I’ve been talking a lot about the slow carb diet recently and have gotten a ton of questions and so I’m gonna try to answer a few of them all together here. A WARNING: I’m not an expert and I’m not endorsing anything. Diet and weight loss and body image and all that stuff is really personal and there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution. Besides, I think you’re great just the way you are.
What is slow carb?
The diet began with The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, which is still the best place to start. But you can also get a really thorough understanding of the plan from this crowd-sourced Reddit guide.
Here’s the elevator pitch:
- No carbs except from vegetables and legumes. Starchy vegetables like corn, yams, etc. are also out.
- Have 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up
- No fruit
- No cheese or really any dairy except a bit of cream in your coffee
- Eat the same stuff over and over
- Every seven days, take a day off and eat like a garbage human being.
That’s about it.
How’s it working for you J-Man?
Pretty good! I’ve managed to shed about 25 lbs. since I started in mid-March. Considering we’re a week into August, that may not seem very fast, and it’s true. The cool thing for me is that I know exactly why that loss isn’t higher. We’ll address that in an upcoming question.
Why do you think this is working for you?
I know what my trouble spots are as an eater, and they are all connected with carbs. Cereal, bread, you name it, I’m down with it. When I’m eating foods like that, I feel very out of control of my diet. So by avoiding them, I feel much more in control.
But I think the bigger factor is the cheat day, which has two purposes. 1. It’s supposed to keep your metabolism from stabilizing or something like that. 2. More key for me, is it makes the whole thing a heck of a lot more mentally sustainable.
If I want something bad for me, I remind myself to fuck it up on Saturday. I’m DYING by the end of Friday. The interesting thing about Saturday though is that after eating some trash, I’m reminded of how fleeting that pleasure is and how it’s really not worth the trade off. Plus, if you do a cheat day right, you also get to the end of it DYING to get back to a healthier way of eating.
Isn’t it hard to do?
Yes! Sort of! At first.
When I started, all I could think of was the stuff I couldn’t eat, and that was really difficult. Plus, it was a transition period for my body not getting a steady drip feed of sugar throughout the day. But the longer I’ve been on it, the easier it is to maintain. When I used to eat, that decision felt like an addiction impulse, keeping the sugar high going. Now I eat when I get hungry. That doesn’t sound like a meaningful distinction until you experience it.
There are definitely tough periods, times of temptation especially mid week, but that’s a LOT easier to handle when you can think “You just watch your back, new kind of Fruity Pebbles with twice the marshmallows, because come Saturday, I’m gonna come back to this store, I’m gonna buy you, and i’m gonna lay waste to you. The shelf below the non-marshmallowed Fruity Pebbles and above the Cocoa Pebbles will be uninhabitable scorched earth when I have unleashed the hell I plan to rain down upon you.”
What do you even eat?
Almost every morning, I eat two eggs with two-eggs worth of egg beaters, black beans and hot sauce. Sometimes I’ll add guacamole, but most of the 7:30 ams I have experienced are INCOMPATIBLE WITH GUACAMOLE.
For lunch, I’ll usually do a salad with meat and black beans. Maybe some chili.
For dinner, I tend do do a lot of Mexican-style dishes, beans and meat and vegetables, or a more classic protein and vegetable dinner, like chicken and broccoli or what have you. I have also experimented with grilled chicken and no-sugar-added marinara over spinach noodles. Not bad!
It’s harder when you’re eating dinner with a family who isn’t on the plan, but usually i just omit the carbohydrate from their dinner and I’m fine. Plus, beans are always there for me, just waiting for their moment.
Oh, also, at night, I find it hard to sleep without some carbs on my stomach, so my dessert every night just before I go to be is two tablespoons of unsweetened almond butter. If you flex your self-delusion gland hard enough you can almost pretend it’s sweet!
The important thing is that whatever you eat, you gotta eat a lot of it (erring, of course, towards a lot of vegetables.) If you feel hungry on slow carb, something has gone awry.
On Saturdays, which Charlie now calls “Daddy’s Sugar Day” I start with a high protein breakfast because I feel like garbage if I launch straight into carbs. But then, oh god, the things I will eat. It’s horrifying. Here is an honest to god accounting of last Saturday:
- Croissant sandwich with eggs, bacon and sausage.
- Two pieces of french toast
- A pancake I ate off Charlie’s plate like a fucking monster
- Some Jelly beans
- Beef pho, shrimp rolls and a grilled pork bahn mi
- A Twix ice cream bar
- Half a pepperoni and sausage pizza
- Like three chocolate chip cookies I baked
- A bowl of Trolls™ cereal (like everything Trolls-related, it was a delight)
Shudder.
Do you exercise?
Not a lot, I should more. I do tae kwon do twice weekly, but that’s about all the structured stuff. I hope to introduce more soon.
You travel a lot, is this sustainable when you’re on the road?
No!
Well, OK, yes. I mean, you could do it. Airports are tough and you have to be smart about which restaurants you pick, but it’s feasible. I just don’t wanna.
For starters, I usually have a lot going on when I travel and I don’t want to have to be constantly thinking about what I’m going to eat. But also, I’m in a new place with new food and I don’t want to miss out on those new experiences I may not get another crack at. So I go on sabbatical, and just try to eat sanely.
With other diets I’ve been on, periods like this would wreck me. I’d feel like such a failure I wouldn’t return to the plan. But since I’ve been on slow carb, I just contextualize it as a lengthy cheat day, and get back on the wagon as soon as I’m home. It’s tougher after longer trips and I almost always put on weight, but it’s doable. I feel equipped to handle it.
Do you follow the diet strictly otherwise?
No! I mean I try to, but I’ll allow myself the occasional indiscretion provided I stay within the spirit of the diet. What does that mean? Well, for example, you’re supposed to try avoid sugar free sweeteners. Ferriss allows for 16 ounces of Diet Coke per day, but that seems to be because he really likes Diet Coke.
Anyway, I’ll have some sugar-free sweetener in my coffee most mornings. I like my coffee that way, and denying myself that would make this a lot harder to maintain. Ferriss and a lot of the slow carb community isn’t militant about this stuff. The rule isn’t “Violate and be banished.” but more like “Try it, test it, if it works for you, then it works.” It’s evidenced based rather than religious, for lack of a better term. That’s appealing to me.
Ferriss also recommends a supplement stack called PAGG I haven’t tried, because I’m suspicious of supplements.
Should I do this?
Uhh, I have no idea, dear reader. Does it sound like something you could never do? Probably not. Does it sound like something you could do, but would hate? Then maybe give it a shot, you’re tougher than you give yourself credit for.
Bonus question: Would you like my unsolicited feedback on why I think this diet is unsustainable/unhealthy/less effective than something else?
I would not.
beans are cool
Thank you for sharing! I’ve been doing keto for about two months, and managed to shed 16 lbs so far. It would be more if I didn’t allow myself small cheats, but sanity, amiright?
👋🏻👋🏻
I’ve been on “lazy keto” for about a year now. Avoiding white stuff- bread, pasta, potatoes, corn…and beans. I eat a lot of meat, cheese, and vegetables.
I’ve lost 70# in that year.
I know that if I keep control of myself, I will continue to feel better and healthier.
But dang it if there aren’t some days that I just want to eat a whole blue box of Mac and cheese and not feel bad about it.
I have noticed that upping my protein has kept me feeling sated much longer, helping me avoid snacking.
As with anything, YMMV, and you do what’s right and sustainable for you!
Good going, Justin.
People have such wildly differing opinions on cheat days, but I think they’re so good for you mentally, and they make that buffer as wide as possible between a diet and disordered eating. Keep obliterating those kid’s meal pancakes.
I wanna start shooting you recipes! I’m lactose intolerant and my wife has a condition that puts her at higher risk for diabetes so… dairy and carbs are already slowly leaving our diet. Find a recipe for a nice aromatic cannellini bean soup… very yummy.
Ah! My bean!
Hey Justin! Thanks for sharing. As someone who has been overweight most of my life and is still currently a WIP, I find it interesting to see what kind of dietary choices other people make and what works for them.
From my experience there really is no “right choice”, there is just the right choice for you. Having tried pretty much any and all diets possible, I’ve settled on a weird Frankenstein’s monster that seems right (read: sustainable) for me: mostly vegetarian diet with vegan aspirations set alongside intermittent fasting (3 fast days a week) and a cheat day (once per week).
Keep eating them beans!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks for the info Justin! I’m about 6’2″ and 297 lbs at the moment. I’ve been working on getting my weight down slowly by counting calories, but I haven’t had anywhere near the success you have. I think I’m going to give this a shot. I appreciate the information and really everything you do.
I need that bonus question tattooed to my forehead.
Are you doing the Tim ferris PAGG approach as well? I’m following mostly the same diet outside of having cheese. Good luck! You look great already!
You had me at “eat like a garbage human being”.
Good for you Justin! As you say, I’ve always found the key to dieting to be finding something that you can sustain for a while (rather than what your coworker Steve used to drop those lbs). Glad you found something that’s works for you!
For exercise, if you want to add in more, may I recommend approaching it the same way: try stuff, figure out what YOU can sustain. If it’s unbearable, try something else. The best exercise is the one you’ll actually do a few times a week!
Justin, congratulations on your weight loss and on finding a method that works for you. I appreciate your candid account of how you are managing your food intake. It’s really helpful to see how the plan is worked into real life. Best wishes for your continued success.
My husband did this diet a couple years back while I did keto, and he felt great and lost weight, but we moved and it got harder. Then, about 2 weeks back he saw a picture of you and told me that you inspired him, so he is back on beans, and being strict. I am more keto, because I refuse to give up cheese, but he needs to and I don’t. Thank you for inspiring him to work on his health. I know it is not why you are doing it, but you are sharing your journey, and that helped us a lot.