Dont Eat Fruit Wait What
Ill be honest. I was a bit taken back when I saw that Tim recommends that you dontfruit while the on slow-carb diet but it actually makes sense.
If youre trying to lose weight, you want to minimize the number of carbs you consume because the body uses that as energy instead of fat.
Having less carbs within your body forces it to use fat cells and other resources.
As a matter of fact, keeping your carbs very low eventually places your body in a state of ketosis. This is where the body uses fat and ketones as the main energy source instead of carbs.
Achieving a state of ketosis or keeping carbs low in general helps you achieve a leaner physique, burn fat, and has mountains of other health benefits.
Allows You To Indulge Every Week
One of the main reasons why diets dont work is that they are too restrictive and they leave people feeling like they are missing out on certain foods. However, with the Tim Ferriss slow carb diet, you are allowed one cheat day every single week to indulge in your favorite forbidden foods.
This means you are less likely to binge and crave restricted food groups, because you are encouraged to eat them once a week.
As a dieter, this gives you something to look forward to each week, while still maintaining your slow carb meal plan the rest of the time.
How Does Slow Carb Compare To Low
The Slow Carb Diet is not a low carb diet, even though the name sounds similar. And it definitely wont get you into ketosis.
A common definition of low carb is any diet that limits carbohydrate intake to 100 grams of carbs per day or less. Most low-carb diets are also high in healthy fats.
In contrast, people following the Slow Carb Diet could easily eat 50-60% or more of their calories from carbs, or 250-300 grams of carbs per day or more on a 2,000 calorie diet.
The keto diet, a very-low-carb, high-fat diet, typically includes 30-50 grams of carbs per day at most.
When you restrict carbohydrates, your body achieves a state of ketosis, which is responsible for many of the health benefits of going keto.
Overall, low carb diets like Atkins and keto are supported by abundant research, while there is no scientific evidence in favor of the Slow Carb Diet.
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Avoids High Calorie And Sugary Drinks
One way to accidentally consume a lot of dormant calories is through drinking soda, energy drinks, fruit juices and the like. These drinks can often contain hundreds of calories and they wont even fill you up!
If you were previously consuming these drinks, avoiding them as part of the Tim Ferriss slow carb diet will help you to slash your daily calories and trim your waistline.
Dont Drink Too Many Calories

If youre on any sort of diet, youre going to want to minimize the number of calories that you drink. This means restricting yourself from drinking too much juice, milk, or other high-calorie drinks. These drinks are generally low in nutrients, high in calories, and not fantastic for anyone hoping to lose weight.
Instead, focus on remaining hydrated by drinking lots of water. Youll thank yourself for it.
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So Should I Try The Slow
The choice is ultimately yours, and you know your body and personality best. Some people have an easier time losing weight by following structured guidelines and grocery lists, while others may find that type of heavy guidance and rigidity harmful or even downright dangerous.
Zeitlin personally doesnt recommend trying an overly restrictive diet like the Slow-Carb Diet. “Diets that encourage cutting food groups out completely dont support your health-goals long-term and can leave you yo-yo-ing up and down with your weight,” she says.
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If you are trying to lose weight, Zeitlin recommends “concentrating on foods you should be adding in versus taking out,” she says. This includes adding in more veggies, lean proteins, whole grains instead of white flour, and fruits. “Keep your grains and fruits to two servings each per day and dont forget to add in more water, along with sleep and physical activity,” she says.
What Makes Slow Carb Diet Different
The Slow Carb Diet has a lot in common with the paleo or Whole30 diet, but youll notice a few exceptions.
For one, on the Slow Carb Diet, no sugar is allowed. Not just added sugar, but natural sugars too fruit is out, which is a pretty rare exclusion for most healthy eating diets.
The Slow Carb Diet also allows you one cheat day each week, in which you can dig in to your hearts desire all is allowed on your cheat day!
For many folks, the cheat day allowance turns the Slow Carb Diet into an eating regiment that can actually survive past a month or so. Having a built-in exception day allows this diet to adjust to your schedule and lets you indulge on appropriate occasions.
A diet that doesnt make room for lifes holidays and special events simply isnt sustainable for most.
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Why Is This Diet Healthy
On the Slow-Carb Diet, youll rapidly burn fat by avoiding foods that promote fat storage. Metabolism hacking techniques like eating immediately upon waking up and binging on cheat foods once a week will help you lose excess fat.
We ran a trial of this diet with 3500 people: 84% of finishers lost weight and the average weight loss was 8.6 pounds. 14% of people lost more than 14 pounds. Read about the research.
What Are The Cons
There are very few pros to fad, restrictive diets like this one, according to Zeitlin. You can definitely lose weight, but she warns it may not be sustainable for everyone. As soon as you reintroduce the healthy food groups that have been removed, like whole grains and fruits, you will regain weight and likely gain back more weight than you originally lost, Zeitlin says.
Zeitlin also warns that you may feel guilty about falling off the plan, and you may end up going overboard on the restricted foods if you feel deprived while omitting simple carbs, alcohol, and more six days of the week. Additionally, the concept of a free or cheat day can create a messed-up relationship with food, reinforcing the notion that they are ‘good’ foods and ‘bad’ foods, when some of those ‘bad’ foods are vitamin-rich fruits and whole grains,” she adds.
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The Blog Of Author Tim Ferriss
Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog. Tim is an author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, investor , and host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast
Latest Episode:
Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is usually my job to interview world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, and so on that you can apply to your own life.
This episode is a bit different.
Its an exploration of my creative process, how I think about first principles, and how to get serious things done without being serious all the time. In this case, I am the guest and Kevin Rose is the host. Who is Kevin? Kevin is a technologist, serial entrepreneur, world-class investor, self-experimenter, and all-around wild and crazy guy.
For more on The Legend of CØCKPUNCH®, visit cockpunch.com and follow on Twitter . Launch date is coming up soon, so make sure to follow that Twitter account for news, as well as @tferriss and @TimTimNifties. I will also be announcing next steps via my newsletter, and you can sign up at tim.blog/friday.
Please note: 100% of primary sale proceeds are being donated to the Saisei Foundation, a registered 501 nonprofit private foundation that funds cutting-edge scientific research and other initiatives related to psychedelic medicine, mental health therapeutics, and much more.
The episode youre about to hear was originally published on the PROOF podcast, a podcast hosted by Kevin, which provides in-depth NFT coverage.
Please enjoy!
Please enjoy!
Rule #: Dont Eat Fruit
Even though fruits are technically part of a balanced diet, the slow-carb diet suggests that fruits are not helpful when youre trying to lose weight.
This idea is based on the fact that fructose, the sugar in fruits, could delay the weight loss process by increasing blood fat levels and decreasing fat-burning capacity.
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Eating Out On Slow Carb Diet
- Mexican Food. Lots of Mexican to-go spots like Chipotle can be easily made compliant with the Slow Carb Diet if you lose the rice, skip corn salsa, cheese, and sour cream, and instead load up on beans, meat, veggies, and guac.
- Salads. Many salads should be compliant with the Slow Carb Diet just hold the cheese and croutons.
- Thai. Keep a look out for non-dairy thai curry and hold the rice.
- Indian. Go for lentil dishes, bean dishes, or dairy-free veggie fishes.
- Burgers. Grab a burger and hold the bun. Its becoming more common for some burger spots to even offer a bed of lettuce as a bun substitute.
- Protein + Veggies. Most restaurants should have at least a few basic and veggie dishes.
We suggest keeping a list of a few Slow Carb Diet friendly restaurants and take out joints.
Research a few before you start and youll have a couple great built-in security nets for those nights when youre starving but dont have time to cook.
Rule #: Take One Day Off Per Week

The slow-carb diet allows you to choose one day per week when you can eat anything you want.
On this day, you do not have to follow any of the other rules. As such, this eat-anything day is meant for you to indulge in any food and beverages you might be craving without fear of gaining all the weight back.
Summary The slow-carb diet is based on five basic rules: avoid white carbs, repeat the same meals, dont drink calories, dont eat fruits and take one day off per week.
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Rule #: Eat The Same Meals Over And Over Again
The Slow Carb Diet works around the concept that simplicity is best.
If youve ever tried to get involved with a complicated eating regiment before, you know how overwhelming it can be the shopping lists, the meal planning, the prep work and cooking!
Instead, the focus for this diet is keeping your meals as simple as possible to increase your chances of success. Just stick to three or four meals and repeat them.
For example, when it comes to breakfast, just stick to eggs. Eggs + Salsa, Eggs + Spinach, to mix it up. Simplicity is the secret to success!
Just remember: this diet is, rst and foremost, intended to be effective, not fun.
Tim Ferris4 Hour Body
Rule Four: Dont Eat Fruit
Fruits are technically part of a healthy and balanced diet, but the slow carb diet suggests that they are not helpful to those looking to lose weight. The reason is that fructose, which is the sugar in fruits, could potentially delay your weight loss by increasing your blood sugar and fat levels, thereby decreasing the bodys fat-burning capacity.
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Resources For A Victorious Slow Carb Diet
- Tim Ferriss Three-Minute Slow-Carb Breakfast. This quick video demonstrates how Tim makes his high-protein slow carb breakfast in just three minutes.
- Paleo Leap. When you need recipe ideas, Paleo Leap is an awesome resource. The paleo diet shares a lot in common with the Slow Carb Diet. Just be careful because paleo doesnt include beans .
- Real Plans. A great meal-planning tool that makes it easy to create recipe plans for the week and print out shopping lists.
- Tim Ferriss Slow-Carb Diet Cookbook . A small but handy online collection of easy recipes for the Slow Carb Diet.
Have you done the Slow Carb Diet? What did you think of it? Did you find the diet successful? Share your experience in the comments!
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The Tim Ferris Slow Carb Diet And If
Although this is a review of the Slow Carb Diet, we would be remiss not to mention a strategy Ferris suggests in the 4-Hour Body and again in Tools of Titans intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern, not a diet, that has been shown to mimic the effects of severe calorie restriction. IF is about when you eat as opposed to the Slow Carbs focus on what you eat. There are multiple versions of IF, including the Fast Five , the 16:8, Alternate-Day, and one meal per day. The objective of intermittent fasting, like the Slow Carb, is to flip the switch so that you burn fat as your primary fuel. When fasting beyond twelve hours, your insulin levels drop, and human growth hormone levels increase, beneficial for muscle gain and fat burning. Combining IF with the Slow Carb can accelerate your results. The two are very compatible.
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What Is The Slow Carb Diet
The slow-carb diet involves eating only five main food groups and teaches people to eat four meals per day for six days. It also offers one cheat day where all foods are allowed you can eat whatever you want.
The idea behind the diet is to follow a low carb regimen to increase your bodys ability to burn fat for energy, thereby reducing your overall fat stores. In turn, you reduce your body weight. In the book, Ferriss talks about essential supplements and nootropics that you can take even though they are not a requirement.
Slow Carb Diet Recipes
Since eating more eggs on a slow carb diet is associated with better results, this recipe will be an excellent staple for your weekly rotation. And dont forget about the tomatoes! They will enhance the flavor and health benefits of your meal even more.
If you are looking to follow tip #2 , simply have three eggs instead of two.
2. Keto Crispy Ginger Mackerel Lunch Bowl
This slow-carb bowl has it all veggies, protein, healthy fats, micronutrients, and flavor. Follow the recipe step-by-step or make your own concoction using this bowl as inspiration.
Canned salmon, tuna, and sardines will work wonderfully with this mix of flavor as well, so dont be afraid to experiment with what you have on hand!
3. One-Pan Cabbage and Bacon Keto Bowl
Do you like the idea of a slow-carb bowl, but youre not a fan of fish? Try this simple, quick, and delicious cabbage and bacon recipe. All youll need is one pan and three ingredients: bacon, cabbage, and butter.
This can also be made as a full meal or served as a side dish with your favorite steak or pork chop recipe.
4. Bacon Wrapped Asparagus with Garlic Aioli
Another side to consider on the slow carb diet is bacon wrapped asparagus. There is something about the combination of bacon flavor with this keto vegetable that is uniquely satisfying. In fact, its so good that you may not need to make the aioli.
5. Zucchini Ribbons & Avocado Walnut Pesto
6. Slow Cooker Steak Lovers Chili
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Caters To Folks Who Are Gluten Or Dairy Free
Many people want to avoid, or are allergic to, either gluten or dairy products. With some diet plans, especially those that involved pre-prepared shakes or meals, this can be hard to achieve.
This isnt the case for the Tim Ferriss slow carb diet. Anyone with an allergy, intolerance or a personal preference to avoid these products can easily do so.
Its also handy that you dont have to buy your products from a specific brand or go searching online to find your food items. Everything on the approved list is readily available and can be sourced at any supermarket or grocery store.
Supplements Recommended With This Diet Plan

Several supplements are recommended for use along with the Slow Carb Diet plan. Some of the most effective are:
- Electrolyte supplements
Low carb diets can cause the body to flush out water from the body. This can lead to electrolyte imbalances which should be replenished by taking supplements. Consider taking potassium, magnesium, and calcium supplements.
99mg of potassium should be taken with each meal 400 mg of magnesium should be taken during the day, and 1,000 mg of calcium should be taken daily.
- Alpha-lipoic acid
A powerful antioxidant acid that has been shown to help accelerate weight loss. Doses of 100-300 mg are effective for this purpose.
This helps boost metabolism. Taken in doses of at least 200 mg.
- Green tea flavonoids
Which can further help to enhance metabolism and weight loss. Find a supplement that contains at least 325 mg of EGCG this nutrient is the most powerful antioxidant found in green tea, and helps the body burn calories.
An alcohol extract of various plant waxes that are found in things like sugarcane and beeswax. Policosanol should be taken in doses of 20-25 mg daily.
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Other Stuff Thats Ok On Scd
- Nuts. Nuts are allowed in moderation however, theyre easy to overdue to be careful and limit your quantities.
- Hummus. Hummus is another food thats allowed, but youll want to be careful about servings because it can be easy to go overboard.
- Wine. Yup, you read that right you can have up to 2 glasses of wine on the Slow Carb Diet. Are you hearing angels singing from the heavens?
- Coffee. Coffee and tea are allowed but no adding cream or milk!