Slow-Carb Diet & What to Expect

Many people have heard of No-Carb, Low-Carb, Good-Carb diets, but few have heard of a Slow-Carb diet. A man by the name of Tim Ferriss made it a popular diet option for people of all ages, sizes and both sexes. To some it up in a nut shell, your diet consists of meat, vegetables, beans and nuts. Certain dairy is okay, but no fruit or starches. Which means, no bread, pasta, rice, ect. OF ANY KIND! Oh, and did I mention, no sugar and only water to drink? You can see the diet as he describes it on his blog "Four Hour Work Week".

After doing research on it, I decided to give it ago. I will be honest in saying, I already cheated. The first few days I needed caffeine to counter act the energy level drop from not eating carbs. I drank some coca-cola, probably 2 cans worth each day for 3 days. It hasn't been hard, but it hasn't been easy either. I've pretty much cycled through frozen veggies, beans and eggs. I have had small portions of meat here and there. I am not a big meat eater to begin with. Today happens to be my 5th day on this diet change and I have noticed a change in my skin and hair already. I also noticed I am not as bloated or constipated. I have lost a total of 5lbs. Now, in 5 days... That is A LOT to lose. I would imagine at least half was water weight. Please note, that I have not started exercising yet. I needed to give my body a few days to adjust to the new diet.

Now, I very what I eat first based on my appetite as I am not always hungry when I wake up or can stomach food. I eat, probably a lot less on this diet then other people may, please keep that in mind. I will list one day of everything I had eaten...

Breakfast - Almonds and water (I had maybe 3 small handfuls which was around 300 calories)

Lunch - Baked beans (Vegetarian style) Now, I am okay to eat these as I need the salt, but other's may consider a different form as the salt content in baked beans is high.This was around 300 calories

Dinner - 2 scrabbled eggs (both yolks) and mixed veggies (corn, broccoli, peppers, onions, carrots, both cooked in extra virgin olive oil with salt and pepper. I added some soy sauce for taste. This was around 500 calories.

In between these meals, I snacked on almonds and because I was STARVING at one point, had a few saltines and cheese. NOW - You can see I did not eat much, and I did not stick 100% to the diet. I had corn and saltine crackers. I eat the 2 eggs and vegetable meal everyday as I need the protein I will incorporate meat as I go. Also, another thing that I have left out is a CHEAT DAY! Yes, every 6 days your on the diet, you get to cheat on the 7th. I picked Saturday's to be my cheat days.

I recommend taking this diet lightly until you are okay with it. I cut out all bread, pasta and rice right away. I have wheat germ everyday however for minerals. So as of now, this diet change has been working for me. I feel lighter, I am losing weight and it hasn't bothered me too much. I will do an update down the road. I plan to eat like this even after my goals have been reached, just not as strict. I will allow myself a major carb in one meal a few times a week. If I start to gain again, I will cut back.

On a side note, something to think about...

From what I am understanding, the way this diet works is eating fiber, natural fiber, with every meal. The basic American dinner has little to know fiber in it, and that seems to be the biggest problem. Many Americans even go as far as eating meat with two different kinds of starches (pasta and potatoes) and NO veggies. Now, when you think about it... Imagine how hard that is on your digestive track. People wonder why so many people have health problems... LOOK AT YOUR DIETS! Your probably eating WAY to much sugar... WAY too much meat and WAY too much GRAINS! Don't base your diet on a pyramid either. Vegetables should always, ALWAYS be the foundation of your diet. Health issues arise when you eat to much of something or not enough of something else. I'm not going to sit here and sugar coat anything... Because chances are, you DON'T need the extra sugar! I want you to give this diet change a go for one week and see if you feel the difference. Prove me wrong.