The 4-Hour Body
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''The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman'' is a nonfiction book by American writer
Tim Ferriss Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He became well-known through his ''4-Hour'' self-help book series—including ''The 4-Hour Work Week'', ''The 4-Hour Body'', and '' ...
. It was published by
Crown Publishing Group The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...
in 2010. It focuses on diet, with chapters on exercise, sleep, and sexual performance. It debuted at number one on the
New York Times Bestseller List ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
and spent three weeks in the top three. The book elicited some controversy for its claims.


Book

Ferriss said that he spent three years interviewing over 200 people, from doctors to athletes to
black-market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the ...
drug salesmen, in preparing the book. The book advocates what Ferriss calls a "Slow-carb Diet", which imposes three cardinal strictures: eat a very simple set of meals repeatedly; focus on "slow carbs"; and allow one "cheat day" a week when all foods are allowed. The diet prohibits starches and all things sweet (including fruit and all
artificial sweeteners A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may b ...
), with strong preferences for lean protein and a few specific vegetables. The
Dietary Guidelines for Americans The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide nutritional advice for Americans who are healthy or who are at risk for chronic disease but do not currently have chronic disease. The Guidelines are published every five years by the US Department ...
do not specifically address the "Slow-carb Diet".


Reception

A review of ''The 4-Hour Body'' in WebMD was skeptical of the diet, quoting Barry Sears (creator of the
Zone diet The Zone diet is a fad diet emphasizing low-carbohydrate consumption. It was created by Barry Sears, an American biochemist.Baron M. Fighting obesity Part 1: Review of popular low-carb diets. Health Care Food Nutr Focus. 2004 Oct;21(10):1, 3-6, 1 ...
): "Skip the 4-hour body and opt for a 24-hour-365-day-a-year body, because you need a plan that makes sense that you can live with." In the same article, Michael Aziz (creator of the Perfect 10 Diet) claims the cheat day is "dangerous". On the other hand, the review praises the avoidance of "white" carbohydrates and the recommendation to eat the same few meals repeatedly. ''The Harvard Business Review'' quoted Dr. Tieraona Low Dog: "many people will lose weight if they follow it, though I don’t think that the diet is capable of ''all'' the claims in the book." Low Dog also warns about "the very limited number of vegetables to choose from," though in fact apart from starchy vegetables such as potatoes the Slow-carb Diet allows free choice in vegetables. ''U.S. News'' quoted Scott Kahan (codirector of the George Washington University Weight Management Program) describing it "as another cockamamie fad diet" and expressing doubts about its sustainability. ''The New York Times'' review stated "it's among the craziest, most breathless things I’ve ever read, and I’ve read Klaus Kinski,
Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), '' The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), '' Inferno'' (2013), ...
and
Snooki Nicole Elizabeth LaValle (née Polizzi; born November 23, 1987), best known by her nickname Snooki, is an American reality television personality. She is best known for being a cast member of the MTV reality show ''Jersey Shore'' and starring ...
." Ferriss was criticized for dispensing medical advice while not being a certified physician or
dietician A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ca ...
.


Marketing and sales

As part of the press for the book, Ferriss appeared as a guest on '' The Dr. Oz Show'' and
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's '' The View''. Ferris describes a detailed marketing plan for promoting the book, including trailers, aggressively seeking out fitness and exercise bloggers and influencers, and prizes for readers who bought The 4-Hour Body package deals.The Land Rush: 48 Hours to Claim $4,000,000 in Prizes
/ref>Boog, Jason
How Timothy Ferriss Hit the Amazon Bestseller List
''GalleyCat''. December 20, 2010.
''The 4-Hour Body'' debuted at number one on the
New York Times Bestseller List ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
and spent three weeks in the top three.Garner, Dwight
New! Improved! Shape Up Your Life!
''The New York Times''. January 6, 2011.
It peaked at number four on both the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' and ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
s lists, and was one of
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
's top 5 bestselling books for December 2010 and January 2011.Bestsellers in Books for January 2011
''Amazon.com''.


See also

*
Atkins diet The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins in the 1970s, marketed with claims that carbohydrate restriction is crucial to weight loss and that the diet offered "a high calorie way to stay thin forever". The diet be ...
*
List of diets An individual's diet is the sum of food and drink that one habitually consumes. Dieting is the practice of attempting to achieve or maintain a certain weight through diet. People's dietary choices are often affected by a variety of factors, incl ...
*
Low-carbohydrate diet Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet. Foods high in carbohydrates (e.g., sugar, bread, pasta) are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and protein (e.g., meat, ...
* Low-glycemic diet *
Paleolithic diet The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet is a modern fad diet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet avoids processed food and typically incl ...


References


External links

* http://fourhourbody.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:4 Hour Body 2010 non-fiction books Self-help books American non-fiction books Fad diets Books by Tim Ferriss