Issue 135
December 2015
How allowing meat and dairy to dominate your diet can lead to a easier trip to the scales
Cutting weight sucks. Waving goodbye to sugar, reducing your salt intake and generally training like a Trojan on an empty stomach is nobody’s idea of fun. Even MMA’s self-confessed masochists baulk at the prospect of the draining last few weeks of fight camp. But training nutrition doesn’t have to revolve around countless bowls of boiled chicken breasts and endless amounts of asparagus.
Imagine a fight camp menu that features as many courses of meat, cheese and nuts as you can manage through the week, and is topped off by a weekend beset with the very best takeout junk food your dollars will stretch to? It might sound too good to be true, but that’s exactly the philosophy behind The Anabolic Diet, a nutrition delivery system designed by Dr Mauro Di Pasquale.
This nutrition plan is built on two simple rules: eat a high-protein, high-fat diet all week; then gorge on a high-fat, high-carb diet all weekend. It works by encouraging your body to use fat as a source of energy, so it gets zapped from your frame. “Eating plenty of fat tells your body not to store fat because it’s getting plenty of it so it can be used as fuel,” explains sports nutritionist Matt Lovell. “You are allowed some carbs during the week but limit these to the ones you get from vegetables, because you’ll still need enough vitamins and minerals to keep you strong.”
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also found the strategy works because athletes with the highest intake of fat also boast plenty of muscle-building, fat-burning testosterone too.
Lean or large?
The Anabolic Diet can also be used to lose or gain weight, by simply adjusting your portion sizes. To lose weight cook up a 10oz steak. To bulk up go for an 18oz. Simple.
Anabolic Diet consumption breakdown
Weekdays
Fat: 55-60%
Protein: 30-35%
Carbs: 5-8%
Weekends
Fat: 30-40%
Protein: 5-10%
Carbs: 45-60%
Fighter’s anabolic eating plan
Follow this sample menu to lose fat and gain lean muscle
Weekdays:
Breakfast: Three boiled eggs with two fillets of oily fish
Snack: Pack of beef jerky or three triangles of cheese
Lunch: Turkey kebab with double the meat – don’t eat all of the wrap
Snack: 100g mixed nuts
Dinner: Rack of lamb with broccoli, corn and.cabbage
Weekend:
Breakfast: Bowl of muesli and protein shake
Snack: Carrot sticks and hummus dip
Lunch: Beef curry and white rice
Snack: Peanut butter and jelly bagel
Dinner: Pizza, burger or Chinese takeout (your favorite cheat meal)
H2O the key to go!
MMA nutrition guru Mike Dolce replies to your posts
Q. I’m an athlete who prides myself on my speed and reaction times, but how can my nutrition help with my style?
A. Actually one of the most overlooked aspects of reaction time is hydration levels. The school of thought used to be that a 2% level of dehydration can cause a decrease in cognitive performance, but recent studies indicate that this reduction may happen with as little as a 1% level of dehydration. That would be a loss of 2lb on a 200lb man.
The best way to battle against this is to ensure proper hydration standards are met every day, with special focus on intra (during) performance hydration.
Be sure to have a large water jug near you at all times with a small spike of salt and freshly squeezed lemon juice included in there to maximize absorption.
Q. Is my morning mocha impeding my training?
A. I am a big proponent of coffee as a performance enhancer and thermogenic aid.But problems can start arising with the java when you add in sweeteners and flavorings.
For example, a 16oz Starbucks mocha contains 360 total calories (as much as most breakfasts), a whopping 15g of fat (including 9g of unhealthy saturated fats) and, according to its own nutrition information, 44g of carbohydrates – that’s the equivalent of more than half a cup of oats.
Your best bet is to brew your own cup of joe and keep it black, because that means it will have zero calories. If you need to, splash it up with a touch of coconut milk or add a little dash of honey to sweeten it a little.
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