Agoge Diet

Over the last years there has been a wakening of diets inspired on ancient practices. The most famous diets following this trend are paleo, vegan and keto. But one diet that has been gaining popularity is the Agoge Diet.

Despite the attention this diet has been gaining, if you search the internet for Agoge Diet you will be surprised by the variety of information available. Some articles will make reference to what was believed to be the diet the Spartans followed, while others make reference to a diet program promoted by a company.

In this article we will cover what are the assumptions of how the the Agoge Diet was in the ancient times, as well as what seem to be the adaptations implemented in the current version. But one thing that seems to stand out, both for the ancient and modern versions is that, the Agoge Diet differs from most diets by its pragmatic approach. In this diet the focus in on the food quality and not in the quantity. It is refreshing to see a diet that is not associated with calorie counting and fad periods.

What is the Agoge diet?

The Agoge Diet as currently promoted is basically a high in protein and healthy fat diet, rich in fibers and that uses carbohydrate sources with low low glycemic index. This is most likely aligned with the design that was used by the Spartans, since this provided them the perfect nutrition to stand demanding exercises and at the same time build an impressive physic.

The frequent meals over the day is also another common trait between the ancient diet and the modern program. Both recommended 4 meals a day supported by healthy snacks when needed. Where differences start to appear is in the duration of the ancient diet vs the current Agoge Diet. While the Agoge Diet was part of the Agöge training male spartan teenagers had to go through, the contemporary Agoge Diet is a 4 months program.

To better understand the differences and the reason for these deviations it is important to understand what was the Agöge.

What is the Agöge?

The Agöge was the specific training Spartan male boys had to go through in order to deserve their ranks in Sparta as full right citizens. This training was composed by 3 main areas: physical and combat training, classic education, and social rules. At the end of the Agöge, the boy should be prepared to serve and swear alliance to Sparta.

The Agöge started at the age of 7 and lasted until they were 20 or 21 years old. Boys were removed from their parents protection and exposed to challenging situations that demanded, pain resistance, discipline and strong will. The term Agöge, literally means aggressive in ancient Greek. Although they received the classic noble education given to young boys in other Greek cities, in Sparta, boys were encourage to fight and compete among themselves.

Challenging each other during the Agöge was encouraged as it developed the fighting spirit that was necessary for all spartan soldiers. There were some rules but the idea was to promote strong youngsters that would not be afraid of fighting, but at the same time were extremely disciplined.

The Agöge was split into 3 age groups young children, adolescents, and young adults. At the later stages of the Agöge the young adults would be incorporated into Sparta’s army to complete final training under observation.

Those who successfully completed the Agöge would be considered citizens of Sparta, while anyone who did not complete the training and quit would be cast away from Sparta society. Spartans were extremely proud of their courage and mothers would tell their sons, upon departure to war: “bring back your shield or return on top of it”. Dropping your shield was seen as a coward action, usually associated with deserters. Due to the heavy weight of the shield, in order to run away deserters would drop their shield. Spartan mothers would prefer to see their sons returning dead on top of the shield than knowing that he had deserted and became a coward.

Ancient Agoge Diet

In order to support the extremely challenging Agöge, Spartans had an adapted diet that made sure they would be able to develop young boys into fully functioning citizens/warriors. It is therefore not surprising that their diet was rich in protein and long lasting carbohydrate sources.

One aspect that was documented in Spartan soldiers diaries, was that despite the frequent meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and snacks along the day, they were encouraged to eat slowly and just enough to satiate the hunger. In case of doubt it was better to be hungry most of the time than to eat in excess.

The competition and challenges among the Spartan boys also included stealing each other food. They were encouraged to be resourceful and aggressive, but when caught they would be severely punished for stealing. The punishment was due not so much to the theft itself, but to the fact they were caught. They should do better next time!

In terms of foods used in their diets, lean meat, eggs, fish, high fiber vegetables, olive oil, cheese, milk and fruits were the main contributors for their nutrition. This is actually overall aligned with the basic principles of the Mediterranean diets, and it is logic considering the geographic location of Sparta.

As previously mentioned, this diet was supposed to support the healthy development of strong soldiers but also the mental and cultural education of Sparta’s future citizens. The youngsters was subject to intensive training both mental and physical.

Modern Agoge Diet

The modern day Agoge Diet has maintained most of the characteristics of the ancient diet. It is for that reason not surprising to see an overlap on both the meal schedule and the type of foods to be used as part of the diet.

The modern Agoge Diet lasts 4 months, instead of the 13 years from the Spartans, but it consist of 4 meals a day complemented by snacks when necessary.

The modern Agoge Diet is also planned to be done together with intensive workouts 3 to 4 times a week. The fact that it does not impose calorie counting, makes the workout plan even more critical. Several people complain that they do not lose weight in the Agoge diet. Most likely reasons: they are eating way too much (even eating healthy foods calories are still calories) or they are not training hard enough.

Rules of the modern Agoge Diet

• Eat every 4 hours
• Eat lean protein with each meal: fish, chicken breasts, lean ground beef, turkey breasts, egg whites
• Include plenty of vegetables at each meal: carrots, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.
• Consume healthy fats up to 40% of the time: 50% extra virgin olive oil, almonds, and avocado oil, and 50% fish oil
• Snacks should consist of the almonds and fruits.
• You can eat your favorite cheat food up to 3 hours after an intensive workout.

Is the agoge diet healthy?

The main aim of the Agoge Diet is help you lose weight without having to endure the restrictive limitations that come with most other diets. In a ketogenic diet for instance, you will have to do away with carbohydrates, and eat mostly high-fat and moderate-protein foods, while strictly watching your caloric intake.

In veganism, you only eat foods that are from plant origin, while completely avoiding animal foods and their products. In intermittent fasting, you have to keep switching between eating and fasting on a regular schedule. If you ask me, all these restrictions can take a toll on one’s lifestyle. That’s why the Agoge Diet has been gaining a lot of traction in recent years, as it’s way of eating is considered healthy by most nutritionists around.

Agoge diet plan

There are mixed information when it comes to the diet plan of an Agoge lifestyle. There’s hardly a consolidated piece out there that states explicitly all what you should eat and not eat. However, what seems to be most agreed upon by the Agoge diet followers is:

• Eating frequently along the day.
• Adding a lot of vegetables in every meal you prepare.
• Eating lean proteins like chicken, fish, and egg whites. Lean proteins contain less amounts of unhealthy saturated fats. According to the USDA, lean proteins should contain less than 10 grams of total fat, and less than 4.5 grams of saturated fat per 100 grams.
• Eating only healthy unsaturated fats; which can make up a sizable portion of your daily caloric intake. This means limiting your intake of foods that are high in saturated fats like butter, coconut oil, palm oil, sausages, bacon, cheese, and cured meats like chorizo and salami.
• Engaging in regular exercises, may be 3-4 times a week. When you exercise, you even earn the chance to cheat on your meal plan, by eating something that’s probably on your “red” list.

Since the Agoge Diet limits carbs intake, and allows lean protein and healthy fats intake, it often becomes confused with the ketogenic diet. However, the main difference is that Agoge Diet emphasizes more on the intake of healthy plant-based foods, in addition to regular engagement in physical activities.

Benefits of the agoge diet

Every diet has its pros and cons. But the pros of the Agoge outweighs the cons. Besides, the only thing people see as a disadvantage in this diet is the lack of caloric-regulation. Apart from that, there are obviously a lot of benefits in going the Agoge way of life. Some of them include:

A healthy body

The Agoge Diet focuses on eating more of healthy foods, and limiting the unhealthy ones. This allows your body to work efficiently, and prevents the occurrence of numerous diseases and conditions. Fruits and vegetables for instance, are rich sources of various vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, that can work to keep the body in a disease-free state.

Stress-free

What most Agoge Diet followers love is the freedom this kind of diet offers. It allows one to eat numerous types of foods with very little dietary restrictions. Also, the hassle of calorie counting is not a problem with the Agoge Diet. Why? This is because it places somewhat equal emphasis in engagement in physical exercises, which can help the body burn most of the excess calories consumed in foods.

An active lifestyle

A lot of dietary lifestyles out there focus only on things to eat and those to avoid, and may be amounts to eat, with little emphasis on how important physical activities can be to a person’s health, especially when it comes to weight loss. With the Agoge Diet, one has to engage in regular physical activities. This can help greatly by regulating your caloric-balance, and strengthening your overall body. Besides, in order to lose weight, a calorie-deficit state must be attained, which literally means your body must burn more calories than it adds.

Weight loss

The Agoge Diet became popular because it’s thought to help significantly when it comes to weight loss. Anecdotal evidences have shown that embracing an Agoge Diet may help you lose weight in less than 3 months. Whether that’s true or not, what’s certain is that the Agoge Diet can really transform your body. Healthy eating and regular exercising is what it truly entails, and as such, benefits like a healthy body weight should be definitely within sight.

Who should not try the Agoge diet?

Unlike a ketogenic diet, everyone can try the Agoge Diet without any harm. Besides, it’s technically just a regular diet, but with the intake of more fruits and vegetables, less amounts of unhealthy fats, moderate lean proteins, and more fiber. All these can help achieve a healthy state of being.

FAQs:

What is the Agoge challenge?

The Agoge challenge is a 30 days challenge program that focus not only on improving your fitness, discipline, self-belief and making you part of the Agoge Tribe. In this challenge you are provided with an app, a clear training program and diet plan for 30 days. Additionally you receive recipes that are fitting to the Agoge Diet, as well as nutritional education and guidance to adapt your diet in case you are vegan or doing a keto diet.

To make it even more appealing, there are financial prizes for 3 best performers during the challenge.

In case you are interested, the next 30 days Agoge challenge will start on the 1^st of January 2023

More info can be obtained here.

Agoge diet vs Keto diet

The Agoge diet focus on eating foods that are low in fat, high in fiber, moderate in protein, high in water, and those that have a low glycemic index, and complement this with a healthy lifestyle that promotes exercise as a critical aspect of your life.

On the other hand, Keto diet focus on eating food rich in fat that will be the source of your calories to get your body used to burn fat as main source of energy. By doing so, it tricks the body to burn the stored fat more efficiently. Exercise is also encouraged to optimize results.

Both diets are efficient but the Keto diet seems like a more aggressive approach that can be used to achieve short term results, but that should not be done continuously. Agoge Diet is a more sustainable approach, probably you will not see the results immediately but long term it will be a diet you can keep forever and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Agoge Diet plan for weight loss

The Agoge Diet plan is usually split into 3 different phases.

Phase 1 is the start of the diet and aims to easily burn the excessive pounds at a quick rate by focusing your meals in vegetables and fruits and avoiding meat, eggs, dairy products and most foods with high carbohydrates content.

Phase 2 will adjust your diet to continue to lose weight but at a slower rhythm, since the easier to shred pounds are already gone. In this phase, you will include in your meals foods that are rich in protein like fish, beans, nuts, seeds as well as increasing the intake of fibre.

Phase 3 represents the more advanced stage of the diet. It targets the most stubborn diet that just refuses to leave your body. Meal plan focus on low carb intake and high protein intake. This diet associated with the more intense workouts that you are capable of doing at this stage, promote the increase of muscle mass and burning of fat.

The Agoge weight loss plan is a adaptive process that supports you over the different phases, adjusting both your diet and exercise plan to the objectives of each phase.

Agoge Diet recipes

The Agoge Diet consists of general rules that only differ from what would be a normal healthy diet by decreasing the intake of carbs and increasing the amount of vegetables and fruit.

Any lean source of protein recipe can be easily adjusted by removing sauces and replacing the carbs source in the side dish into vegetables or salads.

Some specific programs, like the 30 day Agoge Challenge, provide you a 30 day meal plan

Bottom line

The Agoge Diet appears as a valuable proposal that can deliver results both short and long term. It is a healthy balanced approach to dieting that both support your intention to lose weight, but also to build muscle in a later phase. It is also a very flexible diet that does not focus on calorie counting, but if you add this to your diet, it will for sure speed up the process.

Some users have shared concerns that the Agoge Diet is not working for them. This can be due to many reasons, but the most likely one is the fact that the Agoge Diet uses 4 pillars: fitness, discipline, confidence and inclusion in the Agoge Tribe community. As the diet is not focusing on calorie count, if you deviate from the diet or do not complement the diet with proper exercise, it is likely you will not get the expected results.

If you are looking for something that will change your lifestyle and lead you into a healthier, stronger and more confident version of yourself, then this Agoge Diet is what you are looking for. Make sure to invest the necessary efforts on all of the 4 pillars and your will get astonished by the results.

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