If you have a fight that’s coming up soon and you need to drop some weight fast, this article will show you how to shed the pounds fast with this 2-week diet plan.
Before we start, it’s worth noting that protein is the most important nutrient necessary for building muscle and improving physical performance. You should eat at least one gram per pound of bodyweight daily. High protein consumption has always been related to increased lean muscle gains.
If you decide on following this diet plan, it is recommended that you do not do that for more than 2 weeks. Being an athlete, you won’t continue to get results with this type of extreme eating after the 2-week mark.
These nutritional suggestions are meant for MMA fighters that are required to shed 10-15 pounds to make weight. It is not suggested that you wait until the last minute to lose a lot of weight because it isn’t safe and most likely the weight that you lost will come back easily.
The majority of people, however, will try anything even when they know the potential dangers. There have been some cases where people have actually starved themselves for 2 weeks to get in shape. Some drank only lemon water with cayenne pepper, and other only consumed protein.
All of these “crash diets” can be extremely dangerous. One should never try do follow such a diet, because it is not something that you could do in the long-term, it’s ultimately unsustainable. It’s just a temporary method to lose weight without any guarantee that you’ll save your hard-earned muscle mass in the process.
The sad reality is that when you start following an extreme diet and start losing weight quickly, you will almost inevitably lose muscle tissue along with the fat.
Whilst losing weight quickly, you’ll also need to decrease your training significantly, or it won’t work. Once you decrease your caloric intake significantly, your training will suffer since you won’t have enough fuel for intense workouts.
Use these 2 weeks to train with lighter weight while being fully focused on the easiest way to lose the weight. You should be aware that the first few pounds that will come off will most likely be from the water you lost, the rest of it will be fat, as well as some muscle.
In the course of 2 weeks, focus on eating more meals consisting of high-quality, lean protein sources such as chicken, fish, eggs, turkey or Greek yogurt.
Since you’ll also need to decrease your caloric intake, you will need to choose the low-fat versions. Instead of eating whole three eggs, ditch the yolks in at least two of them to lower their caloric content.
Taking into account that MMA fighters, like most people, generally lead busy lives and don’t have the time to cook, protein powders are an excellent supplement which can help you meet your daily protein requirements. It’s recommended that you take a protein supplement in your pre-workout or post-workout meal.
Fill up your supplies of vegetables
Eating more vegetables will increase your total fiber intake and will make you feel fuller and satiated for prolonged periods of time. Always having some veggies on hand is an excellent way to keep yourself full in between meals.
In order for this plan to succeed, you will want to make sure that you are not choosing the vegetables full of starch, but the ones containing more fiber such as spinach, cucumbers, celery, asparagus, red peppers, broccoli, cabbage and zucchini. Here is a list of the 20 vegetables highest in protein
Some other things you need to keep in mind:
You will need to make sure that you eat a small amount of fat. You can also take some fish oil or a DHA supplement during this 2-week period. In the sample meal plan provided below, you will see some healthy, natural fat sources that won’t slow down your weight loss progress.
Fat will be the only macronutrient that you will need to measure in this program. When you’re eating lots of salads, it can be very easy to get carried away with the various oils you put in them which can cause gaining weight. This is why it is very important that you measure your meal portions while following this diet.
Water is also of paramount importance for the diet
When you’re decreasing your carb intake to such a low amount, you will inevitably lose a great amount of water as well as essential electrolytes. Here’s how drinking more water can help you with fat loss.
Drinking water on a consistent basis is absolutely mandatory. You can add a freshly squeezed lemon or a pinch of pink salt to every liter to fill up the magnesium deficiency.
You can also add some pink salt to your veggies too, but try not to go overboard. Fruits are also an essential part of this diet since they are filled with minerals and vitamins.
For this diet, however, you’ll not be eating them quite so often. They will only serve as your primary source of sugar right before and after a workout session and you won’t eat them after that.
If you catch yourself thinking about eating something sweet and feel like you’re going to fall of the wagon any time soon, then the best alternative would be to eat apples, bananas and pears instead of ice cream and cookies.
But then again this will only last for 2 weeks, so just suck it up and you’ll get your sweet reward after your event.
Depending on what your starting weight is and the amount of weight you need to lose, you can adjust these ideas according to your specific goals.
If you happen to be a very large person, then it’s quite likely that you may need a lot more than what is written here. On the other hand, if you are a small female, then you may need just half the amount. Below is a sample diet plan for one daily with a scheduled workout in the morning:
- Morning: 15-oz water with freshly squeezed lemon
- Breakfast (pre-workout meal): Green protein shake consisting of 1 banana, 1-2 cups of spinach, 1 serving of whey, pea or sprouted brown rice protein powder, water and ice. A teaspoon of fish oil.
- Post-workout meal: Organic non-fat plain Greek yogurt, two tablespoons of chopped walnuts, half a cup of organic blueberries.
- Lunch: Large green salad made up of one cup of Baby Romaine, one cup of spinach, one cup of cabbage with cucumbers, mushrooms and tomatoes added. Protein can be added in a can of wild river tuna along with some vinegar, green onions, mustard and celery. You can add some dressing with some olive oil, vinegar and lemon.
- Snack: 1 sliced cucumber and 2 red peppers, 2 hard-boiled eggs with 1 yolk
- Dinner: Grilled asparagus and zucchini mixed with olive oil and pink salt, 2-3 oz of organic chicken or turkey (grilled, slow-cooked or baked), half a cup of low-sodium, organix black beans with some Pico de Gallo on top.
- Evening snack(only if you’re still hungry): 2-oz organic turkey or chicken, sliced celery and cucumbers.
It’s worth noting that this is just a sample diet plan for one day and you can get as creative as you want when following this program. You should always keep yourself properly hydrated during the day and if you do a very intense and hard workout while following this diet, you’d want to sip on some coconut water as well.
Stick to the basic tenets which are consuming low-starchy carbs, lots of veggies and lean proteins, with some fruit and small quantities of healthy fats, and you’re guaranteed to see incredible results.
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