I am a 75-year-old, covid-haired woman who has been carrying around 25 pounds (35 if I were being honest) of extra baggage most of my adult life. Today is the day I change … with the help from one of the most unlikely sources, prompted by a horrific year that we just tossed into the dustbin, and a complete turnaround on the way I have looked at many things.
My guide: Tim Ferriss came into my awareness shortly after his mega-hit The 4-hour Workweek stormed the best-seller lists. I dismissed it as a gimmick and refused to open it even as it stayed on the best-seller list for four years.
I’ve always thought of myself as open minded; I may need to challenge that belief
The prompt: A pandemic that turned the world upside down and sparked a personal commitment to sucking all the juice from life while I could. Result: a shift to a different life-style, closer to nature, with more time for walking, reading, and contemplating. Enter podcasts … many podcasts … with a favorite turning out to be Tim Ferriss’s.
The turnaround: I tiptoed into Ferriss’s podcast, determined not to like his macho self, writing him off as just another egotistical, materialistic marketing wonder, all fluff, no substance. One podcast led to another … and they are LONG, sometimes close to 2-hours … and, gradually, I came to respect Tim’s meticulous research, his ability to draw out amazing stories and practices from fascinating people. Soon, I became a devoted fan … of the podcast, but not his books.
When the new year tiptoed in, I wondered what I would make of it. Before I even had a chance to mull over the possibilities, I was startled to find myself on my Kindle, downloading Tim Ferriss’s The 4-hour Body book. The ground had been plowed as I listened to a podcast on my way home the second day of the new year. Podcaster Guy Raz was interviewing Tim Ferriss and it was the first time I had heard his story and my predispositions began to shift.
Listen here:
How I Built This — Key Lessons, Critical Decisions,
and Reinvention for Fun and Profit (#489)
I was only going to read the free sample of The 4-hour Body, but wound up accidentally ordering the book (something I have never done before). Thinking I’d reach the end of the sample and then make a decision about whether I was going to do this thing that I had failed at so repeatedly over the past several decades, I just kept reading.
I was 95% committed before I realized I had made an ordering error. I could have told amazon that I had ordered it accidentally. But, I didn’t. I was in. I wanted to know if I could follow his process and succeed in a part of my life that was littered with failure.
So here I am. I'm not about to share one of those revealing, “before" pictures although I did take a couple. Vomit. I am going to use this space as my accountability partner.
Tim’s process (we’re now on a first-name basis in my mind) starts here:
“For a long time, I’ve known
that the key to getting started
down the path of being remarkable in anything
is to simply act with the intention
of being remarkable.”
— Tim Ferriss
5 Slow-Carb Recomp Rules
(Tim calls it a diet, the worst four-letter word I know.
He also introduced me to the word "recompositioning" ...
meaning losing fat and gaining muscle.)
RULE #1: AVOID “WHITE” CARBOHYDRATES.
RULE #2: EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
RULE #4: DON’T DRINK CALORIES.
RULE #4: DON’T EAT FRUIT.
RULE #5: TAKE ONE DAY OFF PER WEEK.
Details:
Eat protein, legumes and vegetables with every meal. Eat enough not to be hungry, approximately four hours apart. Meals will be repetitive and effective … but not fun. Make a list of all of your cravings and eat them on the DAY OFF**.
Eat 30 grams of protein within an hour of waking up. Take photos of everything you eat ... before you eat it.
** For those of us who have traveled the long road of weight loss, this "day off" sounds absolutely absurd! (But totally fun.)
My commitment:
- Follow Tim’s plan for four weeks. Then re-assess.
- Take photos of food before eating for at least one week.
- Blog update every Sunday.
Caveat: Make your own decision
Before posting this, I read all the 1-Star reviews on amazon. 3 said the program didn't work, 2 said chapters were missing, some didn't like Tim, and some thought it was a waste of money.
I also read many of the 5-Star reviews (there were over 3K). It's obvious his target market is young males.
I'm intrigued enough to make a four-week commitment and will give you my feedback along the way.
