If there was any book that I wish I would have read earlier than I did, it is The Four Hour Body, by Tim Ferriss. Before entering my MBA I worked second shift and ate horribly, and extremely late at night. I ballooned up to 245 (I’m 5’11”) and felt awful.
Just before school I tried to get back into shape by simply increasing the amount I worked out. I was able to drop 10 pounds, but still felt out of shape. In the middle of my first year of school I tore my right ACL (I had already torn my left ACL and meniscus (on a separate occasion)) and I knew that I needed to take more weight off of my knees. Luckily, just a few days before my surgery I found a copy of The Four Hour Body in a Volunteer’s of America Thrift Store. It was $2.50, and it was the best purchase I’ve made. I am now 210 pounds, and feel in great shape. Unfortunately I did not take bodyfat % figures, because I believe this figure would be far more impressive.
If I could summarize the themes/content that produced the biggest results in me they would be:
- record your weight/bf % – whatever metric you want to change
- slow carb diet – keep it simple. Three-four dishes per meal that you can live with for a month. This is way easier than you think.
- workouts should be done under the Minimum Effective Load mindset. The smallest amount of effort that produces positive results should be used for workouts. The diet is where most of your gains from.
- Increase testosterone by supplementing with selenium (3 Brazil nuts), vitamin D, and Zinc. This dramatically impacted my mood for the positive. I don’t know…or care…if this was a placebo effect. I felt it, and I loved it.
- This was less from the book (and more from listening to Joe Rogan’s Podcast while I was on the couch after my surgery)…but…simply keep a positive mindset, be nice to people, and don’t be a dick. This is indirect, but this had a huge impact on my overall mood. Making other people feel good through kindness is contagious.
Here is a link to the book. You can obviously buy it on Amazon — or maybe get lucky in a thrift store in your area like I did.