I’ve compiled a food list for the Slow-Carb Diet that we can eat. I took it from several sources including the Four Hour Body book and a few websites detailing the diet. Now that I have a complete list I feel more confident that I can continue this diet. Depending on what the scale says this weekend I may continue it. We’ll see.
Here is the list. As you can see, there are actually a lot of good things on it. I am really happy to see that dairy is okay. I will go back to adding cottage cheese to my diet!
BEEF: lean ground beef, sirloin, tenderloin, top loin, top round
PORK: ham, pork loin, tenderloin, Canadian bacon
POULTRY: turkey, chicken breast, turkey bacon
EGGS: All you can eat, especially egg whites
CHEESE: string cheese, ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, feta, cottage cheese, cheddar, American, provolone
SEAFOOD: All of it!
LEGUMES: black beans, black eyed peas, canneloni beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, soy beans, split peas, white beans, navy beans, lima beans, Italian beans
VEGETABLES: artichokes, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, tomatoes, V-8 juice, mushrooms, okra, onion (limit to 1/2 a day), pickles, peppers, radishes, rhubarbs, snow peas, spinach, sprouts, squash, zucchini
SOY SUBSTITUTE: bacon, burger, chicken, hot dogs, sausage links, sausage patties, tofu
NUTS: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, macadamia, peanut butter (a little bit), peanuts, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts
DAIRY: low fat or fat free milk, soy milk, fat free half and half (*correction: after weight loss for bulking up*)
SEASONINGS: (as long as there’s no sugar in it) broth, horseradish, lemon juice, lime juice, mustard, pepper, salsa, hot sauce, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce
Now that you see the list of foods that can be eaten, does it change your mind on whether or not you could try this diet?
Beth @ Beth's Journey
That does look like a good list of foods you can eat! A lot of those things are what make up the staples in my diet, especially that cheese is allowed!!!
I still think I would struggle though with absolutely no fruit and no bread. I think its good you do get some carbs through the leafy greens and beans, but I eat a lot of fruit every day so I’d have a hard time!
Lisa Eirene
Beth–honestly so far I’m not going nuts about being fruit-free. I thought I would be going completely crazy not having fruit but I haven’t thought about it much at all! I’m eating so much on this diet that craving a banana hasn’t crossed my mind (yet).
Jennifer is Always Sick
I miss eggs and nuts. Darn food allergies! 🙁
Lisa Eirene
Oh bummer! That would be a hard one for me too.
Carbzilla
You could play with a “mac-less” casserole, a variation of what I made this weekend:
Make a sauce of shredded mozzerella/parm, ground cashews, and a little bit of milk (Simmer low till cheese is melted. You might be able to find similar flour-free sauces online – search cashews maybe)
Lots of veggies (broccoli, asparagus, green beans)
Cannellini beans
chopped big shrimp
Mix, season, and bake until cheese is melty. It’s like pretending that the beans are pasta. Yum!
Lisa Eirene
Ooooh! That sounds delicious! If we stick to the diet next week I’ll see if Michael wants to try it.
Chris
I was excited to see someone else, with your rather detailed approach to food, exercise and fitness, trying the Four Hour Body program
However, I’m comparing this list to my copy of the Four Hour Body book and seeing some potential issues:
The list on this blog says:
DAIRY: low fat or fat free milk, soy milk, fat free half and half
The book says:
RULE #3:
Do not drink milk (including soy milk)…
The list contains a long set of cheeses as OK, whereas the book says NO DAIRY (and then talks about the insulin response issues)
I’d be concerned that significant modifications to the diet might wind up torpedoing it. Thoughts?
Lisa Eirene
Good to know. I’ve seen it on different lists and some lists say no dairy. The book had different diet plans, I think one allowed dairy if you were building muscle but I’m not sure.
In the last three days I haven’t had any milk so I don’t know that it’s an issue.
Ruthie
I know this is a very old post and thread…but I wanted to add something to the list of things on your list that aren’t a good idea. Tomatoes are in limited amounts, and V8 juice…if you look at the bottle, is a definite no, just based on the sugar alone. In a 9oz glass of V8, there are nearly 8g of Sugar…not net carbs…but “sugar carbs.” I made that mistake without looking at the label first (hint: don’t do that lol). Also, just a helpful tip on peanut butter…I’ve found that peanut butter and celery is AWESOME…but be sure you get a sugarless peanut butter. I think it’s Smucker’s that makes an awesome one. It needs to be refrigerated once it’s open and needs to be stirred, but in limited amounts, I think it ends up being about 2tbsp? it’s a great classic favorite.
Lisa Eirene
Thanks for your input! Yes, checking things for added sugar is important.
Chris
Yep, there are different diets throughout the book – the Slow Carb weight loss plan is the one that excludes dairy (except the once-a-week eat anything cheat day). Later on in the book, all bets are off once you get to the sections on gaining muscle 🙂
I’ve also recently started a Slow Carb plan, and will be looking for inspiration and ideas as I go. Good luck to you and Michael!
Lisa Eirene
What results have you had Chris? How are you feeling on the diet?
Chris
I’ve been doing this for just over a week. I’ve lost a few pounds (2-3) as of this morning. I started this because I realized that when I developed a running injury a month or so ago, I didn’t stop eating as though I was still running 30 miles/week. My weight began to go back up.
The plan itself is certainly interesting – I’ve never tried to go completely without bread/white rice/crackers/spuds/dairy, nor have I tried to make sure I’m eating lean protein and veggies with *every* meal. Breakfast itself has been quite an adjustment.
But so far, so good, and while I’ve been hungry on occasion, I don’t mind that as long as my blood sugar doesn’t crash – a trigger for me to eat badly.
Lisa Eirene
Have you noticed any differences in your ability to work out without eating carbs?
I have been a little hungry on occasion this week too but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. And once I figured out the right equation of food, it works.
Chris
Hard to tell, actually. Since I can’t do my primary endurance activity, running, due to injury, I’ve been doing other workouts such as swimming, rowing and the like. I don’t have nearly the same endurance in those yet. So for now, the low/slow carb intake isn’t noticed. I do wonder what will happen when I heal and get to get back out there for 1-2 hour runs.
Worst case, I eat some Gu, and don’t really worry about breaking the diet.
Of course, black beans and lentils, which I’m eating more of, do have plenty of carbs, they’re just more slowly absorbed, so it might be I never notice a difference.
Lisa Eirene
Why would GUs be okay?
I find that swimming causes more hunger in me than running does. I am happy that I was able to run the other day and bike yesterday while on this diet and I didn’t notice a difference in my ability.
Chris
I say Gus would be ok since 100 cals of carbs halfway through a 2 hour 2000+ cal-burning run is a cheat I could live with.
Lisa Eirene
That makes sense to me Chris! On our long bike ride Sunday I felt unsatisfied with raw almonds as our snack during the ride. As a result I crashed pretty hard toward the end. 🙁
Elizabeth
Thanks for the tips and help!
Leah @ L4L
Why only half an onion a day? So strange.
Lisa Eirene
Maybe the sugar content? I’m not sure.
Jake
I’ve been on the slow carb diet now for over 3 months, and have lost over 40lbs. so far. I’ve got about another 30lbs. to go, (with gaining some muscle too hopefully). It seems like one of the biggest questions I’ve heard from friends and family is : what can I eat on the slow carb diet ? – I stopped trying to explain this simple diet, and just started sending them to the slow carb diet reference at http://www.eslowcarbdiet.com. It’s pretty quick and easy for finding out what specific foods are allowed on this diet. Also, if you’re looking for additional support, in addition to this site, – there’s a good forum at http://www.fourhourpeople.com, with people all also doing this diet. Stick to it – it does work, and best of luck to all!
Hannah
I have also just found a very useful app for my iphone. It is called low carb coach. It is great because sometimes I feel like a bit of variety in my diet, I use the app to quickly check if a food is okay to eat or not. Also great when I am out shopping or at a friends place for lunch. It is pretty much consistant with most of the low or slow carb diets that I have seen.
Lisa Eirene
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
Greg G.
I’m Following Tim’s 4-Hour Body book.
Can anyone tell me, ( no assuming ) if cottage cheese is OK……..it’s a white food and Tim advises staying away from cheese and anything white ?
Lisa Eirene
It’s been a long time since I’ve done the Slow Carb diet but my understanding was that dairy wasn’t allowed except for eggs?
Helle Stougård
Hi,
I am sitting here with my laptop, in Denmark Scandinavia – reading and searching for information on “Slow Carb Diet” – Your blog came up. It’s amazing to read about your weightloss! Very inspiring.
I’ll try to give the “Slow Carb Diet” a chance (even though it doesn’t leave place for the danish “rye bread”).
Lisa Eirene
Welcome to my blog, Helle! Let me know how you like the Slow Carb diet. There are definitely aspects of it that I liked a lot. I couldn’t give up dairy or fruit though…..
Emma
Hi guys. The information here is incorrect. Youve got all the slow carb foods mixed with the high carb foods. Low carb foods include fresh fruit thats not tropical, whole wheat bread, and oatmeal. High carb foods include meat, starchy vegetables, and eggs.