Wind power

My testing of the 4 Hour Body continues with each of my marathon training sessions. Last night I ran 10 miles approximately 13 seconds a mile quicker than target pace. Now there are a few reasons this run went so well. It could have been because I had eaten regularly and sufficiently to ensure my energy and mood levels were high. There is the possibility (though unlikely) that having done cheat day on Sunday I may have had a mini carb loading of my muscles, thus packing them with glycogen ready for an exertion such as this. Or the more likely scenario is that the copious amounts of beans I have had to eat on this diet have given me a significant (and possibly illegal) boost of wind power, thus enabling me to knock significant time off my mileage.

Wind power is probably a one trick pony. Aside from the obvious benefits of improving running times, I can't see any other benefit. Unless you value your alone time and see the ability to clear rooms, perhaps even floors as a benefit. There is also the bloating experienced from eating beans, which although useful in certain life threatening aquatic scenarios isn't the best look.

'Why haven't you soaked them?' I hear you cry. Well the tinned beans we use have been soaking for quite a while, which should help break down the indigestible starches. Also I have been using organic beans (as recommended) wherever possible. It could be the variety of beans we have been consuming; cannellini, kidney beans, green baby lima beans and northern beans that have caused the issues.

Catherine and I have come to the conclusion that life is too short to find out which bean is the culprit. So we are just going to knock them all on the head instead. We will still have chickpeas, green beans and the odd kidney bean in a chili, just every other day. The only trouble is that this means eating more veggies/protein to replace the lost calories and ensure that I can still get close to my record wind powered run times.

Somehow I think I will survive and maybe my friends might want to speak to me again....

Tom :)

The day after cheat day

Yesterday was Sunday and the day after "cheat day". It was a joy to get back to a healthy way of eating  after consuming pies, pastries, coffees and pizza. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy all of those things, but I think Christmas exceeded my limit (is that even possible?) of crap food stuffs.

Sunday consisted of a scrambled egg breakfast with a black coffee. I can't say I love black coffee, but as I'm not allowed milk it is the only option (aside from black tea) that I can drink. As my friend Dane said to me today "you could just not drink coffee". An excellent suggestion sir, I'd not thought of that ;)

Cate ran 10 miles yesterday morning, so after she recovered (slightly) from that we both went to yoga. A nice basics session at PLAY in Bondi Junction loosened up some tired limbs. Once back home Cate was out like a light for awhile, so I cooked up a storm in the kitchen.

I made three separate dishes of about 8 meals for the week ahead. All of them contained protein, legumes and veggies as required by the 4 hour body. I think C ate the spiced chickpea, broccoli, carrot and red pepper stir fry for lunch, whilst I had veggie teriyaki. Most of these meals are very similar, perhaps only differing in the spice or sauce that accompanies them, so it makes them easy to produce quickly and in large quantities. The key to sticking to any regime is to prepare in advance, FACT!

After an afternoon visit to the beach we settled down to dinner at home. I shovelled in a tasty plate of beef sausages with two mushroom burgers. As a side I had a couple of raw carrots with hummus. The hummus covers the legumes part, so this was a simple meal to make and still cover the 4HB requirements. Cate ate a veggie burger and salad leaves, with carrot and hummus as a side.

My evaluation of the day is that when it's a sunny afternoon I want ice cream. Fortunately eating on the 4HB does mean that cravings are reduced, as you feel full and blood sugar appears to much steadier. I haven't had any hunger pangs or light headed moments. As per normal my ultimate test comes in training and noting my energy levels and performance with times. So I shall update you tomorrow on how I get on with my ten mile run this evening.

Tom :)

Cheating in style

After saying I would post photos of cheat day food I got lost in two meat pies, a coconut slice and my delicious coffee and forgot!

But fear not I remembered (just) to get a photo of dinner.

Am actually looking forward to getting back on the 4HB and a ten mile run tomorrow.

Enjoy your weekend,

Tom :)

Day 3 - CHEAT DAY!

Ok so I really am cheating because I've only done two days of the 4 hour body and already I am cheating. There is one reason behind this, coffee! I've not drunk a flat white in two days (yes they are that good in Sydney), so I'm doing a partial cheat day today. This means I won't be making myself sick (like full cheat days), but enjoying a flat white and a sandwich. Otherwise all will be normal.

In fact this post will be quite disappointing because I won't have lots of photos of sweet things through the day. I will be updating you with some later, but for now I can happily tell you that I enjoyed a flat white and a bagel this morning. Naturally I got my 30g of protein in at brekkie first with a protein shake.

So until later guys, enjoy your weekend!

Tom :)

4HB day 2

Yesterday was day two of the 4 hour body so I'll start there with my update.

I began the day with two fried eggs and dry fried (and mashed) kidney beans. This was a simple and tasty brekkie, which I cooked with a little coconut oil and lightly seasoned with pepper. As per the instructions,of the 4HB I ate within 30 minutes of waking to stabilise blood sugar levels. I have found this to be the key for adhering to the plan as it seems to reduce cravings and hunger later in the day. When I did the 4HB previously it was also a key factor in eating enough daily calories. Where as before I may have only eaten 150kcals at breakfast I am now eating 2-300. Not a huge amount, but it will help to ensure less muscle wastage.

After running 6 miles in training I realised I hadn't prepped any lunch beforehand. Fortunately I'd bought veggie burgers for this situation, so after a quick double carrot hummus snack I tucked into two veggie burgers, with two fried eggs. Job done.

We had friends round for dinner last night, so I knocked up a veggie bake. This consisted of pre-cooked red lentils (seasoned with herb & garlic mix), a layer of passata, pre-steamed broccoli, carrot and roasted peppers, topped with pre-grilled aubergine (eggplant for all the aussies and yanks). It's pretty much ready to serve once it's pre-cooked, but the passata needs a warm through, so it went in the oven for 20 minutes. Simple!

I'm not specifically avoiding meat, but after eating a fair amount over Xmas it helps to cleanse the system. Catherine however is doing the 4HB "veggie style", which is a much trickier task (at least it would be for me!)

Catherine and I both find we have plenty of energy for training and are less lethargic. I ran my 5 mile tempo session 9 seconds per mile quicker than target pace (7:43/7:52).

There are two other key points to remember. Firstly to make sure you eat every four hours to maintain steady blood sugar levels. Secondly that you drink water regularly throughout the day to help your body metabolise fat for energy and to help your digestive system and gut to properly process your food.

There are other key points I'll highlight over the course of these posts, but to find out more just check out: http://fourhourbody.com

4 Hour Body - Day 1

Day one is almost over and it has been a breeze. Being prepared is the key to the 4 Hour Body working. Yesterday I cooked a simple veggie stir fry so there was enough for lunch for Catherine and me. (See photo)

For dinner I've cooked aubergine parmigiana (all be it without the cheese) with some quorn sausages (see second photo).

I'm still eating meat, but am cutting back after Xmas in order to help my digestive system recover! The leftovers will be lunch tomorrow. Normally we would cook a huge amount, box it up and have it through the week. That will come at the weekend when I can commit a couple of hours to cooking.

Today's training was cross training. I chose to do vinyasa yoga at lunchtime as I've been away from it for so long. I find it challenging as it is in a heated room, but it certainly develops my flexibility and balances out the running sessions nicely.

Catherine hit the gym to spin on the bike and do some 'bodyrock' training this morning.

Tomorrow we both have a seven mile tempo run to do, so I'll fill you in on how that works out.

Tom :)

Back on the wagon

Thanks to a few close friends our Christmas passed with laughter, fun and a great deal of eating. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending how you look at it) I will be back at work, soon. I am completely non-specific about when because my boss wrote off his van and has been getting back on his feet the last two weeks. Despite my position of uncertainty and near bankruptcy I am filled with a fantastic sense of motivation and urgency.

This new motivation is not because it is January (as a former fitness instructor I don't believe in New Year's resolutions), but is due to the enjoyment of explaining the 4-hour body to our friend Jim. Jim has been staying with us over the last couple of weeks and we have enjoyed many a flat white, Asahi, pastry and delicious dinners with him. On his last night (yesterday) we got onto talking about the 4-hour body (4HB), which Catherine and I had been fans of back in London. By telling Jim the fundamentals of this way of eating (w.o.e) (note: not a diet) I began to remember how effective it was. Yes it had its drawbacks, I remember feeling like I had turned into a lentil with the amount I was eating. But this w.o.e works and as I am determined (no really I am) to break my PB I thought the 4HB would help my drop some kg's and get me there. After all its our diet that lets us down most of the time, not our inability to train.

So tomorrow Catherine and I will be back on the 4HB and what better way to document this small journey than to blog about it! I thought I'd keep it simple and write a small post every day on how I was feeling in the first couple of weeks. This is the time when headaches, nausea, lethargy and any other numerous feelings will surface as we remove the "white" carbs and focus on the 4HB. It will be interesting to see how the weight changes. I just got back from the gym and my measurements stack up as follows:

1. Weight: 89.1kg (probably the heaviest I've been for a year)
2. Waist: 33in (84cm)
3. Chest: 40in (101.5cm)
4. Glutes (mid backside): 40in
5. Thighs (10in up from patella): 23in (58cm)

I don't have my body fat measurement, but I intend to get a DEXA scan done in the next couple of weeks to see how I progress. I will retest the above every 4 weeks and the body fat post marathon in April. 

Aside from writing about our progress I will post photos of the meals and our cheat days (every Saturday as per the 4HB), just so you can see how easy it is to adopt. Check out the 4HB by Timothy Ferriss for the whole story. I will also update you on our marathon training (check out the FIRST program through runners world for more info) as we progress through the weeks. This weeks is only week two, so there's a lot still to come! My target for April is 3:30-3:40 and Catherine is aiming for a sub-3:45 marathon. 

Feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments section or let me know of your own goals this year.

Wishing you all a very happy new year,

Tom :)