4 Hour Body Green Smoothie

• Last week I saw a patient at the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center who told us that she lost 40 pounds on Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Body diet plan.

She had tried a Paleo diet also, but the “4 Hour Body” otherwise known as “Slow Carb Diet” was her ticket to lasting weight loss.

I knew about the diet, but had never actually read the book, so I immediately ordered a copy and dug in this weekend.

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Here are the 5 simple rules:

Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates (or anything that can be white).
This includes sugar, wheat, bread, pasta, cereal, potatoes and even my friend brown rice.

Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again.
He wants you to be realistic about how much cooking you’ll do. Automate your meals.
Eat protein, vegetables and beans at each meal.
Note: this is not a vegetarian-friendly diet.

Rule #3: Don’t drink calories.
No milk, soda or fruit juice.

Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit.
The only exceptions are tomato and avocado.
The idea is that our ancestors didn’t have year-round access to fruit.
And that fructose messes up fat loss.

Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts.
He claims that increasing calorie intake once a week helps to increase fat loss.
He also feels that having a cheat day built in helps to increase compliance in the diet.
I’m not crazy about the cheat day, but I know it works for some people.

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Based on this plan, my breakfast needed some tweaking, because I’ve been adding fruit to my smoothies. So here I present to you a 4 Hour Body Green Smoothie:

– 1.5 scoops of protein powder, I use Shakeology (did I mention he wants you to have 30 grams of protein at breakfast? Yeah, it’s quite a bit!)
– 1/4 of an avocado
– 1 cup frozen spinach
– 1 big handful of kale
– 1 tbsp hemp seeds
– 1 tbsp almond butter
– Water and ice

Spin it through the Vitamix and you’re good to go!

I found this breakfast to be quite filling. I was surprised by how tasty it was. You really don’t need the banana and blueberries in order for a smoothie to taste good. It’s definitely a good way to get tons of greens for breakfast, plus healthy fats (from the almond butter) and protein. Does it count as “drinking calories”? I don’t think so because I treat it as a meal and it’s as filling as a proper meal.