Are you tired of being on diets that make you feel like your whole life is revolving around food? Or maybe you have been having energy crashes throughout the day -especially after lunchtime meals.These problems are common and can actually be solved by questioning the mainstream advice of eating breakfast like a King, lunch like a Queen and dinner like a Pauper.
The Warrior Diet is a radical regime of under eating for 20 hours followed by overeating for 4 hours. This might seem like one extreme lifestyle choice that is just crazy to even consider. However this model actually mimics how the majority of people used to live throughout history up until the human race began making significant technological advancements, which inevitably lead to an abundance of food. People would typically carry out chores, go hunting or do manual labour work whilst eating very little during the day. Then late in the evening once all the work for the day was done the family would feast together consuming the majority of their daily calories in one sitting.
How does it work and why is it beneficial?
This diet was devised by Ori Holmekler who suggests that it is not for body building, but instead for a way to develop a lean muscular body while at the same time keeping your size and weight down, in essence giving you a Bruce Lee look.
This diet works because of how your nervous system is set up to handle the digestion of food and funnelling of available energy. During the 20 hours that you are under eating; the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is responsible for your ability to deal with stress, physical activity and periods of intense concentration. Basically anytime you need energy or cohesive body function it is the responsibility of the SNS to provide you with it. Whenever you eat, the SNS gets turned off as the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) gets turn on, which is responsible for the digestion of food. This is why after having a big lunch it is common to have energy crashes and feel like taking a nap as opposed to carrying on with the day. Taking a nap anytime you eat a meal or a snack does sound nice, but who in this day and age has the time for that?
The overeating phase of the Warrior Diet will typically be during 4 hours of the evening. The PNS will be maximized during this time and will aid in resting, digestion and detoxification among other things. All food groups will need to be consumed during this period of time, however it does not mean that you should binge on junk food and sugary snacks. Usually this will not be a problem because a person on this diet will crave the foods that the body actually needs as opposed to the foods that one might crave if they want to indulge their taste buds only. Of course during the first few weeks or even months there will be a transition period where you will need to condition yourself to lose the cravings for your old eating habits. This can be particularly difficult if you have a strong reliance on sugary foods and drinks. It has been said that a persons desire for food is the hardest to suppress, this diet really does put this statement to the test.
It is not complete starvation during the undereating phase
You might be relieved to learn the there are certain foods you can eat during the undereating phase. These will typically have a low glycemic index such as fruits and vegetables. Eating small amounts of these foods does not compromise the PNS because of how lightly they burden the digestive system. Smoothies are also allowed as long as you use a blender, investing some time to learn a few recipes will really reduce the difficulty of the under eating phase.
Improved quality of life in addition to weight loss
What other dieting regime offers a direct increase in body functionality in addition to weight loss? This diet is really designed for anyone seeking to get the most out of their bodies on a daily basis in a way that works with the body "energy delivery systems" and not against it. Additionally - a process known as recycling is activated during the undereating phase which is responsible for replacing the old, sick and dead cells of your body with news ones. This keeps you looking younger, feeling stronger and gives you the ability to develop the muscle composition that you require for peak physical performance.
Well that is great, but how does this help me lose some weight? Recycling requires energy, which is derived from the food that you eat. Typically when you consume more food than you need, the excess goes into your fat stores. However, the Warrior Diet allows for those fat stores to be depleted to more healthy levels thereby decreasing your weight and exposing your muscles from underneath the fatty tissue.
The choice is extreme but so are the stakes
The overall premise of the Warrior Diet goes against how most people live and what most dieting professionals will tell you. But you also know that a lot of people are overweight, suffer from energy crashes and fail to lose weight using the advice given by professionals. So my message would be to consider your own situation and whether this diet can work for you specifically. The differences to what you may have been taught all your life are extreme, but the stakes here are huge. If this turns out to be a success you could potentially have a rock hard muscular body, the energy levels of an ox and the health levels of a Tibetan monk (their average life expectancy is around 100). Giving this diet a try for a few weeks is the least you can do, what is the worst that can happen? You will lose some weight, save some money on the groceries and gain a new experience you can tell your friends about.
0 comments:
Post a Comment