Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey opened up about his daily eating habits: intermittent fasting.
The tech mogul was recently on Ben Greenfield’s “Fitness: Diet, Fat, Loss and Performance” podcast, where he talked about how he maintained his eating habits. He previously posted on Twitter about the fasting, and according to Yahoo, Dorsey talked about fasting extensively in interviews.
According to Page Six, Dorsey explained in the podcast that between 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., he only eats one meal consisting of a protein—chicken, steak, or fish—and vegetables—salad, spinach, asparagus, or brussels sprouts.
However, that only accounted for his weekdays, which went from Sunday evening to Thursday. On the weekends, from Friday evening to Sunday morning, he ate nothing and only relied on water to replenish himself. He claimed that by following this eating regimen, his performance became sharper, and he was able to focus better as well.
“During the day, I feel much more focused,” Dorsey said. “You have this very focused point of mind in terms of this drive.”
Dorsey shared his eating habits in a tweet, where he wrote that although his eating habit gave him good results, it wasn’t for everyone.
Watched this documentary on fasting. Good. For the past year and a half I’ve been eating only one meal a day: dinner. Not for everyone, but it works for me. Non-intuitive, but I find I have a lot more energy and focus, feel healthier and happier, and my sleep is much deeper. pic.twitter.com/z2xAY1S0XR
— jack (@jack) July 18, 2018
“I’ve been eating only one meal a day: dinner. Not for everyone, but it works for me. Nonintuitive, but I find I have a lot more energy and focus, feel healthier and happier, and my sleep is much deeper,” he said.
Dorsey recalled that when he first started the diet regimen, it was extremely strange in the beginning, but as he continued the diet, he came to a realization as to how much a person’s day revolved around food.
“The first time I did it, like day three, I felt like I was hallucinating,” Dorsey said, in the podcast with Greenfield. “It was a weird state to be in. But as I did it the next two times, it just became so apparent to me how much of our days are centered around meals and how—the experience I had was when I was fasting for much longer, how time really slowed down.”
A big meal. Protein and salad usually.
— jack (@jack) July 18, 2018
I’m doing a 3 day water fast this weekend. That was my last meal.
— jack (@jack) October 12, 2018
CNBC recently wrote an article about what it was like to work like Dorsey, and according to the article, in addition to his eating habits, he had also taken to meditating twice a day, walking 5 miles to work, and taking ice baths in the mornings when he wakes up.
In the article, his day started with an ice-cold bath. According to sports scientist Ned Brophy-Williams, taking an ice-cold bath would redirect blood flow, which could help with a number of things such as inflammation and swelling. However, CNN reported that there may be health hazards to taking ice-cold baths, as the cold temperatures could put a strain on the heart, and could be very dangerous for people with heart disease.
Dorsey talked about his morning bath, and said, “Nothing has given me more mental confidence than being able to go straight from room temperature into the cold, especially in the morning, going into an ice-cold tub from just being warm in bed is—it just unlocks this thing in my mind and I feel like If I can will myself to do that thing that seems s small but hurts so much, I can do nearly anything.”
Dorsey also talked about meditating twice a day—once in the morning, and once at night. However, he said that although he aimed to meditate the full two hours, he had more time to spare some days than others, and whatever amount of time he could squeeze out of his busy schedule, he would use that time to meditate, whether it be 10 minutes or one hour. He also talked extensively about meditation on his Twitter account as well.
On the days he worked, which was every day other than Tuesdays and Thursdays, he walked 5 miles to work.
Got you. Here’s my setup. I work from home Tuesdays. In my kitchen. Tweetdeck. No one here with me, and no one connected to my tweetdeck. Just me focused on your questions! #Karajack pic.twitter.com/6fHigDXmWC
— jack (@jack) February 12, 2019
I woke up at 4 am every day, and we meditated until 9 pm. There were breaks for breakfast, lunch, and walking. No dinner. Here’s the sidewalk I walked for 45 minutes every day. pic.twitter.com/xDI7gLx6mW
— jack (@jack) December 9, 2018
“I might look a little bit more like I’m jogging than I’m walking,” Dorsey said. “It’s refreshing. … It’s just this one of those take-back moments where you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m alive!'”
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he works from home, he usually has his standing desk with a near-infrared light attached to his desk. He said when he worked, he would flip the switch on the infrared lightbulb. While some professionals say that there were positive results from exposure to near-infrared light, others say that the light could cause other negative side effects.
According to nutritionists, his intermittent habits could develop into an eating disorder for many, but it seemed like Dorsey is enjoying it for the most part. Most professionals in the food industry would advise against doing such an extreme diet routine—every person reacts to diet restriction differently, so they advise people to practice safe eating habits and only stick to what the body can handle.
