Jerilyn Winstead Health & Fitness

Day 8 of the slow carb diet menu – First Week Finished!

Day 8 and I return to my protein, veggie and beans for just about every meal. As expected I gained some weight back from Binge Day and my other numbers got slightly worse, but I won’t worry about that as long as I continue making good, steady progress over time.

First week of my real time 4 hour body review:

  • It was easy.
  • It was fun, especially when I got inspired to blog my progress. I’m a writer and it gives me a creative charge.
  • I’m enjoying the creative challenge of cooking the beans and allowed foods.
  • I never experienced any headaches, even going cold turkey on no sugar and carbs. I’ve never had it this easy before!
  • The biggest surprise – no cravings, either!
  • My biggest weight loss for the week was 6 lbs. My total weight loss after Binge Day was 4 lbs. I’ll take it!
  • I feel good every day.

Week 1 – down 4 lbs total. WOOT!

What is the 4 hour body diet? No headaches or cravings.

At least not yet. On every single one of my previous diets I continued to crave sweets and sugar. Especially on days when my energy was low. A lot of those other plans have several days of feeling bad or low, experiencing sugar withdrawal headaches, etc. Not this one, at least not for me. I was surprised not to feel cravings during the week. I do like a sweet dessert, and I enjoyed my Greek yogurt with monk fruit sweetener and flavorings all week, along with my Italian coffees. I only had hunger one day on the plan. So far the tim ferriss slow carb diet is working well.

Lunch: healthy low carb recipe

This week I’m savoring the leftovers from the incredible HelloFresh meal my eldest daughter cooked for me on Mother’s Day. I can’t have the mashed potatoes, so I’m having the beef with fig balsamic glaze with refried beans instead. Today I didn’t have a veggie side left over, so I did one of my life hacks – drank an original V8 to take in a quick and complete veggie serving. Enjoyed my Greek yogurt for dessert. Working towards my 4 hr body!

Supper: fast low carb recipe

I had leftover cooked chicken breast from last week, so I transformed it into:

Southwest Chicken Omelet
Serves 1.

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup cooked chicken, chopped
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • other fillings per your taste: veggies, olives, pickled jalapenos, corn, fresh baby spinach, other meats
  • Cheese: any if not on the 4 hour body slow carb plan. If you are on the plan, then a slight sprinkling of cheese is okay
  • Toppings: Savory Beans, plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, salsa of your choice
  1. Get your Savory Beans simmering. I did a quick version, see below.
  2. Heat your skillet with a little high heat oil or bacon grease. Whip the two eggs in a blender with a tiny splash of whole cream.
  3. Pour the eggs into the hot skillet, cover the whole bottom of the skillet with a thin layer. Let it cook for half a minute or so.
  4. Add any cheeses you are using (I didn’t use any). Layer onto the thicker side that is taking longer to cook. There’s usually a thinner layer of eggs which are cooking faster, and this will be the side we fold over.
  5. Layer onto the thicker side your other fillings: cooked chicken, fresh spinach, veggies, pickled jalapenos, etc.
  6. Once the thinner side is cooked through, carefully fold it over onto the side with the fillings. Shift the omelet to the middle of the skillet and let it finish cooking for a minute or two.
  7. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Carefully lift the omelet onto your plate. Smother it with the Savory Beans, salsa of your choice, and a dollop of sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt).

My chicken omelet with Salsa Verde was SO GOOD! I didn’t miss cheese at all. (I made it with cheese for my hubby and son). I was full and didn’t need dessert tonight.

So far I’ve been having fun coming up with slow carb diet recipes for the 4 hour slow carb diet plan (4 hour body book).

Fast slow carb recipe

Quick Savory Beans

Serves 2-4.

  1. Pour a can of pinto (or other) beans with its liquid into a medium cast iron skillet. Get it simmering.
  2. Mix in any spices of your choice, such as Mexican Spice Blend. Be sure to add onion and garlic powders, too.
  3. Simmer for about 10-20 minutes until well-flavored. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve this as a side by itself or over rice (or cauliflower rice for a healthy low carb recipe) or over omelet.

My ender – Merlot

I sipped Merlot while cooking and with my meal. I didn’t need any other dessert tonight.

WEEKLY SUMMARY:

Goal 180 25 25% 45% 40% 50
DATE: Day WEIGHT: BMI: BODY FAT: BODY H2O: SKEL. MUSC: MET AGE: Ttl lbs lost:
5/7/2023 Su i 200.7 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60
5/8/2023 M 1 199.6 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60 1.1
5/9/2023 T 2 196.4 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60 4.3
5/10/2023 W 3 196.6 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 4.1
5/11/2023 R 4 195.8 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 4.9
5/12/2023 F 5 195.6 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 5.1
5/13/2023 Sa 6 194.8 28.9 36.2 43.8 37.2 60 5.9
5/14/23* Su 7 194 28.7 36 43.9 37.3 60 6.7
5/15/2023 M 8 196.8 29.1 36.7 43.4 36.9 60 3.9
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Jerilyn Winstead Health & Fitness

Day 7 of the slow carb diet menu – MY FIRST BINGE DAY!

Day 7, Sunday, Mother’s Day, and after six days on the tim ferriss slow carb diet I’m down 6 lbs! WOOT!

Of course, today is my weekly Binge Day, so I know that number will go up afterwards. That’s fine by me.

I woke excited about making my Maple Breakfast once again, which had become a staple after I cut out toast for breakfast recently. On the 4 hour body slow carb plan, however, I had to stop using maple syrup with my egg and veggie breakfasts. Now I’ll enjoy them once a week on my Cheat Day.

Maple English Breakfast

English breakfast with an American flair. Serves 1.

  • 2 slices of bacon
  • Real maple syrup (3 T – 1/8 cup)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4-1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced
  • 1-3 slices of fresh tomato
  1. I always cut my long bacon strips in half, allowing me four half-strips and they’re much easier to cook in a skillet. Heat your skillet (I recommend cast iron) and fry your bacon for a few minutes on each side, till partly cooked.
  2. While the bacon is frying, prepare your veggies. You can use any veggies you like but I’ve found this combo works especially well with the maple syrup.
  3. When the bacon is partway cooked, drizzle real maple syrup all over them with a little extra in the skillet. Pepper them well, flip and pepper the other side. If you want a tiny bit of spice, also sprinkle a little red pepper flakes or cayenne on the bacon when you pepper them.
  4. Keep flipping and cooking the bacon in the bubbly syrup-bacon fat until the bacon is crisp and nicely browned. Carefully place each strip on a plate so they don’t touch each other (or they’ll stick together).
  5. In the hot skillet with the maple-bacon fat, add your sliced onion in the center and the tomato slices at the edges of the skillet. Let these cook for a minute or so, flipping the tomatoes.
  6. Move the veggies over and add two eggs. Cook the eggs how you like them (I prefer sunny side up). The flavors of bacon fat and maple syrup will caramelize on the onions, tomatoes, and eggs and taste oh, SO GOOD.

Pile your plate with the sticky eggs and veggies, draping the sweet bacon on the edge. I find that after I finish my eggs, there’s an incredible liquid left on the plate of egg yolk mixed with the maple-bacon fat, and I like to dredge my bacon strips in it when I eat (then I lick the plate!). I always save at least one maple bacon strip for last as a sweet ender. Sometimes I’ll cook up a third bacon strip, they are DELICIOUS! And if it’s my Binge Day, why not?

Serve this breakfast with orange juice and strong coffee if you like.

What is the 4 hour body diet? An anything-goes cheat day once a week!

With my beloved Maple English Breakfast, I also enjoyed fresh pineapple slices and chocolate-covered strawberries from the two special Mother’s Day gifts sent to me from my daughter in Florida. I had quite a few of the strawberries, so good. The second plate contained mini-cheesecakes, more chocolate-covered strawberries, and other little chocolates. We all enjoyed eating these all day long. I told my family – it’s a whole week until next Cheat Day, and these won’t keep, so eat up!

I also loved having my regular cappuccinos and Americanos with real sugar and milk all day long.

Lunch on Binge Day: healthy low carb recipe

My eldest cooked up a special dinner for Mother’s Day luncheon. She made a HelloFresh recipe: Balsamic & Fig Beef Tenderloin with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Rosemary Panko Brussels Sprouts. She substituted broccoli for the Brussels sprouts. It was all divine! Today being Binge Day I was able to fully enjoy the mashed potatoes with the meal. My guess is that all the rest of the meal could be enjoyed on a regular eating day of the 4 hr body plan if you simply skip the mashed potatoes or make cauliflower mash instead. Or, better yet, the White Bean Garlic Faux Mashed Potatoes to get your beans in.

Tip for Binge Days from the 4 hour body book

Tim gives lots of tips to best navigate the Binge Day on the 4 hour body slow carb plan. One tip is to drink grapefruit juice with coffee before lunch. There are ingredients in each that when taken together help with burning off the extra calories, I believe. I forgot to have grapefruit juice and coffee before lunch, so I had it after and drank more grapefruit juice and coffee in the afternoon. Of course I didn’t take my statin pill this morning as you’re not supposed to mix statin with grapefruit. I have an alarm set for Saturdays and Sundays (to cover every cheat day) to remind me first thing NOT to take my statin on Binge Day.

Dessert for supper – not a slow carb recipe

DESSERT FOR SUPPER – YES! I ate more of my special dessert platter, including some of the cheesecake and more chocolate-covered strawberries and the other chocolates. Went to my home church (we call it Group) and they had a bunch of desserts from their Mother’s Day celebration. So I thoroughly enjoyed two different kinds of apple pie with whipped cream before our meeting, then had more apple pie after meeting. I LOVE apple pie. What an awesome Cheat Day I had!!! I CAN’T WAIT until the next one.

My 4 hour body review? THIS PLAN ROCKS!

WEEKLY SUMMARY:

Goal 180 25 25% 45% 40% 50
DATE: Day WEIGHT: BMI: BODY FAT: BODY H2O: SKEL. MUSC: MET AGE: Ttl lbs lost:
5/7/2023 Su i 200.7 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60
5/8/2023 M 1 199.6 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60 1.1
5/9/2023 T 2 196.4 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60 4.3
5/10/2023 W 3 196.6 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 4.1
5/11/2023 R 4 195.8 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 4.9
5/12/2023 F 5 195.6 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 5.1
5/13/2023 Sa 6 194.8 28.9 36.2 43.8 37.2 60 5.9
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Jerilyn Winstead Health & Fitness

Day 4 of the slow carb diet menu – Hello Energy

Wow, I’ve lost almost 5 lbs already! WOO HOO! Several of my other numbers are slowly improving, too. I continue to be conscious about drinking lots of water each day.

Today for my 4 hour body review I have to say I haven’t felt any more hunger. I’m feeling a little better each day from my flu and travel and my energy is fast returning. I’m getting back to my almost daily VR workout at the end of my work day. They are so fun!

What is the 4 hour body diet? Not so much about exercise.

Of course, we all know that regular exercise (even if just long walks) is vital to improving our body and numbers. I don’t think it’s wise to exclude it in any plan, ever. But I have read and noticed anecdotally that in general, male bodies seem to have greater success in losing weight through exercise, and female bodies seem to have greater success when focusing primarily on diet.

My energy has been lax due to going on three trips in a row and having the flu in all of that. So this has been mainly a recovery week for me. Normally I do my VR workouts, which are SO MUCH FUN but so far they haven’t pushed my body enough yet. I’d like more variety, and a little harder push on cardio as well as adding in some regular muscle training. Recently I’ve been doing 30 minutes of a combo of stretching, yoga, and muscle work 3-5 mornings a week (need to get back into that). Let me know if anyone is interested in seeing my routine I’ve curated over a period of time.

Since the Tim Ferriss slow carb diet (as laid out in the 4 hour body book) says it’s important to eat breakfast within 30-60 minutes of waking, I haven’t been able to do my stretching routine all week. Because of my digestive issues I can’t lie prone after eating or drinking anything, at least not for an hour or more. My routine before this 4 hr body plan was stretching right after my shower, then breakfast. But that would put me just past 60 minutes of waking. So for my Week 2 Experiment I will try going back to that routine as a tweak, and see if I can keep doing it that way instead of eating breakfast so soon. Stay tuned.

Lunch: fast low carb recipe

Our 26-year old daughter is living with us. This week she’d made a healthy low carb recipe – tuna salad with chopped red onions instead of pickle relish. She’s discovered she loves this version way better and it has a fuller, larger flavor. Less sugar, too (just what’s in the mayo). It’s a great slow carb diet recipe for lunch or supper.

Tuna Onion Salad

Serves 4-6.

  • 2-3 cans of drained tuna
  • 1/2-1 cup of mayonnaise
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  1. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients, add salt and pepper to your taste.
  2. Keep the proportion of mayo to tuna low – not too much on the mayo. The salad should not look white.
  3. Add as much or as little red chopped onion as you like, anywhere from 1/2 cup to one whole onion. This gives it a wonderful flavor and crunch, so don’t be skimpy.

Serve over salad greens or on Saltines (Saltines only if you’re not doing the 4 hour body slow carb plan).

I had a generous scoop of tuna salad over fresh baby spinach. The tuna was slightly dry on the mayo so I drizzled it all with olive oil. I heated canned refried beans in bacon grease and had that as a side. Very yummy lunch and quite a healthy and quick slow carb recipe – especially since the tuna salad was already made ahead of time.

Supper: healthy low carb recipe – tweaking HelloFresh

Hoisin Honey Chicken with green beans and refried beans

Tonight was our daughter’s turn to cook, and she does HelloFresh so she made one of her favorite recipes from there, which I was easily able to tweak for myself to make it a healthy low carb recipe.

A great thing about HelloFresh is that you can access all their recipes for free either on the app or online. Tonight she made Hoisin Honey Chicken with Green Beans and Jasmine Rice. All I had to do was replace the rice with my refried beans. It was surprisingly delicious!

My sweet ender

In tonight’s plain Greek yogurt with monk fruit sweetener I stirred in some maple extract, butter extract, and vanilla. (We have the butter extract for making Butterbeers, lol). The butter one didn’t quite work – next time, I’ll just use the maple and vanilla.

WEEKLY SUMMARY:

Goal 180 25 25% 45% 40% 50
DATE: Day WEIGHT: BMI: BODY FAT: BODY H2O: SKEL. MUSC: MET AGE: Ttl lbs lost:
5/7/2023 Su i 200.7 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60
5/8/2023 M 1 199.6 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60 1.1
5/9/2023 T 2 196.4 29 36.6 43.5 36.9 60 4.3
5/10/2023 W 3 196.6 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 4.1
5/11/2023 R 4 195.8 29 36.4 43.6 37 60 4.9
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