About five years ago, I read the first edition of The Warrior Diet. At the time I just shook my head thinking that this diet would not only be impossibly hard to follow but that it couldn’t be true. Up until I read The Warrior Diet, all diets that I had been exposed to either relied on caloric restriction and or reducing the insulin response. The Warrior Diet went further than just minimizing insulin and went after other hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, and glucagon via aggressive daily caloric cycling and food choices.
I recall the book being trashed by some of the writers I was following at the time, but most of their complaints dealt with the fact one couldn’t build muscle on the diet (bulk up) and that the exercise plan in the last chapters was poorly written. Since my only goal five years ago was to gain muscle, I promptly ignored everything I read in the book and continued eating 6 protein meals a day.
A little over a year ago I was exposed to the hormonal aspect to fat loss again from different sources. This time I was more receptive to the information. I decided to read the 2nd edition of The Warrior Diet.
The Warrior Diet: Switch on Your Biological Powerhouse For High Energy, Explosive Strength, and a Leaner, Harder Body by Ori Hofmekler isn’t for everyone. The Warrior Diet involves caloric cycling. For most people, this style of dieting represents a radical departure. That could be just what you need or you could throw down the book as I did five years ago.
The way I would approach this book is by learning the hormonal aspect of fat loss and then slowly trying to incorporate some of those strategies into your life. The diet involves manipulating hormones through under-eating and overeating phases. And since people in modern society get uncomfortable when they experience hunger, it can take a lot of effort and unlearning a bit of nutritional nonsense to be comfortable in a hungry state.
Ori Hofmekler for years has been at the forefront of exposing estrogens in our food and environmental toxins. Although he wrote an entire book on that topic, this book provides information on foods to avoid (soy, processed meats, licorice) and foods that are anti-estrogenic. Here are some anti-estrogenic foods mentioned in the book:
- cruciferous vegetables
- omega-3 oils
- citrus fruits
- onion
- garlic
- dairy products from grass-fed animals
- chamomile
I walked away with several tips on improving my diet and more concerned than ever about environmental toxins.
Josh
Jul 9, 2009 — 10:51 am
I think this is a good synopsis. I have done no carb, low fat, 6 meals a day, heavy lifting, light lifting, lots of cardio. I buy into his philosphy. I just read the book and am going to try it out.
Joe
Sep 28, 2010 — 2:18 pm
Terrific article, I’ve had this book in the back of my mind for a while now and am now going to look into it with fresh eyes. In answer to the question above about low fat lowering cholesterol. I have heard good things about such an idea however it is very difficult and unhealthy to cut out all fat in the diet. I would suggest avoiding at all costs animal fats and fried saturated fats. These fats are proven to cause reek havoc not only on cholesterol but also the rest of the body as well. Substitute with olive oil for cooking, use natural organic peanut butter, (or by a food processor and a sack of peanuts and make your own peanut butter), munch on almonds for a quick, satisfying snack, add avocado to your salads or whip up some nice guacamole, (adding no extra oil to it of course). This makes a great substitute for dressings. The reason I say this is, I’ve tried cutting all the fat out of my diet and I was miserable. Food was bland, I couldn’t go out anywhere to eat so my social life plunged Needless to say this no fat lifestyle didn’t last that long. My rule to live by is eat as close to natural as possible. Buy the whole chicken and cut it up, stay away from foods that are canned, bagged or boxed. I say, cook it yourself, you’ll always know what’s in it.
Joel
Jun 19, 2011 — 3:13 pm
Actually, nothing is a fact when it comes to dieting. All research is skewed to be seen a certain way. Animal fats are actually healthier than all other fats, buddy. Do the research 🙂
noms
Oct 20, 2011 — 10:43 am
lol at Joel, “all research is skewed… animal fats are healthier… Do the research”.
jeff teta
Dec 17, 2011 — 6:16 am
Hi there!
I just so happen to stumble on your site. Pretty interesting post. I too have being doing the Warrior Diet on and off for about 4-5 years now. One of my biggest complaints was the rapid weight lost I experienced. I went from about 190 down to 163lbs. Mass was hard to keep on, so I decided to come off it and eat your typical 6 meals a day. Recently I went back on the Warrior Diet but I am doing things a little different. I am down to 168-170 but have been able to keep muscle. I added BCAA’s and Creatine, make sure I have two heavy lifts per week and lastly alla Tim Ferris I have a full day of piggin out! It seems to be working. I really enjoy this diet and probably will be on it for the rest of my life
Robyn Astby
Sep 30, 2013 — 5:38 pm
For reasons I will mention, I just used “Search Engine” regarding interior of kettles with plastic or plastic viewer. I saw the estrogen warning. Thank you for this. I bought a kettle approx. 2 mths ago with an entire interior of plastic. Recently, and for many weeks, I’ve been experiencing annoying pressure pain that I could locate to kidneys or an area in lower front abdomen. I thought I was putting pressure on urethra from slight abdominal weight gain, possibly. As the pain was starting to gain annoyance I began to think Aspirin next. Pain was worse after morning’s cup of tea from kettle. At purchase, I thought I noticed an unpleasant taste & had googled to find people agreed but I ignored estrogen relations. I just made a cup of tea from a s/steel saucepan & No Pain. All my cats have been hunched over too. Their kidneys must be screwed too as I water down their milk with warm kettle water & in their dry food. My fatty glands must be full of offending estrogen & plastics. The publicity warnings went into a certain type of plastic in baby bottles. You don’t hear any other warning to common type plastic goods. Particularly things that are used every day for life like kettles.