Fruit Till Noon Diet Experiment (Do This With Me)

The N-of-1 Era has returned

I’m returning to jacked nerd mode and testing a new diet in 2025.

It’s called Fruit Till Noon.

In here you’ll find everything on the protocol I’m testing (and how you can use these ideas to win bigger in fitness and life).

I broke this post into 4 clear parts:

1. my goals with this approach

2. the influences that have me wanting to try this

3. the science to back up how it supports my training/lifestyle goals

4. the exact protocol I’m testing

But first, I want to share a quick background on my N-of-1 diet testing and why I am choosing THIS specific challenge at THIS specific time.

Why is the N-of-1 Era in need of return?

Here’s why…

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The Power of N-of-1

If you’ve been reading my stuff online for a few years, you may remember my Carnivore vs. Plant Based Diet Challenge.

Back in 2020-21 I went to extremes on diet testing.

• carnivore vs. plant based challenge w/ bloodwork

• honey vs. maple syrup endurance fueling w/ CGM data

• real food fueling for Ironman (did Ironman Texas on 3 cups of maple syrup)

I got fkn shredded and unlocked my mindset on life. But that wasn’t even the best part…

(Link to Carnivore vs. Plant Based results Thread)

This was the best part:

Running diet experiments on myself completely unlocked my discipline around food and my mindset toward life.

I was doing my own research, applying protocols and learning in real time.

I felt like Bradley Cooper in Limitless. Just dialed AF.

• I wasn’t tempted to eat junk or drink

• Sharing everything publicly gave me new levels of commitment to my goals

• I was eating lower-carb and killed habits of overeating that had been present since I was a kid

This was also the come up of me building my online biz (that eventually became Tribal Training) and moving my family from Philly to Colorado.

The intensity and focus on my diet testing had me in complete control of my life and destiny.

I became a magician who could waive a magic wand at any goal and - poof - it was reality.

Plus… I killed an old version of me that was a soft ball of dough (mentally and physically).

But then I ran into a problem…

As I started coaching athletes to 70.3s, Ironmans and Ultramarathons, I ran into road blocks projecting my personal protocols onto athletes.

• not everyone cared about avoiding gels or sports mixes

• getting athletes to take in (enough) calories was hard enough without the added real food obstacle

And I learned right away that I was limiting myself as a coach by telling my athletes to do their long rides with a soft flask of maple syrup instead of drinking a few bottles of Skratch/Tailwind/Infinit…

I had to evolve.

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Building A Coachable Protocol

Quinten Terrentino said this on a recent Rogan episode. It resonated.

“You don’t become a successful movie executive by doubling down on your own opinions.

You wanna get a temperature, a consensus.

You're not the maverick doing it your own way.”

I only heard that quote last week, but it made sense of my change in direction as my coaching business gained momentum.

(I also thought there could be better ways for me to fuel my own training/racing).

So over the past 2 years, I’ve gone hard on sports mixes, ate more carbs around the clock, mastered fueling logistics and built race protocols my athletes could copy.

The result?

• I coached over 100 athletes across Ironman/70.3/Ultramarathon finish lines

• I qualified for the Ironman World Champs myself

Chatt 70.3 | Oregon 70.3 | Ironman Florida | Ironman Chatt

Side Note… use these quick links to learn my fueling protocols:

How I Coach 70.3 Bike Fueling (Podcast)

My Ironman World Championship Qualifying Fuel Plan (PDF)

The Catch

While the training and race day fueling was on the rise, I lost that laser-eyed focus on my micro-decisions around food.

I was still “testing”, but generally just eating more.

Lots of sourdough, rice, sports mixes and pastries at mid-ride coffee shop stops.

I shifted from a low-carb (or moderate carb) approach to high carb.

And along the way, started loosing the battles of…

• not going back to the freezer for another scoop of ice cream

• not having the cookies that my wife makes on a whim

• not having another glass of wine (or booze at all)

After a 72 hour fast earlier this month, I arrived at extreme clarity on the value of returning to N-of-1 diet testing.

While it’s been fun to write great scripts and direct cool movies…

I want to go back to feeling like this.

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The 90% Effect

Here’s a side bar on mindset.

If you’re like me (high achiever, like to chase goals), giving 90% effort isn’t challenging.

But here’s what I’ve realized…

• When I give 90% effort, I only get 75% of the results

• When I give 100% effort, I get 150% of the results

And 100% effort happens by default when I’m in N-of-1 Mode… when I’m doing intentional, measured testing on myself.

And so it’s time for my next evolution: FRUIT TILL NOON

A fruit till noon meal from this week

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Part 1: My Fruit Till Noon Diet Goals

I want a diet where I can eat as much as I want, stay lean, fuel my endurance training and live life with the magical intensity that turns my wildest dreams into things I just go do.

I want to be a wand waiving wizard!!! I want to be in a relentless rhythm of creation and expansion!!! I want the next level of life!!!

Other intended benefits:

• less inflammation

• extreme simplicity

• manage cravings/hunger/binges

• N of 1/keep my mindset dialed in

I want a framework that gives me some freedom around food, but that also holds me accountable to not losing the 10% decisions that make me feel crappy about myself.

I’m calling it “Fruit Till Noon” because that’s simplest.

But there’s another layer of the regimen that is just as important:

FOOD COMBINATIONS

(More on food combinations in the Randal Cycle Section below)

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Part 2: My Fruit Till Noon Inspirations

1. The Gracie Diet

This is the Gracie family protocol that has produced countless jiujitsu World Champions.

The intention of the diet is to optimize digestion and keep the body in Alkaline balance.

Key Principles I took from it:

• fruit-only meals

• 4+ hour gaps between meals

• awareness on the idea that combining some foods may cause problems for digestion/body comp/energy

(This book is solid. But you can get all the info you need on this diet and the specific food combos they recommend in 2 minutes online)

2. The Honey Diet

I found this online from

anabology

. It prioritizes honey, but still fits into the Fruit Till Noon framework.

You can read his full protocol here.

Key Principle I took from him: The Randal Cycle

This is important, so I’m giving this it’s own section.

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The Randal Cycle

The Randal Cycle describes the competition between how the body processes and stores carbs and fats.¹

How I understand it:

• when you consume carbs in isolation, blood sugar spikes, glucose uptake in cells increases and the body prioritizes glucose for energy

• when you consume fats in isolation, they are broken down into fatty acids, which circulate in the bloodstream and are prioritized for energy

• when you eat carbs and fats, glucose and fatty acids are both available and compete for digestion and energy use

• high insulin levels from carbs suppresses fat oxidation, while the presence of fatty acids inhibits glucose oxidation. The metabolic competition between carbs and fats causes:

  • Inefficient energy use

  • Increased fat storage, as the body can't effectively burn both fuel types simultaneously.

My Hypothesis:

This increases visceral fat storage, which I see in my recent body comp.

(This is a still grabbed from my Ironman Body Comp YouTube video. I had a PR Ironman the following day, Top 10 Age Group and qualified for World Champs. 5 foot 11, 175 lbs).

Back to my inspirations to try the Fruit Till Noon diet…

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3. Noah Ryan

His recent transformation tweet caught my attention as a more successful strategy for leaning out than intermittent fasting.

I have done intermittent fasting in the past, and psychologically am liable to turn to it for body comp manipulation (even though I know this is not effective).

You can read his full Shredmaxxing Protocol here.

Key Principles I took from him:

• “morning metabolism” is primed for efficient carb fueling with no bloat

In just a week on the Fruit Till Noon protocol, my morning metabolism has turned into a furnace.

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Part 3: Science To Back Fruit Till Noon

Brady Holmer is a Twitter homie, endurance athlete and exercise science writer.

His Substack, Physiologically Speaking, has become my go-to resource for science backed support of my diet/training goals.

I’m an annual paid Subscriber (same price as buying 2 books, but better value).

Here are 4 elements of my protocol that are backed by research Brady has reviewed.

(The numbers are Brady’s Substack posts, the footnotes are the Studies referenced)

1. #237: eating carbs within 3 hours of training improves next-day performance²

2. #227: daily carb intake of 3-5g/kg bodyweight is optimal for athletes training at high volume³

3. #227: “sleeping low” with minimal/no carbs at dinner can boost aerobic fitness, enhance fat-burning and support weight loss⁴

4. #224: timing of protein intake throughout the day does not matter⁵

All of these fit into my Fruit Till Noon Protocol.

Now on to the Protocol…

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Part 4: Fruit Till Noon Protocol

Here’s what I’ve been doing for the past week+ as I’ve soft-launched this protocol:

From Wake Up till Noon:

• Water with salt

• Black Coffee

• training in the morning with Honey pre and intra training

• post training fruit bowl (within 1 hour of training)

  • Honey

  • Bananas, Dates, Blueberries, frozen Mango (these are the fruits I eat most)

• (Maple Syrup, or any other fruits could be included here. I just haven’t expanded to those yet)

Afternoon Meals:

This is where the Randal Cycle/food combo of my diet comes in.

I avoid having both high fat and high carb in the same meal.

• Protein and Carb w/ low Fat OR Protein and Fat w/ low Carb

  • low fat meats I eat: grilled chicken, 85% beef (I strain the fat), eggs (I eat 4+ eggs and remove half the yolks when eating a low fat meal)

  • high fat meats I eat: eggs (I don’t remove yolks when eating a high fat meal), 85% beef (I don’t strain the fat), chicken thighs

  • (I’m not eating much seafood right now. I may change that)

• Carbs I Eat In Low Fat Meals:

  • rice

  • potatoes

  • pasta

• I’m Increasing Vegetables In Low Carb Dinners:

  • spinach (big salad)

  • broccoli

  • mushrooms

  • (Will expand this as the diet evolves)

• I’m Occasionally Eating Fermented Foods With Both Types of Meals

  • sauerkraut

  • kimchi

Considering The Next Training Session:

• If I have an afternoon training session (typically a lift or bike ride), I will have a protein and carb meal for lunch so my second session is well fueled with starches

• If I have a high intensity training session the next day (run or ride), I will increase carb intake slightly in whatever carb meal I have

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Sample Fruit Meal Macros:

I don’t measure my meals often, but I find it useful to get an idea of my baseline.

Here’s how a fruit bowl from this past week measured:

• 400g weight of frozen mango (60g carbs // ~250 calories)

• 2x bananas (60g carbs // ~250 calories)

• 3x dates (35g carbs // ~150 calories)

• 2 tbsp honey (35g carbs // ~150 calories)

Total Carbs: ~200 // Total Calories: ~800

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Immediate Feedback

I’ve been doing this protocol for 1 week.

3 early benefits are:

1. Improved body comp (visceral fat down immediately)

2. Training feels awesome and I’m eating delicious fruit bowls (this is just plain fun and enjoyable)

3. I’m more focused and intentional with carb intake later in the day

The N-of-1 mindset is already in effect. I’m not losing evening decisions around food.

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N-of-1 Framework and Summary

For me to get the full benefits of N-of-1 diet testing, I need to measure and track progress.

So I’m doing a few things…

1. getting my bloodwork drawn later today

2. using a CGM periodically throughout the test to monitor blood sugar levels

I’m specifically interested in observing insulin response from the Fruit Meal after training, and in post-noon carb moderation.

I’ll also be iterating with fat types in my post-noon meals.

Ex: saturated fat in meats, monounsaturated fat in avocados and oils, polyunsaturated fats in fish and seeds.

I’m not committing to no alcohol or deserts through this challenge. But I am committed to no back-to-back days and will be intentional to moderate intake when I do choose to consume.

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Have any questions on this protocol? Comment below and I’ll answer for you.

Interested in joining me? Let me know and we can track progress together.

Thanks so much for reading,

Ryan

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19531645/

2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39263899/

3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38999884/

4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38999884/

5. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1397090/full