Slow Carb Diet

This post is about Monday – Day Two of the Four Hour Body Diet. On this lower-carb/high protein diet the book said not to count calories but I will continue to count my calories this week as a comparison to what I used to eat. I guess I should also clarify that we’re not doing a “no carb diet” but we’re not eating bread, sugar or fruit and the carbs we are eating come mainly from beans.

To clarify: it’s a “Slow Carb” diet. I was mistaken when I compared this diet to the Atkin’s Diet (30 grams of carbs or less). What is a “Slow Carb Diet”?

The type of food you eat on the slow carb diet is high in protein and fiber (lots of beans and veggies). This requires longer and slower digestion, which means you burn more calories in order to digest the food you have eaten.

“The purpose behind consuming only what Tim calls “slow carbs” is that you are maintaining a consistent blood sugar level and avoiding big spikes in blood sugar and the associated spike of insulin in your blood. When your body releases insulin, it triggers your cells to switch into energy storage mode. In other words, it triggers your body to begin storing fat. If you keep your blood sugar consistent and avoid large insulin spikes, you avoid tripping that fat storage trigger in your body and continue to burn your food for energy.”

I have a much better understanding about “the diet” now that I read a little more on it. I suppose I heard the words “slow carb” and immediately thought it was “no carb.” That is not the case. I apologize for any confusion.

BREAKFAST:

3 egg whites, 1 egg scrambled

Black Beans

3 Turkey Sausage Links

Salsa and half a serving of sour cream

It seems like an insane amount of food but in reality it’s not much different calorie-wise than what we used to eat (splitting about three scrambled eggs, 2 turkey sausage links).

The volume was filling and I wasn’t hungry for several hours. As I walked across the bridge to work (2 miles) Monday morning the food sat in my stomach like a brick.

Since I’m trying to limit the carbohydrates I eat I’m also going coffee-free this week. I cannot drink black coffee and need flavored creamer in it, or sugar and milk at the very least. Instead, I’ll be trying to get by on drinking green tea. Result on Monday: I was tired and lethargic. That could be from no coffee or not sleeping well Sunday night.

Breakfast was eaten at 7am.

Calories: 306    |    Carbs: 11g     |     Protein: 35g

SNACK:

Hummus

Celery sticks

The hummus snack packs are great for snacks at work. The celery was much better with something like hummus! I ate my snack about 10:45am. I wasn’t necessarily hungry but I knew I’d be nearing hunger soon and wanted to make sure my blood sugar stayed level.

Calories: 112      |    Carbs: 10g     |     Protein: 4g |     Fiber 4g

LUNCH:

Salad with tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, chickpeas

Small piece of blackened ahi tuna

For lunch I had a salad with leftover ahi tuna.

The lunch was very filling at the time. I ate it at 12:45pm and was hungry again around 2:30.

Calories: 381     |    Carbs: 54g     |     Protein: 25g |     Fiber 10g

SNACK:

8 Raw Almonds

While raw nuts seem to be working to take the edge off hunger I don’t really feel like eating a serving of nuts is helping with hunger pains. Snack eaten at 3pm.

Calories: 53     |    Carbs: 2     |     Protein: 2g |     Fiber 1g

DINNER:

Taco Salad!

Guacamole

Chicken

Black Beans

Veggies

It seemed like a gallon of lettuce. Topped with black beans, a tiny bit of shredded cheese, sour cream, yellow and red peppers plus guacamole.

Michael finished making the guacamole and we both stared at it and then looked at each other and then he said, “I wish we had salty tortilla chips.” I felt the same way. I snacked on some guacamole using the sliced red and yellow peppers as a substitute for chips and dipped them into the guacamole. I topped the salads with the guacamole and used that as salad dressing.

Dinner was absolutely delicious! I loved it! It was so filling I wasn’t hungry the rest of the night and the spicy guacamole was so tasty.

Calories: 860     |    Carbs: 60g    |     Protein: 60g     |     Fiber 22g

Totals for the Day:

Calories: 1,712      |    Carbs: 137g     |     Protein: 126g |     Fiber 37g

How Am I Doing So Far?

So far I feel like I’m eating A LOT. I’m not having strong hunger pains but at the same time, several times I have felt a bit of hunger. It’s a strange feeling…it’s more like I feel unsatisfied than I feel hungry.

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I think it’s completely mental though. Like when you are told you have to stop eating ALL bread and then all of a sudden all you crave is bread (pizza, pita bread, toast, bagels…mmm…).

QUESTION: Do you think you could try this diet?