True Love

Soul Mates

Two year’s ago Valentine’s Day, Winnie and I celebrated our love by going to a small pastry shop for afternoon tea.  I remember our conversation like it was yesterday

Winnie: “We were really lucky to find each other.  I have never met anybody that fits me so well.”

Me: “I know, I feel the same way.”

Winnie:  “I bet we feel so comfortable with each other because we have been together in past lives, like soul mates”

Me:  “You think so?  I believe that”

Winnie:  “Yeah, and maybe in our next life we will be together again. I could even be the man and you be the woman”

Me:  “You think?”

Winnie:  “Yeah…  but, maybe you could lose some weight first.  I’m not really into fat chics”

True love… how sweet it is

The Way It Used To Be

In high school, I was a 3 sport athlete.  At 160 lbs, I could bench press 245 lbs and squat 425 lbs.  I ran 40m in 4.6s, was solid muscle, and could hit like a truck, a combination that led to being selected Academic All State in Football (but it wasn’t that cool, because I also won the Math Award… so… yeah)

As the years passed, desk jobs replaced daily sports training and my midsection expanded.  I was still in decent shape (round), biking 100+ miles a week in the years before we retired, but now I was doing it with a muffin top

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of Champions

Early retirement was great for my psyche… but with unlimited time, unlimited budget, and a love of food, it wasn’t helping my physique.  You can’t spend $1000+/month on food, and not expect some of it to stick around.  Yeah, I’m surprised too

Making Changes

A friend of ours in Seattle is a personal trainer.  He is a good looking gay gentleman and the neighbor lady calls him Adonis.  He offered to help me get a Gaudi (a gay body, get it?)  But we wanted to travel, not stay in a gym in Seattle

Another friend of ours is a trainer for Ironman competitions.  His body fat percentage must be like 3%.  He offered to give me a workout plan that I could do at home, I just had to commit to an hour a day of intense and painful exercise.  It sounded like hell

Enter Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, and The 4-Hour Chef

Years earlier, I had read The 4-Hour Workweek.  I was thinking the 9-5 for 65 thing wasn’t for me, and here was a book about this crazy guy traveling the world and doing ridiculous unconventional things.  I liked him immediately

Tim Ferriss’ ideas of mini-retirements, global living, and life on your own terms helped me see the world differently, and were a big impetus for our own developing plan for early retirement and world travel

So when I decided I was shamed into trying to drop a few pounds, I turned to another Tim Ferriss creation, The 4-Hour Body

The 4-Hour Body

Following the eating recommendations in the book, today I had a bacon cheeseburger, truffle cheese fries, a pint of hard cider, a pint of Belgian Trappist ale, a pint of Haagan Dazs cookies & cream ice cream, a piece of chocolate molten-lava cake with vanilla bean whipped cream, 3/4 of a large Italian style sausage pizza, 1/2 of a large piece of lasagna, a shot of limoncello, and a mint chocolate mocha.  But it’s only 8 pm and like Cinderella, I’m keeping this party going until midnight

Bacon Cheeseburgers & Truffle Cheese Fries

Bacon Cheeseburgers & Truffle Cheese Fries (with MMM inspired grill mark)

The results are unmistakable.  In the last 15 weeks, I have lost 17 pounds, 4 inches on my waist, and 6 inches on my hips.  I’ve also had noticeable strength improvement through twice weekly kettlebell workouts of about 10 minutes each.  Sometimes I forget, so that is maybe 4 hours of exercise in 15 weeks.  Diet is 10x more important than exercise

Jeremy's 4 Hour Body Experiment

Jeremy’s 4-Hour Body Experiment

The key to this big change is the Slow Carb diet (Slow Carb subreddit)  During the week, I don’t eat anything white… no rice, no bread, no potatoes, no pasta, no sugar.  I eat primarily vegetables, beans, eggs, and protein in unlimited quantities.  On Saturday, or Faturday, I eat as much as I want of whatever I want.

This works well for my personality, because I’m OK with abstinence but once I start eating something I can’t stop.  Winnie can stretch a pint of ice cream for 2 weeks.  I’ll devour the whole things in 2 minutes

I can satisfy all of my irrational food desires, but in a way that incentivizes my body to burn fat and build muscle.  I’m almost back to my high school weight, and I’m trending downward in body fat and upward in strength. (Now Winnie is jealous because for the first time ever, my circumference is smaller than hers haha)

Note:  I don’t often run around topless except at the beach, but there is no better way to see the results

Minus 4 inches on my waist and 6 inches on my hips

Last Year’s Pants

Kettlebell Thrusts

Kettlebell Thrusts

Based on a visual comparison of photos in The 4-Hour Body, we estimate that I dropped from about 30% body fat to 15%.  If that is even remotely accurate, I lost 29 lbs of fat and gained 13 lbs of muscle.  Pass the donuts

Beware of Squirrels

Winnie says, “I put in a squirrel to protect your nuts”

I Will Cook Like a Pro

Now I’ve picked up another Tim Ferriss creation, The 4-Hour Chef

The book promises to teach you to learn any complex topic, using food as the medium.  All of the recipes are Slow Carb.  Many of them look incredible

To be completely honest, I’ve read through much of the book but… I have yet to make a single dish.  Winnie won’t let me in her kitchen

But as soon as she is on bed rest after childbirth I am taking over.  That’s what she gets for calling me fat

———-

I’m more of a borrow from the library kind of guy, but when I really love a book I buy it to thank the author. All 3 of Tim’s books are on my Kindle

Thank You Tim!

Has Tim Ferriss Had An Impact on Your Life?

Any of his books or his podcast are a great place to start