I haven't been in the mood for cooking this week.
Probably because of the Tim Ferris 4 Hour Body Slow Carb Diet I am living by for now.
It is a pretty blah when it comes to what I can eat or not.
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Here is an outline:
Slow-Carb Diet – what to eat – 6 days a week + breakfast
on “cheat day”
Eat the same few meals over
and over again. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Water, unsweetened
tea / coffee with no more than two tablespoons of cream is acceptable.
Proteins – as much as you
like – egg whites with 1-2 whole eggs for flavor (or whole organic eggs),
chicken breast or thigh, beef (preferably grass fed), fish, pork. Eat at least
20 grams of protein per meal.
Legumes – as much as you like
– lentils, black beans, pinto beans, red beans, soy beans
Vegetables – as much as you
like - spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, other cruciferous vegetables,
sauerkraut, kimchee, asparagus, peas, green beans. There’s no need to limit
yourself to these vegetables, although the more variety you attempt the more likely
you are to quit as this makes the diet more complicated.
Tomatoes and avocados are
allowed. Eggplant is also mentioned as ok. There’s no discussion of other
fruits used as vegetables, e.g. bell peppers and olives, but presumably they’re
acceptable as well.
Up to 2 glasses of red wine a
day are allowed.
Butter is fine. Cottage
cheese is also acceptable. (Yes, this appears to contradict the “no dairy” rule
below).
Oils aren’t discussed in
detail, although “good fats” are mentioned. Olive oil, grapeseed oil and
macadamia oil, as well as nuts as a source of fat, are preferred.
Canned foods are fine.
Drink plenty of water.
Use cinnamon to reduce the
glycemic index of a meal by up to 29%.
Timing: Make sure you have
your first meal within an hour of waking (preferably within ½ hour), and have
meals approximately 4 hours apart.
Slow-Carb Diet – foods to avoid – 6 days a week + breakfast
on “cheat day”
Avoid “white” carbohydrates.
No bread, rice (including brown), whole grains, cereal including steel-cut
oats, potatoes, pasta, tortillas, and fried food with breading. Cauliflower is
ok.
Don’t drink calories. Do not
drink milk (including soy milk), normal soft drinks, or fruit juice.
Limit soft drinks to no more than 16 ounces per day, as the aspartame can
stimulate weight gain. No beer or white wine (another part of the book says any
dry wine is acceptable except Riesling, White Zinfandel, and Champagne).
There’s nothing saying you shouldn’t drink spirits, but it’s implied that you
shouldn’t.
Don’t eat fruit or fructose.
No dairy because of its high
insulinemic response on the insulinemic index (II or InIn) scale. Milk is
better avoided, although a cup a day may be ok if you’re not intolerant (this
contradicts the suggestion not to have any milk). Up to 2 tablespoons of cream
in your coffee is ok.
Avoid refined soy products,
if possible, including soy milk.
Don’t deep fry foods – stir
fry is okay.
Be careful with “domino
foods” – nuts, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), hummus, peanuts, macadamias. They
are very easy to overeat and prone to portion abuse. A few almonds (5-10) are
fine.
Limit consumption of
artificial and natural sugar substitutes, even agave nectar – they can stall
weight loss.
Suggests avoiding curries,
which can cause intestinal upset without rice.
Slow-Carb Diet – what to eat – 1 “cheat day” a week
Take one day off a week,
preferably Saturday as you’re not working and can recover the next day. The
first meal of the day is not a binge meal. After that you eat until you’re a
little sick, no restrictions. Start the diet at least 5 days before your
designated sick day. The “cheat days” have guidelines to ensure that as much of
the food ingested either goes into muscle tissue or out of the body unabsorbed.
Drink plenty of water.
Consume a small quantity of
fructose (fruit sugar) in grapefruit juice before the second meal, to encourage
defecation.
Consume citric juices.
Increase the speed of gastric
emptying (passage of food through your stomach) to limit absorption; he
suggests caffeine and yerba mate tea
Note that most men can get
away with one cheat meal (as opposed to a cheat day)
a week; some women can’t.
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So, at this point, I am uninterested in much when it comes cooking as I don't feel like I can eat what I want. This feeling will pass soon enough, but, for now, bear with me.
