Renegade Diet Review – Worth Trying Out?

The Basics of the Renegade Diet Plan

The main Renegade Diet principles are to not eat for between 14 and 16 hours each day. The idea behind this is to mimic the hunter-gatherer diet followed by prehistoric people. They didn’t have food at their disposal for hours on end. Instead, they rested for long periods before eating a small amount of food for energy and then feasting once they completed their food-gathering tasks.

Basically, on this meal plan, you’ll fast for a long period of time, then under-eat for several hours, and go for your workout, and the feast on quite a bit of food. Then you repeat this over and over again each day. A typical day’s worth of food consists of eating proteins, fats, and plenty of green vegetables (no fruit or carbs) in the time in between the fast ending and your main workout.

After the workout, you can have all of the carbs that you want, as well as just about anything else. I couldn’t find anything in the Renegade Diet book about sweet things, like fruit and chocolate, so I just avoided those.

Ideally, the Renegade Diet will send your body into what’s known as “fight or flight” mode during your fasting hours. This means that you’ll have a ton of energy and will be able to focus during that time period.

Your mind should be clear, not filled with that fuzzy-headed feeling that comes from eating too much during the day. Plus, since there’s no need to stop and eat several meals each day, you’ll save plenty of time.

Who Created the Renegade Diet

The Renegade Diet was invented by Jason Ferruggia. He’s been a fitness instructor and body builder since 1994, so he knows his stuff. He claims to be one of the first fitness instructors to set up group training sessions and developed one of the first “hardcore, underground gyms” in the country.

Ferruggia came up with a number of notable workouts, especially those that built muscle mass by using things like sleds full of weights, large tires that were flipped, and pressing logs. He has appeared in a number of fitness publications, including Details, Shape, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, and so on.

He is one of the most popular fitness instructors in the country, not to mention one who was very far ahead of his time as far as workout styles are concerned. Ferruggia now has his own website, and of course his diet plan, the Renegade Diet. Is it possible that he is still ahead of his time, as far as the diet is concerned?

The Renegade Diet plan certainly contains elements that seem to contradict everything that is taught by many nutritionists and other diet experts. I know that I had a hard time finding a diet that instructed me to fast for hours on end.

What the Renegade Diet Plan Rejects

Most diets are built around a basic meal plan. They either instruct people to avoid certain foods, like junk food, carbohydrates, fats, and more, or they tout the importance of eating many small meals a day.

I know that I’ve read many times that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” and that skipping meals tend to make your body go into a mode where it tries to retain as many calories as possible, just in case it won’t be getting any more.

The Renegade Diet plan goes against this. It essentially breaks all of the rules. The real question that needs to be answered in this Renegade Diet review is: is the diet truly successful?

How I Felt On the Renegade Diet

As I previously stated, I tested out the Renegade Diet plan for several weeks. I followed all of the instructions, including not eating for between 14 and 16 hours and then eating small meals (avoiding what I was told to avoid) before my workout.

Then, after each workout, I followed the Renegade Diet meal plan and ate a lot of food – including plenty of carbs. So, did I experience any amazing results? Did I lose weight and gain muscle mass with the Renegade Diet? Was my mind extremely clear and focused during my fasting period? Well, yes and no.

My first few days on the Renegade Diet plan were absolute torture. It took some time for my body to adjust to it. Rather than feeling clear-headed and focused during those first few fasting periods, I just thought about food nonstop. I counted down the hours until I could eat again.

Then, after each carb-heavy eating period, I fell asleep. (In good news, I slept great no matter how bad the cravings were for those first few days.) Thankfully, within about four days, my body got used the Renegade Diet. I was able to focus more and saw some great gains in my muscle mass. It just took some adjusting – but it was worth it in the end.

Issues with the Renegade Diet

The main issues with the Renegade Diet plan involve who it’s designed for. On top of that, not everyone should fast during the day as it says to. For example, if you’re diabetic or have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes or any type of blood sugar issue, then you definitely shouldn’t follow this diet.

You could go into shock once you stop eating for a certain period of time and your blood sugar crashes. Plus, since this diet is designed strictly for bodybuilders, if you’re just trying to lose weight, then overloading on carbs (essentially overeating) at one point during the day will not help you at all. You’re better off following a more traditional, standard diet.

Final Thoughts

Now that I’ve spent some time following the Renegade Diet plan, I can say that it does work. However, it’s only really designed for one specific type of person – bodybuilders.

Anyone looking for a fitness routine might  not see the gains (in muscle mass, that is) from this plan that Ferruggia expects you to on this diet. Instead, you might find the numbers on the scale moving in the wrong direction.