Issue 126

March 2015

How to eat like a world champion, without spending money like one!

The life of a mixed martial artist is a pretty Spartan existence. In order to reach your goals, you must train your tail off five to six days a week, usually twice a day. In order to keep up that type of grueling schedule, you must eat!

Now, just mindlessly eating what I call “civilian food” will do nothing for your dreams of being the next Johny Hendricks. You must eat the best possible nutrients to fuel your body in the best possible manner.

Often, athletes will blame their sub-par diet on the high costs of eating clean. But what good is being locked in a cage with an equally trained athlete running on the best possible fuel, when you have garbage pumping through your system.

The ability to repair damaged muscles, offer a sustained energy source, burn body fat and ward off illness is best supported by a quality nutrition plan. I understand money is tight – especially when you’re in the early stages of your career – and I’m here to help you gain an advantage on the competition.

BUY IN BULK

Many MMA-specific foods like oats, rice, potatoes, nuts, seeds and oils can be bought in bulk at deep discounts over the traditional process.

BUY FROM PRICE CLUBS

I have a membership to a local price club. It costs me $75 per year. I shop there once a month and stock up on all sorts of essentials. I’ll buy bars of soap, toothpaste, deodorant, and razors, but also tupperware to store my food and many bulk items.

CLIP COUPONS

Don’t laugh. Why would you pay any more for a product then you absolutely have to? Every Sunday, we grab a newspaper and look for deals and coupons. Due to the competitive nature of fighters, make this a challenge. Try to save more money each grocery trip than the one before.

ONLINE SALES

Shopping online is one of the most valuable resources available to us nowadays. Outlets like Amazon offer tremendous savings on everyday products that get shipped right to your door – often for free. This is how I traditionally purchase all my oat bran, chia seeds and hemp seeds. It costs me about 25% of what I’d pay at my local grocery store and I even save on gas money.

SAVE YOUR MONEY

This concept may be lost on a lot of people, but whatever money I save on my groceries, I put into a savings account… OK, a piggy bank under my bed! The key is to hold on to your hard-earned cash. In time, those few cents add up to serious dollars with a little discipline.

LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS

There are small farms or farmers markets all over. These are the epitome of small businesses and they need the community to survive. You can get a few dozen farm-fresh eggs, tomatoes, spinach and much more for pennies on the dollar from what grocery stores will charge you. These are some of the highest-quality food products you can get. I would rather buy apples grown 10 kilometers from my home and picked that day then apples picked two weeks ago 1,000 kilometers away.

PLAN YOUR MEALS

This is a big one. Way too much food is purchased and then spoils in the fridge before it’s ever eaten, or too much food is cooked and then goes bad waiting for someone to eat it. I try to be very specific with my food. I only buy exactly what I’ll eat. I only prepare exactly what I’ll eat. This makes life very simple and keeps my food bill much lower. 

WRITE DOWN YOUR GROCERY LIST

Before I go shopping, I open my fridge and pantry. I have my weekly meal plan hanging on my wall, so I can see what I’ll be eating that week and what I’m low on. I write down exactly what I’ll need and go to the store with that list. I don’t buy anything else, no matter what tries to jump off the shelf into my basket.

EAT BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry. The worst-case scenario is to be standing in an aisle surrounded by food when you are starving. Bad decisions are often made that will burn through your wallet and blow your diet for the week.

EAT AT HOME

Nothing will beat a home-cooked meal. There are a variety of physical reasons to make your own food like quality and monetary control. Why pay three, four or five times the cost of a simple meal when you don’t have to? 

Hopefully, these tips will help you make wise decisions as you progress through the levels of your career. Establishing a quality nutrition program to support your MMA career is an investment in your future but it doesn’t have to break the bank. I’ve had many athletes follow a complete six-meal-per-day nutrition plan using the tips above for an average of about $50 per week. 

MIKE DOLCE is the World MMA Awards 2013 TRAINER OF THE YEAR, author of THE DOLCE DIET book series and creator of UFC FIT. Follow Mike on twitter @THEDOLCEDIET or go to his website THEDOLCEDIET.com