Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review but all opinions below are my own. I was not compensated for this post.
Happy Friday! Wow, it’s been a while since my last book review. I promise to get better about this moving forward! Today I’m participating in the Friday Five link up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!. Today’s topic is food and drink!
I’m also linking up with Wendy for her Taking the Long Way Home Book Club!
The 4×4 Diet by Erin Opera focuses on the number 4 (duh). Basically she outlines 4 key foods and 4 minute workouts that will help the reader feel and look better in 4 weeks (wow that’s a mouthful)!
I think what I liked most about this book was that it didn’t “feel” like a diet book. All of her recommendations, both food and workouts, were definitely doable and I was able to incorporate it into my somewhat new nutrition plan that I was able to build off of recommendations from InsideTracker (more on that next week).
From the author:
“Discover the 4 key foods and the 4-minute workouts that will change the way readers look and feel in just 4 weeks. Celebrity trainer and former marine Erin Oprea’s motto is “lean and clean.” Her unique 4 x 4 diet shows readers how to get clean by reducing the 4 major hitches in most diets: sugar, starch, sodium, and alcohol. She also tells readers how to get lean, using her 4-minute tabata workouts: 8 repititions of 20 seconds of high-intensity moves, then 10 seconds of rest. Within 4 weeks, the average person will be able to reduce bloating and belly fat; gain increased muscle definition in the arms, legs, and stomach; improve cardiovascular endurance; and break sugar and sodium addictions. Complete with meal plans and recipes, the 4 x 4 diet is perfect for anyone looking to streamline their body and lifestyle.”
So, why do I recommend The 4×4 Diet?
Tips on how to eat clean
The author gives tons of tips on how to cut back on sugar, late night eating, sodium, alcohol and starches. For me the biggest takeaway involved the types of starches to avoid before bed, which included two of my favorites – potatoes and yams. I love sweet potatoes but now I know to include that food in my breakfast or lunch vs dinner. Also carbs are not bad, you just have to eat them at the right times!
Add new recipes to your diet
The book includes TONS of recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, sides, snacks, desserts and smoothies! My sweet tooth comes and goes but when I crave something sweet, the struggle is REAL!! I made three of the desserts and they were super yummy and satisfied my sweet tooth.
I’ve also been switching up my normal breakfast foods. Two of my favorite recipes from the book included the Sautéed Spinach and Scrambled Egg Burrito and the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Pecan Crunch. Both were delicious!
Learn new fat burning workouts
The author zones in on tabata workouts – quick, but highly effective workouts. These are great for when you are crunched for time, but still want to get in a good sweaty workout. I’ve been taking tabata (or HIIT) style classes at my gym since last year and they are awesome, but this book helped me design a few at-home tabata workouts.
Meal and Fitness Plans
At the end of the book the author provides fitness and meal plans for four weeks. I actually followed the author’s recommendations for weeks 1-3 (I was away from home during week 4 so I kind of didn’t do the program 100% that week). I appreciated having a simple plan to follow because it took all the confusion and anxiety out of trying to design the plan myself 🙂
List of all-star ingredients
All-star ingredients are foods that the author always keeps in her home. We’ve all heard about superfoods but the all-star ingredients listed by the author included a few surprises such as unsweetened almond milk and oatmeal. Luckily I was already eating most of the all-star ingredients, but I found five more to add to my shopping list!
How is your summer reading going? Are there any books you would recommend?
This actually sounds really awesome! I think I may just buy it so I can let my clients give it a read too! 🙂
Yeah I was a slittle skeptical at first but it was a pretty good read and I learn a lot!
sounds very interesting, Kim. are the 4 key ingredients whole foods or are they convenience foods (meaning, can I get those items here in the Netherlands or are they specifically branded/sold in the US?)?
I haven’t read a thing. Like all year. Well, except for school related books. One of these days I’ll have time to read again!!
Hi Renee! For the most part they are whole foods that should be available in most places.
I completley understand. I always say I am gonna make more time for reading and end up reading 1m maybe 2 books a year lol
This was really interesting! I like concepts that are easy to remember– 4×4 works for me!
Please consider linking this up with my book club today!
Thanks Wendy – I’ll link up for sure!