Tag Archives: 4 hour body

I haven’t talked much about my weight or my weight loss efforts. Usually there isn’t much in the way of weight loss efforts honestly. But a couple of weeks ago I read a book called 4 HOUR BODY by Tim Ferriss. I loved it, and I’m following the Slow Carb diet he describes. On that diet, there’s a cheat day once per week, and Yesterday was my cheat day, but I still had a bunch of small successes I’m proud of.

Success number 1: Even though I had a workout scheduled in the afternoon with my Crossfit trainer, Jenny, I still hit the treadmill for about 20 minutes around lunch. And I started the day with 30 squats, 30 wall presses, and 30 chest pulls with an exercise band.

In the afternoon was Crossfit. I love these workouts. I’m not fit enough yet to do the dynamic Crossfit moves (like burpees), and I sometimes have to baby my knee, but I can row, and I can lift weights. Heavy weights. Yesterday, my workout (after warm up and stretching) was four rounds of the following circuit:

• 250 meter row
• 105lb bench press to failure
• 10 ring rows

Just three exercises, but I assure you, I worked hard. I felt I had a small success in each exercise:

• My rowing was consistent. There’s a graph you can display that helps me see when I’m doing the stroke correctly and getting most of the power from my legs. I was able to do the stroke correctly (and smoothly) throughout each round and through all four rounds.
• 105 was the highest bench press I’d done, and I was able to do 13 reps. Again, I was consistent. In the fourth circuit, I did 12 and failed at 13.
• My ring rows have gotten a lot stronger, and my form is solid. I really work my lats.

Lots of compliments from Jenny. 🙂

On the way home, I was hungry. It was 3:30, and our dinner reservations were at 5:30. I needed a snack. I ran through the options in my mind: celery with hummus, celery with natural peanut butter, almonds, edamame, protein shake.

Then suddenly it occurred to me: This was my cheat day. I could have anything I wanted. Chips! Chocolate! Cheese! Bread!

And you know what I WANTED? Healthy stuff. I had a protein shake, a few almonds, and a handful of edamame. I think that was a huge success!

Ended the day by going out to dinner with my husband for Valentine’s Day. We decided at the beginning of the year to go out to one high-end restaurant a month — preferably one we haven’t been to before. Last night we went to Bis on Main in Bellevue. It was most definitely a cheat meal, but we split an appetizer, split a salad, and I ate only half of my entree. I don’t feel guilty about a bite of it!

And today I was right back on track. 🙂