The 4-Hour Body

How about this..

Let's agree that this is another way to get to the same goal. It isn't for everyone and it is up to you if you want to pay money for the information. No matter your stay, as long as you are being safe with your weight loss, we wish you well.
 
@Melancholy - Well put, but I don't think anyone is putting this down and saying it doesn't work. We're all arguing the REASON it actually does work.

Let's be clear - this method leads to a caloric deficit. I think we all agree that weight loss is about CIvCO. What we're wondering is HOW it creates that deficit, and is it healthy to sustain long term.

My thoughts on it? "Calories In" is what you eat, but "Calories Out" is SO much more than how much you MOVE.
 
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.

This is the part I enjoy myself ;) I may not particularly like the sleazy salesmanship aspect of the author, but he does have some positive points.

I think the high protein, cutting refined foods, and eating til full if not gorging (if it works for you at least!) are all good ideas. I think a lot of the justifications and details are there more for hype and salesmanship than good science. I think it's great if people get healthier because they buy the book, but that doesn't mean I have to buy-in to the entire philosophy of the book, especially since basing a diet for everyone on experiments performed with a sample size of one is... well, not good science ;) That's why I prefer Lyle McDonald and others who try to put things into context, and give options recognizing that not everyone reacts the same way to things.

I've heard that the weight loss part of the 4 Hour Body is pretty much the same as Body For Life (which I haven't read, so can't comment on) and as such isn't anything new, but the bits I've read have been well written and entertaining, so at least he's spending those 4 hours of his work week well ;)

One interesting bit is the 'fruit' controversy. I actually read an interesting article on fructose that I thought was worth sharing -

The summary is that as long as you're getting most of your fructose as fruit (although sucrose, aka table sugar, is half fructose, half glucose) it will be hard for you to eat enough that it matters. Also, if you're in a calorie deficit, it probably doesn't matter. However, if you're in a caloric surplus and you're slamming back sodas or mixing fruit juice in your smoothies or whatever, then if the liver is full of glycogen, the only thing the fructose can be used for is conversion into fat around the liver, which is the 'bad' fat'. If you're in a deficit, the liver glycogen will be depleted, plus you'll be burning fat. If you're getting between 60-100g / day of fructose, you also don't end up with any extra liver fat while in a surplus.

He does repeat the 'in moderation' bit, but defines moderation as between 60 and 100g a day ;)
 
@Melancholy - Well put, but I don't think anyone is putting this down and saying it doesn't work. We're all arguing the REASON it actually does work.

Let's be clear - this method leads to a caloric deficit. I think we all agree that weight loss is about CIvCO. What we're wondering is HOW it creates that deficit, and is it healthy to sustain long term.

My thoughts on it? "Calories In" is what you eat, but "Calories Out" is SO much more than how much you MOVE.

...no one said that calories out had anything to being just how much you move. Considering I've lost weight with no exercise, I'd be the first to say you don't need to
 
...no one said that calories out had anything to being just how much you move. Considering I've lost weight with no exercise, I'd be the first to say you don't need to

I get what you're saying, but I wasn't advocating exercise to lose weight. I'm saying that the 4HB gives people something to think about other than the ever-prevalent "eat less, move more".
 
I get what you're saying, but I wasn't advocating exercise to lose weight. I'm saying that the 4HB gives people something to think about other than the ever-prevalent "eat less, move more".

Well... here's my opinion. From what I've seen (and I've only read some of the book) it tends to follow along with Taubes' opinion that insulin is a major cause of obesity. However, this rather oversimplifies insulin's role in the human body. Insulin resistance is bad, and eating low/slow carb minimizes the effects of insulin resistance. Of course, exercise and weight loss also reduce insulin resistance. So there's nothing wrong with eating slow carb health wise, but the science behind it all doesn't necessarily prove out.

From what I've seen (and again, I don't actually spend all day reading medical journals) there are some known factors that influence both the calories in and the calories out parts of the equation. (And by known, I mean that studies show these effects). Protein effects both sides of the equation - it has a higher TEF and it tends to be more satiating, so you eat less. 4HB uses this fact and recommends good protein intake.

Fiber effects intake as well. I'm assuming 4HB promotes plenty of fibrous veggies?

I also don't know how much I believe this, but the author of Catching Fire - How Cooking Made Us Human cites studies that indicate that processing and cooking food actually decreases the TEF. I.e. eating a lb of raw meat would burn substantially more calories than cooked, likewise vegetables etc. Many of his arguments seemed more correlation than causation based, but it was a really interesting book. I suspect that by cutting out 'fast' carbs, 4HB is getting rid of a lot of highly processed foods, as well as fruit, the one possible exception to the 'much more calories burned if you eat it raw' rule. Juice is of course, an extra way of processing and I suspect it's also not approved except the one day cheat in 4HB.

Caffeine & Ephedra - more ephedra than caffeine, although a stack of the two is the preferred choice of many bodybuilders on a cut phase. Quashes appetite, increases bloodflow and presumably calories burned. Again, no idea of 4HB says anything about this.

Lessee... choices. This is more 'psychological' (although since it may involve hormone/chemical releases from the brain, that's a kind of hazy distinction) but there have been numerous studies that people who have more choices, eat more food. I see that one of the rules for 4HB is to eat the same thing over and over. Also, as the 'Imaginary Diet' study revealed, you become accustomed to eating something and eat less of it, regardless of actual calories consumed. (This was done by having people visualize eating M&Ms or cheese and seeing the results on consumption afterwards - imagining eating M&Ms led to fewer M&Ms being eaten than by the people who imagined eating cheese, eating 3 M&Ms or feeding 30 quarters into a washing machine. Or putting 30 M&Ms in a bowl but not eating them). This is probably something to do with getting a variety of nutrients as they become available. Back on the diet, this probably also explains why things like 'red wine only' or other rules would be in there to arbitrarily restrict food choices further.

Visibility - seeing food, or having food on larger plates, larger portions etc. leads to eating more. Not sure if 4HB has anything on smaller portions or smaller plates, or on not leaving snacks around. Of course, the easiest snacks tend to be carby or fruits, both of which are minimized on the diet. And I can say after 5 years on Atkins that one can get tired of beef jerky as a snack.

I may be forgetting something, but these are the majors that I can think of - the author obviously got some of the big ones in there.

Don't get me wrong, this is probably one of the better 'fad' diets out there, but most people looking at books like this are (IMO) looking more for explanations of why they're fat that take the blame away, and remove the 'slothful and lazy' connotations of being obese rather than pure science.

He seems to deliver this in an entertaining fashion, makes an attempt to be plausible, and makes the disclaimer that these are his guesses rather than scientific fact. Again, not sure it'd be enough to get me to buy the book (I'd probably go get Pollan's first if I were looking for something in that genre) but much like many of the paleo diets it seems to have some solid suggestions with some questionable rationale and some seemingly arbitrary restrictions.
 
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@Jeanette - Now that's a response! Very well put and cohesive! Much applause.

In case you or anyone else is wondering:
-4HB promotes fiber mostly through beans/lentils, recommending a serving with each meal.
-Juice is not approved except on cheat day.
-4HB doesn't make any mention of eating less, or on smaller plates.

Oh, and I'd read Pollan first too.
 
I see that one of the rules for 4HB is to eat the same thing over and over. Also, as the 'Imaginary Diet' study revealed, you become accustomed to eating something and eat less of it, regardless of actual calories consumed.


This is very interesting to me (the science behind this)... because I employ the South Beach Diet, but have my own nuances that I do. One of them being eating the same thing over and over. There are basically about 12 meals that I cook ALL the time. I eat the same omelette every morning for breakfast, and have virtually everyday for the last several months... I LOVE this omelette, and don't get tired or bored from eating the same thing.. I can see how others would be turned off by this though.

What is interesting to me, is the psychology behind this..After reflecting on your post, I realize that I really do eat less, especially in my salad. I started out with x amount of dressing, then started to reduce that... also cut down the amount of cheese, and have refined this same meal many times in the last few months. I now have a very healthy, few-hundred calorie and awesome tasting lunch almost everyday... hmm... interesting.
 
I don't know how to put this in any simpler terms than this...the "4 Hour Body" is not a weight loss book.

It has chapters on weight loss, in which it explains an already popular diet (the slow-carb diet.) The book gives scientific data as to why and how the diet works and goes on to give other methods of increased weight loss that work in combination with the slow-carb diet, as well as others. I understand that this is a forum and people like to give their opinions, as they should, but unless you have read the book you shouldn't comment on the validity of its contents, as you don't know that they are.

A couple points from reading posts
1) It does not suggest moderation. It suggests eating as much as you can (until you feel full) with the exclusion of certain foods.

2) It does not say to eat the same meals every day. It says to eat the same type of food for each meal every day ie. high protein and fiber and slow carb. Whether you are on a diet or not, unless you are going out to eat every meal at different restaurant, you really aren't getting much more variety in your diet than the slow-carb diet anyway.

3)The author suggests researching all of the information he provides because it is the intelligent thing to do just as he suggests researching any health and fitness or medical information you come across. Don't even follow something blindly just because someone tells you it's true. He also gives supporting evidence to all claims he makes.

4) As for it being the same information put together in a new book...to an extent. The author chose an easy-to-stick-with diet that he has found to work and promoted it. Unless you are searching specifically for all the other information, which would make no sense because you would have already had to know about it, you aren't just going to come across it. For example, the affects of thermal dieting, information on the best measurement devices for accurate reading, affects of dietary supplements, or the many non-diet related subjects the book covers like marathon training, female orgasms, or increased healing of injuries.

Sorry if that came off as a bit of a rant. Haha.
 
*sigh*

I'm glad you like the book perillomma. People are debating it so please don't tell people they shouldn't comment on the book (if they read it or not). It's an open and public forum.
 
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*sigh*

I'm glad you like the book perillomma. People are debating it so please don't tell people they shouldn't comment on the book (if they read it or not). It's an open and public forum.

I do like the book but that is beside the point. I would make the same statement either way. My point was that people aren't debating the book, they're debating a chapter of the book and summing up the rest. And I didn't say people shouldn't comment on the book, I said people shouldn't comment on the contents of the book if they don't know what it contains. And part of being an open forum is having people give their opinions, mine being that people should not make ignorant statements. I would never tell anyone they couldn't say something, just that they shouldn't.

I don't want to come off like the type of person that comes on a forum and just argues with people, that's not what I'm trying to do. Part of discussion is knowing what you're talking about. So, I figured I'd at least throw it out there what the book actually has in it, instead of people making assumptions. People are here to help accomplish their weight loss goals and it only hinders those goals to give them false information or opinions with no basis.
 
(blah blah blah)...

2) It does not say to eat the same meals every day. It says to eat the same type of food for each meal every day ie. high protein and fiber and slow carb.

(blah blah blah)

First of all, you are COMPLETELY wrong here... I am guessing that YOU didn't read the chapter on weight loss.

He literally says "eat the same few meals over and over again"... and goes so far as to give an example, or something he eats almost every day.

The mistake you made, was not catching up on the whole thread.. you came to the last page at the time, and read a few posts. If you want to put people on blast, you need to catch up on what is going on, or you end up coming "off like the type of person that comes on a forum and just argues with people" as you put it...
 
My thoughts on this diet...

Ok, I just read through the 11 pages of comments so far, and it seems to me like a lot of people (especially you Jericho) are ripping on this book for ideas OTHER than the weight-loss part of it. I read this book, and I'd like to comment on some of these other issues...

Granted, the diet portion of the book, which only comprises about 2 chapters of the total book, is basically a modified low-glycemic index diet, or a slow-carb diet, but he adds his own little twists to it.

I'm going to give a little bit of my experience so far (less than 3 weeks in following this "diet", for the most part)... I have been in multiple motorcycle accidents, and have broken both ankles, and have residual pain and weakness as a result. I used to run on a treadmill for an hour a night years ago, but now, walking is painful. Following this diet, the main thing that I cut out is the "white foods" which does NOT actually mean EVERYTHING white, but means potatoes, flour, rice, and sugar... and any version of these foods that CAN be white (no brown rice, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, etc.) I'm sure you get the idea. Anyways, I've cut these things out, but for the people who want to talk about calories in vs calories out, keep this in mind... I'm eating at LEAST twice as much as before, and often forcing myself to eat, and I've still lost almost 9 pounds in about 3 weeks. I usually don't eat much at all, and often only eat 1, maybe 2 meals a day, and I never ate breakfast. Now, I'm eating a BIG breakfast within an hour of waking up, and eating 3 or 4 smaller meals a day. My "cheat day" eat week is NOT about gorging myself with as much as I can possibly eat, in fact, I eat the same way as the rest of the week, but I actually have breads, potatoes, rice, and pasta. I also put sugar in my coffee, drink sugary soda, eat candy, and have some ice cream for dessert.

Maybe it's different because I'm a chef, and I can actually make the meals I prepare taste better than someone who doesn't know how to cook, but it's not that hard.

I haven't started to add/change any exercise program yet, beyond the normal daily activity, but continuing with the EXACT same level of exercise as I had before I started this program, and eating a lot more than I did before, I'm actually losing weight now. Take that as you want to, but I'm taking in more calories now that I was before, doing no additional exercises, and now I'm losing weight.

Now some of the other points that some of you are complaining about, but nobody seems to really be touching...

One of the first things I want to touch on is the "rule" people keep mentioning that says you HAVE to eat the exact same meals every day for 6 days a week. This is NOT TRUE. He makes mention that to make it EASIER for yourself, find a few meals that you really like, and repeat those meals very often during the week so that you don't have to stop and think about what you actually want to eat. If you have 6 meals that you REALLY like, it's a whole lot easier to just pick one of those 6 off the top of your head, or cook it in bulk so that you have 3 or 4 portions of it, and can just reheat it, instead of having to cook every single meal every time you eat. I'm doing something similar, for breakfast, I have a few scrambled eggs with salsa, green beans, and some sort of beans beans. I don't ever have to think about what I'm going to have for breakfast, I just grab a pan, scrambled some eggs, and heat up some beans and veggies... no thought required. I don't like having to shave every day either, but it's something that I put up with.

"Don't drink calories"
This isn't about NOT drinking anything, it's about cutting out the extra calories that you DON'T need. Have you ever read about how many calories are in some of these large Starbucks drinks that some people consume 2 or 3 of every day? Some of these drinks have a few HUNDRED calories each. Stop drinking sugary sodas that have hundreds of calories in them. Stop drinking sweet tea with the added sugar. Cut back on drinking so much alcohol with empty calories in it.

From one of Jericho's posts, he comments on: (my comments will be in italics under your points)

* How to prevent fat gain while bingeing (X-mas, holidays, weekends)
he references certain types of exercises which you can do, before eating, that will increase your body's ability to absorb the protein quicker, and speed up the way your body processes the bad fats. He also mentions using coffee and grapefruit juice (there's apparently a chemical in grapefruit juice that lengthens the effect of caffeine) to help reduce the amount of time your body tries to digest the food while you're eating the bad fats. Ally is a medication people pay for that do the exact same thing, so if you don't want looser bowel movements, just choose not to do that.

* How to increase fat-loss 300% with a few bags of ice
He references studies that show your body having a different reaction to the cold. He talks about how exposure to the cold can cause your body to react a different way, and create some enzymes and such that help increase your body's ability to burn fat. Look at it this way... when you're cold, you shiver, and that takes muscles to do, so your body's shivering is going to burn extra calories anyway.

* How Tim gained 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days, without steroids, and in four hours of total gym time
This is nothing new. I've read about exercise programs that talk about high-intensity / low reps, and static contraction, and these are basically what he's talking about. If you only work out your muscles to a degree that the existing muscles get a little bit of a workout, then that's all you're doing. However, if you press your limits to the point where your body is required to build NEW muscles to keep up (by doing fewer reps, but pushing yourself to a failure rep) then you WILL build muscle faster.) He references the Colorado Experiment (Google it) which is backed up on body building forums as being a high-intensity workout, and body building forums all agree that when you use this kind of workout, you don't need nearly as much time or reps. He also references MULTIPLE professional exercise coaches, many of whom are actually used by professional sports teams because of the results they get.

* How to sleep 2 hours per day and feel fully rested
This is called polyphasic sleep. It's been around for hundreds of years. Have you ever heard about how Thomas Edison only slept a few hours a day? This is how he did it. Some military pilots will use a polyphasic system also to allow them to be more alert for night-time flights. You don't HAVE to only sleep 2 hours per day, I've actually studied this myself, and 2 hours per day is an extreme level to take it to. Most people who recommend polyphasic sleep patterns actually recommend using a 4-6 hours of sleep per day system. One of the easiest ways to do this is to take a 1 hour nap during the day, and sleep 2-3 hours less at night. If you do this alone, you've already gained 1-2 hours in your day. Personally, I only sleep 4-5 hour per day, and I function just fine. Sometimes, my body only needs 3 hours of sleep at night, and I wake on my own, and can't go back to sleep if I even try.

* How to produce 15-minute female orgasms
This part of the book is only repeating other people's ideas (other people who actually teach classes on this idea) that the author has tried, and found to work. It has nothing to do with the diet, so if you're going to pick on stuff like this, and not just the diet, now you're attacking the author himself, and not the actual diet.

* How to triple testosterone and double sperm count
Doubling the sperm count is about the fact that exposure to cell phone radiation (among other types of radiation that we're all being exposed to now) can cause men to have a lower sperm count. He references other studies, and backs this up with his own personal experiment of getting a sperm count, and then going back later for another one, with the major change being NOT keeping his cell phone in his pocket, less than 1 foot away from his testicles, and as a result, his sperm count was higher. As far as the testosterone, he talks about how the body produces it, and how the quick fixes that most doctors prescribe don't actually fix the cause of low testosterone, they just put a bandage over the fact that it's low. He talks about things you can do to get your body to go through the correct process to create testosterone naturally.

* How to go from running 5 kilometers to 50 kilometers in 12 weeks
This portion of the book is referenced with actual training programs of professional sports trainers. He talks about how the famous Kenyan distance runners don't actually practice by running a marathon every day, they practice by doing shorter, high intensity exercises. Which, again, he referenced earlier in the part about getting your body to build muscle faster. He also outlines the program he used, which was administered by a professional sports trainer who works with professional athletes.

* How to reverse "permanent" injuries
This section was kind of stupid, it's basically how stretching can relieve pain.

* How to add 150+ pounds to your lifts in 6 months
This section, AGAIN, talks about ultra-high-intensity workouts, and he talks, AGAIN, about training with professional trainers who are used by multiple professional sports teams, who have also been professional weight lifters, power lifters, and body builders in the past. This section, AGAIN, has merit, and the information is backed up on MULTIPLE weight lifting websites and training programs.
 
I haven't started to add/change any exercise program yet, beyond the normal daily activity, but continuing with the EXACT same level of exercise as I had before I started this program, and eating a lot more than I did before, I'm actually losing weight now. Take that as you want to, but I'm taking in more calories now that I was before, doing no additional exercises, and now I'm losing weight.

Scientifically impossible. What is more likely is you might be eating more but taking in less calories. The core science is calories in vs calories out. Unless you are an alien or something, that is the proven science.



Congrats on your weight loss and welcome to the forum. Would you like to introduce yourself in the newcomer thread or maybe start a web diary in the forums? Everyone is welcome to become a member of the community.

I'd love to see all these new members who has only posted in this thread to join the rest of the community.
 
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Scientifically impossible. What is more likely is you might be eating more but taking in less calories. The core science is calories in vs calories out. Unless you are an alien or something, that is the proven science.

Not scientifically impossible. You assume that because he hasn't changed anything but his eating that he must be affecting the "calories in" part of the equation. What we should all look at more closely is how his diet might be affecting the "calories out" part of the equation.

I've been posting recently that "calories out" is not solely about movement and it can be affected by your diet. This is exactly what I'm talking about. If you eat the right things, you can actually burn more calories throughout the day. In this case, it sounds like he's upped both his "calories in" AND "calories out". Is it really so unreasonable to think that?
 
Not according to his statement.

His claim is he is eating more calories and not adjusting the out as far as physical. Now tell me this..

You think the minor changes of non-exercise related 'out' can add up enough to make a difference as far as his statement? I say no. 3500 calories a week less total. He upped his calories so it is even more than that.

it might equal a pound over the course of maybe a month.

...look. If you feel this book is good and will help you, great and wonderful.
 
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Jericho... You're assuming a couple of things (incorrectly, I might add)...

You're assuming that fecal matter is devoid of calories. Is it possible that my fecal matter contains undigested calories? Yes

You're assuming that my body is using the same amount of energy to digest the very different diet that I'm currently on, as opposed to the previous diet in which I consumed less meals, and less food by volume. Is it possible that my body is using more calories to digest a greater amount of food more frequently? Yes.

You're assuming that my body is burning the same types of energy and having the same reactions to the very different diet that I'm currently on. If you would have done any homework yourself, you'd know that's part of the main cornerstone of a low-glycemic index diet (of which this is extremely similar.) Is it possible that my body is burning more calories directly for energy instead of storing them as fat? Yes.

If you want to talk about calories in vs out being a gospel truth, how do you explain the Atkins diet? I've known people on that diet who eat double or triple their normal calorie intake, and they still manage to lose weight. But I guess they must ALL be medical anomalies since it's IMPOSSIBLE to lose weight while consuming more calories than you're burning.

I'm not raving about the book as a whole, or taking his diet plan as a gospel truth, I'm just trying to give some responses to some of the other points other people have been complaining about concerning this book. So far though, the diet suggestions are working for me.
 
So far though, the diet suggestions are working for me.

Then feel free on continuing it. I wish you well. I disagree with you on many of your points but what I say doesn't mean anything if what you are doing works for you. As I suggested, how about posting an introduction for yourself in the Newcomer thread or start a weight loss diary? It would be nice if one of the 'new members' showing up to defend this book would become part of the community

But I will continue to say the CORE is calories in vs calories out. All of your examples alters one side or the other of the equation (I guess you are using the bathroom for your use of fecal matter because unless you are, then were you not using the bathroom before thus not actually altering the equation?)
 
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