“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of! How could you do that? I can’t wait to eat for only 4 hours.:
I usually don’t try anything new unless it’s a bit crazy. This is why I wanted to share my experience with a unique intermittent fasting diet plan.
Are you what you eat? Nope. You are when you eat.
You guys know that I’m a huge supporter of intermittent fasting. You can read all about the hype around intermittent fasting. I don’t want to get into the technical details today. I just want to share with you my results of my experiment with the four hour diet.
Ori Hofmekler wrote The Warrior Diet and I read this fantastic book many years ago. This article is one of the best warrior diet transformations. I read this book in 2012 and have tried this method a few times.
[Must read: How are you supposed to time your meals?]
As you know, I pro wrestle and do BJJ. I also love lifting weights and swinging bells. This means that I want to eat to recover and look sexy. So I’m always looking for new strategies to maximize my sexiness.
What did I learn from this intermittent fasting diet plan?
Momentum is powerful.
Once you get momentum on your side for a few days, you don’t want to stop. This is true for any style of eating or training. The trick is to somehow build momentum.
How do I build momentum?
What I like to do is have a big calendar in my room. I give myself an X for every time that I follow through. After a few days you want to mark an X down. This gives you a visual reminder of what you want to do.
You should never rely on will-power.
Nobody has the will-power to eat clean. Nobody. UFC fighters and elite athletes hire coaches and nutrition experts to help them prepare their food. Mike Dolce has been known to charge up to $5,000/week plus supplies for fighters.
We all want a bag of chips or a slice of pizza. We just have to find a way to not eat this crap. You can start by not buying this crap and follow through by always having decent food around.
With that being said, we all have to find a way. This is my story of how I found a way to eat for four hours a day.
What are the actual results?
[Note: This was done in April of 2015. Now in 2019 I do the one meal a day 90% of the time.]
Day 1:
I woke up earlier than usual (10 am, don’t judge). Hit my weight workout, did a BJJ class, then got in the sauna. Ate from 3-6. I was very tempted to eat food at night time. I had to fight the urge hard.
Day 2:
Woke up at 11am. Did my kettlebell class at noon. Ate from 2-6. The trick is to get enough calories in.
Day 3: Did BJJ in the morning and then finally ate at 3pm. Ate from 3-6. You need to have your food ready to eat. I had fish, a shake, protein bars, nuts, and a few bananas just waiting to get humbled.
Day 4: Did a 10am conditioning class. Ate from 1:30 – 5:30.
Day 5: Slept in because there was no morning training. Ate from 3-6.
Day 6: Ate from 3-6. Then messed up at night. There goes my streak. Five days is my steak. Time to start a new one. I had snacks available. I can’t have snacks around. We are all weak. I’m no exception.
A new streak begins!
Day 7 or 1: : Ate from 4-7. Wrote in the morning and lifted weights fasted. Had wrestling in the evening. Was a fairly easy day. Was full when I trained in the evening, but such is expected.
Day 8 or 2: Ate from 3-6. Did BJJ at noon. Then attended another BJJ class and wrestling from 7-9.
Day 9 or 3: Ate from 1:30 – 5:30. Then went to wrestling. Only problem so far for me is the evening training. Not easy when stuffed.
Day 11 or 4: Ate from 2:30-6:30. Did BJJ and weights at noon. Wasn’t hungry at all after. Hit the sauna and took a cold shower.
Day 12 or 5: Ate from 1:30-5:30. Did an intense two hour conditioning class in the morning to kick off my day.
Day 13 or 6: Ate from 1:30-5:30. This was a rest day for me. My body need to recover.
Six days in a row now. So happy!
Day 14 or 7: Did weights then BJJ. Then ate from 2:30-6:30. This was a very tempting day to cave in and mess everything up but I stayed strong.
Day 15 or 8: Extended the window to 5.5 hours due to a social event.
Day 16 or 9: I did BJJ and weights. Felt great. I ate from 2:30-6:30. I need to get on a better schedule because I’m full when attending my evening classes at the gym.
Day 17 or 10: Ate from 3-7pm. This was a really tough one.
Day 18 or 11: Ate from 2-6. I struggled at BJJ today.
11 days in a row. What a streak!
Day 19 or 12: Did conditioning at 10 am for two hours. Ate 2-6.
Day 20 or 13: This was Easter. Ate from 3-7.
Day 21 or 14: I had to extend today to five hours. Did BJJ and lots of weights.
Day 22 or 15: I ate from 2-5. Loaded up in that short period of time.
15 days in a row. I’m feeling pretty damn good about myself.
Day 23 or 16: I did BJJ and then ate from 2-4. I kept it even tighter today because I had my food waiting.
Day 24 or 17: 3-7 after kettlebells and weights.
Day 25 or 18: I did a BJJ class at noon and ate from 2-6. I have a show tomorrow. The results better be there.
That was one hell of a challenge. It ended up changing my life. This is how I eat now. This is the intermittent fasting diet plan that I follow religiously.
You have nothing to lose from giving this challenge a try. Eat your calories within four hours for 21 days and track your progress!
“The hardest thing to do is work hard when no one is watching.” – Ray Lewis