all posts post new thread

Nutrition Warrior Diet Questions

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)

morrisda

Level 2 Valued Member
I have been trying the warrior diet. I read the book years ago, but didn’t really think I could go all day and eat once at night. There are so many positive stories about the WD here and other places I read the book again. What I have been doing is a shake in the AM and a piece of fruit. A Dales bar and fruit for lunch, and a “normal” meal at night. Perhaps over time I can continue to reduce my day time under eating, but knowing I can apply the rules like this, makes it doable to me.


This works great M-F I am very busy at worked and no issues. On weekend it is harder. I typically am away from the house with family, and wife and daughter want to eat out (Wife is a big lunch eater and small supper eater) I have also been looking at YouTube videos and noticed many people are on OMAD, or One Meal A Day. Once difference is hey don’t just have their meal at night, many eat the one meal at lunch. They also do no snack at all etc


Thus On weekends, would it be detrimental or less optimal, but OK to eat my main meal for Lunch.


A couple other questions for those who follow WD.
Do you typically adhere to the food combining guidelines or just eat what you want within reason?

Do you typically always follow the raw veg, cooked veg, protein, and then carb or fat fuel guidelines or just eat what you want?

I think with all diets or eating strategies there are core rules that are a must or give you the most bang for the buck (20% of what you do give you 80% of the results) and the rest of the rules or guidelines are optimum but not critical.


What are your core must’s for the WD? What are your variations that have worked for you?
 
Maybe a little off topic, because I followed WD very shortly, but I think that you should try various eating protocols and find out what is working for you.

WD was a gateway to OMAD world for me, but underating phase make me crave more for food, so I drop all food during the day. Now I only drink black coffee, water and sometimes BCAA when I train. I eat one large meal between 5-7pm and thats it. It works very well for me. I usually eat my proteins (a lot), fats (a lot) and carbs (a little) altogether.

Second thing is that maybe you should try different protocols for different days. I am doing 23/1 on Monday-Thursday and 18/6 on Friday-Sunday (2-3 meals). The 18/6 protocol is mainly for social purposes as I like to eat lunch at work with my colleagues on Fridays and with family on weekends.

Find what's working for you and be happy, eating should give you pleasure after all :)
 
@morrisda, for me, the Warrior Diet was my introduction to the cyclic nature of many things in life. In your place, I'd go with the flow and eat more on the weekends, at least one and possibly both days, to make it work better for you with your family. And if sometime, they're eating a lot and you're not hungry, just ask them if it's OK if you don't have a lot to eat with them - maybe they're just fine with it, at least some of the time.

The WD to me says that if you don't get to see a lot of your family during the week, it's OK to break bread with them on the weekends during the day as long as it works for you, meaning as long as you don't feel tired and cranky on Saturday afternoon after having a big lunch with them and then having an event-filled rest of the day.

I also tend to eat more in the winter and less in the summer, and I also vary my lifting with my training cycles, e.g., I'm now in an off-meet cycle, so I weigh a little more and am a little less careful about what I eat. In another 3 weeks or so, I'll be beginning a training cycle leading up to an early June PL meet, and I will watch both my training and my diet more carefully.

Hope that helps.

-S-
 
Hello,

Do you typically adhere to the food combining guidelines or just eat what you want within reason?
I eat what I want within reason. Nonetheless, I pay attention to what I eat : no junk food, no processed food, I buy organic as much as I can.

Do you typically always follow the raw veg, cooked veg, protein, and then carb or fat fuel guidelines or just eat what you want?
I try to eat right after training to maximize overcompensation. I do not calculate any macros or whatever. I trust my body to tell me want it wants : fruits or meat, etc...

If you go for a strict 1 meal a day, for instance after an evening training: you "need" to eat :
> carbs like fruits / veggies to fastly restore glycogene reserves right after the the training.
> some good fat to fuel the body during long time (basically to "wait" the next meal)
> protein (1,2 or 1,3g/kg of bdw)

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I am 6 weeks into it (and almost 20 pounds down).

Weekdays I don't eat anything from waking until mixed nuts and/or an apple around 4. Maybe banana before training. Train around 7, big meal around 8. I have been mindful to start with veggies/salad and save carbs for the end. Often I don't eat half of them because I'm just too full (I found I get fuller on less food than when eating all day).

On weekends, I generally skip breakfast both days. But the 24 hours from Saturday lunch through Sunday lunch I relax the standards quite a bit. If I'm going to have candy or junk food, pizza, etc, this is my window. Sort of the "Faturday" concept from 4-Hour Body/Slow-Carb Diet. If I'm eating Saturday breakfast socially, I'll resume the WD for all of Sunday. Basically limiting myself to 24 hours max "off the diet".

Eating something filling for Sunday dinner gets me back into it on Monday. Tuesdays I have found to be my hardest days.

The higher quality your big meal is, the easier it all is.

I have found that reasonable (stingy by Standard American Diet standards) complex carb intake with the big meal has not impacted fat loss, particularly because of weight training prior to eating: the glucose goes to replenish and grow muscles, not get stored (insulin sensitivity is very high after fasting and exercise - organs and muscles are primed to use glucose). Excess fructose is the real enemy for fat loss.

Hope that helps!
 
Like others pointed out find what works for you.

I do 16/8 or 18/6 IF proticol Mon-Fri and then Sat/Sun with the wife/kids I eat "Normalish" but stay with good eating. I do allow myself one all out meal on Saturday evening,Pizza,Burger,ETC (usually I coach and train Saturdays so it works out...)
 
Hello,

As @MikeMoran said, 16/8 or 18/6 frame works very well. It maintains a "social life" (eating with family, etc...) while giving pretty good results in terms of weight management and energy level maintenance.

This is a right spot to find.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
My take on this is a little different. I was diagnosed as a diabetic a couple years ago. So, my dietary needs/restrictions are slightly modified. Ironically, since I started the WD, things have been going well for me, relatively speaking. Last week, I was very conscious of my carb & sodium intake amounts. My blood sugar dropped to 90 on Wednesday, then down again to 70 on Thursday. Now, my normal readings are between 105-120. So, while not bottoming out, very low. So, I had to take a couple days to balance things out. Except for those two days, things have gone well for me.

I have to have a protein to take my meds in the mornings, so that is always a protein shake. I will have an apple or two clementines mid morning. I have incorporated hourly walking, 250 steps thanks to my Fitbit Charge 2, and I walk over lunch. After my long lunch walk, another protein shake and an apple or two clementines are lunch. While I know that the fructose is not great for me, the fruit is natural, which I figure is better in the long run for me. Dinner is almost always after my S&S session, so I eat healthy, chicken, beef, or pork, with veggies & a carb. My cheat days are always "Faturday". I am down 15 pounds over the last 6 weeks, which is good, as this means I am gradually losing the weight, which will be easier to maintain.

So, I under-eat through the day, and have one meal between 7-8 pm Sunday-Friday, with a snack if I am still hungry. I eased into the program, and I feel better on a daily basis than I have in a while, YMMV. Best of luck to you @morrisda. Keep asking questions, you may ask one not asked before, or you may ask a question that someone else wonders about. There are many experienced, knowledgeable people on here, with real life experience, that are willing to share, if you just ask.
 
@morrisda, the other thing about WD is it is more an idea than a diet/program. It is the concepts of naturally optimizing our hormones, quality nutrition, intense/resistance exercise, etc. more than a scripted plan.

Ori Hofmekler is the Pavel T of fasting - he popularized the (ancient) concepts to an American audience. Pavel did the same for kettlebells.

As you've seen here, there is variability in the application of the principles and concepts in WD (the book) and intermittent fasting in general.

Try different approaches out and find what works for you. Basic guidelines for any healthy eating pattern:
- Try to get most carbs from veggies and some starches like potatoes and rice. Watch grain carefully. Limit white flour.
- Try to limit sugar to that in whole fruit. Limit added sugar (candy, etc) to occasional treats in small doses.
- Start with healthy salad and quality vinegar/oil dressing
- Don't each too much protein, and keep it as high quality as you can
- Get and stay strong
- Sleep well
- Reduce stress
 
Last edited:
Don't each too much protein
What's the downside of this; out of curiosity.

Overall I believe, if one is eating extremely low carbs, either the fat has to go up, or the protein. So if we are keeping proteins to low to medium range, fat has to go up too. Right?
 
What's the downside of this; out of curiosity.

Overall I believe, if one is eating extremely low carbs, either the fat has to go up, or the protein. So if we are keeping proteins to low to medium range, fat has to go up too. Right?
I believe it is discussed in WD or in Ori Hofmekler's blog - it's not the total amount of protein per day/week, but per meal. The idea being that excess protein in a given meal does not get utilized properly (i.e. what we want to use it for - usually muscle development), but rather stored as body fat.

So a 16-oz. steak after fasting 20 hours may not necessarily be two times better at muscle development as an 8-oz. steak. Our muscles can only absorb so much of it at any given time. That's the concept I'm familiar with from my readings, I don't know the exact science or how well it is researched in the literature.
 
it's not the total amount of protein per day/week, but per meal.

Good point. I have heard someone say or read it before too. Interesting.

Any idea whats roughly a good amount of proteins per meal (grams or calories) then? And how long should we wait before we eat more protein? It varies per person to person perhaps.
 
Good point. I have heard someone say or read it before too. Interesting.

Any idea whats roughly a good amount of proteins per meal (grams or calories) then? And how long should we wait before we eat more protein? It varies per person to person perhaps.
I'm not going for muscle building, but 1-2 palm size protein portions has kept my lean mass consistent as I lose fat/total weight, and I'm steadily progressing in my S&S weight (from 16kg to 32kg now).
 
The claim of optimal protein intake per meal has typically revolved around 30 grams a meal. The claim generally expects one to eat multiple meals a day.

There is a lot of variability. Your total lean body mass and the amount of resistance training, for example. And of course your meal schedule. Some studies claim benefits of protein timing and taking it alone, so it is something to consider as well.

It is natural that after a certain point there comes a point of diminishing returns. However, I see nothing wrong with using protein both as a building block and as fuel.

I personally find it more sensible to look at ones protein intake a day instead of a meal. Even if there someday is found a 100% error proof formula, I still have a life to live and enjoy.
 
Hello,

Overall I believe, if one is eating extremely low carbs, either the fat has to go up, or the protein. So if we are keeping proteins to low to medium range, fat has to go up too. Right?
Yes you are right.

However, I think we have to keep in mind that proteins are not supposed to "fuel" the body. This is more a carb / fat job. Proteins are mainly use to muscle mass maintenance / increase.

For instance, keto diet fuels massively with fat, then you maintain your muscle mass with some proteins. You only keep a very few carbs to "immediate" needs.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom