Had a meeting with the ever-dashing Oli Pettigrew today at Ion’s Marmalade Pantry. For those who don’t know who is he, you might find him presenting on tv shows such as Sony Style Tv Magazine on AXN, Lonely Planet: Six Degree China on Discover Channel and Cash Cab Asia on AXN.
He is married to the gorgeous Linda Black - undeniably one of the most recognized faces on HBO. We were supposed to go and have tea at TWG but it was too rammed (in Oli’s words) for us to settle there.
I was late due to work commitment and when I arrived, he was having soda water. I frantically ordered an iced coffee that came with a huge dollop of vanilla ice-cream…not very wise. We chatted about work, his life and then came The 4-hour Body. He ordered another soda water.
Before I touch on The 4-hour Body, let’s talk about Oli. He is an accomplished presenter and model, has two beautiful kids and he is into MMA – Jiu Jitsu for his current workout of the moment. He jogs to clear his mind and apparently, a very good writer/columinst as well.
Ok back to The 4-hour Body. It’s a book written by award-winning author Timothy Ferriss that touches on how to changing your eating pattern can lead to weight loss. It’s not really a diet plan persay but like any diet or exercise regime, you’ll need dedication and motivation to see results (duh!).
I’ve done a little reading on this ”diet” and it’s too long for me to go into details. Oli told me (from what I can remember) that basically from day 1-6, you shouldn’t be touching carbs of any sorts. No carbs! No sugar (that’s why he was drinking soda water)! Lotsa meat – beef, fish, chicken! Losta beans (farts)! Red Wine (a glass or two daily)! And on the 7th day, that’s when you let all hell break loose and gobble down whatever you can. Apparently when he first started this, he consumed almost 8000 calories on his cheat day – that’s like a sumo’s diet.
When you consume carbs, they are converted into glucose. The carbohydrates that are not immediately used by the body are stored in the form of glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and the liver. However, the glycogen in the muscles cannot be used by the brain so the brain gets all of its glycogen from the liver. The liver is only able to store a limited amount of glycogen and its stores can be depleted in ten to twelve hours, hence why we need to eat carbohydrates.
While carbohydrates are a vital source of fuel for the body, ifexcessive consumption will ultimately be stored as fat. Muscles can store three to four hundred grams of carbohydrate while the liver can only store sixty to ninety grams. When you hit the peak, the carbs are converted to fats. You will also cause the body’s blood glucose levels to rapidly rise, and to compensate for this rise, insulin is secreted into the bloodstream in order to lower the blood glucose levels.
The issue with this is that higher levels of insulin activates the body to store the excess carbohydrates as fat, as well as telling it to not release any of the stored fat to be converted into energy. High insulin levels also suppress glucagon and growth hormone. Glucagon promotes the burning of both fat and sugar by the body while growth hormone is used to build new muscle mass and also for muscle development.
Insulin also causes hunger because the blood sugar levels increase after a meal that contains carbohydrates, causing insulin to rise and lower blood sugar. This results in hunger, often only a couple of hours or less since your last meal, as your blood sugar levels are lower than what you need. The more refined the carbohydrates (white rice!) you eat, the more extreme the response is. This is because refined carbohydrates lack the fibre that helps to minimise the insulin response – fibre causes the blood sugar levels to rise at a steadier rate.
There are 5 golden rules for The 4-hour Body:
Rule 1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates (or anything that can be white).
Rule 2: Eat the same few meals over and over again.
Rule 3: Don’t drink calories.
Rule 4: Don’t eat fruit.
Rule 5: Take one day off per week and go nuts.
Looking at Oli’s physique, the plan might be working out very well for him. As for me, I shall try cutting out sugar for a start…with effect from next Monday. If you want to find out more, you can either dl the book or visit http://gizmodo.com/5709913/4+hour-body-+-the-slow+carb-diet and read up a little more about it. Peace out.
