Customer Reviews

The Warrior Diet: Switch on Your Biological Powerhouse For High Energy, Explosive Strength, and a Leaner, Harder Body

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Many years ago when I was a young man I followed a diet similar to the one recommended here by Ori Hofmekler. It wasn't something that I planned or followed with any kind of rigor. I just more or less fell into it. I would get up in the morning and have coffee and toast with peanut butter and preserves or honey. (Of course Hofmekler's "warrior diet" does not recommend bread during the "undereating" phase.) I would then go most of the rest of the day without eating anything. In the evening I would reward myself with a huge meal. Sometimes I didn't eat that meal until sometime after midnight.

I was never hungry during the undereating phase. As anyone who has ever fasted can tell you, when you have eaten nothing for a while and are burning fat, you experience no hunger. You are serene. I also maintained the same weight for many years following this habit of only eating one large meal a day.

If looked at closely it can be seen that the essence of the warrior diet is mini-fasts and the avoidance of carbohydrates, especially the processed kind. Hofmekler is not entirely rigorous in that recommendation however, allowing one to eat fresh fruits and vegetables or even some protein during the undereating or fasting phase. Notice that this diet is similar to some of the low-carbs diets currently fashionable. Note also that mini-fasting results in a period of time in which the digestive system is given a rest. With no food in the system, the body is forced to burn fat. Fat burns clean, relatively speaking, as Hofmekler explains. This is quite a change from the days when we were taught that fat was the culprit. Today we know that concentrated, processed carbohydrates and such things as corn syrup are what is making America fat and frankly sick.

In essence the warrior diet is a return to the natural diet of humans as it was (per force) practiced in the Pleistocene prior to the rise of agriculture. When one looks at such a diet, which included, small animals, insects, roots, tubers, fruits, vegetables, and the occasional large animal, it is easy to see that it was almost impossible to get fat or at any rate stay fat for any length of time. The two main foods that are making Westerners fat are readily available carbohydrates and an abundance of fats and oils. In the prehistory there were oats and wheat and barley and such, but the seeds were relatively small and to make a meal required a lot of hand processing. I have experimented with some of the natural foods found here in California, acorns, black walnuts, pine nuts, wild oats, wild grapes; and the striking thing I have discovered is just how much time and energy it requires to process these foods. Using hand tools and existing on these foods along with fish and whatever meat I could get, I could never get fat.

So what Hofmekler is recommending is a return to such a way of living. Since the foods for us are readily available with little processing, the time that would have been spent in hand processing should now be spent in fasting (which was the case in the prehistory).

There is an incredible amount of detail in this book as Hofmekler compares his diet to other diets, as he incorporates workouts, food preparation and recipes, and gets specific about all kinds of foods; but the hard kernel of truth here, in my opinion, is simply this: eat less, eat less often, exercise, and avoid denatured foods. Note that "eat less often" implies mini-fasts. Perhaps the biggest mistake we make is to eat from habit, to eat when we are not really hungry. If we always waited until we were ravenous before eating we would both enjoy the food more and be healthier.

I also like the idea of seeing oneself as something other than a couch potato, indoctrinated by corporate interests to a life of relative passivity and constant consumption. So the metaphor of "The Warrior Diet" is welcome in a marketing sense and more appealing (and sexier!) than what I think is more accurate, which is "A Hunter-Gatherer Diet." One of the reasons that Hofmekler uses the term "warrior" is to suggest in a somewhat subliminal way one of his prescriptions, that is to avoid what he considers estrogen-promoting foods such as "processed soy products...conventional produce, meats, poultry, and pork" and other foods. (See e.g., page 154, or better yet his previous book "The Anti-Estrogenic Diet" for the full story.)

By the way, I still practice a one square meal a day diet, although I must confess that I snack a little too much in-between! Hofmekler's book (incidentally in its second edition, which suggests its value) has come along just in time to inspire me to return to a more rigorous practice. This morning as I write this, 15 hours have passed since I ate anything. I am not the slightest bit hungry and this is after walking an hour in the rain and doing some chores. However I will enjoy my coffee and homemade bread soon.

I enjoyed this diet for three months, and lost weight though not as much as I would have liked. I think I followed it pretty carefully and didn't use it as an excuse to binge or eat unhealthy foods (not often at least). Then after about three months of feeling relatively comfortable on the diet (though my boyfriend said I got bitchier), I suddenly started feeling hungry during the day in a way that I hadn't before. Like I felt like I was going to eat any object that came near my mouth (even if it was a shoe, or someone's arm). I felt like I was digesting myself from the inside out. In addition, I felt shaky and totally frazzled (not in a low-blood sugar way, but more in a nervous sense) like I was falling apart mentally and physically. I visited my naturopathic doctor, and she said my diet was stressing my adrenals. She got me on some adrenal support and had me drink a morning smoothy with berries, hemp protein, nut butter, etc. I immediately felt drastically better. Since then I have been doing some research online and read in many places that going for long periods without eating was stressful on the adrenals. Like maybe all that good "energy" we get from fasting is actually depleting our bodies resources.

Overall, I still think this diet has many interesting points and maybe great for some, but DO NOT hesitate to eat ample amounts of acceptable foods during the day (raw fruits and veggies) if you feel you need it. Even then, pay attention to your body's signals in the long run. If you're not feeling good, give it a break. There are many scientific studies that support this way of eating, but there are also many that support eating more regularly. What's the answer? Who knows. For me the answer is to experiment a little and listen to my body. Maybe for some it's good to eat this way for a while, and then to eat more regularly for a while. In the end, there is no ONE WAY our ancestors ate all the time. Food supplies depended on so many factors that we are probably pretty flexible. Maybe variety is really what we need, whereas eating one way for too long may offer diminishing returns. Just some food for thought.

While I do understand that not everyone will enjoy this diet, or even benefit from it, in my life it has altered my health and energy dramatically. I have tried eating the "clean" bodybuilders diet for the last 2 years to put on size. I have done my cardio, intervals and slow paced mileage. I don't care about that anymore. I want to feel alive, primal, loving, and in tune. And for me this diet is a cornerstone of that lifestyle. I have never felt the need to write a review of a book, this is my first, and it deserves to be read at the least.

This diet has worked wonders for me. I would not be so impressed if I had not already have been working out hard and "watching what I ate" for 6 months.

So basicaly the easy first 10 to 15 pounds were already long gone.

I lost 10 pounds the first week and 2 continue to loose 3 pounds a week.

Don't let the "fasting" hype scare you away.

Basicaly it involves a few basic principles.

1 breakfast isn't the most important meal of the day.

2 recognize the difference between being hungry and just wanting to eat something

3 you can and should chow down and go to sleep on a full stomach.

Overall I highly reccomend it !!!

Dieting is a very popular activity nowadays. With obesity at record levels and body mass indices climbing higher and higher for most Americans each day, the physical condition of the public at large continues to deteriorate with each passing moment. And because of this fact, the diet and fitness business is booming like never before. The Warrior Diet attempts to assert itself into this growing market with a diet plan that is different from most others and that offers a workable plan that most can follow, often with very positive results.

After reading a couple of chapters, it is easy to see that The Warrior Diet is, indeed, different from most other diet plans. First, the Warrior concept is one that the author describes as getting back to mankind's original lifestyle when it comes to eating and fitness. Foods in the past were purer and more wholesome than the processed garbage that humans eat today. People in the past also used to be far more physically fit, mainly because their very survival depended on it. These natural instincts have been lost over the years due to modern technology and as a result, humans eat far worse food than in the past and are far less physically active than at any point in history. The Warrior Diet is about reclaiming that past by re- introducing the human body to a diet of raw, unprocessed food and organic meats. It is also about becoming more physically active than before in order to maintain the Warrior body once a satisfactory nutritional balance has been achieved.

Advice like eating organic foods and exercising is pretty commonplace in most diet books so I wasn't very surprised when I read these parts of The Warrior Diet. However, I was surprised by the specific eating advice and how the Warrior Plan is put into action. It starts with an undereating phase. This takes place each morning and afternoon and the idea is to avoid eating completely, with the exception being vegetable juice, fruit juice, coffee, yogurt, and a few other things. After that comes the overeating phase; a catch- up phase that takes place during the evening hours. At this time, the Warrior is permitted to eat pretty much anything he/she wants. This is very different from most diet plans and it is bound to be controversial among nutritionists.

I have been on very few diets but I decided while I was reading this book that I would give this plan a try and see what happened. What I discovered is that this undereating phase is very difficult at first, and I could feel my stomach growling for hours during the morning and afternoon hours. But then, it gradually became easier and easier to do this and I didn't feel as hungry as I did on the first day. I also noticed that my nighttime meal was far more satisfying than my meals usually are. Like other people, I lead a busy life and have little time to enjoy my meals. Eating has become a chore and I try to get it over with as quickly as possible so that I can get on with the rest of my day. But with the Warrior Diet plan, I find that my evening meal tastes better and is met with greater anticipation. I look forward to eating it, and I enjoy myself more than before.

Physical fitness is an important part of any diet plan and The Warrior Diet includes many pages of exercises that are intended to complement the diet itself. Some of these exercises require using weights, but others do not. I don't engage in physical fitness as often as I should and what I like about this section of the book is that, like the rest of the book, it includes exercises that are a little out of the ordinary. Things like towel swiping, frog jumps, and the bow and arrow shoulder stretch are among the many unique exercise ideas promoted by The Warrior Diet.

Most of The Warrior Diet is easy to read, but author Ori Hofmekler does include quite a bit of nutritional and physiological tech talk. It was important to include this type of information because it helps to back up what is stated in the book. But for people like me who know little about this type of topic, I found that I often did not quite understand what Hofmekler was talking about at certain points. Comments about things like omega- 3 oils; the health benefits of Cruciferous indoles; etc., were over my head. During these moments, I just had to take his word for it. I don't even know if the things stated are completely true, but I am pretty sure they are.

Overall, I found The Warrior Diet an effective book about diet and nutrition and the plan seems to work, based on my brief experience. The Warrior Diet and the advice contained in this book is generally very thorough and very helpful and it presents a workable plan that is less restrictive overall when compared to other diets. Some of the advice is commonplace; other advice is more unique. But the bottom line goal of the Warrior Diet is one most people can certainly agree: To eliminate toxins from the body, eat better foods through improved eating habits, and develop the physical body into a lean, mean, Warrior- like machine. It's a good book for anyone who has an interest in improving ones' physical condition and maintaining the improvements for a long period of time.

After reading over 60 books on diet and healthy eating I was delighted to find a new way to eat that not only fit into what I previously had learned but added a way to balance fasting and eating my fill. The author covers all the needed dynamics of eating, covering insulin response and how the body works to store fat and burn calories. He shows the importance of eating whole foods and limiting your consumption of damaging foods like trans fats and refined carbs.
The diet is patterned after the eating habits of ancient warriors of Rome and Greece. He recommends eating very light during the day focusing on only fruits, vegatables, and light protein (eggs, whey protein, maybe a few raw nuts in the late afternoon). Then for dinner eat what you need to fill you up, and then stop eating for the night. It is recommended to eat mainly whole foods during this meal but it is very flexible. The beauty of this way of eating is that with an early dinner and a late light breakfast you give your body time to detoxify with out the endless flow of food into your digestive system. Also you will notice more energy during the day with no heavy breakfast or lunch weighing you down. The end of the book gives a great exercise regimen if you are interested in building a lean, strong body through short workouts that train you to resist fatigue but does not take you to complete muscle failure.
Ironically years ago after losing 50 pounds on the zone diet I naturally reverted to eating very similiar to this type of diet as maintenance and kept off my weight. I really enjoyed eating this way, it can be used for life.

In the past, I haven't had much luck with diets. I'm usually looking to drop that extra ten pounds or so, but I've tried Atkins, South Beach and The Zone diets with little success. The Warrior Diet is different. By changing the times that I eat (along with dropping highly refined foods), I've made steady progress towards my desired weight while maintaining high energy. It took me a week or so to transition into the system of fasting during the day and feasting at night, but once I got used to it, I found it to be almost a matter of instinct. After just a few weeks, I'm starting to lose that stubborn belly fat and I don't feel like I'm starving all the time. I am also following the exercise guidelines. This isn't a "Lose Weight While you Sleep," plan and it isn't a magic pill. It's just another approach to eating that seems to make a lot of sense.

This book is revolutionary, Mr. Hofmekler has some ideas that challenge everything we think we know, but I will tell you this - it works! He also has a scientific explanation for every unpleasant side effect I've ever had on every other diet I've tried, and a method of fasting that didn't trigger my hypoglycemia or make me emotional. In fact, as long as I've stuck to his guidelines, blood sugar hasn't been an issue for me at all. I've lost weight and have (a lot) more energy, just like he said. I would recommend this book for every citizen of the modern world!

The problem with most modern diets is that they are based on exclusion of certain types of food or food groups, restricting of calories, or both. It seems that every week author comes out with a new diet just to sell a book. Most of these diets usually end up getting people fatter and weaker than they were before. With the failed diet after failed, most people just completely give up on the personal health and go back to what they were doing before. Some stubburnly stick such a diet despite how it is deterriating their bodies.

Modern nutritionists and modern society have forgot the single most important part of your dietary health, which is allowing your body time to convert the fat in your body into energy or, as religious people know it, fasting. This was my natural instinct when I was skinny little boy, but after over a decade of forced constant feeding, by the time I was in my teens I became overweight with virtually no muscle mass and was constantly getting sick. I even got in trouble with the teacher in elementary school one time for trying to skip lunch. Ofcourse now I'm skinnier, faster, stronger, and healthier, but I'm still striving to reach my ideal fitness level. You can eat the most healthy food we want, but there is no way you can burn off all the excess body fat without allowing your body time to detoxify itself, unless you follow the fitness routine of Micheal Phelps. Don't get it wrong, this is not a starve yourself during the day, binge on cheeseburgers at night diet. You have to follow the guidelines in the book if you want this diet to work for you. And ofcourse you need to have an exercise routine, preferably the CFT routine recommended in the book or swinging Kettlebells would do.

I've been on this diet for three months now, and not only did it get me into better shape, it also enhanced the quality of my life as a whole. I'm now 175 lbs @ 5'10, one time I was approaching 200 lbs. My current goal is too stay at the same weight while leaning up a little more and hopefully getting a six pack. I've been on other diets before, but I can never stick with them because I always enjoyed variety in the food I eat. You might be able to get a good physique on the traditional "clean" fitness diet, but you won't have the same quality of life because you're going to be constantly worried about making sure the "right" food gets into your system at the "right" time, making sure that the "wrong" food gets nowhere near your system at all, and constantly counting your calories. You won't be able enjoy going out to a restaurant to eat with your family or friends. It may not seem like much, but being able to enjoy a good hardy meal without the fear of gaining weight or getting out of shape greatly enhances your life beyond just the physical side. You have a much higher self-esteem, you feel more secure, you loose attachment to things that were holding you back, and all the trivial things that used to bother you a lot won't bother you anymore. You're able to work and study harder during the day because your brain is not slowed down by McDonalds or Burger King. You get more spiritual as well, the messages at church that didn't make sense to you before will start making sense to you. I can go on and about the benefits of the diet, but you have to try it for yourself to believe it.

I finished reading The Warrior Diet a few weeks ago, and it works. I have found that I did indeed get used to eating only one big meal a day and that my frame has gotten a lot more wiry, and my muscles are much more defined.

The Warrior Diet is easy to read, and all the difficult terms are explained. It's not a difficult diet to follow at all because you are allowed to eat whatever you want (besides anything with refined sugars and any artificial stuff).