Coming from someone who’s lost weight before a holiday, getting into shape for a fight is on a completely different level, but also completely achievable for anyone. Just worrying about weight isn’t enough, you need to make sure you’re eating the right foods with the right nutrients to be at your best. Your athlete sponsored breakfast cereals won’t cut it!
In Wimp2Warrior and greater MMA, not only do we have to become leaner but also make sure we’re eating enough high-quality food to refuel and recover for the next day’s training. To find that balance we were encouraged to build healthy and sustainable eating habits.
In this post, I’ll go through what I consumed on an average day of training and share some tips I’ve learnt along the way. Remember, what I consumed worked for me and may not work for you! The principles around the choices are probably more important and are very transferrable.
Here’s what a rough weekday schedule looked like during W2W with a full day’s consumption. I’ll add the links to particular products I used at the bottom of the page.
3 AM – Wakeup and have 2 glasses of water (~500ml).
3:30 AM – A protein shake with a dash of instant coffee made with soy milk or water, which depended on if I could afford the extra calories.
Why: This contained protein which will help with recovery and stay full.
5:15 AM-6:30 AM – Training
6:30 AM – Another couple of glasses of water, some days I needed more and other days I needed less.
7:30 AM – 2/3 cup of oats (measured when uncooked) with soy milk or regular milk. Some days I sprinkled some cereal from work for a bit of sweetness, other days I also had some peanut butter on top.
Why: The carbs in the oats helped with recovery and refuelling.
8:30 – Coffee. I alternated between cappuccinos and long blacks. Most of the time I had my cappuccinos with almond or soy milk, it also depended on how much weight I still had to lose.
Why: To stay sane at work.
I know the cappuccinos have the chocolate powder on top but that bit of sweetness was good for morale.
Late Morning – A fair amount of green tea since it’s healthy for weight loss and full of antioxidants. It also helps in keeping you satisfied.
12 AM – Lunch! Most of the time I brought food from home which consisted of chicken and green veggies that I meal prepped once or twice a week.
Why: Chicken for the protein which aided in recovery and to keep full; veggies are healthy. Eat your veggies kids.
I can’t stress how important it is to flavour your food with some salts. I wasn’t spicing it up enough and resorted to some BBQ sauces which sadly contain a bit of sugar. Towards the end of the program, I did end up using a spice rub; all the flavour and none of the calories! This was a prime example of where I wasn’t perfect with my diet but I did learn something and make changes. Now I don’t buy that BBQ sauce anymore.
2 PM – Another coffee.
Late Afternoon – I found this period pretty tough. Before W2W, I used to eat cookies and the occasional Tim-Tam that members of our team gave us but I couldn’t snack on those anymore. When times got desperate, and they often did I had resorted to stevia-sweetened chocolates from the local Woolies Metro. These contain zero sugar but remember to keep an eye out for the fat – there isn’t too much but keep an eye out; a protein shake around this time helped too.
Why: To stay sane and satisfied. The protein shake gave me an extra serving of protein.
5:30 PM – Cottage cheese with a bit of honey. This was when I generally came home so I needed a little snack here before dinner. I wasn’t always disciplined enough to have this snack, it wouldn’t have hurt if I skipped it.
6:30 PM – Some days I used to train or do a couple of drills between before dinner but it wasn’t every day; looking back I wish it was; oh well.
7-7:30 PM – Chicken with a bit of roti, rice, dhal or veggies, sometimes all of the above – in moderation. “But there’s carbs in the rice and the roti Pavan! Carbs before bed are bad!”. There’s nothing wrong with carbs if you know when to eat them, they’re great to help you sleep and replenish your energy stores. I’m no expert in the effects of carbs but it seemingly worked for me.
8 PM – Sleep.
8:01 PM – Make sure my alarm is set.
8:01:15 PM – Sleep.
And that’s it!
By following a routine that slowly built up to this, I started to notice physically visible changes in 5 weeks. I could feel fat disappearing around my hips even a few weeks before that though.
I can openly and honestly say that my diet wasn’t perfect every day. I did, however, follow a few principles that helped me stay track which was quite sustainable throughout the 5 months, some of which I’ll continue for the foreseeable future.
Tips I took home
- Eat to refuel not to refill – don’t eat because you’re hungry and you want to fill your stomach. Treat your body like a balance book (like they do in accounting!) and eat only the foods you intend to burn. An even better approach is to only eat after you’ve put in the hard work; after all the hard work it’ll make you think twice if you want to refuel with junk foods.
- Drink lots of water – I didn’t drink enough water through my average day and I could feel it in my performance. I did get better but it’s not a habit I’ve mastered yet. Carrying around a water bottle or having a large tumbler on your desk can serve as a reminder to drink water.
- Don’t let one bad meal ruin your healthy eating – We’re all human and we have our ups and downs, it’s life. Now and then when I’ve had a terrible day, I’ve also ended up eating a not-so-great meal (generally a chicken schnitzel) to feel ‘good’ again; I didn’t let that bad meal pick up any momentum though into my next meal. Just start the healthy eating again from your next meal and not the next day!
- Keep it whole food-ey and simple – My main meals consisted of whole foods such as chicken, vegetables and lentils. I did eat a few protein bars from time to time but I avoid them nowadays.
- Give yourself a cheat meal budget if necessary – Trying to making drastic dietary changes in one day is difficult; it certainly was for me. Instead, try to build small achievable habits! For example, nowadays I’ve budgeted one ice-cream a week. If I know I’m going to have ice-cream with my friends later in the week, I’ll avoid having one now. Suppose you get to the end of the week resisting temptation, instead of rewarding yourself with a banana split, why not see if you can go another few more days? You could even go for a second week!
So there they are! These are some of the nutritional habits I’ve been gradually developing over the last few months that I’d find useful for most people.
I’d like to point out that these developing good habits wasn’t a solo effort, it required support and patience from the people around me; you might need the same.
If you’ve got any questions, please leave a comment below!
Thanks!
P.S. Here are a couple of products that I used regularly that might also be right for you.
Protein Powder
Soy Milk
Light Soy Milk
I got mine at Aldi, not at Grocery Van
Acknowledgements
- Skyline Productions for both photos in the header, they’re awesome
- My family who dealt with my strict-ish diet during my W2W journey
- My friends whom I couldn’t share a dessert or a drink with for months
- My friend Walter Deane who tested my patience and willpower every morning by eating a toasted bagel with cream cheese, in front of me. No, but seriously, you’re awesome.
