The Warrior Diet
The Warrior Diet was created by Ori Hofmekler, a former Penthouse magazine editor and former Israeli Special Forces Soldier, based on his own personal experiences. He argues that in order to succeed in the environment of the time, the historic „warrior“ had a primal need to cycle between undereating during the day, when physical danger was always present and he had to stay alert, and overeating at night, when he could afford to relax. According to Hofmekler, the undereating phase maximizes the sympathetic nervous system’s fight or flight reaction to stress, with the result of energy generation and ultimately fat burning.
The Warrior Diet Theory
Hofmekler reasons that the undereating phase during the day prepares and alerts the sympathetic nervous system to potential stress, which results in the generation of energy and ultmately the burning of fat. While undereating, the body is forced to use fat storage for maximum metabolic efficiency and thus weight loss is promoted. With the overeating phase at night the parasympathetic nervous system’s recuperation effect on the body is maximized and calming down, relaxation, digestion, and the utilization of nutrients for repair and growth is promoted. This feeding cycle stimulates hormone synthesis and fat burning during the day, and protein synthesis and growth during the night.
The Warrior Diet Eating Cycle
During the undereating phase, we are asked to minimize food consumption to mostly fruits and vegetables, soups, and small amounts of light protein foods. In this time, the body gets into a negative energy balance and is forced to use fat storage for energy. The undereating phase lasts throughout the whole day. The overeating phase lasts during the night hours. Now is the time to have the main meal and we are allowed to eat as much as we desire from all food groups, as long as some rules are followed: to start with subtle tasting foods such as salads, vegetables, and proteins and then move to more „aggressive foods“, i.e. carbohydrates; to introduce as many tastes, textures, aromas, and coloros possible in our main meal; to stop eating when we feel more thirsty than hungry. The overeating phase triggers the parasympathetic nervous system with which relaxation and recuperation is promoted. During this phase the body gets into a positive energy balance and recuperates, builds tissues, and replenishes energy reserves.
The Warrior Diet Ten Commandments
- Undereat during the day.
- Eat your main meal at night.
- Provide your body with all essential nutrients.
- Introduce all tastes, aromas, textures, and colors possible in your meals.
- Detox by minimizing animal food intake for a few days.
- Rotate between days of high protein, high fat, and high carbs.
- Avoid foods containing hormones, pesticides, chemical additives, sugar alcohols, artificial sweeteners, and fructose.
- Do not eat carbohydrate foods alone.
- Avoid wrong food combinations such as grain and sugar, starch, fat and sugar, nuts and grain, carbohydrates and alcohol.
- Exercise regularly during the undereating phase.
The Warrior Diet Program
The Warrior Diet Program involves a fat loss program as well as exercise and nutrition regimes. The fat loss program is designed to force the body to detoxify, improve the utilization of fat as fuel, and improve the utilization of carbohydrates as fuel. This process helps to promote overall metabolic rate and thus to enhance the body’s capacity to maximize fat loss. Exercise and nutrition programs provide short but intense strength and aerobic exercises, along with pre- and post-workout meals. This approach is meant to reduce fat while maintaining or improving muscle tone.