, where I could in fact eat a lb of cheese in a day - I'm pretty sure those days did not contribute to my weight loss :D
 
I am going to fall-back to my addiction analogy (sorry San) :)... because I really believe it has some relevance.

I hear all the time from people that attend 12-step programs, "It's a simple program for non-simple people"... and that is the truth about many things that work.

Addicts can't just quit on their own about 95% of the time, they really do need help. And this help comes in the form of guidance, advice, tricks, counseling... it comes from many things. Same thing with overweight people. Many are caught in the cycle of obese --> weight loss --->obese, just like drug addiction, a cycle.

Again, addicts know they need to simply stop, just give it up, but most cannot. Once they join this 12-step system, many start to realize it's not as hard as it seems. However, this realization didn't come from introspection, it came from a book written by Bill W, co-founder of AA. He gave people a mechanized system, with some wiggle room and suddenly addicts everywhere were seeing the light, and getting clean.

Now, I personally don't really like the 12-step system, but it's really hard to argue with achievement. I don't go around bad-mouthing the 12 steps, because lives have been changed by a book that someone wrote.

Like addiction, Obesity is prevalent throughout the world, and anything, literally anything that helps someone overcome the burden of being overweight should be celebrated, and dissected to determine what makes it work. Just because we don't like something, doesn't mean that the object of our dislike is a bad thing.
 
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