Thursday, March 29, 2012

2012 BJJ Season in Full Swing!

     Hello and welcome to the new blog everyone.  Hope you enjoy the new layout!  I'll pick this blog up right where the last one left off.  My last discussion, a rather windy one, was on the bangs of cutting weight.  Not only does this have physical affects, but psychological ones as well.  My primary concern was that making weight had become the focus of my training, rather than competing.  This is an absolutely FATAL flaw, especially in IBJJF regulated tournaments where you might have all of five minutes between weighing in and competing.  This not nearly enough time to replenish your body and refocus your mind for the task at hand.  Thus, I made the vow to myself that I would never cut weight for a BJJ tournament again.  There is a bit of leeway in this promise, as I find it acceptable to loose a minimal amount of "water weight" (<5 lbs) to compensate for the weight of a gi and belt (which you must wear while weighing in).
      On to the next matter.  I wanted to completely revamp my diet.  I had been on the "low carb" kick for quite some time (since August of 2011 actually) and I found a chronic disconnection between that plan and my fighting lifestyle.  While a low carb plan may be well suited for sedentary people, a fighter needs energy and needs it quickly.  What I mean by this is that fats (which low carb diets tend to be high in) are more dense and complex molecules than carbohydrates.  Where fats take a while to be broken down and converted to a usable energy source (ketones), carbohydrates function both as structural molecules and as an immediate source of energy.  There are of course carbohydrates of varying complexities, but generally speaking, they serve as an energy source.  I drummed up a diet off the top of my head, completely off the cuff as to what I thought would be sufficient to my training and dietary needs.  (See APPENDIX ONE for the charts).  This diet had me at 1400 calories consisting of 36.8% protein, 26.3% fat, and 36.8% carbs.  The additional procedures of this diet were a toned down version of what I had learned from Tim Ferriss in "The Four Hour Body."  In short, I was taking cold showers after workouts to aid in recovery, mixing cinnamon with my coffee to increase my insulin sensitivity, and doing 90 seconds of exercise before and after cheat meals.  Most of my carbohydrates were coming from whole grains such as whole grain cereals and pasta, secondly fruits, four servings of vegetables, and a bit of an allotment for condiments.  The only supplements I was taking were whey protein and a multivitamin.  What I found with this diet, is that it worked excellent for the first week or so.  However, I did not feel that it was fueling enough as by the second week I was "cheating" almost every other day.  This meant that there was a big problem.  My planned diet was not reflective of what I was actually consuming.  When your are cheating nearly as often as you are "being good" then your good behavior is not really the norm, and, in fact, may be the exception.
     Where I went from there was to keep the same macronutrient ratios but increase the caloric intake.  Upon referencing my diet logs from last year's 2011 season I noticed that at my apex I was consuming 1900 calories per day!  The reasons that this was successful for me then was that while I was consuming a considerable amount more on each day, I was less inclined to indulge in one of those 5000 calorie binge days.  The adjustment had me at a little over 1800 calories, with ratios, procedures, and supplements being relatively the same (Charted Diet in APPENDIX TWO).  I also want to note that a strong criticism of low carb / high fat diets is that they tend to raise triglyceride levels and blood pressure in their participants.  While this evidence has been provided to support both sides of the story, I did notice a very considerable drop in my blood pressure.  In about three weeks I went from an "potentially hazardous blood pressure of 140 / 80 to a suave 110 / 60.  I am but one case study and of course I could have just been really, really, REALLY relaxed that day :-)
     I soon found another problem with this guesstimated diet.  That was that it had increased my body's dependency on sugar (what carbohydrates break down into).  The plan had backfired on me.  I thought that by having a stable intake of "good" carbs, I would be able to stave off my relentless sweet tooth.  I was wrong.  Granted, I only gave the new adjustment less than a week for a trial run, but something was certainly wrong.
     I have mentioned before that my "go to" book for starting a new diet has long been "The Diet Solution:  The NEW American Diet" by Scivation.  I once again reacquainted with this trusty source.  I am now (three weeks out from my next competition) taking word-for-word what Scivation prescribes and implementing with a few tidbits I gathered from Ferriss.  The plan is relatively simple.  Persons weighing between 140 - 160 lbs should consume 35 grams of protein per meal and 15 grams of fat per meal for five meals per day.  By the book males should consume 60 grams of carbohydrates EITHER after their workout or first thing in the morning (30g for females).  One cheat meal is allowed per week.  And free foods are defined as having less than 20 calories or less than 5 grams of carbohydrates, and are allowed once per meal MAX.  You can see what the book would have prescribed form me in APPENDIX THREE.
     I did make a few adjustments to what the Diet Solution had prescribed.  Rather than 5 meals per day, I increased to 6 so that I could implement Ferriss' strategy of consuming 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning.  This is done with a simple scoop of whey protein with my morning coffee.  The remaining five meals are then consumed as normal with after the nutrients from the first meal are deducted from the daily total.  For example:  35 x 5 = 175 g of protein.  If my protein shake has 23 grams of protein then 175 - 23 = 152; 152 / 5 remaining meals is about 30 grams of protein for each of those meals.  I have also opted for two cheat meals per week that replace the last meal of that particular day.  90 seconds of exercise will be conducted prior to and after each cheat meal as recommended by Ferriss.  The Diet Solution recommends two servings of fruit per day and unlimited green vegetables.  In my case, I am planning for two servings of fruit (15 grams of carbohydrates ea.) and four servings (4-6 grams of carbohydrates ea.) of vegetables per day.  Other notes include taking my multivitamin with the high carb meal while insulin levels are high, taking cold showers on workout days to aid recovery, and taking a hot bath once per week to relax.  (See the chart for this plan in APPENDIX FOUR).
     My next scheduled competition is on April 21, 2012 at the Chicago NAGA.  I have not yet registered nor decided on a weight class to enter.  Rest assure that I will keep you posted!  Thanks for reading, FIGHT ON!

Links to Referenced Material:
The Diet Solution by Scivation
The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
Multivitamin I am currently taking
Whey Protein I currently use

APPENDIX ONE:

March 2012 Diet:  Daily Intake 1500 Cal (3/5/12)
Protein 35% 525 cal 131g 0.77g / lb
Fat 30% 450 cal 50g 0.38g / lb
Carbohydrates 35% 525 cal 131g 0.77g / lb
Meal Time Calories P(g) F(g) C(g) Descrip
1 - Breakfast 8:00 AM 249 26 5 25 Whey & Kashi / Starch
2 - Lunch 11:00 AM 271 27 7 25 Starch & Meat
3 - Postworkout 1:00 PM 238 25 2 30 Whey & Sweet Fruit
4 - Break 4:00 PM 254 25 6 25 Starch & Fish
5 - Dinner 7:00 PM 183 20 7 10 Vegetable (2 serv) & Meat
6 - Snack 10:00 PM 206 6 14 14 Vegetable (2 serv) & Nuts
Total 1401 129 41 129
36.80% 26.30% 36.80%
Diet Notes:
1)  First meal w/in 30 min of waking Procedure Notes:
2)  500ml of ice water ea. Morning 1)  Cold showers after wrokouts (recovery)
3)  Cinnamon w/ coffe (insulin) 2)  Hot showers on non-workout days
4)  Multivitamin PW (insulin high) 3)  One hot bath per week (relax)
5)  Fat tapers up (low PW) 4)  20 min ice on neck before bed (workout days)
6)  Carbs taper down
7)  Protein consistent through day Supplements:
8)  Avoid canned meat Whey Protein
9)  Avoid citrus/sour fruit Multivitamin
10) One cheat day per week
11) 90 sec exercise before/after ea cheat meal
12) Fruit juice with each cheat meal



APPENDIX TWO:

March 2012 Diet:  Dialy Intake 1900 Cal (3/25/12)
Protein 35% 1g / lb 160g 640 cal
Fat 30% 60.96g 548.6 cal 1828 calories total
Carbohydrates 35% 1g / lb 160g 640 cal
Meal Time Calories P(g) F(g) C(g) Descrip
1 - Breakfast 8:00 AM 238 25 2 30 Whey & Cereal
2 - Midmorning Meal 11:00 AM 271 27 7 25 Starch & Meat
3 - Post Workout 1:00 PM 230 23 2 30 Whey & Fruit (2 Serv)
4 - Lunch 2:00 PM 262 27 6 25 Starch & Fish
5 - Break 4:00 PM 291 27 7 30 Starch & Meat & Vegetable
6 - Dinner 7:00 PM 171 22 7 5 Meat & Vegetable
7 - Snack 9:30 PM 348 12 28 12 Nuts (2 serv)
Total 1811 163 59 157
36% 29.30% 34.68%
Notes:
1)  Fruit Serv = 15g Carbs Procedure Notes:
2)  Starch Serv = 25g Carbs 1)  Cold showers after wrokouts (recovery)
3)  Cinnamon w/ coffe (insulin) 2)  Hot showers on non-workout days
4)  Multivitamin PW (insulin high) 3)  One hot bath per week (relax)
5)  Vegetable Serv = 5g Carbs 4)  20 min ice on neck before bed (workout days)
6)  Protein serving = 4oz
7)  Avoid Canned Meat Supplements:
8)  Last Meal is fatty for sleep Whey Protein
9)  One cheat day per week Multivitamin
10) 90 sec exercise before/after ea cheat meal
11) Fruit juice with each cheat meal



APPENDIX THREE:

Weight Protein / Meal Fat / Meal Carbs
140 -160 35 g 15 g 60 g (Post WO or 1st Meal ONLY)
Creating Meals:
1)  Choose Protein
2)  Choose Fat
3)  Choose Carbs 
4)  Add Fruit and/or Vegetables
Sample Meal Plan:
Step Option 1 Option 2 Option 3
1)  Protein 5oz Lean Meat 1 1/4 C Fat Free Cottage Cheese 3 Whole Eggs + 1/4 C Egg Whites
Fish 1 1/4 C Fage Yogurt
Chicken * Once per day MAX
Turkey
  Beef    
2)  Fat 24g almonds 3 tsp Olive/Flax/Enova Oil 30z Avocado
  30g Peanut Butter    
3)  Carbs
*1st Meal 1 C Oatmeal 8 oz Sweet Potato 2 Slices Ezekiel Bread
or PoW      2/3 C Whole Wheat Pasta
4) Fruit/Veg 2 Serving of Fruit Green Vegetables as Desired
  *15g Carb ea. *4-6g Carb ea.  
5)  Free <20 calories / serv <5g Carb / serv
* 1 / Meal      
*5 Meals / Day (3 hrs apart)
* One Free Meal per WEEK



APPENDIX FOUR:

Daily Intake:  1900 cal
Meal Apx Time Protein Fat Carbs Calories Descrip
1 8:00 AM 23 2 5 130 Whey Protein
2 10:30 AM 30 14 30 366 Meat, Fat, Fruit
3 1:30 PM 30 14 60 486 Meat, Fat, Starch, MultiV
4 4:00 PM 30 14 10 286 Meat, Fat, 2 Vegetables
5 7:00 PM 30 14 5 266 Meat, Fat, Vegetable
6 10:00 PM 30 14 5 266 Meat, Fat, Vegetable
173 72 115 1800 *100cal condiment allotment
38.40% 36% 25.60%
Notes: Supplements:
1) First Meal w/in 30 min of Waking MetRX Natural Whey
2) Meal #3 is Post Workout or Meal 2 XCAP Natural Mins
3) First meal is just to kickstart metabolism
4) Cinnamon 2/ Coffee (insulin sensitivity)
5) Multivitamin Post Workout (insulin high)
6) Cold Shower Post Workout (recovery)
7) Hot showers on non-workout days
8) One hot bath per week (Relax)
9) Two cheat MEALS per week
10) 90 sec exercise before/after cheat meal


No comments:

Post a Comment