My Attempt at the Warrior Diet

**I am not a medical doctor, and this article is intended to provide general information on health and fitness. It is not intended as medical or profressional advice. Always consult a medical professional before undertaking any significant workout or diet plan.

I recently read The Warrior Diet by health and fitness writer Ori Hofmekler, outlining a very rigorous approach to daily eating and nutrition. The Warrior Diet is an intense form of intermittent fasting, which, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a dieting regimen which calls for limiting food intake to certain time windows each day. Most fasting plans fall somewhere between the 12-12 (fast for 12 hours and then eat within a 12-hour window) and 16-8 (fast for 16, eat for 8) schedules. The benefits of intermittent fasting are well established, and anyone looking to cut fat, increase energy and improve overall health should give it serious consideration.

The Warrior Diet takes this to an extreme level. The book’s premise is that “robust health and a lean, strong body can best be achieved by mimicking the classical warrior mode of cycling-working and eating sparingly (undereating) during the day and filling up at night.” Essentially, the plan calls for 20 hours of fasting each day, and limits food intake to a 4-hour window. The individual chooses their own window, but my guess is that, for most men (myself included), the practical flows and demands of the workday mean that this window is likely to be placed somewhere between 4 pm and 10 pm.

I gave the Warrior Diet a shot, and came away with some good insights:

• It’s not as difficult as it sounds: At first glance, just the idea of having one meal at night and refusing food the rest of the day may seem daunting. However, you might be surprised at how quickly your body acclimates to the change, particularly after the first couple of days. It’s not easy by any means, but anyone with a fair amount of discipline and determination can make it work. I should also point out that I’ve been an intermittent faster for about a year now, and my standard schedule is 16-8 (my eating window is generally 2 pm to 10 pm). So, bringing the window in a few hours, while challenging at first, was not an impossible task for me. If you’re interested in the Warrior Diet, you may consider starting off with a less intense dieting schedule, and easing your way in.
• It has been very effective for me: When I’ve done the Warrior Diet, I have noticed great results, and pretty quickly. Weight loss of 5 lbs. or more per week is not out of the ordinary, particularly if I’m working out through the fast (which I generally do). I’ve also felt much more active, sharper, with a lot of “healthy” energy (as opposed to the Red Bull-induced kind). Again, though, I have been dedicated to intermittent fasting for some time, so I’ve been aware of (and committed to) the substantial benefits that stem from the regimen.
• Be careful how you spend your 4 hours: Some proponents of the Warrior Diet emphasize the fact that, because you’re consuming 0 calories for roughly 80% of the day, you have the freedom to essentially go crazy during your 4-hour window, and eat whatever your heart (or stomach) desires. From a pure caloric standpoint, that’s not necessarily wrong. If you aim for a standard 2,000 or 2,500 calories per day, it’s unlikely that you’ll go beyond that in one meal setting, no matter what you eat. However, from a nutrional standpoint, it’s still not a great idea to consume 4 slices of chocolate cake at 10 pm, even if you’re still staying under your caloric target for the day. Poor nutrion is poor nutrition, period, and you will pay a price any time you turn to the junk.
• Be careful if you are trying to add mass/muscle: The Warrior Diet can help you shred fat and shed pounds, there’s no doubt about that. However, if you’re working to add mass and build muscle, you need to be careful here. Mass = plenty of calories (preferably with a good portion coming from protein) + plenty of strength training. If you’re constraining your eating windows to only 4 hours a day, it’s going to be extremely difficult for you to pull in the amount of calories to build significant muscle, now matter how quickly or aggressively you eat in that time frame.
• May not be a long-term choice: I’m still on the fence about whether I will adopt this as a long-term regimen. I’m already all-in when it comes to intermittent fasting in general, having experienced a number of gains over time. However, I get substantial benefit from doing some of the “lighter” forms of IF, and haven’t yet determined whether the gains from the Warrior Diet signicantly surpass those obtained from, say, a 16-8 window. My personal jury is still out on that one. However, the Warrior Diet has certainly produced increased energy and quick fat loss when I’ve used it, and it will definitely be a part of my ongoing fitness arsenal, even if I only break it out from time to time.