Four Hour Body – Week…what?

So, tomorrow will be the start of my official Week 5. I haven’t posted since Week Two. I wrote a whole blog about my non-progress and semi-cheat week with a friend, but I decided that most of that really feels bad to me, so I’ve decided on this instead.

• Released 2.2 lbs since Week 2

• Became a slave to the scale

• Cheated a little most days while my friend was in town

• Discovered sugar cravings I’ve long denied

• Discovered that bread and potatoes make me congested

• Remembered how much I like structured food rules

• Decided to do fake kettle bell exercises with my dumbbell

That’s all I got this week, y’all. 

“Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?” sneers Hudson.
Vasquez, “No. Have you?”

Four hour body – week two

Here we are, two weeks into my personal experiment with the Four Hour Body (Tim Ferriss).

First off, having a plan for eating has always worked better for me. Trying to stick to the meal plan has forced me to plan ahead and prep meals – something I used to do but fell out of the habit. I manged to eat four meals every day, usually with the “early dinner” consisting of a Muscle Milk prepared protein shake. I just don’t have the time between clients to eat an actual meal.

Muscle Milk pretty much goes against everything I believe about food. It’s a box filled with chemicals, essentially. And, it’s icky.

Earlier this week (I think as I was trying to decide if it was ok to eat corn) I came to the realization that the Four Hour Body fat loss plan has no sugar in it. Which is pretty cool, especially since my recent interest in sugar. Back about ten years ago I did go off of all white sugar for a while, and I think that did make me feel better, although at the time I was very focused on losing weight and so when I didn’t see any weight loss, I stopped being so attentive.

Recently I saw a very cool video about sugar. I’ll share it with you – but it’s an hour long, so I’ll also share the short version.

So, at first I was assuming that Tim was getting some sugar in, because he admits to drinking some kind of diet soda. And there’s 3 grams of sugar in the Muscle Milk, so I was kind of counting that as fair. One day last week I went to drink my muscle milk and couldn’t get the stuff up the straw. Anyone who’s every drank this stuff knows that those attached straws are not all that great. If they get a hole, you can’t use them. Anyway, I pulled it out to check the straw and it was covered in gloppy goop. Blech. This made me think, once again, about the nastiness of Muscle Milk.

Sun Warrior

Trying to come up with another way to get in a quick shake made me wonder again about how much sugar is in diet soda. Because I have some protein powder that I really like – and by “like” I mean that it fits with my ethical principals. I like Sun Warrior natural protein powder – but dude – it doesn’t really taste good. Back when I was using it more frequently, I sometimes put in an Oreo for flavor. So, I really needed to know how much sugar is in the diet soda so that I can not go over that amount. Have I mentioned I don’t drink soda? Yeah, you probably know already that there is NO sugar in diet soda, but I was surprised by the news. And bummed out. Because Sun Warrior needs…something to be added if you want to be able to swallow it.

After some thought, I came up with a plan. I decided to get some sugar-free pudding mix to add to my shakes. Yes, well, sugar-free pudding also goes against my food morals, but you know, you gotta do what you gotta do. I am intent on following this plan through. I mean, hey, I’m eating meat, for pete’s sake. How bad could a little sugar-free pudding be?

Oh good grief.

One week in – Four Hour Body update

Well, I did it, made it through the first week of the new meal plan. Last Sunday was maybe the hardest, trying to figure out how to get all that food in and not feeling particularly creative. I managed to eat 4 times and get in the protein, too.

Monday morning I was down about a pound. Of course I realize weight fluctuates a good deal and I don’t usually weigh myself every day, but either way, just seeing that was enough to make me feel more motivated. Tuesday wasn’t too bad because I was home most of the morning. By Wednesday morning I was down 4 lbs. Wednesday, however, is usually pretty heavy as far as work goes, and due to poor planning, I was forced to drink 2 protein shakes instead of one. I was starving by the time I got home!

Yes, it goes against all of my food morals…

That was when I came up with a great idea for eating more protein. One of my son’s favorite meal is burritos and over the years, we used to make “burrito beans” at least once a week, sometimes twice. Essentially I used ground turkey (from a local farm🙂 ) and 4 cans of beans, two refried and two black/kidney beans, chili peppers, jalapenos, onions and tomatoes, which we ate over brown rice. I loved that stuff. I used to take some out for myself before adding the meat, but I did eat even the part with meat in it if there were leftovers.

Wednesday night, I made a batch, using the very lean turkey I got at Costco. It worked out to 38 grams of protein per cup! I was so excited. This means a quick meal if I’m in a hurry and a small meal for times when I’m feeling too full to eat one more thing. 🙂

Which has been one of the hardest parts – eating enough, often enough. I realized what awful habits I’ve gotten in to over the…years, maybe? I already know from experience I do better if I eat more frequently, but I have been eating maybe twice a day for months. Even when I was still in MN it often happened that I had a nice lunch after a run (no breakfast before) and then didn’t eat again till evening, 8 or 9 after getting home. Also, I gave up running this week. I was having enough trouble trying to figure out how to eat enough protein, on a schedule to try to figure out how to get my run in.

Friday morning I didn’t have to go in to work, but I was really feeling the lack of running (it really helps my mood). So I got up and drank a quick protein shake, thinking that would be better on my stomach, but halfway into my run I was nauseated enough to have to stop briefly.

It’s hard for me to eat right after getting up. I have been getting up and working out, then eating after for years. Even if I take a day off, I never get up and eat first thing. This morning I leapt out of bed and into my run so I could do both, run on an empty stomach and still get my breakfast in in the first hour. I actually woke up hungry, but when I sat down with my breakfast, I had a hard time putting it in my mouth. But I’m good, because I did get that run in, and that feels great.

Back to the week. By Friday I was down 6 lbs. Saturday was the “cheat day.” I got up and had a big, protein filled breakfast. I decided I would try to eat 4 times, even though I totally planned to eat ice cream and all that. I had fabulous pasta for lunch with fresh spinach pesto…but it didn’t taste as good as I expected it to.

That’s not my actual pasta – I forgot to take a picture!

I haven’t had pasta in a couple of months, and in general, the truth is I don’t find it all that satisfying as I used to, but I did expect to enjoy it, at least. Don’t worry, though, I DID enjoy the fresh from the dairy ice cream I had. And my popcorn. I only managed 3 meals (unless you count the popcorn/ice cream as a meal), but I did manage to get 20 grams of protein in every one.

I had 2 Oreos, too, just because, but I forgot that I really only like them when I’m having a migraine. Over the course of the week, I really only had cravings for snacks one night – I don’t remember which night, Wednesday or Thursday, I think. I was sitting staring at my dissertation and feeling particularly non-productive and was wishing for popcorn.

So, after my day off, I’m back up 3 lbs, but I’m not feeling too bad about that. Hard to feel bad after a good, fast run. I only did 30 minutes (trying to get to my breakfast quick) so I did intervals.

Those are obviously not my specs…

One last thing. I did order some of the supplements after having such great progress right away, and started taking them on Thursday. Well, I took one dose Thursday, and maybe managed two on Friday.

Two things about supplements. I have spent most of my life without taking any at all. Then I had to start because of the anemia and apparent Vitamin D3 deficiency. I started that a couple of months ago, and around the same time started taking Migravent, a supplement that is supposed to decrease migraines. So I went from taking none to taking FIVE pills every morning and three at night.

They don’t look like much, but it’s a lot for me!

Adding in the helpful supplements from Four Hour Body has, at times seemed just too much. The second thing is that I think they mess with my stomach some. I was feeling fine before I started to take them, but after I started, I think they make my stomach…something. Uncomfortable. So I don’t know how dedicated I am to taking them.

Well, that’s it. One week down. Even counting the cheat day, I’m down 4 lbs. That works for me!

4-Hour Body – And go!

This book is awesome. I love that it starts by myth-busting all the ridiculous things that the media tries to sell us. He used himself as the guinea pig – more bonus points for Tim Ferriss. He then tells us to be skeptical – I don’t think he could have said anything that would have made me love him more.

It keeps getting better though (I swear I don’t own stock in TF). Next he introduces the Minimum Effective Dose – the idea that there is no reason to do more than is necessary to get the desired result. You know I love that idea. Next, more myth-busting and a wonderful piece on A Calorie is not a Calorie, something I’m very interested in.

The next main section is all about the psychology of motivation and goal setting. Yeah. I’m done. I’m officially doing whatever this guy says.

Lucky for you, you get to follow along, if you like.

For starters, I went out and bought a bunch of protein in the form of flesh. One of the motivators TF recommends is taking a picture of whatever you eat, and posting it somewhere that other people can see it. Interestingly enough, the thing that I’m worried about with posting my pictures (because you know I don’t have any problem posting pics of food) is that there will be meat in most of my pictures.

Like all of us, I have a number of identities. Some of the ones I like the most are my “mostly” identities. I’m mostly a vegetarian – I mostly don’t eat meat – but I won’t freak out if it appears on my plate. I already feel like a bit of a fraud because recently I’ve eaten fish and meat a couple of days a week to combat the damn anemia. Who will care that there is meat in my pictures? Nobody, I guess.

While we are on identities, I also identify myself as a runner. To tell the truth, I’m a mostly runner, too. I mean, I don’t actually run. I jog. I’m not very fast, and the only way I can manage any distance at all is by using the Jeff Galloway walk-run method. I mention this because there is another part of the 4-Hour Body that talks about getting faster and yet another on stamina. I want to do all these things, but one thing at a time, no?

This could be me…someday…

On your mark….

Get set…

GO!

4-Hour Body and the Health Coach

In the midst of my dissertation disaster-extravaganza, I got a notification that a book I put on hold had arrived at the library, the 4-Hour Body.I don’t actually remember putting it on hold, but that happens from time to time. I just went and picked it up. I’ve been dissertating pretty much without doing much else for 6 days, I think, so I decided it was ok to read a few chapters of my new book before getting back into the work. I am finding it engaging, intriguing, and even funny.

He says not to read the book all at once, rather to pick a topic and read all of that, then maybe read others as you go. I started with the recommended reading for Rapid Fat Loss. He makes lots of great points, one of them being that if you measure, you’ll know better about what’s happening. I know this from first hand experience. While working with a talented personal trainer, my inches/body fat measurements were so much more telling than my weight was! He talks about a simple 5 location measurement, then adding up all the numbers for you Total Inches (TI). That way, you can keep simple track of your progress.

In the next chapter, he says, Before you go on, take at least 2 of the following 4 actions. Here are the choices he offers in my own words:

1. Take a picture of yourself (this helped me with Body For Life, too), put it somewhere you’ll see it often (he recommends the dog’s forehead)

A nice pic from 2005

2. Take a picture of everything you eat for 2 or 3 days. Use your hand in the picture for sizing. “For maximum effect, put these photos online for others to see.” Ha!! This is amusing to me because I did just that last month. My plan was to do it on a “closed blog,” as I didn’t really want everyone seeing what I ate(!) that I would invite my health coach to watch. I managed a couple of days, I think, before I gave it up. I have been using that closed blog to keep track of my migraines, too.

One of the meals I was ok with posting 🙂

3. Find someone to engage in a friendly competition with you, using the TI mentioned above (rather than weight). 4. Get a tape measure and measure, “both upper arms (mid-bicep), waist (horizontal at navel), hips (widest point between navel and legs) and both legs (mid-thigh). Total these numbers to arrive at your TI. I’m telling you again because I know you didn’t do it after the last chapter. Get off your ass and get ‘er done. It takes five minutes.” This make me laugh out loud, since I hadn’t moved from the chair since I started reading. Another of my own tips – measure from your elbow or knee or ankle how many inches up or down you are measuring (like 5 inches up from your knee) so that you measure the same place every time – something I learned from the PT).

I’d love to find someone who wants to join me on this – just a little friendly competition/motivation. I know it helps me to have someone else checking in with me, although I don’t feel very competitive in general. I’m excited about his ideas because they make sense to me.

Meanwhile, in other news, I hired a health coach. That is to start tomorrow night, and I am very excited about that too. Although I am wondering, to tell the truth, if that was a mistake. A little buyer’s remorse, maybe? I have no idea how it will go, never having done this before. I mostly believe in the premise, as I know that leaning on someone with professional know-how has helped me in many other areas of my life, even physical fitness (as with the PT) but it also feels a little scary to invest money in myself this way. Strange, isn’t it? That investing money in my health seems somehow…frivolous? Part of my goals with the health coach is, of course, weight loss, but I’m also interesting in decreasing my migraines, getting decent sleep and decreasing my depression.

From the health coach’s blog….I mean, she’s fantastic, right?

At any rate, I’ll be blogging about both as I go. Feel free to follow along…and drop me a line if you’d like to join me in some way. Who knows, I might let you in on the closed blog…if we get a bunch of people doing it, could be fun…