The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [217]
About 2 bags of black beans and/or chick peas and/or lentils. (Cheaper than canned.) 3–4 large bags frozen veggies
A jar of natural peanut butter no sugar added, or bulk nuts (easy way to supplement fats)
Flaxseed oil and/or olive oil and/or guacamole
Tahini (combine with chick peas and make hummus, good with the veggies)
Salsa (All natural and no sugar. Make it if you have the time. I put this on my eggs when I got bored.)
Exact portions aren’t important, as adjustments will get you to your exact quantities by week three:
People may buy too little or too much the first week or two, but by week three they will know how much they need.
Marque explains his approach to tweaking the boilerplate Slow-Carb Diet:
The insight that helped me adapt the slow-carb diet to vegetarianism came from using DailyBurn (www.dailyburn.com) to track my food.
After a few days of entering my food, I noticed that my nutrient ratios, calculated on DailyBurn, were 40:30:30 (carbs:protein:fats). My wife has always been big on the Zone Diet, so I recognized the ratio right away as identical. I was hitting this ratio daily just by following your instructions, but eating only egg whites for my protein. As long as I reduced my carb intake from beans and vegetables, to account for the additional carbs I took in with soy products and dairy, my ratios were the same and I continued to lose weight.
In other words: all of the protein sources in your original version are what I would refer to as “isolated” protein sources (chicken breast, fish, etc.) that contain almost no carbs. It’s hard to find whole foods “isolated” protein sources as a vegetarian, so when I adapted this diet for vegetarianism, I thought of all the carbs in the protein-containing dairy or soy products as counting towards a total carb limit. I then subtracted veggies and legumes accordingly. For every 9 grams of carbs I got from a protein or fat source, I ate 9 grams of carb less from vegetable and legume sources. This helped me keep my ratios on track without much effort. The simplest solution to this problem is to avoid dairy and soy altogether, which I did for the most part.
One might ask: why didn’t I just switch to the Zone Diet? I didn’t switch because the slow-carb diet as described by you is simpler and doesn’t allow for “less favorable” foods which give less favorable results. It keeps things simple and is easier to follow. If I had just one last tip for following the slow-carb diet as a vegetarian, it would be simple: eat extra good fats. Since you are missing fats from animal-based protein sources, you need to supplement with flaxseed oil, olive oil, and nuts. 0.5–1 tablespoon twice a day did it for me. If I didn’t supplement fats, I felt tired and mentally off.
I have since become a vegan and removed soy from my diet completely. Currently my main source of isolated protein is pea and rice protein powders, my favorite being Plant Fusion by Nitro Fusion.
Mike Mahler does not fit the vegan stereotype.
He’s trained athletes like former UFC champion Frank Shamrock, he can one-arm military press a 97-pound kettlebell 10 times, and can one-arm kettlebell snatch a 105-pound kettlebell 17 times with each arm. This is at a lean bodyweight of 197 pounds.
He makes his own protein bars, and the following is his favorite recipe:
4 scoops of vanilla Sunwarrior Protein Powder (60 grams of high-quality protein and iron)
2 tbsp almond butter (good protein, fat, and magnesium)
1 tbsp cashew nut butter
3 tbsp flax powder (contains omega-3 and fiber; increases ratio of good estrogens to bad)
1 tbsp Maca (plant sterols, hormone support)
¼ cup walnuts
¼ cup Goji berries (high in vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron)
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (loaded with healthy spices)
1 tsp stevia
1½ cups water
Preheat oven to 425°. Mix everything in a bowl with a spoon until a thick paste forms. Divide into eight parts, then shape into cookies. Place on cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes.
Total Nutrition Profile (all