Your diet.. What you eat when training and outside of competition?

[Kyle Spalla]

How is everyone's diet when training. Do you tailor it for performance for competition? Do you just try to maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep your weight down? What supplements and vitamins do you take? How many times a day do you eat? In what ways do you feel you can improve on your diet? I am interested to see how people approach this

[Josh C.]

When I started training Jan 11' i weighed around 235-240#..In jan '12 i was at 205# My first MMA in Apr 12' i fought at 185#..I am fighting jun 16th at 170#.. I did all through diet and exerccise. When i get ready to fight i cut down to about a 1500 calorie a day diet..I eats High Protein (chick,turkey,pork,salmon) and High carbs (for energy)..but i also do at least 20 min of cardio a day 6 days week..The biggest results i noticed i got from cutting out Alcohol , Soda , Resturant Food... I usualy eat Breakfast-snack-Lunch-snack-Dinner ... When i am not competiting i eat what i want and drink , but still try and stay away from fast/resturant food

Josh

[Sam Sales]

I would be lying my ass of if i said i was careful about what i eat. I am a sucker for haribo, fruitella's, curly wurlys, mint choc aero, chinese takeaways, coca-cola, and all that shit, i love eating. My weight varies alot though, anywhere from 72-82kg (approx 160-180lbs). I expect if i took my weight seriously i could get down to 68kg walk around weight. I am currently 80kg, heaviest i have been in a while. Only just got back to training though after a 2 month layoff.
When i get back from the Eddie seminar Sweden i am going to jump on a slightly modified paleo diet and am definitely going to work towards shedding these excess pounds.
Regarding supplements etc, i use good multivitamins (high strength or i double-up), cod liver oil/omega 3,6,9 mix, ZMA, glucosamine, creatine, and protein shakes after training. :-)

[Kyle Spalla]

Paleo is an amazing system, I have found a lot of success with the Dolce Diet system. I have went from 190 lbs(86k) , back down to my normal weight of 165 (75k) in only a couple of weeks. I have been eating a lot of Sushi but after workouts and drinking protein shakes, and a can of Coconut Water and eating a light snack, but I still feel zapped. I think it has something to do with my hydration. Another thing I still find myself craving fast-foods (IN N OUT, McDonalds, Taco Bell). If money weren't as tight I would love to get more into the Dolce/Paleo system and get my fighting weight down to 145 (66k). I just think it's my current routine that is heavy cardio intensive that is killing me and I should be taking in more carbs. And my supplement vitamin stack is pretty impressive as well so I feel amazing while working out just afterwords I am dead to the world. I don't know any suggestion?

[Mike Dewitt Jr]

Low carb before tournies and whatever after.

[Alex Canders]

i do some version of paleo/ low carb with minor cheats. generally don't eat much red meat.

in a hurry i do a shake of some whey protein, superfood and water.

lots of coffee, those rehab type energy drinks sometimes, although i doubt they are good for me.

[Kyle Spalla]

Low carb before tournies and whatever after.

Does that ever effect your training and performance while not training for tournaments or do you eat pretty healthy year round Mike?

[John Brewer]

I eat solid food 4x per day, also have a 50g whey shake first thing, 2-25g protein shakes during the day, 25g casein before bed. I also bookened my workouts with protein & creatine. I stick to complex carbs like oatmeal, beans, whole grain, etc... It's helped me add about 10 lbs of muscle while dropping about 30 fat, and keeps me pretty energized.
Can't comment on the other since I don't compete.

[Jason "Kermit" Frayer]

I try to avoid most grains especially wheat. I also try and avoid sugar and uncultured dairy. I would say I'm 90+ organic as well. I eat lots of ground grass beef and bison and lots of free range chicken and eggs. Add to that lots of good organic greens and veggies good times! I don't touch GMO anything if possible.

[Mike Calvert]

Before I even started learning jui-jitsu in 2010 I was 280lbs. Stopped eating red meat, pork, wheat ,potatoes and milk. I dropped down to 250lbs in 3 months, this was before I started training.
I like to use my juicer before I go train now, you can feel the energy absorb fast and your ready to rock for class.
Peace