Boxer's Nutrition

Where energy comes from

Food energy is made up of protein, carbohydrates and fats. The amount of energy in each of these types of fuel is measured in calories.

1 gram of protein = 4 calories

1g of carbohydrates= 4 x calories

1 gram of fat= 9 calories

Carbohydrates and fats are the main sources of fuel your body turns to in order to produce energy to be used in general day to day functioning or for exercise. If you eat more calories in carbohydrates and fats than your body needs to perform these functions then you will store the excess as body fat.

Protein is primarily used by the body to repair and make muscles stronger. This means if you have metabolised the protein you have eaten it will go to the muscle. (It is possible for the body to turn excess protein into fat but it does so much less efficiently than with carbohydrates and fat). In addition, protein is digested more slowly than carbohydrates and its energy is released more slowly, meaning a meal high in protein tends to make you feel full for longer.

Alcohol

In addition to carbohydrates, protein and fat, alcohol is the only other source of nutritional energy or calories (7 calories per gram). But alcohol has no other nutritional value (no fibre, vitamins, minerals etc). It is therefore "empty calories" and can quickly add up! When you consider that the normal recommended number of calories for a woman each day is 2000 and a bottle of wine contains around 600 calories, you can see that alcohol can be a significant inhibitor to weight loss. It also has a dehydrating effect and even relatively small reductions in hydration can have significant effects on athletic performance.

Losing weight- some common mistakes

Starving yourself of food (cutting meals or embarking on a very low calorie diet) is not the way to lose weight, especially for an athlete who needs more calories than most people in order that the body can train hard, increase fitness and grow or repair muscle. If you eat too few calories, the first thing that happens is your metabolism slows down as your body switches into survival mode and tries to keep its stored energy (body fat). Plus your body ends up cannibalising muscle, so that even if you do lose some fat, you are unlikely to have changed your lean tissue to body fat ratio (in fact, this may have worsened!). In a boxing match it is very important to have strong, effective muscles, especially when things get rough!

The best way to lose weight is to cut back on carbohydrates and fats so that your body looks only to fat reserves and not to breaking down your muscles to supply the extra calories it needs (above those you have taken in food that day).

Some common mistakes people make when trying to lose weight are:

1. Setting out on a low calorie diet but eating those calories in only one or two meals. The body will not use all the calories in one big meal and will convert the excess to fat. If you eat smaller meals more regularly, the body is more likely to use the energy available from the meal for it's immediate energy needs and will not need to store the calories as fat.

2. Eating too many simple sugars and refined carbohydrates. There are two types of carbohydrates, one complex (slow release) the other simple (fast release). These get converted to blood glucose. Their energy value is the same but simple carbohydrates are released very quickly into the blood stream, elevating blood sugar levels. As your body cannot cope with excessive blood sugar, it releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin's job is to take that sugar out of the blood but as sugar is energy the body will not waste it so it converts it to body fat for future use.

The only carbohydrates you should eat are complex carbohydrates:

•  potato

•  pasta

•  whole grains

•  rice

•  beans

•  pulses (eg lentils, chick peas etc)

•  rolled oats

Preferably you should choose unrefined versions (brown rice, pasta etc) as the energy in these unrefined foods is released more slowly than in refined foods. You can get away with some cereals such as weetabix, shredded wheat or muesli. All these carbohydrates will be released slowly, maintaining blood sugar levels. Another good way of slowing the metabolism of carbohydrates down is to eat lots of green vegetables as they are high in fibre and also contain a vast array of vitamins and minerals. Brown versions of bread, rice and pasta also contain much greater quantities of fibre than the white versions.

Stay away from sugary foods such as cereal bars, sugary breakfast cereals (such a conflakes or nutrigrain), white bread, fruit juices (eat the piece of fruit instead!). If you need to lose weight, as a general rule, reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your meals and increase the vegetables and protein. Instead of having a sandwich with two slices of bread, have a salad with a piece of chicken and one slice of bread on the side. Instead of having a big bowl of pasta with some sauce, have a chicken breast (or piece of fish or steak etc) with a large portion of vegetables and a much smaller serving of pasta, rice or potato. It can help to avoid combining fat with carbohydrates and have fat only with protein or vegetables (rice, pasta, bread, and potatoes tend to soak up fat and mean you can stomach far more!).

Don't cut out the carbohydrates all together, you need them for energy and fibre. When you are training hard (for example in the final weeks leading up to a fight), make sure you are getting enough complex carbohydrates. If you don't, you are liable to feel listless in training, meaning you can't train as hard and as a consequence you will not be able to up your fitness. A bowl of porridge made with rolled oats, seedless raisins and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds (or other nuts) can be a great foundation for the day.

Eat smaller meals more often.

How much to eat

This is depends entirely on your personal circumstances- you individual metabolism, the amount of training you do and your body size. If you get the ingredients of your diet right (ie, start eating the right foods and cut out the rubbish), eat several smaller meals rather than eating once or twice a day and you find you aren't losing weight, then it's time to look at how much you are eating. Don't weigh yourself every day (this just gets depressing very quickly!) but check your weight once or twice per week.

Unless you are very overweight you should not aim to lose more than about 2 pounds (or just over half a kilo) per week. If you lose more than this you are likely to be losing muscle and water.

Water

Your body is 70% water. As you are losing much larger quantities than the average person each day through training. You need to drink at least 2-3 litres of water every day.

Do not think water will make you put weight on. The more you drink the more you will urinate and sweat, getting rid of all the toxins in your body.

(Of course, when you weigh yourself, take into account if you have just drunk a litre of water!)

Weights

The only way to make yourself stronger is to lift weights to failure. The old myths in boxing that weights make you slow are not true. Stronger muscles mean faster and harder punches. Plus being stronger will help you in close.