NUTRITION BASICS

No matter your livelihood, having a warrior’s mindset and a competitor’s attitude can help you take on any challenge you face. How you prepare to achieve mental and physical goals—even if you never jump into the cage or the ring—is essential to success. But your training to look and feel like a fighter actually begins in the kitchen.

ENERGY

Every time you sit down at a table is a chance to improve how your body looks and feels. Every meal can potentially make you stronger and fitter, but without the proper nutritional balance, eating might make you feel slower and weaker. Developing a routine of meal frequency can help you make eating behavior changes as well as curb and control your appetite and cravings. Infrequent eating patterns can lead to sluggishness and difficulty in losing body fat. Your energy demands when working out are extremely high, and if you want to lose weight, finding the correct energy balance is key.

Small meals every 2 to 3 hours has been shown to be most effective for keeping sustained energy levels while also burning fat for fuel. Because time constraints can make eating large meals difficult, knowing what and when to eat can help ensure you get enough calories and macronutrients on any given day. Subsequent pages in this chapter discuss macronutrients and caloric needs as well as how the recipes in this book—put into weekly meal plans—can help you meet your dietary and fitness goals.

METABOLISM

Metabolism is the process by which your body breaks down the foods you eat into energy. Any excess energy is stored in fat reserves for later use. This energy balance is directly connected to how active you are in relation to how much food you eat. If you burn more calories than you consume, then you’ll lose weight. (Conversely, if you consume more calories than you burn, you’ll gain weight.) When your metabolism is high, your body is efficient at breaking down food and using it for cellular processes. A high metabolism breaks down fat stores to help you maintain a steady energy source.

When you’re working out, your metabolic demands are different when compared with times of inactivity. When you’re exercising, you’re moving continuously and constantly, seamlessly switching from one energy system to another. This makes it critical for you during these high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions to have properly fueled your body.

Your metabolism level depends on a number of factors, including age, genetics, activity level, and diet. The first two factors are out of your control. The last two, though, are highly variable, but you can manipulate them to increase your body’s fat-burning potential. High metabolism equals high fat-burning efficiency, leading to lean muscle mass and increased energy—and a readiness to work toward reaching your personal and professional goals.