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.