Week 11 - food record

This is a record of all food I ate in Week 11 of the diet.

Sunday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Tuna and egg Salad with tomato and cucumber.

Dinner

Gammon steak

Peas, Broad beans, runner beans, broccoli, carrots

Monday

Breakfast

1 poached egg and 1 slice of ham

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Ham and egg with mixed leaves, cucumber and tomato. Home made vinaigrette.

Mixed beans in pesto 

Dinner

Stir fry chicken with chinese stir fry vegetables and mushrooms

Broad beans in pesto

Tuesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Broad beans in pesto

Lunch

Tuna and egg on spinach, with tomato and cucumber. Home made vinaigrette.

Dinner

Roasted Chicken breast

Mixed leaf salad with tomato and cucumber

Roasted peppers

Fried mushrooms

Wednesday

Breakfast

1 poached egg and 1 slice of ham

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Tuna and egg on spinach, with tomato and cucumber. Home made vinaigrette.

Dinner

2 pork chops

Peas, carrots, cauliflower

Thursday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Broad beans in pesto

Lunch

Ham and egg with mixed leaves, cucumber and tomato. Home made vinaigrette.

Mixed beans in pesto 

Dinner

Gammon steak.

Broccoli, broad beans, peas and carrots.

Friday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Broad beans in pesto

Lunch

mixed leaf salad, cucumber and tomato. Mixed beans. vinaigrette.

Dinner

Stir fry chicken with chinese stir fry vegetables, mushrooms, peas and beans

Saturday

Breakfast

Bagel with Cream Cheese

Snacks

Chocolate (approx 100g)

Lunch (at a wedding!)

Bread roll

Shredded duck salad with plumb chutney

Roast pork, crackling, sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce ...

... Roast and Dauphinoise potatoes, seasonal vegetables

Creme Brulee with strawberries, cream and shortbread

Selection of cheeses with crackers

Dinner

1/4lb barbecued burger with salad

Cheesecake slice

selection of small cakes (lots of cake)

Drinks

2 glasses of champagne

1 pint of bitter

2 glasses of red wine

Week 11 - results

Week 11 took me up to my real target date. My older brother got married on 18th June, and I was sharing best-man duties with my younger brother. There were going to be lots of photographs, so I planned to get in the best shape I could.

I went for a suit fitting 8 weeks ago, and unsurprisingly, when the suits all arrived on Friday, mine was at least a size too big in the trouser waist, the waist coat and jacket. I should have seen this coming of course, but if anything, it proved how much change I'd managed to effect in these last 11 weeks.

As it turns out, the outfitters, Peter Posh of Shrewsbury are on the way to where the wedding was being held, and they were very accommodating, providing me with a replacement waist coat and jacket I could pick up on the way. I decided against changing the trousers as they had sufficient adjustment and any wrinkles in the waistline were concealed by the waistcoat - and it would have been more of a pain for me and the waiting family to have to get changed at the shop.

On the day before the wedding, I managed to hit my 20lb goal, slipping back by 0.2lb to 19.8lb on the Saturday morning through some mystery. However, I had got there in the end. this graph shows the progress during week 11.

The wedding went really well, and there was plenty to eat and drink. As the Sunday following was Fathers Day in the UK, I ended up taking that off as well as a cheat day, and now having just finished week 13, I've just recovered back to my 20lb overall loss.

This is more-or-less where my current story as regards the four hour body diet ends. Having spent 1/4 of a year on the diet, I'm going to take some time away from it and move back to a more regular diet. However, there are some aspects that will stay with me for some time.

- little or no milk in my diet - tea and coffee are now always black
- much reduced intake of bread and bakery products (at least until I'm on holiday in France in August)
- increased water consumption
- breakfasts will probably remain dominated by fish and vegetables. I kind've like it now.

This next diagram shows the daily variations across the whole 11 week period.

I hope you've found this journal of interest. If nothing else, it shows the exact way someone lost 12% of bodyweight in 11 weeks. If you try it, I wish you every success.

E

Week 10 - food record

This is a record of all food I ate in Week 10 of the diet.

Sunday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Chicken Salad with tomato and cucumber.

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

Stir fry chicken

Stir fry chinese vegetables, with extra broad beans, peas and mixed beans

Monday

Breakfast

1 poached egg and 1 slice of ham

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

1 chicken breast

Mixed salad with tomato and cucumber

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

3 chicken thighs

Broccoli, Asparagus, carrots, peas

Tuesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Mixed salad with tomato, cucumber, sweetcorn and beetroot

Mixed beans

1 slice of ham

Dinner

Stir fry chicken

half pack of chinese stir fry mix

Broad beans and peas

Mixed beans

One sliced Chilli

Wednesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Mixed salad with tomato, cucumber

Mixed beans in pesto

1 slice of ham, 1 egg

Dinner

Stir fry chicken

half pack of chinese stir fry mix

Broad beans and peas

Mixed beans

One sliced Chilli

Thursday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Tuna and egg mixed salad.

Dinner

Stir fry pork (2 pork steaks)

half pack of chinese stir fry mix

Broad beans and peas

Mixed beans

Sliced Chilli

Friday

Breakfast

1 poached egg and 1 slice of ham

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Kidney beans in pesto

Lunch

Tuna and Egg, with tomato and cucumber in spinach leaves

Vinegrette

Kidney beans in pesto

Dinner

Stir fry chicken

half pack of chinese stir fry mix

Mushrooms

Broad beans and peas

Kidney beans

Saturday

Breakfast

Bagel with cream cheese and ham

Snacks

Chocolate (approx 300g)

2 bags of crisps

Lunch

Chicken salad

Dinner

Take away Indian curry:

- Chicken Bhuna

- Bombay potatoes

- Mushroom rice

- Naan bread

- Poppadums

Strawberries and ice cream.

Week 10 - results

Total weight lost for week, 0.8 lbs. Total lost since start of diet, 18.6 lbs. I didn't quite make the 20 lbs that I'd hoped for, and again my weight loss does seem to have slowed, although it is still trending downwards.

Week 10 is a good time to review progress made and what the impact has been on how I feel. This is what I and people around me have noticed.

Collar size. Before starting the diet, my collar size was 16.5 inches. I do have a naturally thick-neck, but it has grown somewhat over the past few years. Collar size is now reduced to just about 15 inches. My face is also less rounded and there is some promise of starting to see some bone structure again.

My waist size has dropped from 34" to very nearly 30", virtually two jeans sizes. A couple more weeks and the 30" jeans I tried in the shops this weekend will fit just nicely. Good job my old jeans need replacing soon.

I do feel much better in myself. I have surprising amounts of energy for someone not eating any substantial amounts of carbohydrates, and I don't get hungry as quickly as I used to. I can eat at 6:30, travel and attend meetings, and not have any real problems eating until 1pm. I might feel hungry from around 11:30, but I'm not hitting what I called "sugar lows" where I could end up with headaches and all sorts of problems. Things are much improved.

This chart shows all progress made over the 10 weeks so far.

This does indeed show progress slowing over the past few weeks, but the trend is still downwards. For me, this is telling me to go back to the book and look for further ideas and inspiration to get the rate of loss increased further. The main levers I think I have are:

- improving the diet further - what can I cut out that isn't helping
- do more and better targeted exercise. As I approach a more ideal weight, I need to convert more from fat to lean muscle, and that will mean weight loss slows.
- looking at what I can do with supplements, if indeed I really want to go down the PAGG route.

E.

Week 9 - food record

This is a record of everything I ate in Week 9 of the diet.

Sunday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

1 boiled egg

Mixed leaf salad with tomato and cucumber

Dinner

2 pork steaks

Carrot, Asparagus, Broccoli, french beans

Monday

Breakfast

Poached egg

1 slice of ham

peas, broad beans and broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Ham and egg salad

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

Stir fry chicken

Stir fry chinese mixed vegetables with extra chilli

Mixed beans

Tuesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Ham and 2 egg salad

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

2 pork chops

cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, asparagus and roasted peppers.

Wednesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

Stir fry turkey

Stir fry chinese mixed vegetables

Thursday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Mixed leaf salad with tomato, cucumber and sweetcorn

Mixed beans

Smoked mackerel

Dinner

Stir fry turkey

Stir fry chinese mixed vegetables

Friday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Mixed leaf salad with tomatoes

1 chicken breast

Dinner

Gammon steak

Peas, Cauliflower, asparagus.

Saturday

2 Thorntons chocolates

bowl of fresh strwaberries

3 chocolate chip cookies

2 100g bar of cadburys Dairy Milk

2 slices of toast

2 steak pies

1 bag of crisps

1 spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and salad

Week 9 - results

Total loss for the week - 0.8lbs. This takes the total lost in the 9 weeks since starting the diet to 17.8 lbs. The target for week 10 is to try to get a total loss of 20 lbs, which would be fantastic.

Week 8 - results

Total loss for the week 3.8Lbs. This has been my best total loss in a single week, and probably due to having an extra day at the start, as the previous weeks cheat day was on Friday rather than Saturday.

Also of note is that the visceral fat has dropped a further %age point to 7% this week. Progress seems to be back on track.

Reading forums and posts elsewhere, such as 4-Hour People, there does seem to be a common theme that weight loss stalls for a while at around 6 weeks. The advice is generally to just stick with it, feel good at what you've lost and know that it will all continue in the weeks to follow. I think that this was a contributing factor to my less good results in weeks 6 and 7.

E.

Week 7 - food record

This is a record of all I ate during week 7.

Sunday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

1 slice of Ham

Poached egg

Cannelloni beans in pesto

Dinner

Chicken thighs.

Peas carrots cauliflower asparagus

Mixed beans in pesto

Monday

Breakfast

Ham and poached egg

Broccoli, broad beans and peas

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

2 beef burgers (no bun)

Salad

Tuesday

Breakfast

steamed salmon

Broccoli, broad beans and peas

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Mixed leaf salad with tomatoes

1/4 Roast Chicken

Dinner

Stir fred chicken

Stir fry vegetables

1/2 pack chow mein sauce

Wednesday

Breakfast

steamed haddock

Broccoli, broad beans and peas

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Ham and poached egg

peas and broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto.

Dinner

Pork chop

Peas, broad beans carrots and broccoli

Thursday

Breakfast

1 slice of ham

Poached egg

Broccoli and peas

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Stir fried chicken breast

Mushroom Stir fry

Dinner

Gammon steak

Broccoli, Broad Beans, Peas

Friday

Breakfast

steamed haddock

Broccoli, broad beans and peas

Mixed beans in pesto

--- cheat day starts ---

Lunch

Bagel with cream cheese and ham

Bag of salted crisps

2 slices of victoria sponge cake 

Snacks

1 x 100g bar of toblerone

Dinner

Nachos

Chicken Enchiladas

rice

Fruit juice

Saturday

Breakfast

1 slice of Ham

Peas, broad beans and broccoli

Mixed beans and pesto

Lunch

Poached egg

1 slice of ham

Mixed leaf salad

tomatoes

Dinner

2 beef burgers (no buns)

Salad

Broad beans

Week 7 - results

Total weight change for week - up 0.8Lbs. However, this week, my cheat day was brought forward to Friday due to a birthday celebration, and so all the food ate out at a local Mexican restaurant got counted into the week's weigh in.

That said, the end-of-week weight loss had been fairly poor beforehand, and I'm not too sure why as there had been no cheating. The only other changes were the introduction of some additional light exercises at home, and that I ran only once this week rather than 3 times, which is my target.

Week 6 - food record

This is everything that I ate in Week 6.

Sunday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Ham

Poached egg

Salad

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

2 1/4lb beefburgers (no bun!)

peas, beans and asparagus

Salad

Monday

Breakfast

2 slices of Ham

poached egg

peas, beans and asparagus

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

5 rashers of bacon

poached egg

peas, beans and asparagus

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

Pork kebabs (pork and peppers)

french beans

Broccoli

Tuesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Slice of ham

Poached egg

Peas, broad beans and broccoli

Dinner

Stir fry chicken

Chinese stir fry vegetables

Mixed beans

Wednesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Salad - cucumber tomato green leaves sweetcorn,

Mixed beans

Slice of ham

Piece of smoked fish

Dinner

Quarter roast chicken in a green leaf salad.

Thursday

Breakfast

1 slice of Ham

poached egg

peas, beans and broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Salad - cucumber tomato green leaves sweetcorn,

Mixed beans

Tuna fish

Drink - pint of beer (after work get together)

Dinner (late)

Poached egg

Slice of ham.

Friday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Stir fry pork

Str fry vegetables

Dinner

Stir fry pork in burrito powder marinade

Salad

Sweetcorn on the cob

Saturday

Breakfast

Bagel with cream cheese

Snack

Half and Easter egg

Lunch

3 Hot dogs with onions

Snack

1 100g bag of Cadbury's mini eggs

1 banana

Dinner

1/2 pizza

Salad

Olives

Sweetcorn on the cob

strawberries and ice cream

Week 6 - results

Total weight ost this week, 1Lb. It would have been more but for two reasons:

1,  I think my Friday meal ended up including some banned items, such as the burrito powder mix containing carbs in both sugar and wheat, and a corn on the cob. More good reasons to avoid sweetcorn.

2, (and most importantly) I was at an after hours social event on Thursday and had a very nice pint of beer. (as we'll see, this messes things up for a couple of weeks!)

E.

Week 5 - food record

This is everything that I ate in week 5 of the diet.

Sunday

Breakfast

Ham and poached egg

peas and broccoli

beans in pesto

Lunch

ham salad

beans in pesto

Dinner

2 pork chops, pan fried with onions

1 sausage [a cheat]

asparagus

broccoli

peas

carrots

Monday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Boiled egg

Slice of ham

Salad leaves

Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

Stir fried chicken breast

Stir fry vegetables

1/3 pack of black-bean sauce

Mushrooms

Cheats

Handful of crisps

small spoon of vanilla ice cream

Tuesday

Breakfast

Poached egg

Slice of ham

Peas and broad beans

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

Ham and egg salad

Dinner

Gammon 

Poached egg

Peas and broad beans

Wednesday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

1/4 Chicken Salad

Dinner

Pork chops

Salad

Sweetcorn

Thursday

Breakfast

Ham

Poached egg

Peas, broad beans and broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto.

Lunch

1/4 chicken

1/2 pack of stir fry vegetables

Dinner

vegetable curry

fried mushrooms

peas

Friday

Breakfast

Steamed smoked haddock

Peas, broad beans, broccoli

Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

4 rashers of back bacon

1 poached agg

Peas and broad beans.

Dinner

Chicken Salad

Saturday

Breakfast

Apple and Blackberry pie with ice cream

Snack

1/2 an Easter egg

Lunch

Bacon Sandwiches (6 slices of back bacon on 3 rounds of bread)

Snack

Cadbury's Twirl chocolate bar

Dinner

1/2 12" home cooked thin crust pepperoni pizza

Fried mushrooms

sweetcorn

Salad

Snack

2 Cadbury's caramel eggs 40g (195KCal each)

Week 5 - results

Weight down 2.8Lb for this week, a pound more than last week. This week has also seen my Visceral fat drop by a further percentage point to 8%.

Sleep

After week 1 of the diet, I started to notice some problems sleeping. Not necessarily getting to sleep, but I'd wake up at around 2:30am - almost always within 10 minutes of 2:30 - and then not be able to get back to sleep.

It wasn't even that I was hungry. I woke with a buzzing mind, thinking about all sorts of daft-but-benign stuff and in the end, I just had to get up, wake up properly and then go back to bed 20 minutes later. It doesn't make for a good nigh's sleep and I'm convinced that this is related to the diet, probably a lack of any carbohydrate trough overnight.

My wife has been a light sleeper for many years, and once she wakes up, she has trouble sleeping again. She has drunk a "Sleep Easy" tea (see the post on Drinks) for a couple of years, and so - as I'm OK with milk free hot drinks now, I make 2 cups, one each.

For me, this tea works wonders. It doesn't make me sleepy, but keeps me asleep once I drop off. There's a little bit of "don't really want to get up" in the morning, but that's easily overcome and once you're up, there's no grogginess. Look - I'm drinking one now ;-)

As a further side effect the diet is having on sleep, my reduction in body fat is reducing my propensity to snore. Or at least, so I'm told - I never hear me snore. This reduces the likelihood that I'll wake my wife up through snoring, and leads to a happier household. And less bruising from sharp elbows.

E.

Week 4 - results

Weight down 1.8Lbs for the week - starting Sunday, not Saturday - for a total of 10lbs from the start of the diet. BMI now 24.7, so under 25. Officially, I'm no longer "overweight". Hurrah. Still some way to go though to meet my revised goals.

As noted in the previous post, there was some cheating earlier in the week, and it was also a short week. This has resulted in the lowest weight loss so far. All the more reason to buckle down and do better in week 5.

E.

Week 4 - food record

This is a record of everything I ate in week 4 of the 4 hour body diet. This was an 6 day week as I had an 8 day week in week 3.


Monday
Breakfast

• Slice of ham
• Pinto beans in pesto

Lunch

• Mixed leaf salad
• Ham
• Boiled egg

Dinner

• Pork chop
• Peas, beans, cauliflower, asparagus

Cheats
Theatre trip with some chocolate cheating - about 20. What can I say. It was Spamalot!


Tuesday
Breakfast

• Steamed Haddock fillet
• Broccoli peas broad beans

More cheating with remaining M&Ms. Finished pack. Beat myself up over lack of willpower.


Lunch

• Mixed leaf salad
• Ham
• Boiled egg

Dinner

• Gammon
• Peas, broad beans, Broccoli
• Mixed beans in pesto

Wednesday
Breakfast

• Poached egg, ham
• Brooccoli, broad beans and peas
• Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

• Leaf salad with tomato
• Ham and boiled egg
• Mixed beans in Pesto

Dinner

• Pan fried pork, sliced
• Stir fried spicy chinese vegetables

Thursday
Breakfast

• Steamed Haddock fillet
• Broccoli peas broad beans
• Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

• Ham and egg salad
• Mixed beans in pesto

Dinner

• two pork chops
• Asparagus, carrot, peas, broccoli
• Sweet corn on the cob [strictly, a cheat]

Friday
Breakfast

• Steamed Haddock fillet
• Broccoli peas broad beans
• Mixed beans in pesto

Lunch

• Chicken salad
• Beans with pesto
• 3 egg yokes, poached (left from a pavlova)

Dinner

• 1 chicken breast, stir fried with onion and a BBQ powder
• Green salad with tomatoes
• Sweet corn on the cob [a cheat, again]

Saturday
Breakfast

• Heinz Baked Beans (whole can) on toast (2 slices)

Lunch

• Sesame bagel with cream cheese and ham

Snacks

• Half an Easter egg
• Cadbury's Twirl chocolate bar

Dinner

• Chinese take away
• Pavlova [made by me on Friday. mmmm]
• Cheesecake
• Profiteroles

What to drink.

Prior to starting the diet, my standard drink was a milky tea. However, with milk completely banned, I needed something else, and I needed to increase my consumption of water.

I've never really been a big fan of tea without milk, and certainly never one for things like Earl Gray. However, with the restrictions on my diet, I'm quite open to trying things to see how they stick.

My other constraint is caffeine. About 2 years ago, I completely removed caffeine from my diet because I found it to be the main cause of migraine that I'd been living with for the previous 2-3 years. The other two factors I found were lack of good sleep and eating nuts. With caffeine out of my diet and no milk, I thought I was going to be in trouble for hot drinks. As it turns at, not the case:

Earl Gray.

I've surprised myself and learn't to love this stuff. It's my daily go-to tea. I started having it with lemon for the first week, and then eliminated the lemon. Brewed for 4 minutes and a spot of cold water to top up the cup. "Tea, Earl Gray, Hot" ;-)

Green Tea.

I tried green tea extract during week 3. Unfortunately, I thought I'd bought decaffeinated green tea tablets, but alas, no. Didn't sleep at all well and was in danger of migraine again. So I try to drink one of these each day instead. I don't really get on with green tea very well, and it tends to end up half drunk.

Lipton Lemon and Ginger

I have this from time to time for something different. It has a very spicy kick. Nice if you're in the mood for it. Not in the evenings though.

Clipper Sleepeasy tea.

I'll probably talk about sleep issues in a later post. I do find I wake at 2am and have trouble getting back to sleep. This stuff sorts that out good and proper. Small cuppa about and hour before bed and there is no waking up at night! Weird orangy taste, but you get used to it.

H2O

I don't drink nearly enough of this, and I never have. I try to drink at least 3 x 330ml glasses every day, which is not much for most people, but lots for me. I used to survive on just 2 cups of coffee a day and still not feel thirsty. My kidneys probably feel much better these days. I should be drinking double the amount that I do - I can only keep trying.

You have any go-to drinks? Let me know.

Week 3 - results

Weight down 2.8Lbs over the week. Total weight loss after 3 weeks, 8.2Lbs. BMI on Sunday 24th at 25 exactly.

Week 3 - food record

This is a record of everything I ate in week 3 of the 4 hour body diet. This was an 8 day week as I decided to push back my day off to Sunday, rather than the normal Saturday, to allow for binge eating chocolate!
Sunday

Breakfast

• 2 poached eggs
• 1.5 slices of ham
• peas and broad beans

lunch

• Stir fry pork with stir fry mixed vegetables
• 1/3 pack of chow mein sauce
• 2 tablespoons of beans with 2 teaspoons of pesto.

dinner

• Pork Chop, fat removed
• Asparagus, runner beans, carrots and cauliflower

Monday
Breakfast
Kippers

• Peas, broad beans and brocolli
• 2 tablespoons of Harricott beans with 2 tea spoons of pesto

Lunch

• Stir fry chicken
• Stir fry vegetables
• 2 tablespoons of Haricot bean
• 1/3 pack stir fry lemon sauce

Dinner

• Steak
• Vegetables, peas, beans, broccoli

Tuesday
Breakfast

• 2 eggs and ham
• cannellini beans with pesto

Lunch

• Mixed leaf salad
• Ham
• Boiled egg

Dinner

• Stir fry chicken
• Stir fry vegetables
• Black bean sauce

Wednesday
Breakfast

• Smoked Haddock
• Peas and Broad Beans
• Black-eyed beans in Pesto

Lunch

• Stir fried chicken
• Stir fry Chinese vegetables
• 2 tablespoons of chow mein sauce

Dinner

• 1 Gammon steak
• 2 poached eggs
• Peas
• fried Mushrooms

Thursday
Breakfast

• 1/2 slice of Gammon (cold)
• 1 poached egg
• Broccoli, peas, broad beans
• Black eyed beans in pesto.

Lunch

• Mixed leaf salad
• Ham
• Boiled egg

Dinner

• Pork chop
• Mixed vegetables

Friday
Breakfast

• cold Pork chop
• Broccoli, beans and peas
• Haricot beans in pesto

Lunch

• Ham, chicken and egg salad
• Haricot beans in pesto

Dinner

• Stir fried pork
• Stir fried vegetables with chilli and Haricot beans

Saturday
Breakfast

• Smoked Haddock
• Peas and Broad Beans
• Black-eyed beans in Pesto

Lunch

• Ham, chicken and egg salad
• Butter beans in pesto

Dinner

• Stir Fried chicken
• Stir fried vegetables with chilli
• Butter Beans

Sunday - carb loading day [Easter Sunday]
Breakfast

• 2 bagels with cream cheese
• 1/2 a Easter egg

Lunch

• 2 ham rolls
• bag of Crisps
• Banana

Snacks

• Cadbury Twirl chocolate bar

Dinner

Chinese take-away

• Yueng chow noodles
• Mushroom curry
• egg fried Rice
• Prawn crackers

Week 2 - results.

Weight down 2.2Lbs for the week. Total weight loss after 2 weeks: 5.4Lbs, although I did hit 5.8Lbs on Thursday. I might have "accidentally" ate some of the pasta on Tuesday. This was also the last time for several weeks I ate Salmon (Wednesday).

Note also here the first drop in visceral fat, from 10% to 9%.

E.

Week 2 - food record

This is a record of everything I ate in week 2 of the 4 hour body diet.

Sunday
Breakfast

• 2 eggs and Ham.
• Berlotti Beans with pesto

Lunch

• Berlotti beans with pesto

Dinner

• Steak - pan fried
• Vegetables (Beans, peas, Broccoli)

Monday
Breakfast

• 1 x Smoked Haddock fillet (steamed)
• Broccoli (steamed)
• spinach (steamed)
• 2 tablespoons of Daal.

Lunch

• Stir fry beef
• half pack stir fry vegetables
• Daal

Dinner

• Pork chop
• Mixed veg (peas, asparagus, carrot, broccoli)
• Daal

Tuesday
Breakfast

• 2 eggs and ham.
• Mixed vegetable leftovers

Lunch

• Chicken and roast vegetable pasta salad (minus the pasta)

Dinner

• Chicken and mixed vegetables

Wednesday
Breakfast

• 1 x Smoked Haddock fillet (steamed)
• Broccoli (steamed)
• spinach (steamed)
• 3 tablespoons of red kidney beans with pesto.

Lunch

• Stir fry pork
• half pack of stir fry vegetables
• Half pack of stir fry sauce

Dinner

• Steamed Salmon
• Mixed vegetables (beans peas carrots, asparagus broccoli)
• 2 tablespoons of red kidney beans with pesto

Thursday
Breakfast

• 2 poached eggs
• slice of ham
• 3 tablespoons of red kidney beans with pesto

Lunch

• Stir fry pork with stir fry vegetables and 1/2 pack oyster sauce

Dinner

• Lamb curry
• Vegetable curry

Friday
Breakfast

• 1 x Smoked Haddock fillet (steamed)
• peas (steamed)
• Broad Beans (steamed)
• 3 tablespoons of pinto beans with pesto.

Lunch

• Stir fry chicken with stir fry mixed vegetables. Half pack of chow mein stir fry sauce

Dinner

• 2 Egg Omelette, with mushroom, ham and cheese (NB Cheese is a cheat)

Saturday - carb loading
Breakfast

• Plain bagel with butter, cream cheese
• 1/3 Terrys orange chocolate bar

Lunch

• 2 bags of crisps
• Tuna sweetcorn and rocket sandwich (2 slices of bread)

Snacks

• 3 Hob Nob choc chip cookies

Dinner

• Pepperoni pizza with sun dried tomatoes and olives (3/4 of 12" pizza)
• Can of lager (mentioned because of it's calorific value).
• mixed fruit salad (rasberries, bananas, grapes, strawberries).

Week 1 - results

The graph above shows the week 1 results. Main items:

• A loss of 3.2Lbs
• A reduction in BMI from 26.3 to 25.8

Week 1 - food record.

This is a complete record of what I ate in week 1 of the 4 Hour Body diet. Note that week 1 is a short week of 6 days. The normal weeks for me start on a Sunday and end with my day-off on Saturday.

Unless otherwise noted, everything here is prepared at home



Monday

Breakfast

• 1 x Smoked Haddock fillet (steamed)
• Cannoneli beans with pesto
• Broccoli (steamed)
• Handful of spinach leaves

Lunch

• Piece of mackerel
• Slice of ham
• tomato salad

Dinner

• Pork chops
• Veg (beans, carrots, peas Broccoli

Tuesday
Breakfast

• 2 poached eggs with ham
• Black-eyed beans with pesto

Lunch

• 2 pork chops, fat removed stir fried in 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 pack chinese stir-fry vegetables 300g
• 1 handful of spinach leaves
• 2 heaped tablespoons of black-eyed beans
• 1/2 pack of chow-mein stir fry sauce

Dinner

• 2 thin sirlion steaks (120g total) with fried onions
• mixed pepper and courgette leaf salad
• Sweetcorn
• Black-eye beans with Pesto

Wednesday
Breakfast

• 1 x Smoked Haddock fillet (steamed)
• Broccoli (steamed)
• spinach (steamed)
• Red kidney beans (1/3 can) with 2 heaped teaspoons of Pesto
• Small amount of grated cheddar cheese.

Lunch
Stir fry:

• 1 thin sirloin steak (60g) sliced and stir fried
• 1 pack chinese stir-fry vegetables 300g
• 2 heaped tablespoons of red kidney beans
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 1/2 pack of chow-mein stir fry sauce (approx. 45 Kcal)
• 2 tablespoons of sweet chilli and ginger salad dressing (approx. 20 Kcal)

Dinner

• Chicken breast
• Mixed vegetables (pea, carrot, asparagus, cauliflower, french beans, broccoli)

Thursday
Breakfast

• 2 poached eggs
• 2 slices of ham
• Red kidney beans in pesto.

Lunch
Stir Fry:

• Turkey slices
• 1 pack stir fry vegetables
• 0.5 pack of chilli and ginger stir fry sauce
• 2 heaped tablespoons of red kidney beans

Dinner

• Vegetable curry
• Daal
• Peas

Friday
Breakfast

• 1 x Smoked Haddock fillet (steamed)
• Broccoli (steamed)
• spinach (steamed)
• 2 tablespoons of Daal.

Lunch

• 2 egg omelette with onions, mushrooms and ham

Dinner

• king prawn stir fry

Saturday
Breakfast

• 2 pancakes with banana and maple syrup
• 1 Twirl chocolate bar.

Lunch

• Bagel with cream cheese and ham
• Big mac (takeout. very unusual for me.)

Dinner

• Pepperoni pizza
• Salad
• Rhubarb Crumble

A note on the diet and measurement.

Clearly, I can't explain the diet in any detail. For that you need to read the book. However, for you to understand the way I'm eating, you need to know two basic features of the diet.

1. Measure stuff frequently.
2. You diet for 6 days and eat *anything* on the 7th day. Day 7 is a carb loading day. You can pretty much pick this idea up from various supporting forums out there, such as "4 hour people", but I think that it is worth saying.

As far as measuring goes, I bought a new set of scales that measures weight, body fat, visceral fat and BMI. I got the Omron BF508, although there are others out there that do similar things.

I have no complaints about the one I bought, but I know others do have, mainly because of the way it displays weight. It displays in either kilograms or pounds, not in stones.

Now I don't have a problem with using pounds, mainly because I don't have a problem dividing by 14 to get stones if I need them, and having done this on and off for a few years, pounds are for me the better way to think about weight. It's far more linear, I also get a decimal value for parts of pounds when weighing, its easier to graph. The attachment to stones for weighing yourself is simply historical - the way you've always done it - and the way your parents taught you to weigh yourself.

I say, change it up and do it differently - you'll like it in the end. For the kilogram folk, it's all nonsense anyway.

So, if you are looking for a set of scales that provide body fat measurements, the Omron BF508 works for me. If you want to take a look at the manual to see how it works or how complex it is (which it really isn't), the manual is here.

E.

Using the 4 Hour Body to loose weight.

This is the first post of many here I'll deal with my dietary exploits whilst using the book by Timothy Ferriss, The 4 Hour Body.

About 5 weeks ago, I made a decision to positively lose weight. For the past 4 years, my weight has hovered around 168Lbs, which for my height put my BMI over 26 and into the "overweight" category. As with anyone, my weight yoyo'd gently, for me from 166Lbs to 168Lbs and back again. Then I noticed the yoyo heading up a bit, and I hit 170Lbs. I wasn't just 11 stone nudging 12. I was 12 stone something. At 5'7", I'm too short to be 12 stone. This was a big motivator.

I've tried losing weight before, mainly by simply having smaller meals and cutting out chocolate, crisps, cake, biscuits etc, and this was successful up to a point, but I never really managed a significant and meaningful loss in weight.

I also took up running a few years ago. Running helps, but I'm not a natural runner and certainly not fast. I also get injured very easily and have probably spent more time not-being-a-runner than being-a-runner since I bought my first set of proper running shoes. Running will form part of my diet and exercise regime, but it will be low intensity and in sessions that last for 20-30 minutes, no more.

Having made the decision to diet, "The 4 Hour Body" made an appearance in my life. The author, Timothy Ferriss is a shameless self promoter. His Wikipedia entry tells us he won Wired magazine's "Greatest Self-Promoter of All Time" prize. However, don't let that put you off. The point is whether the programme he sets out actually works and I hope in the coming entries to show how it has worked for me. And given that I've already said that it's been 5 weeks since I made the decision, you can probably guess that I've had some success to talk about here.

When I started, my goals here were fairly open ended. The last time I seriously dieted, I was committed to a "10 in 10" programme. Lose 10Lbs in 10 weeks organised by Nigel of the recently deceased "Running from the Reaper" podcast. I lost 8Lbs with difficulty and then stacked it back on again fairly soon. Disappointed.

This time, the general goals I set out were:

• To reduce my overall body fat %
• To especially reduce my visceral fat % which had reached 10%
• To reduce my BMI to less than 25
• At a stretch, to be 10 stone something rather than 11 (or 12) stone something.

What I have revised this to now is:

• To reduce my BMI to 22.x

Over the next few posts, I'll provide 3 things.

1. Graphs of my daily weigh ins, catching up to the present.
2. Lists of everything I've eaten, and maybe some photos of meals
3. Short discussions on related topics, such as "what to drink", "affects on sleep", "helpful things I've bought.

Hope that this is useful to you.

E.

The beginning.

Hello. I am The Evernoter. Or rather, I am an Evernoter - someone who uses Evernote in their life. I just happen to have got the name on Blogspot.

When I grabbed the name, some months ago now, my intention was to blog about how I use Evernote in my life. Evernote has become pretty central to the way I manage my work, record digital stuff that is important I want to keep to hand and, fairly importantly, keep hold of recipes I use most often in my occasional spins in the kitchen.

What I think now is that my original plan was too limited. So, yes I'll blog from time to time about Evernote, but more frequently - certainly in the short term, this will be about losing weight, technology and photography, the 3 main things I currently do outside of work and family.

Yes, I'm going to link to some products on Amazon, and yes, these will be through the Amazon associate programme. I'm providing these for two reasons:

1. I think the Amazon associate programme is interesting but I have no idea as to whether it works or is worthwhile. This helps me find out (and maybe buy more toys to talk about).
2. So that if anything here interests anyone enough to want to have a go themselves, finding the gear is fairly easy.

Should anyone be watching from abroad, yes this is a UK blog but hopefully it is a discussion on mainly global topics, only with things spelt differently.

Please do provide feedback.

E.