1. Drink lots of water. I bet you’ve heard this a thousand times. So why aren’t you doing it? Drink lots of water when eating. It fills you my friend.

2. Shift to a fruit and vegetable centered diet. Plant-based diets just help you consume less fattening and less chemical-based stuff. You can eat too much cabbage and never worry about serious repercussions, I swear!

3. It’s okay to leave food on your plate. I Know mom made you clean up that plate of dinner she cooked and labored so hard for. But guess what? Mom doesn’t cook your dinner anymore. You’re probably near her age when she was telling you to eat all your food. Social conditioning sucks but you don’t have to do it anymore. You’re old enough to be fucking over that shit. Dude.

4. Start looking at food as sustenance, something that gives you energy and allows you to work through the day. Quit viewing it as a recreational activity or a way to bond with friends. Food is supposed to sustain you to do meaningful work, not be meaningful in itself.

5. If you want to enjoy the way a particular food tastes, then eat slower than normal. You can enjoy it as much if you eat slowly the same way you think you can enjoy when you it plenty of it.

6. Chew slowly and pace yourself. Chewing slowly digests your food better and pacing yourself gives you more time to evaluate whether you’re really still hungry or you’re stuffing food in your face for another reason.

7. Stand up. This will take a bit of judgment on your part but stand up when you think you’ve eaten a fair amount of food yet you still want more. It’s nearly impossible to determine how full you are while you’re sitting. The mind seems to equate being comfortable with still being hungry when you’re downing that steak that the only viable way to inform yourself if you’re filled is to get up and reset the environment.

8. Stop justifying your behavior. The reality is, there’s no excuse for eating like a pig. The simple reason being that you’re not a pig. The complex one being that your body doesn’t need so much food. It needs enough to be productive throughout the day but how many of you reading this on the internet actually climb buildings or lift heavy equipment for a living? You only need as much energy as you will expend so consume only what you need. It’s not only healthy for you but it’s less taxing on the environment you live in.

Find one that appeals to you and try it for 7 days. At the end of day 7, ask yourself the following questions:

Did it bring me closer to my target weight / health goals?

Always check if you moved closer to your target goals. If it moved you away, it will probably never work. If it moved you closer, then 1 point! If nothing happened, it would be fair to try it for another short stretch.

Was I able to integrate it well with my budget and schedule or did it mess up those things?

If it ate too much money (costs) or time (preparation), I don’t think it’s worth it. Although “too much” will always be a subjective call so consider wisely.

Is it something I can see myself doing one year down the line?

To me, there is no point starting a diet and then going back to your old habits after a couple of months. It’s a waste of time and effort. So see if your diet is somehing you will actually want to keep doing, otherwise, scrap it. Is it something I can keep doing in non-normal conditions i usually find myself in (ie. when traveling, visiting family, during workout days, etc.) See if it’s something you can keep doing in different conditions. If you can answer yes, then the chances that you will stick with your diet in the long run increases favorably. Otherwise, all it takes is a couple of highly-stressing stretches of days and you will likely be back to your old habits.

How were my energy levels? How did it affect my work, sleep, and social tasks (or any other important area of your life)?

To me, this is another one of the more important things. If it messes up other areas of my life, the lost weight will not be worth it. This is because, in the long run, it’s not something I will stick to and any results I’ve built up will likely get thrown away.

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I am currently on the Warrior Diet and I’ve so far lost over 8 pounds in 4 weeks. I spend a little more on fruit juices than my normal meals but it isn’t that much more, so financially, it’s not bad. Time-wise, I actually get to spend my normal lunch and snack periods doing other work, so it’s time gained, more than anything else. The boost to my alertness and focus are astounding to me and, if for no other reason, i’m sticking to the diet because of this. I no longer get sleepy in the afternoons even when I cheat a little (unless some other stupid project caused it - my sleep every other day thing, hehe) and for some reason, I sleep quite easily at night (my guess is it’s the large meals.) It’s also very easy to integrate during non-normal days (with a little cheating,) like when I couldn’t get hold of any fruit or vegetables (I substituted Extra Joss, two crackers, water and coffee). It’s a diet that works for me with some side benefits that I found very valuable.

I intended this to be guide for others trying to get on an eating program. I guess there are thousands of them now, and finding one that suits you and your goals is, for me, the most important thing.

Warrior Diet has been great. Lost another 3.5 lbs this week. With no real exercise whatsoever. I’m saying no real exercise because while I do squats, sit-ups and hindu push-ups a few minutes most mornings, it’s nothing regular or planned. I think I’m sticking with this diet for at least the next six months. As before, the energy boost is incredible.

One downside is the Sleep Experiment I was planning for this week. I failed. Being on the Warrior Diet seems to have normalized my sleeping patterns - I wake up early (around 6 to 7, very early for me) and I sleep very easily at night (10pm, my eyes are already falling). This, from someone who normally went to bed between 1am to 4am almost every day since I was in 4th grade, when my mom put our old TV in my room.

When Hofmekler said that the Warrior diet is the body’s normal nourishing pattern and regularizing the body’s diet will regularize your other bodily cycles, I never imagined it will actually fix my sleeping habits. Fucking A!!!!!!!!

Sadly, I will be putting the Every Other Day Sleep Experiment to rest. I’m enjoying my current “normal” sleeping cycle and I’ll see how this pans out.