4-Hour Body Check: The 2.5% That Really Matter
Tim Ferris in his new book, The 4-Hour Body, claims that you can understand 95% of Spanish conversations if you know just 2,500 high-frequency words. That equates to about 2.5% of the estimated 100,000 words in the Spanish language. He points this out to explain that he is looking to deliver the 2.5% that delivers the 95% of results in rapid body design.
In Tim’s spirit, I thought it might be helpful to boil down what he says in the book to much less than 2.5%. If you were to try to follow the rule completely, you would need to write a 13 page essay just to summarize its 560+ pages. I’m not going to make you read 13 pages, I’m just going to get to the top 10 points I remember from my speed reading.
1) When it’s a calorie, not a calorie. He had always heard the axiom that if you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. It makes sense as it is based on basic physics and the law of thermodynamics. But Tim has a good point when he says that a calorie is not always a calorie. He says it’s not what you put in your mouth, it’s what gets into your bloodstream that counts. Yes, he is right about that. If it’s not absorbed by the body, it just passes, like when you take too many vitamins and your body just transports them without absorbing them.
He also points out that different calorie sources trigger different hormonal responses. He points to studies showing that extreme fat or protein diets lead to weight loss and extreme carbohydrate-based diets lead to weight gain. I guess we do a better job of absorbing carb calories and turning them into fat.
two) Body weight is not important, body fat is. That is correct too. We can be leaner and heavier at the same time if we reduce our body fat and increase lean muscle mass. Instead of weight, focus on measuring body fat and measuring key body dimensions: waist, hips, thighs, etc.
3) Don’t eat white carbs 6 days a week.. White foods and foods that used to be white are quickly digested and absorbed into the body. By eating slow carbohydrates, you will lose weight.
4) Eating the same few foods over and over again. The point is to make it simple and easy to follow. By being repetitive, you can make it simple and doable.
5) don’t drink your calories – Fruit juices, soft drinks and alcohol will make you fat.
6) don’t eat fruit – Just like high calorie drinks, our bodies convert fruit very quickly and that means high calorie absorption.
7) Take a day off and ignore all the rules – We all need a break and taking a day off makes the other 6 bearable and doable. Binge on the seventh day will not derail you.
8) embrace the cold – Warming up the body burns A LOT of calories. If your body thinks it’s cold, the internal furnace turns on and starts burning calories. Tim suggests cold showers or ice baths. It sounds like a lot of pain, but if you really need to burn calories, it might be worth it.
9) Do the least amount of exercise – Tim shows that a small amount of exercise can have huge benefits, but too much exercise may not really help you reach your goals.
10) There is much more in the book. – While this article covers the concepts used to lose body fat, this book shows how to gain muscle if that’s what you want, tips for getting six pack abs, how to improve your sex life and sleep, and all sorts of other interesting information. .
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but not as much as his last book, The 4-Hour Workweek. His previous book was pretty focused, whereas this one seems more like a collection of ideas focused on different topics, but if you’re interested in one of the topics, Tim has some very interesting ideas. There’s even an online audiobook where you can listen to a sample.