Is Jack Dorsey’s Fasting Protocol Possible for Normal People?
“I want to figure out how to unlock everything I’m born with, because I know that’s all I need.” -Jack Dorsey
This year, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter has been making appearances on popular podcasts and sharing the details of his fascinating wellness routine. The more I learned about this slow-living billionaire, the more I wanted to know — is it really possible? Could I do it?
Conversations about Jack always start near water. At the ocean somebody will mention the cold and then point out that Jack’s personal ice bath is much colder than the Pacific. A guest at my pool will describe the intense contrast between swimming in the pool and jumping in the hot tub, but another guest will downplay the temperature difference compared to Jack’s nightly rounds between his sauna and chiller.
Discussion of cold water evolves and soon everyone chimes in about Jack’s unique ways. His 7 minute workout routine is praised for being so accessible. His fashion is criticized for being too casual, wearing sandals to important meetings. The morning walk from his house to Twitter is celebrated for defying the stereotype of CEOs hustling from meeting to meeting. The meditation practice gets mixed reviews — it’s cool, but who has two hours to spare every day? Jack’s most controversial practice treads into the minefield of popular diets in 2019.
The more conversations I had about Jack’s lifestyle, the more I wanted to know. As a former human performance trainer in the U.S. Navy, I couldn’t resist the rabbit hole of extremism, stoicism, and biohacking that shapes the Silicon Valley Fountain of Youth. So, I began to listen to Jack explain it himself. First, I heard him on the Rich Roll Podcast, this was a welcome distraction sitting through a DMV marathon session. Then, I watched him on video with Joe Rogan. Finally, Jack gave the most granular details of his habits in the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast. I drew a chart to keep track of it all (see below).
Even Ben Greenfield, a proud human guinea pig, was surprised by Jack. Ben had a hard time accepting that a person could live this way. “Do you have a family?” Ben asked. Jack doesn’t have a wife or kids. Ben took this as a moment to explain how important family meal time is and why that prevented him from adopting Jack’s one meal a day (OMAD) protocol.
Why do people feel the need to defend their diets? The OMAD crowd celebrates Jack while others diagnose him with an eating disorder.
As mentioned in my interview with David Epstein, it helps me to test things before judging them. Last year, many of the Navy pilots I trained were dabbling in ketosis and OMAD, so I joined them. For one week, I only ate once a day. It’s possible. Here’s what I learned:
1. Plan ahead. To resist temptation, give yourself a chance to feel good through the day and something to look forward to. When I had a menu planned for my one evening meal, it was easier to resist grazing on donuts at the office. And when my one meal consisted of satisfying fats I had more energy to run on the next day.
2. It gets better. The first time you put down a day’s worth of food in one sitting it feels sickening. Fortunately, I adjusted after 3 days. Same with the hunger pains through fasting, much better after 3 days.
Recently, I tried Jack’s entire wellness protocol (diet, exercise, walking, meditation, hot/cold, sleep, etc.) and got some surprising results. To see the upcoming article, follow along here on Medium.