31 Slow Carb Lunch Ideas & Recipes (4 Hour Body Diet) (2024)

FAQs

What foods are allowed on the 4 hour body diet? ›

With an impressive 84% success rate in weight loss, it's easy to wonder if this diet is the magic bullet many hope for. The average weight loss of 8.6 pounds, with some adherents shedding over 15 pounds, suggests that the 4 Hour Body diet could be a powerful tool for those looking to reduce their body fat percentage.

The 4-Hour Body diet, as presented in the bestselling book "The 4-Hour Body," claims that a diet emphasizing lean protein, legumes, and non-starchy vegetables can lead to rapid and significant weight loss.

Eat breakfast within an hour of waking up and eat four meals a day, four hours apart. Drink lots of water and as many low- or no-calorie drinks as you like. Don't drink juice, milk, or soda. Optionally drink fewer than 16 ounces of diet soda or two glasses of dry red wine a day.

Conversation. but true for all: onions are 100% fine and encouraged on the slow-carb diet. Enjoy!

The advice may have stemmed from Tim Ferriss' book “The 4-Hour Body,” which encourages people to consume 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking.

The short answer is “Yes” — although Tim does say “no dairy” on the diet, he does recommend cottage cheese as a “fine addition” to breakfast (see The 4-Hour Body page 89). You will probably want to watch it and not go too crazy with the cottage cheese, but you've got clearance from the Man himself to go ahead!

On the slow-carb diet, healthy foods such as almonds, nut butter, and hummus are permitted, but it is easy to overeat them. Watch your portion sizes and make sure you are limiting your consumption of high-calorie foods.

Slow Carb Vegetables

Excellent examples include leafy greens, like spinach and kale, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. Starchy vegetables include corn, potatoes, squash and most root vegetables.

What's the best food to eat to burn belly fat? ›

When trying to lose belly fat, aim to get at least 25 grams of fiber in your diet each day. Foods that are rich in fiber include pulses, like lentils and beans; apples and pears, with the skin; nuts and seeds; and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

There's no set time you should stop eating to lose belly fat, but, as a guideline, you should avoid eating two to three hours before bed to stop it from disrupting your sleep and body clocks, which can cause belly fat gain. Studies show early dinners can help people lose weight.

The diet says the spike in insulin caused by dairy is comparable to that of white bread. For this reason, the plan states that it is best to avoid dairy during the diet days. Nonetheless, cottage cheese is allowed on the slow-carb diet.

Basically butter has close to zero carbohydrates (and also close to zero protein). Ghee is clarified butter so it's actually zero. The slow-carb diet makes an effort to remove simple carbohydrates from the diet and the lactose in milk and dairy is a big source of these. Butter doesn't have this problem.

Slow carbs like whole-grain breads and pastas, oats and brown rice are rich in fiber and take more time to digest, so they don't lead to the same quick rise in blood sugar that refined carbs can cause.

The slow-carb diet requires you to stay away from starchy foods and anything made from grains (including corn, rice, and quinoa), potatoes, and flour. Instead, you should eat carbs that take longer to digest, such as low-carb vegetables and legumes.

Carrots used to be a lot different. These days the carrots have been hybridized to be quite high in sugar. Tim's book talks about how he snacks on raw carrots all the time, so they are allowed if you follow his book.

If your schedule varies every day, have healthy snacks on hand for times when a meal needs to wait. Bring a cooler in the car or store food in the refrigerator at work. If you work the afternoon shift or overnight shift, the same eating routine rules apply — eat your meals between four and five hours apart.