When adhering to the Warrior Diet, the undereating phase lasts the vast majority of the day — about 20 hours — whereas the overeating phase that occurs in the evening lasts the remaining four hours.
Although you can think of the four hours as one large meal, aim to break up the various meal components (subtle-tasting greens, protein, veggies, and fruits/dessert) as you see fit across that time period. Don't worry about how much you're eating, instead listen to your body and only eat to satiety.
How you divide your fasting day is up to you. Just keep the following overall guidelines to help ensure that you complete a successful fast:
Drink plenty of quality water on the Warrior Diet
The undereating phase doesn't have any limits on water or other noncaloric beverages. So go for it and drink as much filtered water as you want. You should drink plenty of filtered water. Living in the modern world, you may think that water that comes from the tap is perfectly safe to drink, but oftentimes drinking tap water actually isn’t safe.
Aim to consume more than the standard eight-glasses-a-day recommendation. In fact, eight glasses of eight ounces each (totaling 64 ounces) should be the bare minimum, especially on days when you're also exercising (which you should be doing, at least in some form, whether it be walking or metabolic conditioning, each day). Fasting helps detoxify the body, and drinking water helps flush those toxins out of your system.
Drinking filtered water is especially important because tap water can contain more than a thousand toxins, including chlorine, fluoride, lead, mercury, nitrates, pesticides, and many more. A 2008 study also found prescription medications, from antidepressants to sex hormones, in the tap water that more than 40 million Americans drink on a regular basis.
Although at any given time, the concentration of such contaminants is most likely quite low, over the span of your life, they build up in the system and can contribute to some awful diseases.
Take chlorine, for instance. The accumulation of chlorine in your body can cause heart and circulatory diseases and can kill the good bacteria in the digestive tract that you need to maintain a healthy digestion. (Probiotics are often touted as a good supplement to aid in digestion. However, if you're taking probiotics and drinking tap water, you may very well be flushing money down the toilet.)
To ensure that you're drinking filtered water, hook a carbon-based filter to your sink, so you're drinking and cooking only with the water that gets filtered through it. Just make sure you drink plenty of it.
Protein's role during the undereating and overeating stages
With solid foods, during the undereating phase, you can have small servings of protein, such as one or two boiled eggs, a scant cup of kefir or yogurt, and a protein shake made from all-natural whey or milk protein. If you're really in need of a caloric boost, a small handful of raw or sprouted unsalted nuts is okay.
Also, feel free to enjoy raw vegetables and fruit, such as blueberries or carrots.
Despite the name, peanuts aren't nuts. They are legumes, like kidney beans or chickpeas. Stick to Brazil nuts, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, and so on. If you're extremely athletic and are burning thousands of calories a day in vigorous athletic activity, then you may need to eat more during the day in the way of carbohydrates, such as including a sweet potato in your undereating phase.
However, perhaps the best strategy, if possible, is to time those incredibly intense training sessions so that they come at the end of the undereating phase.
Some days you're just hungrier than others. Although the goal of the Warrior Diet is to restrict calories and undereat for most of the day, if you're feeling deprived or are adapting to a more intense training regimen, you may add in some extra carbs during the day. However, your best bet (should fat loss be your goal) is to opt for an extra-light protein-based meal instead.
At the end of the day, during your overeating phase, you can eat as much as you want at your only regular meal. Break your fast with raw veggies, protein, broth-base soups, fruit, cooked veggies, and from time to time dessert.