Eating and Training- What’s Right?

Proper diet impacts your ability to perform in any athletic endeavor.  It also impacts how you feel on a daily basis.  As such, we are consistently asked questions about how to properly eat for better performance within the martial arts.  I’m not an expert in this area, by any means.  And, I’ve noticed that the experts all have different opinions.  (If you ask 5 nutritionists the same question, I’ve noticed you tend to get 5 different answers… especially these days.)  Anyhow, I’m not a nutritionist.  I am somebody who has done the martial arts for over 40 years and has had the same questions, so I’m just sharing some of the answers that have been passed along to me that I feel have been the most helpful.

Question 1- What is proper diet?

Typically, this is going to be a low-fat, high protein diet.  Stay away from foods that contain preservatives, and try to stay away from fast food.  People have different opinions on “calories,” but I’m of the opinion that you should not eat more calories than you expend. If you are trying to gain muscle, then that’s different, and you’ll need even more protein (and more calories).  You can get protein from veggies; eating a lot of protein doesn’t mean you need a lot of meat.  With that said, I like to get most of my protein through eggs, chicken (skinless), and beans.  I also like nuts, but you have to be careful, as there are a lot of calories in nuts, and it’s easy to go overboard.

Question 2- When should you eat? Is breakfast important?

Okay.  There are a lot of different opinions here.  BUT… the phrase, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”  is… an advertising slogan.  That’s right.  It was utilized as a catch-phrase by Kellogg’s to sell more breakfast cereal.  (Wow- id that advertising crew do a good job!  Almost everybody knows that slogan, and most believe it.)  Is it true?  Maybe, but I don’t think so.  Why don’t I think so?  Because the body is hard at work doing it’s job of healing, repair, and restoration when it gets interrupted and has to process a meal in the morning.  I’m on of those guys who believes in intermittent fasting.  What’s that, you ask?  There are  different ways that this is done, but I typically have a window of (appropriate) eating that is about 6 hours in duration, and I don’t eat during the other 18 hours.  Why?  Autophagy.  (I have to give Marlene credit for all her work on explaining this to me.)  Short version, we are designed in such a way so that the body repairs itself through this process, and it’s incredibly healthy.  It cannot do that as effectively if the body has to digest food all the time.  It needs a rest from digestion so that it can repair and rejuvenate itself.  This also has fantastic neural effects, too.  I won’t get too into things for this article, but fasting for health is- highly beneficial.  There’s a right way to do it, and I’m not anywhere near an expert in that.  (Marlene knows way more about it; ask her when you see her.)  My typical diet is that 18 / 6.  However, there are amazing benefits for healing with longer (appropriately done) fasting.

Question 3- I’m so hungry!

While not a question, this is what often stops people from being able to reach their fitness goals.  Hunger.  It’s important to remember that hunger is a feeling.  Suck it up, buttercup!  You can be hungry.  In fact, it’s healthy.  (I’m not talking about starving; I’m talking about the feeling of being hungry because you are just… hungry.)  Get over it.  What do you want more?  Do you want to be healthy and fit and to be able to be an awesome martial artist?  Or, do you want a cupcake?  (Sometimes I want a cupcake, too.  But, don’t do this all the time.  Do things in healthy moderation. Okay?) 

When I was in my 40’s, and I was having a hard time recovering from consistent workouts, I asked a personal trainer who worked with us, “What should I be eating?”  He responded, “So tell me.  How are you feeding?”   Wow.  That question made a huge impact on me because I had always looked at it as “eating.”  He asked me about “feeding.”  Feeding implies that I’m fueling my body for a purpose.  I’m feeding it.  Eating has a completely different connotation, and that one question has changed my outlook on my diet.  Don’t just “eat.”  And, especially don’t just eat for the sake of eating.  Often times, people eat as a habit.  They eat to fill time, or they eat because they are being social.  Don’t do that.  Eat with a purpose.  If you feed your body appropriately, it will perform better.  You’ll look better, and you’ll feel better.