[Ian Coe]

Right, so, with the abundance of 'how to I cut weight' threads abound recently, I have been asked to produce this thread, such that it may answer any and (if I'm really good, which I'm not) all questions regarding weight cutting.

I will split it down into 2 sections because there are 2 times when weight cutting comes into play (I will attempt to be short and sweet as well):

Weigh ins on the day-
One of the hardest things to do. You seriously don't want to be stripping water weight if your fighting in 4 hours, you'll be weak as a kitten (takes maybe 11 hours to full rehydrate, depending on how hard you went). Also the day before a fight (and the monring) you need to be eating high carbs meals, quite a few of them, to get you rearing to go on fight day.
Honestly, you want to walk around at maybe 4 or so pounds above your fighting weight, then you can train your arse off and cut a few calories leading up to the fight day. So if your fighting sat at 190lbs and at 10 days out your 194, cut some calories out (they say 500 cal a day and you'll loose a pound a week).
You want to ideally get to <188 on the thursday night so that you can eat some high carb foods on the thursday night and friday night (and sat morning) to replace glycogen.
Leading up to the fight, I personally cut out rice and bread. That usually helps me loose 4 lbs in a month. I'll also eat 4 meals a day:

breakfast being- either oats, a banana and honey with milk, or some museli.

lunch would be chicken (or any other lean meats), some nuts (cashews, peanuts), and as much kale, spinach and brocolli that i can stand (I'll often use some curry sauce or something with the chicken and have just enough to make the veg tasty....its a lot easier if you do this then have everything bland. I started off having just raw everything and grilled pieces of chicken, no sauce, nothing...it was hard not to vear off 'just this once' and have something bad for me)

dinner would be pretty much the same thing as lunch, but with some variation in veg composition (more kale, cabbage, spring onions, less broccoli and cauliflower)

I'd train about 3-4 hours after that. I didn't know about protein and carbs during training sessions at this point, but if I had done so I would have included some with BCAA's during training. I would always chug a 50g:30g (sometimes less) carb:protein drink straight after training.

When i got home I would often have some full fat milk and caesium based protein. Even though your cutting weight, having a treat like full fat milk (which i would have with the museli, and occasionally add some peanut butter...I train a lot btw) can keep you on the straight and narrow. Its a mental thing, like cheat days, but having pre determined cheat 'meals'




If weighing in the day before:
You have a lot to work with here.
Say your fighting on the sunday and your weigh in is at 2pm sat.
Depending on how experienced you are at it, you can cut down the food from wed, having much smaller meals, but having many more of them (in essence grazing, always feeling slightly hungry). You can go for a sweat run (in a sauna suite or numerous layers) on the thursday night, friday morning, a sauna friday night, and if your still over weight, sauna it up on the sat morning before the weigh in. If you don't have access to a sauna, a very hot bath for a hour and when you get out stay in the bath room (and put on a sauna suite or many layers again). You sweat like a monkey for about 20 minutes after you get out (and look very lobsteresk). During this 2 day period, sip water, don't down it. By friday night, you want to be sipping enough water to make you feel better, but not really satisfy you.
I also tend to wear maybe 4 layers up top and a pair of trousers and shorts when I go to bed. You'll loose 4-5 lbs over night doing that (I lost 6 because I was in a un air conditioned room in bangkok.....in June)


As soon as that weigh ins over, get some electrolytes in you (pedilyte is it, something to rehydrate you). Do not down it, sip it over the course of 20 minutes (say a litre or so). Nothing high GI if you can afford it. You want to slowly get your body back into the swing of things if you've been dieting hard. Start out with some porriage and milk (or water), some nuts and if your feeling good enough, a banana. Eat that then in about 30 minutes, get some oats in you, then 30 min after that, some whole wheat bread with some lean meats. After say 4 or so hours of grazing like that (with constant drinking of water and electrolyte solutions), its time to start eating full high carbs meals (rice, potatos, some veg).



I'll add stuff if I think its needed


I'm just really back from training, so need to eat now.

Any questions/comments, post them up and I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge and update this to include it.


edit- oh yeah, fish oil is pretty good at helping get rid of extra flab, but thats a side issue.
You should be taking fish oil as a matter of course anyway

[Standard]

Nice post Ian

What is your reason for avioding high GI carbs after the weight in? I would have thought some of the same principles of PWO nutrtion would apply to replenishment?

i've never cut weight though so this is just curiousity,

[Sonny]

Thanks a bunch Ian!

[Ian Coe]

Originally Posted by Standard

Nice post Ian

What is your reason for avioding high GI carbs after the weight in? I would have thought some of the same principles of PWO nutrtion would apply to replenishment?

i've never cut weight though so this is just curiousity,

see, my personal reasoning behind this is that you've basically eaten very low gi carbs for weeks on end (with hi gi during and after training), but for those last 4 or so days, its just low gi stuff. I would think having a sudden dump on high gi carbs into the body after what really counts as starvation, would shock the body (in a bad way). Hence I always recommend low gi carbs for the first few hours, then build into the high gi (but in so far as rice and pasta then sugars)


If anyone thinks differently, post it and a discussion shull commence

[Paul Lazenby]

I always sucked at cutting weight. The first time I tried it I wanted to drop eight pounds to get into the 220 class at a powerlifting meet. I dehydrated so much that I overshot the mark and weighed in at 214, then tore my trap clean in half on my final deadlift! I only ever cut weight for one contest after that, and ended up just lifting in whatever class I happened to be in (I ended up lifting in the 275 class weighing in the mid-250s). For fights it's a non-issue, because I walk around at 250-260 so it would take some real science to get me down to 205 and I don't fight frequently enough to justify doing it. I do fight for NFC which has a 225 class but I'm too damn lazy and would rather just eat well and fight the big boys. My hat is off to anyone who does cut significant weight, though--sometimes I wonder how guys like Riggs can fight after dropping so much.

[Sonny]

ATTN:

I pm'd some pro fighters and asked them to contribute whatever they can to this topic. So I want this thread free of babble. Obviously questions and discussions are welcome but lets keep it at that.

[Ian "M-16" Butlin]

I disagree quite strongly with that way of cutting weight but it really is each to there own. My belief is you should be dehydrated for as little time as possible, so i would be drinking 6+ ltres of water until 8pm the night before the weigh in. I fight at 70k and walk into the cage at between 78 and 80 fit.

The reason behind avoiding high GI carbs is that they can cause reactive hypoglaecemia.

[Richard Emling]

as far as same day weighins it really depends on how much you have to cut i routinely cut 4 to 5 pounds for same days but any more is to high i eat a good breakfast and lunch go cut then eat some oatmeal mixed with bannana baby food after weighins and drink pedialite mixed with water (much better than gator/poweraide) and feel fine also forn cutting water dont forget abolene it can cut your time in the sauna in half and remember you cant cut water you dont have fighters drink 1 to 2 gallons of water a day for a reason 1 gallon of water weighes 8.8 pounds if your body is allready dehydrated the sanua has no point

[Richard Emling]

heres a little trick i have been useing for my last few fights to cut a few pounds over night right before bed jump rope with a sweat suite on to raise your body temp for 15 minutes as soon as you are done jump in a tub full of as hot as water as you can stand for 10 to 15 minutes then hurry and dry put on long johns then a sweat suit get under a heavy blanket and go right to sleep your body temp will stay up i have lost a min of 3 pounds this way and i1 time i lost all 5 i needed

[Nathan Willet]

I weight 165lb normally and fight at 150lb. I'm 5'9" so I'm kinda heavy for my height that means cutting is essential.

The week before the fight I'll eat light salads, an egg, a small piece of cheese, small portions of fish, and slim fasts. All the while taking multiple vitamins.

To lose those last 5lbs of water before weigh-ins I'll shadowbox with the sweat jacket, not let water touch my body that day, and spit.

After the weigh-ins I grab my bag and down a slimfast, few liters of water, and eat a sandwhich. I don't do the buffet thing because it's way too much food for one meal after starving all day.

I always make weight easy and have plenty of energy for the fight. But then again, that's how my family is, we all lose weight fast if we miss one meal and gain it back even faster if I overeat. I gained my 15lbs back in a few days and then 10 MORE lbs the following two weeks...I'm a pig though so you probably won't have to deal with being made fun of at the gym like I do.

Hope that helps more than it confuses.