I began experimenting with the warrior diet in November 2019 and have never really looked back. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve taken towards my health and physical wellbeing.
As you may already know, the concept of the warrior diet is pretty straightforward:
- Eat a micro-meal when you’re hungry (a small bowl of yoghurt, a glass of milk, or a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, an egg or two, and the like). Naturally, one feels hungry around their usual meal times. Instead of your standard meal, you go for a micro-meal. The ones listed above are my go-to options; you can find many more in the book.
- Eat a solid dinner that focuses a tad more on protein if you focus on losing weight or a balanced macronutrient profile (protein, carbs, and fats, the 30:40:30 ratio work for me) if the goal is to maintain weight.
While I wanted to lose weight to be fitter for Jiu-Jitsu, I chose to stick with the balanced macronutrient option. And that’s because I was mentally exhausted with all the food analysis. I wanted to eat. Period. So, the second option made a lot of sense, as I didn’t have to think too hard.
Over the past 12-15 months, I’ve lost over 14 kilos, 90% of which is fat. The diet has also allowed me to move better and maintain steady energy all through the day. Sure, part of the reason was that I modified the diet to suit my needs. Because I didn’t want to see it as a diet but a way of my life. Here’s what I did:
- Skip breakfast; on days when I feel hungry after my morning weight training sessions, I have a couple of scoops of natural peanut butter that keeps me full for a good solid 3-5 hours
- Standard lunch of 500 ml of milk with two scoops of protein
- Heavy dinner; primarily vegetarian because I wouldn’t say I like to stuff myself with meat every single day. I have this meal at least a couple of hours before my bedtime.
If you’re wondering what I have before my evening training sessions (for Jiu-Jitsu), the answer is “nothing” except some BCAA with electrolytes, glutamine, and pink salt. I make the same drink post-workout as well.
That’s it. I think you can make out why I’ve stuck with this for so long. It’s super simple and doesn’t allow me any room for errors.
And yes, not pursuing powerlifting helps me maintaining the diet as the sport requires one to “eat well” and “feed the muscles” at all times. Right now, I’m focusing on Jiu-Jitsu as my primary sport and supplement it with 4-5 days of kettlebell and bodyweight training. I don’t think that’s going to change for the next 5-10 years, or maybe, ever.
I’m at a place in life where I need to push myself physically now and then — a combination of martial arts and some kettlebell and bodyweight training is just perfect. While I train 6-7 days a week, which is quite a lot of work by amateur standards, the current combination of activity and diet is working well for me.
My next goal will be to switch to vegetarianism. That’s a hard transition as I love non-vegetarian food, but it’s a change that needs to happen. For health and sustainability’s sake. More on that some other time.
Are you following a diet right now? If yes, how well is it working for you? Have you tried the Warrior Diet yet? If not, you should give it a try for at least 14 days. It’s worth the time and effort. I’ve never felt so light and energetic in my life!