3.89

4

May 09, 2011

I know no one reads my math or exercise book reviews, but f*ck you guys because books that I can leave on the back of my toilet and read from a few pages at a time are the only books that I have been able to get through for the past six months. Do not judge me.

I mean, I do know it's kind of embarrassing. No one wants to like a self-help book. Not on here anyway. Because we're all educated, self-aware goodreaders, and when we hear that cloying, mutually congratulatory snake-oil rhetoric, we see I know no one reads my math or exercise book reviews, but f*ck you guys because books that I can leave on the back of my toilet and read from a few pages at a time are the only books that I have been able to get through for the past six months. Do not judge me.

I mean, I do know it's kind of embarrassing. No one wants to like a self-help book. Not on here anyway. Because we're all educated, self-aware goodreaders, and when we hear that cloying, mutually congratulatory snake-oil rhetoric, we see right through it. And least of all do we want to like a guy like Timothy Ferriss. Because not only is he disarmingly comfortable with wielding the ingratiating confidence of the self-help franchise, but he's also completely fucking insane.

But that's cool with me. Do you know why? Because when I walk into a gym, I want to punch people. I want to punch almost everyone. No, not because I'm on a roid rage. And not because anyone in a gym does anything to offend me, but because exercise is so achingly simple, and almost everyone does it wrong. And so when I see girls sitting for 90 minutes on an exercise bike (at 60% max HR! Fat-burning zone!! LoL!) and then complaining that they work out 2 hours a day and can't lose weight, or when I see meatheads doing bicep curls and shrugs when they have quadriceps that look like they should be in a weelchair, I am filled with righteous indignation at whatever exercise and beauty industry brainwashed these people into thinking that these were the pathways to strength and health.

On the other hand, the principles that Ferriss uses to develop his crazy ideas are all perfectly sound. If you disagree, I will fight you.

I found myself writing down the following, aphoristically, a few days ago. The tag line was "Be one of the top 5% of healthiest Americans, in 75 words and 3 hours a week:"

Sit up straight. Whether male or female, do deadlifts, bench press, muscle-ups, and 400m sprints 3-4 times a week for about 45 minutes. Progressively increase loads. If you feel injured, stop doing that for a while. Eat lean meats, healthy oils, nuts, legumes, and a ton of vegetables. Avoid white starches, sugar in any form, and sodas like the plague. Drink lots of water. Get some sleep. Take cold showers. Stop being afraid of things.

And in a lot of ways what Ferriss has done is elaborate on this formula for 545 pages in order to make a lot of money. Which is fine by me, frankly. There's so much garbage and so many confused messages out there that anyone writing on these incredibly simple principles is on my good side.

But what Ferriss has done to make this a 4-star book instead of a 3-star book is experiment on his own body to push the envelope of what this formula circumscribes. Where he can't cite his own experience, he recounts anecdotes of prominent athletes or the highly suspect, uncontrolled experimentation of partially mad physiologists. I think this is awesome. Without modifying the essential formula, he wonders, "just how far can we take or tweak the principle?"

In some cases this results in some really weird experiments. Like torturous ice baths to exploit the thermic metabolic effect; or overdosing on cinnamon, cod liver oil, and cissus quadrangularis (I don't recommend any of these, by the way) to rapidly reconstitute the body's insulinic or testosterone response.

But in other cases, the experiments are more useful to the non-insane. For example, he cites a lot of evidence that in traditional progressive strength training and mass building, the body only needs a bare minimum of load to stimulate the desired hormonal and hypertrophic responses. In other words, if done correctly you can spend way less time in the gym for the same physiological response. I have been experimenting with this myself; so far, for hypertrophy, I have reduced the number of exercises I do to just TWO (deadlifts and bench press), and spend on them less than 30 minutes at a time, 3 times a week. So far the results have been excellent.

Now, I know this isn't science. Those who criticize Ferriss for not being scientific in his approach are missing the whole point entirely. And Ferriss even dedicates a portion of his introductory chapter to emphasize that he isn't trying to do science. He's trying to do anecdotes. In some ways, he's just presenting a Jackson Pollock of shit he's tried on his body (shit tied to sound principles, mind you), and explain what he found to work, and the quantitative evidence that suggested to him it was working. If you want to try one or two things for yourself, great! Here's a grab bag of tips and tricks.

I've had fun thinking about what physiologic pathways and mechanisms might be involved if some of the outrageous claims Ferriss makes are actually true. But more than that, this book's main effect has been a rather counterintuitive one: by providing me with a few creative, non-traditional techniques, it has reminded me just how simple the principles really are. ...more

1

Jan 10, 2011

Tim Ferriss, time management guru/guy on the internet I love to hate, followed up his first book, The 4 Hour Workweek, with a book designed to teach people how to hack their bodies. It's a hodgepodge of advice on everything from weight loss, bodybuilding, sex, running, sleep, and nutrition, and attempts to eschew conventional wisdom in these areas in favor of small (except not really), easily done (except not really), often overlooked (except not really) hacks that anyone can employ. Now, I Tim Ferriss, time management guru/guy on the internet I love to hate, followed up his first book, The 4 Hour Workweek, with a book designed to teach people how to hack their bodies. It's a hodgepodge of advice on everything from weight loss, bodybuilding, sex, running, sleep, and nutrition, and attempts to eschew conventional wisdom in these areas in favor of small (except not really), easily done (except not really), often overlooked (except not really) hacks that anyone can employ. Now, I expected to eye roll a lot at this book (and I did), but I thought it would be interesting. Instead of mild interest, though, I spent the entire read alternating between spitting anger and abject boredom.

The cornerstone of the book is Ferriss' self-experimentation. As he says, he's gone out and tried all the crazy treatments and bought all dangerous products so you don't have to. And that's very nice of him, certainly, though I suspect he's really only indulging his own neuroses and OCD issues rather than doing these things out of any sense of altruism, but whatever. And I do believe that there is a ton of value in self-experimentation. Self-experimentation is where the big theories and scientific discoveries start, take shape, and get you thinking about the world in ways you hadn't before. It's is not, however, science. Science is what you do after you've come up with all these great ideas and interesting observations. Ferriss doesn't seem to understand this, though, skips the middle science part all together, and goes straight to doling out advice on what the reader should be doing to change themselves. The result is contradictory recommendations that are at best benign and at worse dangerous to the user on a physical and mental level.

And then I got to the sex chapter. Ferriss, you see, decides to teach the world (men) how to give a woman a 15 minute orgasm. As though they too are something to be hacked and experimented on so that men can feel better about themselves and their mad skillz. So he talks about his 'experiments' in female sexuality while nudgenudgewinkwinking his way through the parts where he finds his 'test subjects' and talks to 'experts'. And, you know, as disgusted as I was with the whole tone and objectification throughout the chapter, I think I could've forgiven a small part of it if I had learned something interesting or been presented with a novel sexual technique. But no. Ferriss' road to mindblowing orgasms is...manual clitoral masturbation. And I'm still not sure where the 15 minutes comes in. Ugh.

"No, I was more concerned with increasing sperm count than isolating variables."

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the book for me. ...more

2

Oct 06, 2012

Two stars instead of one, because it was so amazingly bad I just couldn't stop reading.
Reader's digest version:

"I'm Tim Ferris. Last week I tracked the weather for five days and noticed that it rained on the four days when I didn't carry an umbrella. But on the day when I did bring an umbrella, it stayed dry out. So obviously, carrying an umbrella prevents rain.
Now, some scientists may scoff and say that this flies in the face of known science and conventional wisdom, or that at least they'd Two stars instead of one, because it was so amazingly bad I just couldn't stop reading.
Reader's digest version:

"I'm Tim Ferris. Last week I tracked the weather for five days and noticed that it rained on the four days when I didn't carry an umbrella. But on the day when I did bring an umbrella, it stayed dry out. So obviously, carrying an umbrella prevents rain.
Now, some scientists may scoff and say that this flies in the face of known science and conventional wisdom, or that at least they'd need more data in order to be convinced. But I have no problem writing a whole book insisting to readers, through a stream-of-consciousness narrative told in OCD-level detail, that my umbrella-carrying behavior is what controls my weather.
Of course, if you want to really track the weather around you, you'll have to be willing to pay hundreds of dollars a week on expensive and time-consuming diagnostic tests to keep tracking your weather in minute detail, so that you can adjust your umbrella-carrying behavior in case the weather starts getting out of hand.
Also, I, Tim Ferris, am constantly having sex with models and partying with rockstars, as my 8 billion Twitter followers can avow. The book will continually remind you, just so you don't forget this even for a second.
In the introduction I'll tell you to be skeptical, to cover my ass; but I'll fill the rest of the book with overenthusiastic claims and dismissal of skepticism."

He does have a few decent tips, especially in the interviews with professional athletic trainers who actually get many people to do a program over time and see their results. I do admire the focus on doing the minimal workout to get results, rather than overdoing it unnecessarily.
(...although every chapter's advice contradicts itself: Work your muscles to failure every time. No, lift lighter weights for just a few reps, and workout right before eating every meal. No, eat breakfast as soon as you get up, before working out, and make sure it's all protein. No, avoid too much protein and have a glass of grapefruit juice with breakfast. No, avoid all fruits like the plague... I guess that's why the introduction tells you to read one segment at a time, not the whole book from start to finish. Oops.)

And I agree that obsessively-recorded self-experimentation might lead to changed habits that are right *for you*, individually. But the anecdote ("a few times I've had great sex after eating some almonds") does not translate into the general recommendation ("according to my in-depth research, guys should always eat almonds a few hours before sex"). I was not surprised to see a chapter here by Seth Roberts, who specializes in exaggerating the power & generality of claims he makes based on his own self-experimentation. They may be true claims for him, and they may be worth trying by others -- but he claims that if something works on him, that's enough evidence to trumpet it as reliable advice for everyone else, and I have no patience for that.
I'm also not convinced by his tracking of nutrient levels through tests that are both ridiculously expensive and unreliable from reading to reading.

I'm most impressed that Ferriss put two chapters about identifying quack medicine right before the description of his own bullshit "study." Oh, your diet program has a 100% success rate? But the participants were self-selected volunteers from your rabid Twitter followers, not a random sample of the population. And you dropped the people who didn't complete the diet -- you don't know how many tried it and failed without bothering to report their failure on your survey. And the 200 reports were those who "responded to all questions" -- so it sounds like you dropped out the failures who skipped a question or two. And you break it up by subgroups that would be too small to compare even if the study design *were* statistically sound.
The diet may happen to be perfectly good, but the report here simply provides no evidence, whether in favor or against.

Dear Mr Ferriss, you do a far better job with the inspirational writing in the closing thoughts:
"Most of us have resigned ourselves to a partial completeness... The beauty is, almost all of it can be changed... Your body is almost always within your control... take an inventory of all the things in the physical realm that you've resigned yourself to being poor at. Now ask: if I couldn't fail, what would I want to be exceptional at?"
Lovely. Stick to that, please.

PS -- the author's bio says he is "a tango world record holder." I'm not sure what about tango you can measure and hold records in... but if that's your approach to a dance of emotional connection, then dude, you're doing it wrong. ...more

0

Dec 29, 2010

Anyone who read my review of 4 Hour Work Week knows that I think that Tim Ferriss is a total smug dick. That said, he is a smug dick who really seems to kinda know what he is talking about. There were a ton of super useful tips in 4HWW and he really spells things out to you to total dummy level. So when I found out he had a diet book, I figured I should check it out. This dude is the king of of shortcuts, SO if anyone was going to be helpful (and most efficient) in helping me achieve my meager Anyone who read my review of 4 Hour Work Week knows that I think that Tim Ferriss is a total smug dick. That said, he is a smug dick who really seems to kinda know what he is talking about. There were a ton of super useful tips in 4HWW and he really spells things out to you to total dummy level. So when I found out he had a diet book, I figured I should check it out. This dude is the king of of shortcuts, SO if anyone was going to be helpful (and most efficient) in helping me achieve my meager weight loss goals, I figured it'd be him. At the moment I am trying out his slow-carb method, which means I eat protein, veg, and beans for 6 days on and then one mega "refeeding" (read: binge) day a week. I'm hopeful that this structure is going to work since the binge day will keep me from all the cheats through the week that keep me from achieving my goals. In addition to this, I am also regularly doing the WODs from Bodyrock.tv (which I was already doing anyway). Keep in mind, I am not on a short term diet. I am already pretty committed to eating this way (primal) and I love fitness and working out, especially weightlifting and HIIT (not so much into those other activities that are fun but slow and don't really give me that 'worked out' feeling). I hope to be back here in a few weeks with some positive results!

As for the sex part of the book, I have to take a pass. The idea of taking sex tips from someone like Tim Feriss makes me vomit in my mouth a little. ...more

2

Jan 24, 2011

This is my longest review to date, I have a lot to say about this. Let's begin, shall we?

This book is a little unique. You can think of it as a collection of short essays (my understanding is that the book started life as a collection of blog posts by author Tim Ferris) that attempt to “hack” the human body using little tricks and unexpected methods. Ferris likes to quote the 80/20 principle, and in this book, he's trying to find the least amount of effort, that 20% or less of work, that yields This is my longest review to date, I have a lot to say about this. Let's begin, shall we?

This book is a little unique. You can think of it as a collection of short essays (my understanding is that the book started life as a collection of blog posts by author Tim Ferris) that attempt to “hack” the human body using little tricks and unexpected methods. Ferris likes to quote the 80/20 principle, and in this book, he's trying to find the least amount of effort, that 20% or less of work, that yields 80% or more of the result. So what we end up with is a loosely organized collection of experiments that Ferris performed on himself. While this is fascinating reading, it's also almost entirely anecdotal.

I feel like there are two ways to evaluate this book. While it gets mega style points (I really enjoyed Ferris' writing style and general conceptual approach), that ultimately won't tell you anything about how useful the book is. So, we can evaluate it by how well researched and tested it is (hint: it isn't), or we can actually try to recreate some of his experiments and see what happens. Which, I did.

To the first point, Ferris only conducted these experiments on himself. He occasionally mentions other test subjects, like his parents, and a few other acquaintances, but we are far from talking about clinical trials here. He leaves out vast amounts of information about his purported “test subjects” so it's impossible to get an idea of what was actually going on. While some of these methods might work really well for some people, there's a huge portion of people for whom they likely would be completely ineffective, but Ferris makes it sound like these methods are universal to the human condition. Just because something worked for him and his mom doesn't mean it will work for me and you. While some of his information is backed up by great interviews with highly trained specialists, you have to keep in mind, they are specialists, and while some of them are incredibly outstanding in their fields, they do have a bias which Ferris doesn't try to balance out. He keeps his sources very limited, the scope of perspective extremely narrow, which, again, might work for him, but not necessarily anyone else.

Some of the methods he prescribes are cutting edge, known to be effective for most people, and backed up by studies (which he may or may not be citing). Some of his methods have been proven to be minimally effective, and are way behind the curve when it comes to current science. This doesn't mean they don't work at all, obviously they kinda worked at one point in the past, and obviously they worked for him, but again, that doesn't mean they work for everyone, or that they are the best practices. And, as any gym rat will tell you, you shouldn't listen to a guy who tells you to do curls in the squat rack. That's just asking for trouble.

Jokes aside, we could end the review there, saying that yes, it's a very entertaining book with some nuggets of wisdom, and some other nuggets of crap, but I have more to say here. Because I actually tried some of this stuff.

I'm always eager to try new weight loss methods, especially ones making the claims he did: that you don't have to count calories, that you can have a cheat day once a week in which you are encouraged to eat literally whatever you want, even to the point of making yourself sick. These sounded great. So I tried it.

His diet plan is basic: eat protein, legumes (black beans, lentils, etc.), and veggies at every meal. This isn't that far off from my normal diet anyway, I just don't have nearly as many legumes normally as he calls for. One of his big rules was: Don't count the calories. In fact, he goes far out of his way to drive the point home that you shouldn't restrict too much. He often talked about not eating enough, warning that we should be sure to eat plenty of these foods. So I did. I followed his PGAA supplementation routine (a mix of a few supplements for fat loss. Nothing weird, things like garlic and green tea extract, etc.). I did the cheat day where I followed his protocols for helping to lessen the damage of a binge day. Then I went a step further. He talks a lot about increasing fat loss through cold exposure. So I tried this. I used ice packs, took two cold showers a day, and even took ice baths, all because Tim Ferris' “science” said I should burn fat much faster through these methods. Ferris also went out of his way to say that exercise is not necessary for losing fat on this protocol, and actually warned against doing too much. So I did some kettlebell swings, and thats it.

The first big result I noticed is that I felt like complete crap, all the time. I was sluggish, tired, irritable, and just felt a general malaise that made me miserable. On top of the the beans made me feel bloated and gaseous all day long. It was pretty awful. I kept thinking that even if this worked, it wouldn't be worth it. I got into health, fitness and weight loss because I wanted to feel better, not like this.

After 5 days of feeling like this, I weighed in. I had gained five pounds. Now, normally, to be fair, you should give a new program about 4 weeks to see if it's really working. But I knew that after 5 days, if I felt this bad, and was gaining literally a pound a day, that something was terribly wrong. So I cut it short. No more ice baths, no more of the bean heavy diet. I'm back to a normal workout schedule and eating normally (for me, which means like mostly protein, lots of veggies, very few carbs or dairy, occasional nuts, fruit, and oatmeal). Within a day I felt much better and started losing weight again.

There was another side effect, though. Telling someone like me to have a cheat day and go hog wild is like telling an alcoholic he can only drink on saturday. It doesn't end well. In an effort to maximize my hedonistic enjoyment of cheat days, I actually fell into horrible patterns. I was overeating to an extreme, falling into a binge eating session that I never used to be guilty of, even when I was at my biggest, most unhealthy stage of my former fat life. The cheat day method prescribed here, while some people can handle it, people like me can't. It can easily change from a nice reprieve from dieting and become psychologically damaging. My relationship with food was twisted into something incredibly unhealthy, and it made me feel horrible, not just physically, but emotionally. I cannot stress enough how much I do not recommend this approach. While allowing some “cheating” and flexibility every once in a while can be great, and should probably happen, it should not be the binge style that Ferris outlines here. Atleast not for people like me.

I will keep using his PGAA supplement routine (partially because they are similar to what I was doing before anyway, and hell, I bought all this stuff) since it will probably need a longer term test to truly judge it. I'll also say this: I think that diet (sans the cheat binge) would have worked really well for me when I was first starting out in my weight loss. It's an easy way to stay full while cutting calories down to a manageable level, cutting junk food and most bad carb sources, and staying satiated. It's also easy to follow even when eating out, which is not normally the case for my chosen diet. The problem for me is it actually caused an increase in normal caloric consumption, combined with the lack of exercise, which led to fast gains. So, if you're bigger, and looking to start cutting, this wouldn't be a bad place to start, although I wouldn't recommend it for the long term.

As for the cold exposure, the science behind it makes a lot of sense, and maybe it would have worked if my diet and exercise had been different. But man was it miserable. Ferris talks about how cold showers are supposed to be uplifting, calling them a treatment for depression. As someone who was once clinically diagnosed with depression, I can tell you thats probably not the case. That never came up with any of the doctors I talked to about depression treatments. I found them to be the opposite. Cold showers in the morning, and the ice baths at night just pissed me off and made me irritable and lethargic.

Thats all I tried from the book. At some point I want to experiment with polyphasic sleep (but I've been wanting to do that long before I read this book) and I'm trying to use some of the total immersion swimming techniques he espouses (mostly because others in the triathlon community swear by it) but thats it as far as experiments for me. I was interested in his endurance hacks. He spends a lot of time detailing a very odd training program for endurance (read: marathon) running that has surprisingly little running in it. But when it comes time to share the results, Ferris says that the book had to go to print, that we should check his blog for the update on whether the marathon experiment worked or not. As of this writing, he has not yet updated this section of his blog.

So there you have it. The four hour body has a few nuggets of wisdom in there, and a lot of junky crap as well. Sift through it if you wish, as it is a very entertaining read, but ultimately, it's just a big pile of personal anecdotal evidence that worked well for one dude, and it's results for anyone else are dubious at best. ...more

5

Feb 05, 2011

II'd never read a health book which starts out by describing being backstage at a NIN concert.

I knew I was in for a wild ride.

In the 4-Hour Body, Tim Ferriss chronicles his eclectic experiences at hacking his body: weight loss & muscle gain, perfect abs and perfect baseball swing, tripling his testosterone, holding his breath for three minutes, & more.

As a family physician, I can tell you that most of his material is not that revolutionary: his diet is just a simple variant of a low II'd never read a health book which starts out by describing being backstage at a NIN concert.

I knew I was in for a wild ride.

In the 4-Hour Body, Tim Ferriss chronicles his eclectic experiences at hacking his body: weight loss & muscle gain, perfect abs and perfect baseball swing, tripling his testosterone, holding his breath for three minutes, & more.

As a family physician, I can tell you that most of his material is not that revolutionary: his diet is just a simple variant of a low glycemic load diet, and many trainers will tell you that kettle bells rock as an exercise. But Tim is a showman at heart, as well as probably being just a little bit crazy, and this book reflects his devil-may-care take-life-by-the-throat until it screams for mercy approach to living. The book is intentionally designed to give you a potpouri of ideas and projects to pick from, and he encourages you to find something that you want to change about your body and go for it.

Even if you don't implement a single thing in this book, you'll have a barrel of fun reading it. And most everyone will find at least one chapter that they will find intruiging enough to implement his concepts to try on their own. He's motivated me to get back to my ideal weight, and I'm already half way there by implementing some of his regimen. Trippiest health book of the year. ...more

4

Jun 20, 2013

Book is simultaneously brilliant and insane. I have heard of Ferriss and his experimentation and "4-Hour" approach to life for years, but this was my first foray into his brand of "research". Dude is thorough and committed, that's for sure.

It is important to note that this is not a conventional read - the book is meant to be skimmed, only reading sections that interest to you. In that way, it seems more like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book: you want to lose fat? build muscle? increase Book is simultaneously brilliant and insane. I have heard of Ferriss and his experimentation and "4-Hour" approach to life for years, but this was my first foray into his brand of "research". Dude is thorough and committed, that's for sure.

It is important to note that this is not a conventional read - the book is meant to be skimmed, only reading sections that interest to you. In that way, it seems more like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book: you want to lose fat? build muscle? increase strength? here's a formula. You want to train for endurance and/or speed? here's a different one. You want to sleep better? The book is nearly 600 pages, with several appendices to boot, so reading cover to cover just isn't the way to go.

Life is one big experiment for Ferriss - so in that way, I admire his approach. He has a very open mind, but seems to fall into the correlation-implies-causation fallacy in several aspects. It is also worth saying that just because something worked for him does NOT mean that it will work for everyone, no matter how many times he tested.

The chapters that I chose to focus on were fat loss, building strength, and injury prevention. The fat loss chapter in particular had me vacillating on whether his advice is snakeoil or panacea - ridiculous or gospel truth... Is this some secret that no one talks about? Take this concoction of supplements and see amazing results (all natural things like green tea extract and garlic pills) or is this some crazy money pit? After reading the chapter and more information about his Slow Carb Diet, I am still not sure what to think. The reader is intended to experiment along with Ferriss, and I am giving his diet a try (with adaptations to my own dietary ethics and guidelines). The strength and muscle building chapter is more forward and actually quite simple: less is more. You don't need to spend hours at the gym. Max weight, low reps/sets, proscribed power moves, low frequency with a focus on recovery. He outlines some training programs, and the advice is scientifically sound. The injury-proofing chapters were my favorite - focusing on therapy, correcting imbalances, rehabilitative movements. I am planning to incorporate some of the injury-proofing strength work into my own regimen.

I realize that this review is all over the place - and that is a reflection of the book itself. It's written to be a guide to optimize your physical self in nearly every way. (Including a somewhat displaced single chapter on improving your sex life, but this focuses almost single-handedly - oops, no pun intended! - on the female orgasm). A book with a thesis that broad is bound to be all over the place.

In the end, this book needs to be read critically, but with an open mind (does that make sense?) If this sounds like something that you would like to do - this interactive approach - then I totally recommend it. ...more

4

Jan 03, 2012

After knowing so many people that have successfully changed their eating habits with the help of this book, and then watching "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" and "Food, Inc." on Netflix, I finally had to try it myself.

Going into week three of 4HB style eating, and I've lost 4lbs with minimal effort. The much bigger deal? Since dropping gluten & high-fructose corn syrup from my diet, my allergies have all but disappeared, and my inflammation has dropped so much that most of my shoulder pain After knowing so many people that have successfully changed their eating habits with the help of this book, and then watching "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" and "Food, Inc." on Netflix, I finally had to try it myself.

Going into week three of 4HB style eating, and I've lost 4lbs with minimal effort. The much bigger deal? Since dropping gluten & high-fructose corn syrup from my diet, my allergies have all but disappeared, and my inflammation has dropped so much that most of my shoulder pain (which I've had for 10+ years) is gone!

Knowing how much pain I'm missing out on has kept me motivated to continue the positive diet change and life-hacking my body, 4 Hour Body style!

*I marked that I've "finished" the book -- I've finished the sections for my personal goals. You do not have to read the full book - just the parts you need! ...more

3

Dec 27, 2018

What a fascinating book this was. I've heard a few people talking about the "slow carb diet" and "bulletproof coffee" and decided to read up on this trend.

I won't bore you by describing Timothy Ferriss' entire diet program (you can find good summaries online for his slow-carb diet), but the short-short version is to eat a high protein & high veggie diet six days of the week, and then have one cheat day. His book also has a bunch of exercise tips, supplement tips, and other hacks for What a fascinating book this was. I've heard a few people talking about the "slow carb diet" and "bulletproof coffee" and decided to read up on this trend.

I won't bore you by describing Timothy Ferriss' entire diet program (you can find good summaries online for his slow-carb diet), but the short-short version is to eat a high protein & high veggie diet six days of the week, and then have one cheat day. His book also has a bunch of exercise tips, supplement tips, and other hacks for boosting weight loss.

What makes this book more interesting to read than your typical diet book is how much experimenting Ferriss has done on his own body. He's a bit of a madman, to be honest. Besides weight loss, he also has chapters on adding more muscle, getting better sleep, running faster, etc. Recommended.

Meaningful Quotes
[from someone who lost 70 pounds in one year, on what inspired him to begin]
"'For me, it doesn't even matter what I wear; I'm not going to look good anyway' ... I heard myself say those words and I recognized them not for their content, but for their tone of helplessness. I am, in most of my endeavors, a solidly successful person. I decide I want things to be a certain way, and I make it happen ... If I want a better-than-average career, I can't simply 'go with the flow' and get it. Most people do just that: they wish for an outcome but make no intention-driven actions toward that outcome. If they would just do something most people would find that they get some version of that outcome they're looking for. That's been my secret. Stop wishing and start doing."

"Your body is almost always within your control. This is rare in life, perhaps unique. Simply focusing on some measurable element of your physical nature can prevent you from becoming a 'Dow Joneser,' someone whose self-worth is dependent on things largely outside of their control. Job not going well? Company having issues? Some idiot making life difficult? If you had ten laps to your swimming, or if you cut five seconds off your best mile time, it can still be a great week. Controlling your body puts you in life's driver's seat."

...more

1

May 26, 2012

Timothy Ferris clearly thinks quite highly of himself and doesn't hesitate to let you know how superior he is to you in every way in this incredibly long (592 pages) doorstop of a book. In it he professes to have the solution to many of your health woes and promises to help you accomplish such things as "Sleep 2 hours per day and perform better than on 8 hours." (I'll spare you the pain of reading his incredibly scientific and boring explanation by telling you that this requires an unbelievably Timothy Ferris clearly thinks quite highly of himself and doesn't hesitate to let you know how superior he is to you in every way in this incredibly long (592 pages) doorstop of a book. In it he professes to have the solution to many of your health woes and promises to help you accomplish such things as "Sleep 2 hours per day and perform better than on 8 hours." (I'll spare you the pain of reading his incredibly scientific and boring explanation by telling you that this requires an unbelievably complicated schedule of sleeping a few minutes at a time all day long. If you're blessed by the type of lifestyle where you don't have to work or interact with other human beings in any way, this might work for you).

Ferris' idea of a healthy life is chock full of supplements and expensive testing. He subjects himself to a myriad of experiments and has found success in his trials, but any adult with an actual job and family obligations could never afford the pills and gadgets he touts as lifesavers. I am thankful that I got this book from the library and didn't waste the $26.95 it costs to buy the book.

Besides being incredibly scientific and difficult to read, Ferris is simply too cocky and stuck on himself to gain my trust. ...more

4

Jan 25, 2012

A lot of people miss the point of this book. It's possibly because, as one reviewer said, Tim Ferriss comes across as a smug dick. As a writer, his voice leaves a lot to be desired.

I digress. Tim throws out a lot of factoids, many of which may be oversimplified or even wrong out of context. But his methodology is right. The point of this book that seems to get missed is to 1) use your body as a laboratory and 2) MEASURE EVERYTHING.

He records everything meticulously. He changes one variable at a A lot of people miss the point of this book. It's possibly because, as one reviewer said, Tim Ferriss comes across as a smug dick. As a writer, his voice leaves a lot to be desired.

I digress. Tim throws out a lot of factoids, many of which may be oversimplified or even wrong out of context. But his methodology is right. The point of this book that seems to get missed is to 1) use your body as a laboratory and 2) MEASURE EVERYTHING.

He records everything meticulously. He changes one variable at a time. He consults with experts. And he is not afraid to try something just to see what happens. He forms an educated theory and then shines a light on it and if it stands up it goes in the book.

THAT is the point of the 4 Hour Body. Anyone who reads it should not take his word on the specifics as anything more than "This worked for me." What they do need to take is his methodology and principles and extend them to their own lives. ...more

3

Nov 13, 2014

It's not in the same level of 'The 4 hour work week' but definitely is worth reading. Timothy is a bit crazy in this book, some of the chapters have too much technical information which looses the grip. So, i skipped the chapters which i found impractical and not applicable to my life and finished in just 2 days.

1

Aug 10, 2012

I hated this book, mostly because it sells as
science this guy's statistically insignificant, biased and poorly designed life experiment. It's less entertaining than a car crash, but has a bit of the morbid interest about the damage it may cause to society.
Not to mention the sex bit, which is pathetic in its definition, scope, and intended results. Luckily, for the better knowing women it will probably mark him as a clueless lover.
I read the first half, abandoned it for a year, and then skimmed I hated this book, mostly because it sells as
science this guy's statistically insignificant, biased and poorly designed life experiment. It's less entertaining than a car crash, but has a bit of the morbid interest about the damage it may cause to society.
Not to mention the sex bit, which is pathetic in its definition, scope, and intended results. Luckily, for the better knowing women it will probably mark him as a clueless lover.
I read the first half, abandoned it for a year, and then skimmed through the rest: nothing to call my attention. No more Ferriss for me, ever.
...more

2

Jan 11, 2011

Ok, what can I say here......folks, this may be one of the most dangerous health books even written. Authored by self proclaimed internet guru, Tim Ferriss, the 4-Hour Body is a rambling mix of diet, workout, drugs, sex and body manipulation that should be called 'The Narcissist's Bible'. Using the 20/80 rule for all of his information, Ferriss tries to convince the reading that you need only minimum effort for maximum results - be it eating, running, weight lifting, etc. He uses modern sports Ok, what can I say here......folks, this may be one of the most dangerous health books even written. Authored by self proclaimed internet guru, Tim Ferriss, the 4-Hour Body is a rambling mix of diet, workout, drugs, sex and body manipulation that should be called 'The Narcissist's Bible'. Using the 20/80 rule for all of his information, Ferriss tries to convince the reading that you need only minimum effort for maximum results - be it eating, running, weight lifting, etc. He uses modern sports training methods to drive his points - to maximize at physical training you must use short bursts rather than long drawn-out workouts.

I won't dive into the details only to say that he uses many (and I mean many) unorthodox methods on his own body (vitamins, drugs, hormones, etc) to see what effect they have on his strength and metabolism. On top of that he advocates a 'slow carb' diet that focuses on protein and no white carbs (similar to the Atkins diet). Given that I purchased this book I decided to go on the diet in early January.

After three weeks on the 4 hour body diet I can say I lost 5 lbs, however, the side effects were massive! I literally started to lose both my emotional and mental stability. It affected both my job and my family. I felt so crummy that I decided to quit the diet by making a plate full of french toast for breakfast (a total no no in his book). I felt so good that day that I quit completely.

This book is a complete mess of what I would call 'pop science' (yes, there are some facts - he does use reliable sources) however, the techniques used are very dangerous to the average reader out there.

My advice - eat less, exercise more, up your vitamin intake and enjoy life (plus, don't shell out any money for this book). ...more

4

Dec 07, 2012

I get the impression many people miss the point of Tim's work. Does he come off as the kid who was pretty unpopular in High School scrambling for attention? Yeah, a little. But he offers a starting point and a perspective. N=1 experiments. You are your own N. Try things, isolate variables. Do a science on yourself. I see a lot of reviews complaining that "this stuff doesn't work". It worked for Tim. Find what works for you.

I'm a little biased. I beat Tim to the punch on most of this stuff, and I get the impression many people miss the point of Tim's work. Does he come off as the kid who was pretty unpopular in High School scrambling for attention? Yeah, a little. But he offers a starting point and a perspective. N=1 experiments. You are your own N. Try things, isolate variables. Do a science on yourself. I see a lot of reviews complaining that "this stuff doesn't work". It worked for Tim. Find what works for you.

I'm a little biased. I beat Tim to the punch on most of this stuff, and found myself nodding in agreement (Though I've had better luck in strength gains using different methods). Much of the same stuff that Tim has tried has worked for me in the past. He left the reader with a cliffhanger on the 50K run, but having used Brian Mackenzie's methods for years I can tell you it works for many of us. I hope it works for Tim and the rest of you who try it too. If it doesn't and you really want to run an Ultramarathon... then find a way.

All in all Tim is recommending learning to learn, experimenting on yourself, and knowing your goals. Figure out what you want to do. Stop doing everything else and do that. Isolate variables. Build, test and learn, then decide what's next. ...more

2

Dec 06, 2011

This book is crazy. Timothy Ferriss is narcissistic and obsessive to an intense degree - at one point he gets a blood glucose monitor installed in his skin so he can graph his levels. His constant humblebragging is pretty hard to take.

The 4 Hour Body is laid out like a recipe book based on what goals you want to achieve. There are chapters for weight loss, muscle gain, endurance improvements, swimming, s_x techniques, testosterone improvement, injury rehabilitation, and so on. He is not kidding This book is crazy. Timothy Ferriss is narcissistic and obsessive to an intense degree - at one point he gets a blood glucose monitor installed in his skin so he can graph his levels. His constant humblebragging is pretty hard to take.

The 4 Hour Body is laid out like a recipe book based on what goals you want to achieve. There are chapters for weight loss, muscle gain, endurance improvements, swimming, s_x techniques, testosterone improvement, injury rehabilitation, and so on. He is not kidding around when he cautions you against reading it cover to cover: the organization makes for a difficult and disconnected read, so follow his advice and only read the chapters you're actually interested in.

Dude has obviously done his research and has dozens of pages of citations and notes and formulas at the back of the book, so it's hard to level my usual charge of 'broscience' at this book (although oftentimes the studies he cites are on really small sample sizes). And he takes insane amounts of measurements and provides data on every facet of the experiments he does on himself so it definitely seems like they work.

My main beef with the book is that Timothy Ferriss routinely takes an adversarial tone where he pits his Protocol against the standard exercise/regimens and proclaims his method much simpler and more effective. But oftentimes his Protocol is equally or exceedingly crazy! 'Don't waste your time watching what you eat when instead you can follow this super restrictive diet along with strictly timed supplement intake!' 'Why waste hours in the gym every week lifting weights when you can follow my plan (of lifting weights)?' 'Why spend all those hours running to train for an ultramarathon when you can do my method of high intensity interval training!' (He got plantar fasciitis and did not do the ultramarathon). Make no mistake - if you follow his Protocols you are going to seem like a crazy person. ...more

2

Jul 06, 2015

Ferriss' book has some good ideas in it, but it needs to be edited down... significantly. It's bloated with anecdotes, hype and rhetoric that waste time. It is true that Ketosis diets work, and so I don't think this is a gimmick. The book, however, can simply be put to the side. A few pages of dietary lists and exercises cover 90% of the useful knowledge.

I didn't even bother with his pathetic "superhuman sex" advice.

3

Jan 04, 2011

Have you read Tim Ferris's blog posts? It reads like an infomercial. How to do X (which usually takes years or is nearly impossible) in 4hrs (or for free). Over the years, X has been:
1) Running a successful business
2) Losing 10lbs
3) Adding 34Lbs of muscle
4) Learning a new language
5) Flying around the world

Critics call him a snake oil salesman, his fans (and there are plenty) call him a genius life hacker. In reality, he might be both. His accomplishments are very real (I'm writing about him, Have you read Tim Ferris's blog posts? It reads like an infomercial. How to do X (which usually takes years or is nearly impossible) in 4hrs (or for free). Over the years, X has been:
1) Running a successful business
2) Losing 10lbs
3) Adding 34Lbs of muscle
4) Learning a new language
5) Flying around the world

Critics call him a snake oil salesman, his fans (and there are plenty) call him a genius life hacker. In reality, he might be both. His accomplishments are very real (I'm writing about him, aren't I?).

This book then is to be taken with a grain or two of salt, but I was extremely surprised at how much real, useful, insightful information was packed in this book. Of course, it's liberally seasoned with name dropping and wonderful claims that you usually associate with late night TV, but a waste of time it is not.
I give it only a 3 star because of the sensationalism and the marketing tactics that I find distasteful. If you give it some time though, you'll find something whether you're interested in fitness, life hacks or are a hypochondriac.
...more

5

Dec 13, 2010

The Good:

This is probably the best nonfiction I've read in 2010. It doesn't take long to be convinced that the author is someone we should listen to (this man is clearly OBSESSED!!), but more importantly, the book is extremely readable. If I were to write a book on the same topic with the same information, it would probably come out reading like the DSM-IV, but Ferriss does a good job of including plenty of entertaining anecdotes and humor to help us along, not to mention simple and concise The Good:

This is probably the best nonfiction I've read in 2010. It doesn't take long to be convinced that the author is someone we should listen to (this man is clearly OBSESSED!!), but more importantly, the book is extremely readable. If I were to write a book on the same topic with the same information, it would probably come out reading like the DSM-IV, but Ferriss does a good job of including plenty of entertaining anecdotes and humor to help us along, not to mention simple and concise explanations.

As the subtitle promises, the content of the book is definitely uncommon. There are some very unusual techniques and advice that I've never seen before. However, the greatest uncommonness of the book is its "Tipping Point" approach to health. Following the trend of The 4-Hour Workweek, a major theme of The 4-Hour Body is how to see the most results from the least amount of effort. Ferriss is not necessarily saying that conventional wisdom (hard work, discipline, keeping up with research) is wrong--just that there's an easier and smarter way through hacking the human body. I think this approach works great for a generation with a low attention span and an immediate results mindset.

The Bad:

Critics are going to run wild with this book. Everything from advice on mixing different over-the-counter drugs and supplements, to consuming high amounts of cholesterol, to his claims of gaining more than 1 pound of muscle a day for a month are going to feed the fire for skeptics, trolls, and haters.

I, for one, believe it's impossible to gain 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days as he's claimed to have done. Yes, it is possible to gain that much total weight, mostly water, especially if you're an experienced dehydrator-rehydrator as he is, but muscle is completely different.

Claims like these are going to make a lot of people call the author a snake-oil salesman, and I think to an extent he is. While it will help him sell books, unfortunately I think it will also cause people to label him as a fraud and therefore dismiss all the other information that is definitely worth reading and considering.

The Ugly:

The author actually weighed his poop.

This was a guest review by Edward Bartlett. For his full review, please visit my site, Melody & Words! ...more

3

Jun 08, 2011

One of my passions is diet & exercise books. I read them religiously instead of dieting or exercising. The 4-H Body was really entertaining, informative, and inspiring. It's really directed more toward men's health than women's, but I enjoyed it anyhow and will probably put into practice some of his tips. I am reading it now for a second time; this time, with a highlighter and post-its. NO, it's not a library book: I actually purchased the book for once. This is the kind of book you want to One of my passions is diet & exercise books. I read them religiously instead of dieting or exercising. The 4-H Body was really entertaining, informative, and inspiring. It's really directed more toward men's health than women's, but I enjoyed it anyhow and will probably put into practice some of his tips. I am reading it now for a second time; this time, with a highlighter and post-its. NO, it's not a library book: I actually purchased the book for once. This is the kind of book you want to keep because it is encyclopedic and needs to be used as a reference.

The author describes so many different techniques for reaching your goal of a healthier, happier new you. What makes this book such an interesting novelty for me is that the author is into extreme conduct. He's got a cupboard full of ideas: ice baths being one of his suggested paths toward weight loss. He also warmed the cockles of my cellulite with his tip that you should embrace your yo-yo dieting because it's going to be with you forever and it's not a bad thing.

One of the funnier chapters is called, "The 15-minute Female Orgasm". Spoiler alert: being female, I was looking forward to learning how to have a 15 minute orgasm. He proceeded to relate his experience at sex class in San Francisco where he learned the technique that will guarantee a woman would have an orgasm in 15 minutes or less. It doesn't last 15 minutes; it only takes 15 minutes to achieve. The technique is illustrated with line drawings that appear to show a man stuffing a turkey.

In any event, it was a refreshing break from calories and wall squats and strangely enough, it doesn't seem out of context. And, in the end, the author is so enthusiastic about life that it is contagious and inspiring.










...more

3

Dec 16, 2010

So, there is pretty much no one I know who has a better grasp on nutrition and what's what than my former co-worker Sylvain Dubrofsky. And in the lead up to this book's release, he was constantly sharing excepts and interviews with the Author, so I took notice. When it came out, the Kindle Edition was $10, and I will spend $10 on PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING if it catches my interest, so I picked it up.

First off, this dude is two things - obsessed with his body and a total nerd. Not a nerd like I am, So, there is pretty much no one I know who has a better grasp on nutrition and what's what than my former co-worker Sylvain Dubrofsky. And in the lead up to this book's release, he was constantly sharing excepts and interviews with the Author, so I took notice. When it came out, the Kindle Edition was $10, and I will spend $10 on PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING if it catches my interest, so I picked it up.

First off, this dude is two things - obsessed with his body and a total nerd. Not a nerd like I am, where I just know the difference between a B-Wing and a Y-Wing and which one Admiral Ackbar invented, but a programmer, computer-science style nerd who loves nothing more than intricate systems and algorythms and all that stuff. So combining these two, he wrote this book.

His writing style is easy to read, and he enhances that ease by sectioning off different parts of the book - mid-chapter - to let you know "this part is super technical if you want to skip it" or "this is just an anecdote I have if you're not interested," which is handy, because I was only mildly interested in the science and not at all interested in his anecdotes.

The book breaks down into four sections - weight loss, muscle gain, sexual health and this weird sort of potpourri category that is random knowledge he picked up while working on these other things. There's advice in the intro to only read the stuff you're interested in, so I read through the weight loss and sexual health sections.

The weight loss section is full of a lot of really practical advice and simple rules for eating to facilitate weight loss. I'm going to give them a try, as they don't include anything too extreme, like Atkins. They do, however, eschew the typical calorie counting as a way to lose weight. It focuses instead on eating mostly protein and very specific vegetables while avoiding sugar and carbohydrates for six days a week and then allocating one day a week to eat whatever you want. It's explained very clearly in the book why he suggests specific foods and why. What lends the book's approach credibility, I feel, is a recurring statement by the author that this is not the only way to lose weight, but is what he feels the best way. He also is a huge proponent of tracking and measuring your input in ANY way and setting reasonable goals. Again, the book's common-sense language and explanations made the diet he proposed more appealing.

Then I got to chapter 2 of the weight loss section. Now, the first was "How to lose weight," and this section is more of the "How to reduce your bodyfat down from 8% to 5%" kind of insanity. I say insanity because he talks about the kinds of things he does like taking cold, twenty minute showers, because your body needs to warm itself up so it uses energy. This whole section was full of stuff I will NEVER do, but was kind of interesting from a nerdy perspective.

The sexual health section is bananas. I expected it to be about nutrition and instead it was a crazy half-memoir half-instruction manual for sexual organs, half-excerpt from "The Game." Very strange.

So, I guess I'll try the diet and that is going to be the deciding factor about if this book is any good or not. But I found it a really interesting, and bizarre, read. Might go back to it eventually, but for now I think I've got all I need. ...more

5

Aug 13, 2011

The 4-Hour Body is a hulk of a book, weighing in at over 600 pages. But Ferris comes right out in the intro and encourages readers to use it in an a la carte fashion, based on their personal needs and interests. I did not heed said advice, since I wanted to review the entire content of the book, rather than just what pertains to me (obviously, I'm not planning on gaining 30 pounds of muscle weight in as many days).

I found this book unexpectedly and deeply engrossing. Every time I sat down to The 4-Hour Body is a hulk of a book, weighing in at over 600 pages. But Ferris comes right out in the intro and encourages readers to use it in an a la carte fashion, based on their personal needs and interests. I did not heed said advice, since I wanted to review the entire content of the book, rather than just what pertains to me (obviously, I'm not planning on gaining 30 pounds of muscle weight in as many days).

I found this book unexpectedly and deeply engrossing. Every time I sat down to read it, I would immediately get sucked into the text--oblivious to all distractions (often on a bus commute), immune to morning commute sleepiness. And this is nonfiction I'm talking about--what I usually read to fall asleep at night! 4HB is science, health, fitness, and nutrition written in a highly engaging way with advice that is then easily applied to one's own life. The only chapters I skimmed through were a few in the appendix plus the one about hitting home runs.

As far as my own results go, I started working out 2-3 times per week for 20 minutes each session, under the simple 6-minute abs/hip thrust & flying dog/kettle bell regime, and saw "shape" improvements after only two weeks. I only stuck with the slow-carb diet (what I refer to as the bean diet) for two weeks, however, because I believe beans are an exacerbant to my rosacea. When I'm feeling motivated again, I'll switch back over to The Fat Flush Plan, which is similar but doesn't require beans.

In summary, this is an excellent and well-researched book. If you care at all about your health and fitness you should read it (though probably not straight through ;-) ). ...more

2

Jun 28, 2011

Okay, Timothy is a crazy weirdo who thinks everything he does is perfect, and because he's tested it - then it's true and if you don't do it, you are then dumb and wrong.

Well, maybe he really isn't all those things - but that's how he comes across in this book. Filled with what he promises as a "minimalist approach" to a better life, I read this as a joke at first and also to see what the heck he had to say. First off, he can't quite say that anything he proposes you do with weight, sex, sleep Okay, Timothy is a crazy weirdo who thinks everything he does is perfect, and because he's tested it - then it's true and if you don't do it, you are then dumb and wrong.

Well, maybe he really isn't all those things - but that's how he comes across in this book. Filled with what he promises as a "minimalist approach" to a better life, I read this as a joke at first and also to see what the heck he had to say. First off, he can't quite say that anything he proposes you do with weight, sex, sleep and sleep is anything but minimal. It's step after step after drug after step to get to this so-called perfect place. Want to lose weight? Only eat beans and veggies for every meal (if he were to read this he might call my bluff, as he says you can eat other things, but it's basically beans and veggies). But then take this and that and only drink grapefruit juice on Tuesdays and then gorge yourself on a cheat day. ARGH!

It goes on and on like this with every life aspect. Want to achieve mind-blowing orgasms? It's as easy as doing 500 really easy (did I mention it's easy) steps.

Towards the end I kinda gave up, because I didn't care enough to read about how to become the perfect swimmer or the perfect basketball player. I'm giving this a two instead of a one mainly because a)Dominic and I will forever joke about the 2 sheets of paper rule and b)this is great fodder for my job. ...more

4

Feb 24, 2016

Ferris is the human test gerbil...great research, some excellent ideas to get in shape and to push yourself to become something better.

4

May 04, 2015

After over 5 years since I first read this book, I felt it was time to revisit it.

This is the book that changed it all for me.

Not because it has the most scientific-based approaches (it doesn't) nor because it is "the last book you'll ever need to read about diet".

But because it found me in a particular time and place - it was the right book at the right time.

You see, in the distant year of 2013, I was overweight, and had just moved to a new country.

I had time in my hands, and was determined to After over 5 years since I first read this book, I felt it was time to revisit it.

This is the book that changed it all for me.

Not because it has the most scientific-based approaches (it doesn't) nor because it is "the last book you'll ever need to read about diet".

But because it found me in a particular time and place - it was the right book at the right time.

You see, in the distant year of 2013, I was overweight, and had just moved to a new country.

I had time in my hands, and was determined to succeed.

So I started killing myself with diet (eating whole grains every 2-3 hours, and feeling hungry most of my waking hours), and exercise (over 2 hours per day. And I hated it).

In the first weeks doing this crazy regimen, I lost about 6 pounds. But I couldn't lose any more.

I felt tired all the time.

Then... I read mr Ferriss' book.

And the advice contained was the exact opposite of everything I had tried.

Eat 3 square meals a day - no snacking.
No need to feel hungry - eat until you're satiated.
No fruit.
No whole grains.
And wine every day.

To top it all: a cheat day. every. fucking. week.

I was sure this wasn't going to work. But hey, at least it seemed like more fun than I was having.

---

Fast forward a few months, I had lost over 30 pounds with the Slow-carb diet, and became obsessed about healthy eating.

I became obsessed about the topic. How everything I had learned so far could be so... wrong?

So I started reading a lot. And experimenting.

I began following a more low-carb (and even ketogenic) approach.

I started intermittent fasting.

I started lifting heavy, but less often (goodbye ABCDE bodybuilder splits. Hello compound lifts).

I ditched all the other sports (which I hated, and only did because I felt it was needed to lose weight). I stopped feeling sore all the time (thank God).

And I lost more weight, and gained more muscle.

In fact, with small changes here and there... I realized I had stopped following Tim Ferriss' advice altogether.

Because it had taken me so far. But now - in order to go forward - I needed other tools.

I began carb cycling - with a higher protein intake.

Cheat days every week stalled my progress, so I reduced the frequency of diet escapades.

But I always kept a special place in my heart for that book. Because it was where it all began.

So, after all those years (and a myriad of other diet books), I felt it was time do acquiesce myself with it again.

---

So, I read it again. And, I have to say, it has its pros and cons.


PROS: It's very action-oriented. Tim Ferriss is a great storyteller, and the book is fun to read - at least the first 60-70%.

The book is very well-writen. Specially the start of the book, where I feel Tim "rigs the game so you can win". What I mean is this: The diet is enjoyable and easy to follow. Cheat days every week mean you still eat all your favourite foods on a weekly basis. No calorie tracking removes confusion and a layer of complexity. The workouts are simple and not time consuming (you can do it all in machines, no need to learn new lifts).

CONS: You have to trust Tim's word for most of it - I mean, it's not like legumes have any magical property - at least, not according to science. Also, the strengths of the protocols become their weaknesses: no calorie tracking means you're flying blind. Cheat days every week may stall your progress. The workouts (like the ones in Occam's Protocol) won't break any records.

And the other advice in the book is more useful as thought-provoking reads than as instructions: you really won't start playing major league baseball after reading the chapter, nor become an ultra-marathoner.

TL;DR: All things considered, this book has good advice for really overweight people who want to get to a "normal guy/gal" baseline. It will not make you super shredded, and Tim can be a bit of a name-dropper sometimes.

But.

It has its gems.

I tried some exercises for lower back pain, and they worked surprisingly well.

The sex chapters are worth delving into (at least a part of them).

And cold therapy may not burn a ton of calories (as implied by the book), but cold exposure can be a stoic exercise in resilience, a kind of hormetic stressor - and really wake you up as a bonus.

It also highligths the value of self-experimentation, which is important for long-term adherence.

---

MY EVALUATION

Reading the book 5 years later, I feel that pretty much everything in this book is hyped up.

Maybe that's the price you have to pay to make sensible and useful advice become a best-seller.

Or, specially: to get people to start taking action.

I know it got me moving - even if, in the end, to a different direction than the one indicated in the book.

However, getting people to take the first step (and following through) may be the most important factor.

Because the best diet (or execise regimen, or whatever) is the one that you can stick to.

And Tim Ferriss is very good in making it an easy game to win. It gets a 4/5 for that. ...more