Howling at the moon might not help you reach your health goals, but the mythology behind werewolves could give you a new perspective. People have tried the werewolf diet to lose weight and eat better for years. Check out everything you should know about the diet before trying it yourself. It might be the change of pace you need to get back on track.

What Is the Werewolf Diet?

The werewolf diet is an eating style that involves fasting 24 hours each month during a new moon or full moon. Some people make their fast last a few days if they choose a new moon period, waiting until it enters its next phase to align with the lunar cycle more closely.

While fasting lasts, people following the werewolf diet can choose when they eat according to their preferences. They might eat a cleansing soup for lunch and a detoxifying smoothie for dinner. Others might go without food for a more extended period and only drink water during the day.

How Is It Different From the Lunar Diet?

The lunar diet requires that people only drink juice or water for 24 hours during a full moon. No solid foods are allowed during that period, making it a less flexible diet. People might prefer it when they only want a short-term detoxifying period once a month.

Werewolf Diet Pros and Cons

Because the werewolf diet is more flexible, it has a few pros and cons. These are a few things you can expect if you give it a try.

Pro: You Can Determine What You Eat and When

Some diets require participants to eliminate sugar to stop addictive overeating or avoid fruit juice to minimize blood sugar spikes, the werewolf diet’s only rule is about time. If you try it, you’ll have total freedom to choose what the diet means to you.

You could drink broth for the 24 hours of a full moon or embody a raging werewolf and eat only meat for that day. The flexibility attracts people like Demi Moore and Madonna. You might be the next person to enjoy the diet’s customizable nature.

Con: You Might Feel Pressured to Fast for Multiple Days

Although going without food for 24 hours might decrease insulin levels, it’s not enough time to change a person’s total weight significantly. If you’re trying the werewolf diet to lose weight, you might feel pressured to go without food longer to get results. Extended fasting is dangerous because it often turns into starvation. It could make this diet more risky if you think you’d be inclined to try extending it.

Pro: You’ll Enjoy a Short Dieting Period

People can do nearly anything for 24 hours. It’s a different experience than deciding to change your daily approach to food forever. There’s less pressure to keep up with a higher standard or more specific way of eating. It might encourage you to continue making healthy lifestyle changes if long-term diets left you feeling discouraged in the past.

Con: You Might Not See the Results You Want

One day during a month will make little to no difference if you’re eating unhealthy foods or not exercising between lunar cycles. A limited-time diet means you also have to do more work to improve your lifestyle choices for the rest of the month, which not everyone feels up to or has time to manage.

How to Make the Werewolf Diet More Sustainable

Here are a few ways to make the werewolf diet work for you long-term, depending on your preferences. See if any of these ideas work with your lifestyle and health goals.

1. Create a Doctor-Approved Fasting Plan

Some fasting plans have short-term health benefits, like increasing your metabolism, but it’s easy to go too long without food if you don’t know what you’re doing. You can always call your doctor to discuss your ideas for fasting during the werewolf diet. If they approve, you’ll know you’re on the right track with your nutrient intake surrounding your fasting hours.

2. Make Your Werewolf Diet Meals Nutrient-Dense

Even if you only drink liquids during fasting, you can always make them more nutrient-dense. Toss some Greek yogurt in a smoothie since it contains significant amounts of protein to fuel your body. Combine non-solid ingredients with occasional breaks for smoothies, teas and water to stay healthy while your fast lasts.

3. Structure Your Life Around the Fasting Periods

Only dieting for a day or two won’t do anything if your lifestyle is unhealthy surrounding your dieting periods. Consider what you can do to live healthier, like exercising occasionally and eating better daily meals. You’ll likely pause habits that don’t support your well-being, reaching your health goals faster between your fasting days.

4. Create Your Own Definition

The flexibility of the werewolf diet means you can create your own definition of it. You might only eat meat for those 24 hours, ultimately eliminating processed, high-sugar foods during the dieting day. You could eat only organic foods found in nature while slightly increasing your exercise routine to mimic a werewolf on the run. It depends on your individual goals.

5. Expand the Werewolf Lunar Diet Schedule

Instead of focusing on one 24-hour or three-day period every month, you can always create a fun diet that follows the entire lunar cycle. One day might be only detoxifying smoothies, another phase is chicken salad day. Another day could be your no-added-sugar day. The changes will keep your diet interesting and ensure you don’t feel stuck with one approved food group forever.

Check with your doctor to see if you’re on the right track after making your werewolf diet schedule. They can determine if you need other meal ideas or a different structure based on how many nutrients you’ll get throughout the month.

Use Food to Reach Your Health Goals

Trying something creative like the werewolf diet makes life more fun. It’s also another way to reach your health goals if you feel like you’ve tried everything else. Consider how you could make this diet idea your own according to what you want out of it and what your doctor approves.