Tag: body

I am changing my diet

Akshat Rathi3 Comments

I am reading Tim Ferris’ The 4-hour Body and it has prompted me to change my diet. I am 180 cm in height and weigh about 69 kg. It is not that I need to lose weight but I would very much like to lose fat and gain muscle. The book gives me good reasons to believe that with this diet and some exercise I will be able to achieve and maintain it.

My breakfast and lunch. That's right the same meal for both!

The diet is described in detail here. Obviously, I am keeping to my pescetarian choices while doing this. That means no meat. Here’s what I will be eating:

  1. No white carbohydrates i.e. Rice, Bread, Cereal, Potatoes, Pasta
  2. All my diets will consist of eggs, lentils, beans and vegetables.
  3. I am allowed to use whatever spices I like in cooking.
  4. Lots of water and only unsweetened drinks.
  5. Some supplements: vitamins, calcium, potassium and cod oil.
  6. Saturday will be my day off i.e. I can eat what I want and how much ever I want.

Ferris gives me plenty of good reasons to do this:

  1. I can’t count calories. It makes me sick inside to think every time about what I am eating how much calories that will contribute. This diet allows me to keep my calorie count low enough to not have to worry about calorie contents.
  2. Thinking about what to eat every day is boring. Going out to eat is time-consuming. I can get by with this diet with minimal cooking.
  3. It blends well with my old diet.
  4. I really like the ‘day-off’ option. That way I can train myself to keep my temptations for this one day and not have to think about them the rest of the week.
  5. The science in the book seems convincing and so do testimonies from some people I read online.
  6. I’ve wanted to start quantifying myself and this diet gives me the perfect chance to begin. I start this diet with a count of my total inches (mid-biceps + waist + hips + mid-thigh) = 133.5. I’ve also downloaded the mappiness app and hope to monitor my daily food intake and mood.
  7. The diet is healthy. It will allow me to keep my LDL cholesterol, blood sugar and iron content low. With lots of spinach (which is one of the recommendations of the diet), I will be able to induce muscle growth.

Most importantly, this is an experiment. If after 4 weeks there is anything unhealthy about it, I will stop. Let’s see what happens.