Have you ever heard the saying;
‘Dieting is easy, it’s
like riding a bike.
Except the bike is on
fire. And so is the ground. And so are you, because you’re in hell’.
Well a lot of athletes feel this way when they set out to
either make weight for a competition or lose a bit of fat to be more
competitive on the mats. A lot of diets start out really well with the first
few pounds coming off pretty easily, then it slows down or stops.
What happened?
Is it just the nature of diets for them to slow down or are
you sabotaging yourself from the start?
The honest truth is it’s a bit of both. It is rare for
people to achieve steady fat loss all the way to their goal with zero
adjustments. Most of the time you will need to make changes either to your
training or your nutrition that will give you the results that you desire.
The problem comes with knowing what to change and when. It’s
not the lack of will that hold athletes back as I have yet to meet a serious
one that wasn’t dedicated to their goals. It’s not the availability of
knowledge either, just type the words ‘fat’ and ‘loss’ into Google and see how
many hits you get back (31,600,000 for those who care).
The problem is that the sheer wealth of information is just
too much. People have no idea where to start when setting up a plan or what
method will work for them best. I’ve lost count of the number of times a
persona has come to me either eating like a small bird or thinking that eating
junk all day is fine as they need to ‘fuel the machine’. Most people would do
best with a sensible plan that is free from fads and crazy products and is
based on whole, nutritious food from natural sources.
However even with this approach it is possible to sabotage
your diet right from the start. There are certain things that you could be
doing, or leaving out of your nutrition that could be costing you from the beginning.
Most people see some of these things as ‘healthy’ and others are so simple it’s
crazy. However I’ve seen this time and time again with clients and people who
come to me for help.
Make sure you address these issues when you are setting up a
nutrition plan or run the risk of making your programme much harder than it
needs to be!
I know I say this in every article but I cannot stress it
enough! Making sure that you get your diet set up correctly from the start will
save you many headaches as you go on. Having a good starting point will give
you room to make adjustments and make sure that you cover all your bases so
that the plan is healthy and supplements your performance goals (smashing
people on the mat or in competition).
Make sure that your plan has a wide range of foods from natural
sources and processed foods are kept to a minimum. Make sure you have plenty of
vegetables and a variety of macro nutrient sources (i.e. not eating just
chicken and lettuce).
If all the information out there confuses you, either speak
to your coach or talk to a professional. Any
Nutritional Coach worth his salt
will answer a few questions as long as you are polite and don’t take the piss
by asking him for a full plan.
Pay attention to water intake.
Water is insanely important.
Water is used for pretty much all of the processes in the
human body including muscle building and fat loss. Many people think that the
odd glass of water is enough and as long as they are getting a bit they will be
ok.
This isn’t the case.
From my experience I would say that 2 litres per day is the minimum
that everyone should shoot for. However based on my experience with clients I
would say that the sweet spot is always between 3-5 litres per day. This seems
to have the best effect on fat loss and hydration. As BJJ practitioners should
never be water cutting (due to same day weigh ins) this is a great place to
start for all athletes.
Never guess your water intake either. Always measure it out
at the start of the day so you know exactly how much you have to drink each day.
This is probably one of the biggest down falls I see with people.
Take care of your digestive system
This is something that everyone over looks, no matter what
sport they are in. If you don’t look after your digestive system you are not
going to be able to digest food properly. This means that if your body can’t
break down the nutrients that you give it effectively, it will not be able to
utilise optimally to produce the results that you need.
Make sure that you are not eating foods that cause you any
kind of distress such as bloating, constipation, gas, or giving you unpleasant
bowel movements (hard to pass, loose etc).
To help aid clients with this I make sure that they have a
probiotic every day and take in foods that are rich in fibre. When it comes to
dieting you want to try to aim for 12g of fibre for every 1000 calories that
you consume. Your bodies ability to pass waste effectively plays a big part in
fat loss and being healthy.
Manage your stress.
This is probably the hardest factor to manage in any diet
plan. Stress has a massive effect on our bodies ability to function. When we
are stressed it makes it ten times harder to lose fat.
While it is impossible to avoid stress completely in the
real world thanks to jobs, kids, getting smashed by the brand new white belt in
the gym, it is possible to manage it. This means that you take certain steps to
reduce your stress and relax.
This includes things like,
·
Mediation
·
Taking naps/getting 8 hours of sleep per night
·
Baths, Jacuzzis and other recovery techniques
·
Yoga and stretching
·
Not looking at a screen of any type 1 hour
before bed
·
Participating in exercise that allows you to de
stress (like more BJJ training)
·
Letting little things go (like not chasing down
the person that cut you up this morning and beating them to death with their
own thermos etc)
I personally find BJJ as the biggest stress reliever simply
because its impossible to think about anything else while doing it. It puts you
completely in the moment and all of lifes other distractions melt away into the
now.
Know your limits when it comes to cheats and free
meals.
I’ve lost count over the number of times I’ve seen crazy
cheats ruin sensible plans.
Let’s get a few things out of the way. Yes cheat meals can
help you stay on track psychologically with a diet and used correctly they can
even aid in fat loss. I use many different forms of cheat meals with clients as
it improves compliance with diet tenfold.
However I know what clients can have and when. 2 weeks out
from a competition and you’ve still got a good bit of weight to lose? Sorry
that cheat isn’t happening. I’ve seen countless people be unable to stop if
given enough free rein. Some people go as far as to rationalise a full weekends
worth of binge eating because they have stayed on diet all week. I’m sorry but
two full days of eating crap will undo all your hard work.
Cheats are fine as long as they are used correctly. All my
client get at least a cheat meal all the way up to their competition or fight
and it is only in VERY rare circumstances that I have had to take them out.
Again, if you don’t know when to add in cheats to get the maximum results,
speak to your coach or a professional.
Make sure that before you start any fat loss plan that you
have all of the pieces in place that will allow you to achieve the best
possible result. Don’t get caught in paralysis by analysis on the internet.
Speak to people who know what they are doing, have either achieved it
themselves or have replicated the results on others, and take their advice.
The key to succeeding in any diet is to know what to adjust
and when plus staying consistent. I’ve said this a million times before but
consistency beats everything in any aspect of life. Working hard towards a goal
will even beat natural talent 90% of the time. You have to have a smart plan,
adjust it as necessary and follow it all the way through.
Stay healthy,
Mike
