As being the very odd, homer fan for Tim Ferriss that I am, I finally took to reading the four hour body. I do not usually judge a book by its cover, but for some time I have been, and this is why its taken so long to read it. However, after getting through the section on weight loss, I have to say I am very interested, and have begun some of my own human guinea pig experiments, that Tim warns in his book not to do without the supervision of a doctor. Well, I do not have supervision, but I know a few doctors, so let’s start implementing somethings and see what happens.
Through experimentation, Time found that exposing the body to cold, is more productive than exposing it to hot, in terms of raising the body’s BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, or how many calories you burn per hour). He looks at several ways of doing this and found that a ten minute cold shower in the morning and and night, focusing all the cold on the areas of the neck and shoulders, were 60% as effective as, and less painful than sitting in a 20 minute ice bath. I have begun with morning cold showers the last two days, and intend to begin instituting the second tonight. This activates brown fat cells, also known as thermogenic, or fat that burns other fat.
Also, he found that cinnamon in coffee, at the rate of two total teaspoons per day, while limiting total coffee to keep water retention at a minimum, help to also raise BMR. The issue I will have until I return to the US, as it has been difficult to drink enough in Peru, the tap water is not fit for drinking and all water must be bought.
As for the slow carb diet that Tim recommends, I will start that upon my return, as it has just been too difficult to dow while in Peru. I’m sure with time and practice, it can be tweaked to work perfectly next time I travel, but right now is not the time to experiment. Just for a brief explanation, I will be eating 3-4 meals a day, not worrying about nutritional timing, a protein (no dairy whatsoever), a legume and loads of veggies (no fruit as fructose activates fat storage by spiking insulin). There is not limit to how much you can eat, and most people do not eat anywhere near enough. That is done for 6 days a week, but on the 7th day, the entire day is a cheat, eating anything, the trick is this activates weight loss by causing the body to burn in a different way. 270 seconds of rigorous activity, such as air squats or a walk are recommended within 20 minutes of finishing a meal as it activates GLUT-4 hormone. In short, this makes the body store in the muscles as glycogen to use for muscle, rather than storing and creating more body fat.
There is also a bit of tricky supplementation that I am still clearing up, in order to assist the process to decrease body fat but highly increase lean muscle, as I learn more about it. My body weight today is 76 Kilos or about 167 lbs, I will not have a body fat number until most likely Saturday.