{"id":45506,"date":"2021-06-21T12:32:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T16:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=45506"},"modified":"2021-06-21T13:26:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T17:26:21","slug":"plant-based-warrior-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/plant-based-warrior-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"My Plant-Based ‘Warrior Diet’ Day in the Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The best part of The Plant-Based Athlete<\/a><\/em>, in my opinion and many others\u2019, is the “Day in the Life<\/a>” section \u2014 the exact daily diet and workout routines of 25 plant-based athletes, many of them world-class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, I also slipped my own Day in the Life in there, for a decidedly non-world-class, but nonetheless well thought-out and effective, example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the past six months since we submitted the final manuscript, a lot has changed for me personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having turned 40 around that same time, I\u2019ve enjoyed a rush of motivation, and built workout and diet habits that I\u2019m not just proud of, but addicted to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, my family moved to a new city, with my son<\/a> and myself living on our own in Charlotte for two months while my wife and daughter stayed back in Asheville to finish out second grade (for my daughter, not my wife). Which is only relevant here because of what it meant for my time: I was charged with homeschooling him, getting him to all of his soccer commitments, and working to release a new book\u2026 all of which forced me to be as deliberate and efficient as possible when it came to preparing and eating healthy food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that intro, I want to present my current \u201cDay in the Life\u201d routine. It\u2019ll be more detailed than a typical summary (or those in the book), because for me this is the jumping-off point for what I hope will become a return to creating lots of content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll provide explanation and context along the way, and cover the three big pillars that make up my daily health rituals: diet, exercise, and sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Plant-Based \u201cWarrior Diet\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been inspired recently by a book called The Warrior Diet<\/a><\/em>, by Ori Hofmekler. It\u2019s not a new book; it\u2019s from 2001, and one of the first (modern) books to propose a diet based on intermittent fasting<\/a>. It\u2019s based on a long fasting period, punctuated by vegetable juice and fresh fruits, with one meal a day (OMAD) in the evening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book was recommended by Pavel Tsatsouline<\/a>, my kettlebell guru, in one of his books. I am, of course, eating a 100% vegan version of the diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fewer words: it\u2019s \u201cundereat during the day, overeat at night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Warrior Diet<\/em> is not a plant-based book, but it\u2019s also not a Paleo book like the title makes it seem. So it\u2019s easy to do a vegan version. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about eating like a gatherer during the day \u2014 eating only small amounts during a period of work \u2014 and feasting at night, a celebration of one\u2019s efforts and temperance during the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diet isn\u2019t meant to be followed strictly, every single day. There should be days when you overeat, and days when you don\u2019t eat at all. That\u2019s almost certainly in line with how we\u2019ve evolved to eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I get angry emails asking \u201cAren\u2019t we supposed to eat like royalty in the morning, and like paupers at night, the way they do in the blue zones<\/a>?\u201d, please know: I\u2019m not at all convinced that the Warrior Diet, even a plant-based version, is the optimal way to structure one\u2019s meals. The book is based largely on theory, not on data from empirical studies, and it\u2019s easy to construct a diet that \u201csounds\u201d good from theoretical arguments like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I do believe that intermittent fasting and caloric restriction, in general, are good. And of course I believe that a plant-based diet is not just excellent for long-term health, but also adaptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mostly, though, this diet is fun! It\u2019s probably short-term experiment, but right now, when I\u2019m as busy as I am, it makes me feel better about having so little time for food preparation during the day (and helps me get more nutrients from veggies than I was getting, even if vegetable juice isn\u2019t the same as whole foods).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve also really enjoyed the challenge of eating nothing until noon (except coffee), liquids until 2, and raw until 4. It nicely matches my tendency to get so absorbed in activity during the day that I forget to eat (I\u2019ve never been someone who is hungry in the morning, either), so it has been very easy to adhere to the main principles, and I feel a lot of energy and that my moods are good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should admit that I don\u2019t pay much attention to the other concepts of the diet, the macronutrient suggestions. Perhaps I eat somehow fewer carbohydrate in my meals than I did before, on the author\u2019s advice, but this is a very minor change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Day in the Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

7:00am: Wake up<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not by an alarm. This just seems to be when I naturally wake up if I went to bed on time and slept well (which isn’t always: see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7:15am: 12 ounces of homemade pour-over coffee<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I use a Chemex<\/a> to brew 12 ounces (or sometimes 16) of light-roast coffee. I love everything about this habit \u2014 the ritual of spending 3-4 minutes to make a single cup, the taste, and the buzz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, coffee is a good example of a compromise habit that makes it easy to then go until noon without eating anything else. I realize that a true fast means no coffee, but for me, a single cup in the morning somehow fills me up and satisfies the desire to consume something delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12:00pm: 28 ounces (roughly) of fresh vegetable juice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, I juice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n