[speakeasy]

With regards to to VP's graphic designer in London, I'm curious how anyone in London, one of the most expensive cities in the world can work for $15 an hour without being in poverty. Unless he's just handing your request off to someone in India doing it for $5 and hour and pocketing the difference.

[Biz]

I hate to break it to everyone, but Tim is doing what everyone on here wants to do.....guy is making dough and does what he wants. Hate him or not, who cares...if you like his advice take it, if not, hate on him..

[phoenix abroad]

(01-15-2011 01:26 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Anyways, I also get the impression that like usual, the ones complaining and whining about him, his book and others like him, are people that have not tried his methods and are not successful themselves (yet) but would be if they had a more open mind. And of course, as usual, the ones who are successful and have tried some of his stuff, are not complaining nor whining about it. That's just my observation so far, not only on this forum but other forums as well and in general as well.

All in all, I consider this book one of the most important and decisive ones in where I am today. I always refer to it as a guide. I have strongly suggested my younger cousins, friends and even my own younger brother to read it as an eye opener and mind expander. Sure, it's not a complete guide, it's more of a general guide kind of thing. And of course, each person would have to add his own twist/style as well as hard work to creat their own "spot in the sun" so to speak as we say in French.

I totally agree with VP on this. A lot of the haters don't even bother trying any of it. Haters gonna hate.

After reading The Four Hour Workweek I tried out a couple different business ideas - most of them sucked but one did very well. It took about 6 months of research and refinement, but I now have an online "muse" set up related to college exams.

It was a lot of work up front though and definitely not smooth sailing. I had to deal with, and still deal with, so many difficulties - everything from getting a membership site running properly to struggling with annoying customers to dealing with extensive legal bullshit. But I never let that stuff keep me down and I was determined to push through.

Was it worth all the trouble? Absolutely.

My business is now averaging over $2k income a month for less than 1 hour of work per day. Not too shabby - its enough to live somewhere like the Philippines or Thailand, which I am going to be visiting for a few months soon.

But most people don't have the determination to push through the difficulties - they think you just press a button and you are sipping mixed drinks on a Carribean island. So they try one thing and if it doesn't work right away they just get discouraged and quit and make excuses.

The brick walls are there to keep out the people who don't want it bad enough.

[oldnemesis]

(01-14-2011 07:35 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

Oldnemesis: You really seem to have an anti Tim Ferriss agenda, which is quite silly because he's just an author and not a politician or somebody that has any kind of control over your life.

Honestly you sound like a religious zealot follower of Tim Ferris.

Quote:

You still have a choice whether to read his books or not, whether to pay for them or not (library), and whether to heed his advice or not. I've read dozens if not hundreds of books that were crappy and stupid but if I don't like them I don't become a hater, I just forget about them and go on to new books that work for me.

I don't really understand your point. We're discussing a specific book here, so sharing opinions about this specific book is very relevant right here. It doesn't matter how many other crappy books are there - we'll share opinions about them when we talk about them.

Quote:

-This is what the VA companies told me when I called them in 2007, and Tim confirmed it in a blog comment. I dont really understand your point here, are you saying that VA's don't exist for regular people? You know they do, so why are you fretting?

No, I'm saying that I do not trust Tim and his blog comments as an unbiased source, because he is obviously not.

Quote:

-I've personally outsourced cold-calling and data input with zero problems.

Really zero? Meaning, none at all?

Quote:

-Anywhere. Geoarbitrage is a beautiful thing though. Upgrade your lifestyle AND spend less.

This does not answer my question. Can you live in Switzerland indefinitely right now?

Quote:

You missed the point. The book shifted my priorities towards valuing time more. It did not give me any specific solutions.

Really? You had to read a book to understand that if you hire some people to do the work you do, you'd have more free time? I don't get it.

Quote:

Right. I guess there's no real case studies out there then. BTW Tim Ferriss is paying me $10/hr to defend him on this forum. Busted!

Nope. You're too expensive, and this job is easy to outsource.

Quote:

Do you know this as a fact? Or you're just speculating it happened that way? No pun intended, just want to make it clear whether it is a fact or a speculation.

Have you seen an actual Stairmaster machine in a gym? It has a calorie counter.

And a person who says that sitting on a coach for an hour burns 100 calories, but going upstairs non-stop for the same hour burns only 107 calories is a liar. This should be obvious to anyone who ever walked upstairs.

[bigbootyluvr]

(01-14-2011 02:43 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

(01-13-2011 10:54 AM)Roosh Wrote:  

Time to page gringoed... he's a strong supporter of Tim's work.

I think there are like 3 other Tim Ferriss threads that pretty much deal with the same issue.

You have to keep certain things in mind when you're reading any advice book:
1. There is no such thing as a truly original thought, so what you're reading is information that's already out there but repackaged.
2. The goal of a published book is to make money, so a book that does well will be a mix of hype and good content. If there wasn't hype, you'd never hear of Tim Ferriss in the first place.
3. You spent $15 for something that is meant to appeal to a broad audience. The information is not custom tailored to you, and if you wanted it to you'd pay thousands.


Now keeping all that in mind, to answer the OP:

"I personally emailed two of his "VA's" in india that he mentioned in his book for help and they basically laughed at me; they only work with major corporations, not individuals"
-Yes, Tim recommends a couple firms that were small at the time. 4HWW became a #1 bestseller so these companies were inundated with requests. I found my own part-time VA from the Phillippines on my own and am 100% happy. If anybody wants a referral PM me.


"Even his "Chinese kickboxing championship" claim is now in question by people in the san shou community. "
-Honestly I dont care if it turns out to be somewhat ilegitimate, because it's just one example of many illustrating a point that certain goals/achievements can be "hacked" by understanding the rules. Using game to get with girls is no different.

You asked for personal examples...

Among many other things, one thought that really stuck with me from 4HWW was that wealth = time x money. Once that resonated, that one concept compelled me to tweak my real estate business in order for me to make solid money every month while working very little and being able to live anywhere.

Tim Ferriss doesnt do real estate, so very little of the info could be directly applied, so I found my own solutions. Instead of looking for drop-shippers as is recommended in 4HWW, I was looking for people that could go to rent court for me as an example.

By early 2010 my business had come such a long way towards valuing my time that I did a 5 month vacation in Argentina and Brazil. No way would that have been possible without the changes I made after reading 4HWW. I have many more of these in store in the near future.

If you want more examples, just look outside this forum. Read comments on his blog posts and the links to people's muses. Read the case studies from 4HWW extended edition. Listen to the "Lifestyle Business Podcast." Read his amazon reviews.

Tim started the new "lifestyle design" movement by being a master marketer and promoter, and I think that's a really good thing that people are finding clever ways of exiting the rat race. My .02

So what you are saying is that you don't care if this guy is full of shit, because he may have lied to you in the past, but you bought his deluxe bullshit kit, and now you are invested and a believer? Am I correct?

the guy is a fraud. His "brain quicken" was the biggest mma scam of all time. He made a fortune off dumb kids. Snake oil salesmen in 1850 made a lot of money off dumbasses too, does that mean you should keep buying snake oil because some fucking idiot was successful selling it? wtf?

beepobopou- You can't seriously tell me, after 18 years of bodybuilding that you can gain muscle in 4 hours per MONTH. I am calling YOU OUT and i'm calling tim ferriss out on this bullshit claim. Again, i want to see some proof.

SHOW ME.

"AAWWWW pooor tim ferriss, you are pickin on him!"

Why you may ask? Because I see a big portion of young impressionable kids idolizing this fraud and you are making IMPORTANT LIFE DECISIONS based on some tall tales by a glorified compulsive liar who can't keep his stories straight or prove 95% of his claims. That my friends, is a bullshit artist, and that my friends is why you should be questioning everything you've ever read from the man.

Any other questions, or would you prefer I systematically destroy each and every one of your hero's false claims? I'll leave it up to you guys.

You can't gain 30 lbs of muscle in a month, even on steroids

you can't hire a personal assistant in india to email your wife or take care of menial tasks.

You can't learn a fucking language in 3 months, it is not physically possible.

That said, there is a fine line between inspiring people and straight up misleading them.

[phoenix abroad]

(01-16-2011 06:25 AM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  

So what you are saying is that you don't care if this guy is full of shit, because he may have lied to you in the past, but you bought his deluxe bullshit kit, and now you are invested and a believer? Am I correct?

beepobopou- You can't seriously tell me, after 18 years of bodybuilding that you can gain muscle in 4 hours per MONTH. I am calling YOU OUT and i'm calling tim ferriss out on this bullshit claim. Again, i want to see some proof.

SHOW ME.

Any other questions, or would you prefer I systematically destroy each and every one of your hero's false claims? I'll leave it up to you guys.

Now I may be wrong here, but let's examine some evidence.

Quote:

You can't gain 30 lbs of muscle in a month, even on steroids

I would agree that for most people that is not realistic, but it is not impossible.

The famous Colorado Experiment where Casey Viator gained 63.21 lbs of muscle in a month. 7 hours, 50 mins of total gym time
http://www.musclenet.com/coloradoexperiment.htm

This guy gained 25 lbs in 25 days.

Quote:

you can't hire a personal assistant in india to email your wife or take care of menial tasks.

This accusation makes no sense. Doing menial tasks is exactly what virtual assistants are for.
http://www.taskseveryday.com/Services.html

Quote:

You can't learn a fucking language in 3 months, it is not physically possible.

This guy speaks 8 languages.
http://www.fluentin3months.com/

-----
Just because you haven't done these things doesn't mean that other people can't do them.

[Lumiere]

Speaking from my own experience, I read 4HWW in Buenos Aires 3 years ago. It made laugh because here was a guy writing about the lifestyle that I was already living (also because part of the book is set in Buenos Aires).

Lots of the concepts that he talks about are solid and can help you with a time rich and location free lifestyle and to escape the grind of cubicle hell.

At the same time he comes across as a marketeer and a bullshitter in the book in a lot of what he says.

The two sides arguing here have valid points and, as it most cases, the truth is not black and white but somewhere in the middle.

In the end, if you don't like it, forget it about it and get on with enjoying your life. Don't whine about it on an internet forum.

P.S. You can learn a language in 3 months. The major variables would be :

1. How similar the language you are trying to learn is to your native tongue. Example - Spanish is a romance language and Italian is too however Italian is closer to the latin root so an Italian learning Spanish could pick it up pretty quickly. Way quicker than a Korean trying to learn Spanish.

2. How much time and effort you put into it and your access to native speakers to practice with.

3. Your intelligence and natural ability with languages. A polyglot would learn way quicker than somebody who only speaks their native langauge.

[Lumiere]

(01-16-2011 10:41 PM)phoenix abroad Wrote:  

This guy speaks 8 languages.
http://www.fluentin3months.com/

I met that dude in Rio.

Cool guy.

[Irminsul]

I was surprised that the only blurb he could get for Four Hour Body was from Kevin Kelly, who is a fat old man who writes about technology (former editor of Wired Magazine). He evidently couldn't get anyone with any credentials or expertise in the area of health and fitness to write a positive blurb for the book, despite the fact that the book was bound to be heavily promoted and sell well on the basis of Ferriss' previous success. You'd think bodybuilding experts would have been lining up to provide blurbs for him just to promote themselves. But, no. It seems nobody wanted to be associated with the book. That's very interesting. I have seen blatant health-related scams on the internet that have genuine testimonials from professionals (presumably paid for). So, is his book *that* bad? What do we make of this?

Another thing that bothers me about Tim Ferriss, is that he basically lies about his background. He says in 4HWW that his parents never made more than $50k/year combined. Yet he grew up in the Hamptons, went to an elite private high school, and then went to Princeton? Really? I don't blame the guy for taking advantage of his position and obviously he has made more out of it than most people with similarly privileged backgrounds, but there is no need to brazenly lie about it.

A lot of his achievements are also not that impressive. Everyone talks about the kickboxing thing, but: most tango spins in one minute? WTF? Has anyone but Tim ever tried to achieve that record before? He also claims he has started a bunch of companies but it doesn't really look like he has done much other than BrainQuicken. If he actually had, he would presumably have bragged about it.

All that said, I am currently working on setting up an online business based largely on the model in his book (and actually just did my first sale the other day). I have no idea if it will ever make enough for me to support myself on, but if it does succeed I will definitely be at least somewhat indebted to Tim Ferriss' advice, although I realize he is not the only person out there explaining how to do this.

[Caramel Communist]

I'm not a Tim Ferris "stan" but that book is a excellent read for college students and recent college graduates and young pro's under 40....


The glean for me was:
-Own, quit working for others
-use the internet to leverage efficiency
-Ecommerce/Direct Marketing is the best way to go with limited cash
-travel now and do it aggressively...quit waiting till 90
-Move to action instead of talking big game...

Now, I realize some of what he talked about was bullshit and fluff but is he different than your broker? car dealership? best buy salesman? pizza man? I mean are ppl holding restaurants who sell you day old shit to the standards of honesty and truth? I doubt it....Cherry pick whats useful and move on....

[Roosh]

Tim is like the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad but for younger people. They both have a lot of devoted fans but a lot of haters too. These are two guys who came up with brilliant titles to books with content that could be found elsewhere. Still, they packaged it, marketed it well, and were rewarded.

I respect Tim more as a marketer than as an "independent traveler". I know many more guys who stayed on the road much longer than he has. Like Lumiere said... his lifestyle was already being done by others.

[kimleebj]

(01-17-2011 05:11 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

Rich Dad Poor Dad ... brilliant title

I agree. Robert Kiyosaki has an especially bad reputation.

Rich Dad Poor Dad Review

[oldnemesis]

(01-16-2011 10:41 PM)phoenix abroad Wrote:  

"You can't gain 30 lbs of muscle in a month, even on steroids"
I would agree that for most people that is not realistic, but it is not impossible.

That's why he said you can't do it. He didn't say it is impossible. Book of Guinness is also full of things which are possible, but I can't do them.

Quote:

This accusation makes no sense. Doing menial tasks is exactly what virtual assistants are for.

No, it is not. It is what they say they are for. But those who can be hired for $5/hr do not at the level Tim wrote in 4hww. So far the valid evidence I have about usefulness of VAs is extremely limited.

Quote:

This guy speaks 8 languages.
http://www.fluentin3months.com/

Let me ask you, do you have a first hand knowledge that this guy really speaks 8 languages AND he learned them all in 24 months? If you gonna trust everything written over the Internet, I have some gold mine stocks to sell.

And even if he does, it still doesn't mean you can do it too. This is so far the largest flaw in Tim's theories - both in 4hww and 4hb. A method is not successful just because someone tried it, and it worked for him extremely well. A method only becomes successful when it worked well for 60+% who used it.

Quote:

Just because you haven't done these things doesn't mean that other people can't do them.

True, but just because someone did it, it still doesn't mean you can do it too.

[bigbootyluvr]

Robert Kyosaki was completely exposed as a FRAUD and so was his "story" of "Rich dad" which was completely fabricated.

http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html#youtube

Summary: Tim ferriss got rich at the right time selling a scam supplement and took the proceeds of the sale of his compnay to travel. Then he wrote a shitty hype book about it and then I see a bunch of people here trying to be mini-tim. STOP IT. Be yourself. The guy was and is a fraud and a get rich quick huckster.

[bigbootyluvr]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz tim ferris, get rich, blah blah, kyosaki, buy houses for profit, blah blah. live the player lifestyle. POST PROOF. someone.

[Jalouse]

I think most of the concepts in the four work week are pretty sound, I was in the position of doing this before I read the book. I do feel he has become more of an IM style marketeer recently (maybe he always was) so that's why I wouldn't pick up his new book - a little too much hype over substance.

4HWW has some great concepts, the mini retirement, outsourcing, simplifying a business so it doesn't take all the hours of the day and realising that life is not all about work or making tonnes of money.

How achievable is it? I think the percentage of people who will do this is tiny, just think what percentage of the population have a successful full time business that makes them a good income? Not that many. You can do it but you do generally need similar attributes that would make you successful in a regular full time business.

On the question of VA's the bigger picture is outsourcing not just virtual assistants. I've had quite a few things done this way; package design in Argentina, products from China, products from America (I live in the UK) translation and customer support from Barcelona. The majority of these were all done solely through email without ever meeting the person or speaking to them and all of these went very smoothly.

I make a good income with a small number of hours, I can get by on less than four hours a week and I make over six figures a year (UK).

Tim's book didn't really make me do anything differently but whenever I meet people and they're impressed about how I manage to get by with such little work I always suggest they check out that book, most of them read it, get excited for a bit, then forget about it and get back to work

There are also a couple of downsides about this lifestyle that rarely get mentioned but these may just be particular to me:

Even though I don't have to work much I do have to do a little bit every day which basically means no full on vacations where I can just completely get away from it, no internet, no work, nothing. This has been difficult in the past for travelling, I like the free wheeling bumming around style of travelling but realistically you need to get set up somewhere with decent internet to get some work done. This is becoming easier these days with dongles and wifi all over the place and I've also outsourced a couple more of my daily tasks recently so I have even less to do.

It's easy to become lazy, with decent cash coming in on auto-pilot with little work you can rest on your laurels and be happy with that and with everyone else out at work it's easy to become a couch potato. This is something that will sneak up on you over time so you just have to ensure you have other things going on or do more work to fill your time more productively.

[BostonBMW]

(01-18-2011 02:41 AM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz tim ferris, get rich, blah blah, kyosaki, buy houses for profit, blah blah. live the player lifestyle. POST PROOF. someone.

You raise a good point. Some of guys that I know who are raking in solid $$s WOULD not be willing to share "their secrets/formulas" for success. I mean if you break it down:

- If do X+Y, I make thousands (millions?), why the fuck will I share that information with your for your measly $11.95? I mean sure I could be a national best seller, get the fame etc., but I can also lose my anonymity, have my X+Y formula completely hacked by random dbags.

I have read the Ferriss book, it has some good ideas that I have incorporated in my blueprint, but most of the book is marketing fluff. It has to be - most of his readers (much like those who 'study' game) are just that, readers who do more dreaming less doing. But still I am not going to knock his hustle - HE can live location independent, have a solid income stream, and leverage his popularity as a motivation icon.

To be able to live well, you need vision, hard work, and a bit of luck/timing to hit it big - I would rather try a few ideas and fail, instead of critiquing those who are making things happen even if it was for themselves.

[beebopaloo]

(01-16-2011 06:25 AM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  

beepobopou- You can't seriously tell me, after 18 years of bodybuilding that you can gain muscle in 4 hours per MONTH. I am calling YOU OUT and i'm calling tim ferriss out on this bullshit claim. Again, i want to see some proof.



You can't gain 30 lbs of muscle in a month, even on steroids

you can't hire a personal assistant in india to email your wife or take care of menial tasks.

You can't learn a fucking language in 3 months, it is not physically possible.

That said, there is a fine line between inspiring people and straight up misleading them.

I am sorry buddy, but I am not gonna post before/after pictures on an internetforum, just to prove something.
If you read in the '4 hour body thread', I have posted a lot of details on how this is done, and it is probably a better place for that discussion. But to recap, yes, I do two workouts a week at around 30 minutes each, which make it 4 hours a month and I do build muscle.

Regarding your language claim, I have learnt conversational Spanish in three months (with actually only a one week intensive course as the basis) and it is absolutely possible. I know more people who have done the same.

So bigbooty, I am calling YOU OUT: What do you actually know about learning a language? Have you ever tried hiring VAs? Do you have degree in human biology?

[manilaguy]

Just got back from France! Now helping wealthy clients deal with their nasty audit problems so they can focus on their businesses.

Tim Ferris The Snake Oil Salesman Q/A

Q: Does Tim Ferris strike you as a guy who works 4 hours a week?

Fck No. This guy is a competitive workaholic who wakes up at 5am and starts a deadlift routine WHILE listening to samba music. He is not lazy. Rich/independent people are not lazy!

Q: Does outsourcing your life make you rich?

Great concept but nothing original. You need a viable economic enterprise first with sufficient scale to take advantage of price differentials in other countries.

Q: But what if I set-up my "muse?"

Muse??? Boy you just got tim-ferrissed! No. Listen. It is hard to build a business. According SBA, 1 in 10 succeed first year and 1 in 10 of that 1 in 10 make it to 5 years. Don't build a business, stay in business! Your business is the experience and knowledge that you have.

Q: But I really want to leave the US so I can live a location free lifestyle!

I can tell you now that writing an e-book is not going to cover your expenses, unless you want a live in a shack in bumfuck ethiopia or in Tondo, Manila. haha good luck. Truth is most people that travel around have real jobs with extended vacations, or people who already have fixed assets like a rental property.

Q: So how do i get rich?

First, learn to think for yourself. Develop your independent thinking and not let anyone market their idea to you. The world is full of tim ferrises and snake oil salesmen. Read instead think and grow rich by napoleon hill. It was commissioned by carnegie for the benefit of mankind. The premise is that there is no shortcuts. Work hard and hope for good luck.

[oldnemesis]

To summarize, I just finished a four week trial of Tim Ferris' type of diet (which, again, is relaxed low-carb high-protein Paleo type). The only thing I made sure - something he never mentioned in his book - I kept my calories intake at the same level as before the diet. I also maintained the same exercise schedule. This was necessary to ensure some impressive weight loss results he mentioned were related to his diet, and not just to simple calorie reduction, which - as he claims - does not work.

The result after four weeks: loss of 1lbs and zero changes in measurements. Basically zero. Which means "Tim's diet" is a hoax, and despite his false claims, the "calories in - calories out" rule works as expected.

[thekiller]

(02-03-2011 01:40 AM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

To summarize, I just finished a four week trial of Tim Ferris' type of diet (which, again, is relaxed low-carb high-protein Paleo type). The only thing I made sure - something he never mentioned in his book - I kept my calories intake at the same level as before the diet. I also maintained the same exercise schedule. This was necessary to ensure some impressive weight loss results he mentioned were related to his diet, and not just to simple calorie reduction, which - as he claims - does not work.

The result after four weeks: loss of 1lbs and zero changes in measurements. Basically zero. Which means "Tim's diet" is a hoax, and despite his false claims, the "calories in - calories out" rule works as expected.

Did you also follow the cheat day protocol?
Also did you get a body fat percentage at the start of every week?
If you did reduce carbs and increase protein you may have gained mass from muscle, which is heavier than fat.

I know they're not super accurate, but you can get a $35 dollar scale from Costco that does body fat %, as long as you measure while hydrated and roughly the same time of day, it's accurate for comparison.

[oldnemesis]

(02-03-2011 04:01 AM)thekiller Wrote:  

Did you also follow the cheat day protocol?

Yes. This was the easiest part, of course.

Quote:

Also did you get a body fat percentage at the start of every week? If you did reduce carbs and increase protein you may have gained mass from muscle, which is heavier than fat.

No, I did not. However body measurements and tracking my results in gym took care of it, which shows no progress beoynd typical. Also I've been training quite consistently since 2006, so there would be no newbie gains.

Quote:

I know they're not super accurate, but you can get a $35 dollar scale from Costco that does body fat %, as long as you measure while hydrated and roughly the same time of day, it's accurate for comparison.

My scale measures body fat as well, but it is useless as the results vary around 2% even if you check it at the same time every morning, probably depending on what you ate yesterday.

[Quasi]

Ive bought the book out of curiousity and I got one of the signed ones, which either way is a nice thing.. Ive got alot of experience with supplements and exercises etc. and overall my feeling about the book reflect alot in the general direction of you guys...

First his advices aren´t wrong but its more or less "old wine on new bottles" low carb diet... eat chicken breast and vegetables and loose weight! woow I guys most kids could figure that out too, on the other hand, he does somehow inspire the same way any new book with ideas does, old ideas new ideas.. and Im gonna try the ALA, garlic, green tea thing, because it sounds fine.. not a bad book for a guy that virtually have no education or clue about what he is writing about really... its recks of mediocrity the way any book that try to go into details and fail due to lack of education does, written by random Joe, who hasnt gotten the basics down enough to oversimplify it for the other average Joe.. its tries so hard to seem smart, but its really superficial, but I think the basic ideas are old but solid, so yes, its mostly boring stuff that you could do better researching yourself really.. rating 2/5

[gringoed]

(02-03-2011 01:40 AM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

To summarize, I just finished a four week trial of Tim Ferris' type of diet (which, again, is relaxed low-carb high-protein Paleo type). The only thing I made sure - something he never mentioned in his book - I kept my calories intake at the same level as before the diet. I also maintained the same exercise schedule. This was necessary to ensure some impressive weight loss results he mentioned were related to his diet, and not just to simple calorie reduction, which - as he claims - does not work.

The result after four weeks: loss of 1lbs and zero changes in measurements. Basically zero. Which means "Tim's diet" is a hoax, and despite his false claims, the "calories in - calories out" rule works as expected.

Oldnemesis: I'm not defending the diet, but I had to point out the flaws in what you're saying since your analysis is pretty unfair.

1. "something he never mentioned in his book - I kept my calories intake at the same level as before the diet."

The point of the diet is to ultimately be able to consume less energy than the body needs without having to overthink it. You made a point to consume more energy, so of course you didnt get major results. Did you read the entire chapter? By the way, of course simple calorie reduction works. Where does he say it doesnt? Ultimately, that's what successful diets do. Tim talks about how the calorie concept is flawed and that the body metabolizes food differently than an incinerator, but the body still derives energy from food and stores it as fat, and the energy we derive from food is related to calorie count.

2. "loss of 1lbs and zero changes in measurements."

Did you get before and after body composition tests as recommended in the book? I used to be a hydrostatic body fat tester and I've seen this all the time where peoples weight and even measurements stay the same but their fat and lean body mass changes significantly.

3. "Which means "Tim's diet" is a hoax"

Are you seriously concluding this after not getting proper tests, not following the diet correctly, and being the only subject?



In my opinion, this diet is like any other. It works if you can adhere to it and find the urge to eat less. It doesn't work if you don't. People who blindly expect programs, ideas, and routines to work like magic are usually misguided.

[oldnemesis]

(02-04-2011 10:41 AM)Quasi Wrote:  

First his advices aren´t wrong but its more or less "old wine on new bottles" low carb diet... eat chicken breast and vegetables and loose weight!

It is more than that - it is basically a high-protein low-carb diet based on foods with low GI. This diet has been tested, and found to provide no difference in long-term (over 12 weeks) comparing to a high-carb diet with the same calories intake. Also food selection based on GI is not supported by research either - the most obvious example would be white rice, which is pretty much at the top of GI scale. It is, however, the predominant food in most Asian countries, and those are not the places you typically see a lot of fat people.

Also his diet has some other weird components; for example, beer is bad, but two glasses of wine is somehow fine? And no fruits??? I've yet to see a person who got fat by eating apples.

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and Im gonna try the ALA, garlic, green tea thing, because it sounds fine..

Check the research. "It worked for me" is the worst kind of evidence, especially if it comes from a guy who has been caught with using outright lies and tricks to support his theories.

I'm now reading this book. Those of you who're familiar with bodybuilding.com know Alan and his credentials very well; those who are not, can check his web site. This book has been released in 2007, and already disproved high-protein low-carb diet as well as a lot of other popular myths.

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but I think the basic ideas are old but solid, so yes, its mostly boring stuff that you could do better researching yourself really.. rating 2/5

Basic idea of weight loss is very simple - eat less calories than your body uses.