With a name like ‘Warrior Diet’, you just can’t go wrong. The Warrior Diet is an excellent type of intermittent fasting but it’s certainly different from all the rest. Instead of being able to eat whatever you want on your eating days because the fasting days take care of it, the Warrior Diet places a strong emphasis on eating similar to the Paleo diet. It’s about channeling your inner ancient warrior and bringing your diet back to caveman days.
What is the Warrior Diet?
The Warrior Diet is a type of intermittent fasting that focuses on theories that have been passed through history since ancient times. Back in the day, ancient warriors would eat little during the day, exercised (hunted) with minimal food in their stomach and then they’d have a feast at night. This is what allowed mankind to thrive and on the Warrior Diet follows a similar pattern which allows you to achieve and maintain optimal health and fitness, the same way the warriors did.
The Warrior Diet has two phases – the ‘fasting’ and the ‘feeding’ phase. Both phases are based around the human nervous system in order to put your body into full energy mode during the day and your body into full repair mode at night. This is one of the things that make this type of intermittent fasting so unique.
To put it simply, your (sympathetic) nervous system is more active during the day, so this is when you fast. And you guessed it, the (parasympathetic) nervous system activates more during the night to repair your energy levels, which is when you feed.
Sounds easy enough!
Add in Nutritional Stress
Don’t let this part of the Warrior Diet deter it; it has nothing to do with the harmful type of stress many of us are so used to in today’s society. Instead of causing your body stress by restricting the number of calories you can have, The Warrior Diet introduces cycles of fasting for 16-20 hours and then eating all of your meals in the last 4 hours of your day.
What you Eat Matters
As mentioned previous, the Warrior Diet takes a couple of pages out of the Paleo Diet with regards to only eating foods that were hunted or gathered back in the caveman days. So, no sugary cereals, vending machines meals, fast food, and other forms of junk that society has dubbed as ‘food’.
Instead, on feeding days, you should eat plenty of fresh, organic produce and lean-grass fed protein. Organic dairy products, wheats and grains are allowed on the Warrior Diet but are not permitted on the Paleo Diet, nor are they necessarily recommended. To each their own.
The generalized rule is; if it isn’t natural, hunted or gathered, you shouldn’t eat it. But that’s not a diet. That’s simply eating right and the Warrior Diet doesn’t have any strict rules on what to eat. Rather, it has, strict recommendations.
How to do the Warrior Diet
By ruling out 16 hours of eating, along with processed and unhealthy foods, the Warrior Diet is quite simple. There portion sizes, food choices and macronutrients rules aren’t strict, but you are encouraged to eat clean. Other than that, here’s how you start the Warrior Diet.
The general rule is: 20 hours of fasting (or under-eating) and 4 hours of overfeeding 2 hours before bed. If you are decided to under-eat instead of fast, here are the steps to follow:
- Start your day off with liquids that are thin and watery (coffee, water, tea, vegetable juices, etc.)
- Mid-day, have light snacks such as berries, yogurt, etc.
- At night, have a large, healthy meal (this is when you’ll get most of your calories in)
Benefits of the Warrior Diet
By eating foods similar to the Paleo diet, you’re instantly increasing your health and longevity. Eliminating processed foods, refined sugars, chemicals, toxins, and preservatives have a long list of benefits on their own. However, there are just as many benefits specifically associated with intermittent fasting on the Warrior Diet.
The Health Benefits
- Trigger stress responses
- Possible anti-aging effects
- Increases muscle growth
- Increases fat loss
- Increases energy levels
- Boost metabolism
The Lifestyle Benefits
- You only have to cook 1 meal a day
- You don’t have to follow strict diet guidelines
- You can eat as much as you want during the feeding phase
- You can eat whatever you want during the feeding phase (although, it’s recommended to follow the Paleo approach)
- You save on grocery bills
- You achieve your health and fitness goals
Intermittent fasting is currently one of the biggest trends within the health and fitness industry. It’s common for people in today’s age to over-eat. In fact, most people don’t even know what real hunger even feels like. Add in the fact that most people eat when they’re bored, sad, happy, on a holiday, celebrating and pretty much, when they aren’t hungry at all, it makes sense why the world is experiencing an obesity epidemic. So, start the Warrior Diet and start fasting to speed up and improve your health and fitness goals.
