warrior diet

[rhi]

I know the protocols that Coach Sonnon recommends for a proper diet, the 3-4-5 principle, but over the last 2 weeks or so I have been going through a loss of someone extremely close to me and my rhythm has been throw off a bit and I found myself not eating at all during the day but just drinking herbal teas mostly and water, and if I was getting a bit hungry I would eat an apple or grapefruit and some plain yogurt, and I would eat a nice big dinner around 6 pm and then back on to herbal teas and water for the evening.

Someone told me this is similar to the warrior diet, and my body has been responding very well to this method of eating, but the frequency of eating goes against everything I have read on this site, the food I eat is all very good for you, I am a clean eater, that has never been an issue.

It has not affected my workout frequency or intensity at all, and I actually feel like I am more focused than when I would eat smaller meals during the day. But is this method safe? Is this something I should be doing long term??

thanks
Adam

[Paul K]

Adam,

If you perform a search of this site you will find multiple threads concerning the "Warrior Diet" including two that you have already posted.

[rhi]

sorry, i'm historically terrible for asking questions I have already asked, I thought maybe because they had been asked while ago that some new people might have fresher insight, new research, etc.

[Mutant]

Hello Adam,

I got a reference to Brad Pilon's 'Eat Stop Eat' from, I think, Coach Steer's blog (forgive me if I'm wrong). He advocates one or two 24-hour fasts per week and it really works for me. He provides a lot of 'comfort' why a 24-hour or more fast works and is not harmful with regard to metabolism, muscle loss, etc. Many, including myself, report improved clarity and workouts during and following a fasting period. I recommend you check it out.

Kind regards,

[rhi]

Thanks Wade,

I will definitely check it out. I experience the same clarity during the afternoon on this diet that you probably do from yours. I used to get very bogged down during the afternoon, tired and groggy after lunch. Now I get no more cravings, and I fly through my afternoons right into my workouts after work ready for a nice healthy dinner!

take care
Adam

[pink.pixie]

I think you should trust your body's responses. I heard that some people have no troubles with intermittent fasting.

[MonkeysUncle]

IMO, it all depends on you. The naturopath I see agrees with me; some people do well on six small meals a day (Precision Nutrition), some do well with one huge meal (Warrior Diet), some do well with the 3-4-5 principle (Sonnon). They all suit different people and lifestyles, you just have to experiment and see what works best for you. It seems that everywhere you go somebody has a new meal timing strategy and science to back it up, but you're the only one who truly knows your body. Have fun with it. Use caution on the fasts though, as I know since I've had some low blood pressure and electrolyte problems in the past, I can become dizzy very easily during a fasting period, so it may be wise to do a juice fast for some people as opposed to a strict water fast.

[madyogi]

My dad has used the Warrior Diet to great success. I have also experimented with fasting for years, doing water fasts, Stanley Borough's lemon-maple syrup-cayenne Master Cleanse (which is a great natural gatorade-type drink, by the way), juice fasts, fruit fasts etc.

The favorite thing for fasting enthusiasts to say is that the only thing proven to lengthen the lives of lab animals is caloric restriction. Of course there are all kinds of logic problems making a jump from lab rats to humans, but again, I have had good results with IF in my own life, as have many others.

In the end, I agree with MonkeysUncle and pink.pixie that you have to listen to your own body. If you are responding well to this strategy, see where it takes you. If you notice negative response, back off.

Some good resources on fasting and caloric restriction:

Fasting and Eating for Health - A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease (http://www.amazon.com/Fasting-Eating-Health-Medical-Conquering/dp/031218719X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209478972&sr=8-3)

A Series of Two Articles on Tim Ferris's Blog (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/03/02/postponing-death-caloric-restriction-vs-intermittent-fasting-part-1/) (some great research went into these articles)

Peace,

Philip | brickhousebodymind.com (http://brickhousebodymind.com/transformations/)

[pink.pixie]

I'd like to add that this can also vary during your lifetime.
I was able to fast ten days with no problem (water intake only) and it felt good but I couldn't do that today. It doesn't feel right.
So it is important to have the right motivation for what you do, trusting your action, otherwise it's better to let it be.

However, nowadays I can observe that my body requires different types of food and different quanties at different times. Maybe it doesn't sound so revolutionary but the more I listen, the more a rhythm appears (I do not yet see it clearly, but I feel it) and when I follow and eat the right food and quantity (not caring about what the experts say), I feel pretty good.

This of course within the 'healthy' range. Also I can take a tiny bite of chocolate but I wouldn't eat the whole 200g bar at one go. When you are in contact with what the body really needs I think the body on the whole doesn't ask anything extreme, provided it gets the nourishment it needs on a regular basis.

I remember I didn't eat eggs for quite some time (some idea I had in my head) and one day while shopping I went straight to the shelf with eggs, I've got six pack, went home and soft boiled three and slurped them in one go. Next morning, same thing again, then I was done and didn't want eggs for some years...this surprised me. Now I am not so exteme.

If you evaluate your total intake of calories look at a longer period of time perhaps even a month. Sometimes body requires substantial meal late during a day but next day it will probably regulate it, sometimes if doesn't want to eat anything heavy later at night.

This is not 'scientific' just something I experiment with.

Anyhow, all this just to say trust your own eating sense.

pixie