4-Hour Body | Ben Maxwell

Under normal circumstances, there’s a certain calm to The Four Hour Body’s regular regimen. It’s best described by someone from the book by calling it ‘The freedom of no choice.’

The real challenge comes in when that no choice isn’t possible with presently available options, or as I’ve come to discover, there is a certain haphazardness with which cheat day rolls around.

Just because you can do a specific thing doesn’t mean you should do a certain thing, or even that you have to do a certain thing.

I’ve been pondering taking a different approach to my cheat days to get them to take a slightly different form.

Not a wholesale change in the what I eat specifically, but the plan of attack.

All of this is just a long winded way to say that with so many options in Korea, sometimes it’s better to keep your options open.

So I didn’t really have a monster day on Sunday, but the halavah I got at the Salaam Bakery in Itaewon was delicious, and the Chinese-American food at Ho Lee Chow in Myeondong was very good (eaten Korean-style by sharing one entree), the Dunkin Donuts NY ‘cronut’ was still a little lacking, the Pizza School beefmeat pizza (yes, a real thing) sufficed in place of the Italian restaurant that we wanted to go to but was closed, and one of the two schneeballen we got last week at Hyundai Dept Store paired excellently with both the Haagen Dazs vanilla and chocolate fondant I got at the gourmet GS25.

Halavah

Ho Lee Chow lunch

Schneeballen w/ Haagen Dazs

Happy Chuseok e’erbody!

In January 2012 I got on the scale and saw it read 252lbs. Unacceptable.

From an old blog post of a college friend of mine’s wife I found about about The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss (Thank you Greg Wymer & Lisa Johnson) . Written in 2010, I was over a year late to the 4HB party, but maybe I was just being fashionable.

I could literally talk for hours on the book and how much of it spoke to me; from Ferriss’ take on life to the Harajuku Moment of Chad Fowler‘s.

I wanted to get to sub-200lbs and less than 20% body fat by my birthday in mid September, So I started the Slow Carb Diet as mentioned in the book and added some of the supplements. Most importantly, I started keeping records of my weight and body fat the best way I could living in the Caribbean without the aid of professional high-tech equipment (BodPod, Dexa, etc)

I started tracking in February 2012 with a Weight Watchers body fat/water/bone density scale and using a very simple iOS app called Track Your Weight.

First entry for Weight Watchers scale using the TrackWeight iOS app.

First entry for Weight Watchers scale using the Track Your Weight iOS app.

I quickly grew tired of having to video the scale display as the numbers passed by too quickly and then input them into the app, so I moved to the Fitbit Aria wifi scale.

Making the switch to a new scale meant a whole new set of numbers, and the two scales didn’t always line up. I kept tracking using both methods, recording some days with both, but every day with the Fitbit. The Aria was so easy to use and the website/app integration was fantastic.

My starting readings from the Fitbit Aria wifi scale via the Fitbit website. I take daily readings of my weight and body fat with this scale unless I’m traveling.

Today there was this on the Fitbit.

Today’s weigh-in with the Fitbit Aria scale via the Fitbit iOS app.

The Weight Watchers scale is usually different.

Weight Watchers scale reading via Track Your Weight iOS app.

I’ve scraped by on my first goal.

It took a little longer than I’d wanted, but it was satisfying nonetheless.

The Weight Watchers scale I’ve had since February.

In all that time I haven’t lifted a single weight or done a lick of cardio.

I’ll probably go back up after my cheat day on Sunday… but who cares. I’ve set a new goal of 180lbs. Which my 5 foot 11 inch body hasn’t seen since probably middle school.

Now it’s time for these bad boys, where the fat loss should really pick up.

My 35lbs ‘starter’ and 53lbs ‘I’ll get there’ kettlebell.

Ben Maxwell

Website of Ben Maxwell.

Tag Archives: 4-Hour Body

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