Need to lose 5Kg in 5 weeks for Charity Boxing Event

FrankGrimes

Sorry for the long thread, but I need your help! Thanks in advance for any pointers.

The Background
My mate has this week roped me into doing a boxing event on May 6th to raise funds for a young rugby player who has been paralysed due to a rugby injury. It’s a daunting prospect to get back into boxing shape in such short space of time but it’s a good cause and he’s a good salesman so I’m in.

We used to box in college (I used to scrape down to 81kg at a push) but that was 8 years ago and I haven’t boxed since. Did a bit of boxing training the other day and reckon I’ll make it to a sufficient level to handle this event in time with a lot of work as it’s not ultra serious as it’s for charity and all participants will be in a training camp together and will pair off for the 3x2minute bouts based on weight and fitness towards the end.

I’m 29 shortly, would classify fitness as OK at the moment (nowhere near what it was back in the day!) and 96.5Kg though and will need to drop 5Kg to get close enough to the 91Kg limit. I’m 6ft and quite stocky so at 91Kg I’d be about right, though with a longer run in I guess I could get to 87Kg if necessary, but 91Kg is the target for this.

I think I’ve a good handle on what’s needed in terms of exercise for this (and will largely be held to the training camp regime) but I do think I would benefit from the fitness advice on here, but in particular, I’d like to get some advice on diet.

My Current Situation
I’ve read the Boards Better Body Challenge – great tips on the first page in particular (fair play to g’em), the Basic Blocks of Fitness, Diet and Nutrition, and some of the Supplements thread. I hear the message about cutting out processed food loud and clear and I’ve made big changes to my eating in the last 2 days with that advice in mind. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the information overload though and want to get a decent plan together. I’ve ordered the Food for Fitness book recommended by g’em but am not familiar with much of the foods or condiments listed by g’em so it’d be great to get some tips to help put together a great weight loss shopping list for this weekend to get me started. Once I have my hands on all the right stuff, I reckon I’ll figure out what meals to cook and what snacks to prepare a bit easier (with reference to the great info on here).

I work in an office in a job with a lot of responsibility (like to think I do a reasonable job of handling the stress!) and long hours though I’ve just finished a big project last week so here’s what I expect my schedule to be for the next 5 weeks in the build-up to the fight based on current thinking and current shorter hours than usual:

08:30 Wake-up, straight into shower, get ready for work
09:00 Drive to work
09:30 Arrive work
10:00 – Breakfast = porridge with seeds, few bits of dried banana, tablespoon of honey
13:00 Lunch = very hard for me to cut out bread, but I’ll try. Will aim for vegetable soup with a salad with a protein source.
15:30 Snack = a red/pink apple and/or handful of a nut and raisin mix I’ve done up a while back (lots of raisins and plain peanuts in it though – is that ok in moderation?)
18:00 ? Not sure what to eat here – need something to give me energy before the training
18:30 Leave work (will believe it when I manage to do it it though!)
19:00 – 21:30 Training (match on Tuesdays)
22:00 Supper at home – until this week I normally have my main meal at this time. Not sure what to have at this time.
22:30 – 00:00 Relax with girlfriend, watch TV, browse web.
00:30 Lights out. Since I was 16 I’ve gone to sleep at 1am so even this would be a difference but will target midnight lights out.

At the weekend for last 4 weeks I’ve been doing at least one >70km cycle (training for the Wicklow 200) and would like to keep some cycling ticking over. I’m toying with the idea of cycling the 15km from Crumlin to work in Sandyford (takes 40mins with lights – shower in work) instead of driving and also maybe extending the route to take me up the mountains to the Hell Fire Club in the morning with the rationale that that would be good for weight loss and fitness – sound right or not? Downside is it is longer and more hassle to get around on the bike (e.g. lugging gear around, showers needed).


Diet Planning
I think I’ll pop into Pro Nutrition at the weekend and pickup some Optimum Nutrition Whey Gold Standard (is mint choc nice?) on the grounds that it’ll be better to drink that than an unhealthy snack when stuck for food in the office. In my mind I’m regarding this as a temporary thing so will probably go for 5lb and buy 10lb if I go through that later.

I’ve looked at all the foods recommended by g’em in a few threads and I don’t know what a fair few of them are and others that I have seen seem to cost a fortune in the supermarkets – are there better places to buy?

I’ll pickup lots of Tupperware boxes as suggested on the forum and will pick up as much of the below as I can identify. Will buy plenty of brown rice, wholegrain pasta, salmon, chicken and tuna as I’m familiar with those and will expand from there.

So the below are multiple (sorry) specific questions I have on different foods I’m not sure on:

• Coffee - I've cut out lattes altogether and really trying to limit my normal coffee intake....do need a hit during the day sometimes though - do I need to avoid it completely or is moderate consumption ok?
• Is striploin steak ok (I always cut the fat off) – please say yes?
• My girlfriend often cooks with 95% lean mince – should that be avoided and would steak mince be better?
• Baby potatoes – figure these are lower GI than normal spuds – in or out?
• Bulgar wheat – ya what?
• A hard-boiled egg as a snack??? Getting images of that lad off The Office 
• Baked beans (no added sugar) – my veggie sister eats these cold – is that better than hot?
• Dried spices/mixed herbs (cooking novice alert) – we have plenty of herbs but any ideas for spices to pick up?
• Curry paste – where to get this and is it not really fatty?
• Packets of unsalted, plain nuts for adding to salads- sunflower, sesame, almonds, cashews – these are very pricey in most places, where’s best to buy?
• Lentils – what to do to add these to a salad, boil and lob em in?
• Flax oil – what even is that?
• walnut oil, sesame oil, almond oil, macadamia nut oil – are these available in most supermarkets?

arybvtcw0eolkf

PM (or BUMP for) Cowzer.

FrankGrimes

Thanks for the tip Mairt - I've just sent a PM to Cowzerp and hopefully he has some tips.

If anyone does have any thoughts on the general diet questions below though, I'm all ears

FrankGrimes wrote: »

• Coffee - I've cut out lattes altogether and really trying to limit my normal coffee intake....do need a hit during the day sometimes though - do I need to avoid it completely or is moderate consumption ok?
• Is striploin steak ok (I always cut the fat off) – please say yes?
• My girlfriend often cooks with 95% lean mince – should that be avoided and would steak mince be better?
• Baby potatoes – figure these are lower GI than normal spuds – in or out?
• Bulgar wheat – ya what?
• A hard-boiled egg as a snack??? Getting images of that lad off The Office 
• Baked beans (no added sugar) – my veggie sister eats these cold – is that better than hot?
• Dried spices/mixed herbs (cooking novice alert) – we have plenty of herbs but any ideas for spices to pick up?
• Curry paste – where to get this and is it not really fatty?
• Packets of unsalted, plain nuts for adding to salads- sunflower, sesame, almonds, cashews – these are very pricey in most places, where’s best to buy?
• Lentils – what to do to add these to a salad, boil and lob em in?
• Flax oil – what even is that?
• walnut oil, sesame oil, almond oil, macadamia nut oil – are these available in most supermarkets?

sunnyjim

Mind if I ask, if you're into your cycling why don't you cycle to work?

Sorry, read the post again.

celestial

Stick with lots of veg, lean meat, fish, eggs, nuts (in small amounts) lots and lots of water, low-moderate GI carbs in and around training sessions.

Absolutely no junk food, needless to say.

FrankGrimes

sunnyjim wrote: »

Mind if I ask, if you're into your cycling why don't you cycle to work?

Sure, fair question - it was partly due to frequent evening events with and outside of work that I have to head straight to from work so it was logistically difficult. Other part was those events made it difficult to get into a routine and often leaving the office late meant if I cycled to gym and then home it'd be well after 11pm before I get home (any time I have made it to the gym recently it's been around 8pm when I get there).

I'm hoping that I might have more manageable hours for the next month or two and it will be easier to plan things and build a routine - have bought a big saddle bag for the bike so I have rucksack and saddle bag to make it doable to cycle to work, change there, and also have gear with me for gym or my match.

cowzerp

PM sent.. best of luck..

FrankGrimes

Cheers to cowzerp for the helpful info via PM.

I went out yesterday and bought loads of healthy stuff - turned out the gf had loads of good stuff in the house but I'd just been ignoring them .

So, I've managed to answer a lot of the questions that I had:

• Is striploin steak ok (I always cut the fat off) – please say yes? I plan on eating striploin steak once a week so it shouldn't do much harm in the grander scheme of things.
• Baby potatoes – figure these are lower GI than normal spuds – in or out? Have really cut these to a minimum - only plan on eating 4 baby spuds once a week with striploin steak.
• Bulgar wheat – ya what? This is great stuff - easy to cook (just leave in a cup of boiled water for 10 minutes), tastes grand, and seems pretty healthy...trying to figure out what the catch is!
• Dried spices/mixed herbs (cooking novice alert) – we have plenty of herbs but any ideas for spices to pick up? I picked up some chilli flakes and ground chilli - the flakes really help spice up a salad. Got other different types of spice so am grand now.
• Curry paste – where to get this and is it not really fatty? Have curry powder, not sure what the difference is but can't see where to healthily work it into my regime so will probably leave it out.
• Packets of unsalted, plain nuts for adding to salads- sunflower, sesame, almonds, cashews – these are very pricey in most places, where’s best to buy? Bought loads of these in Nature's Way - nuts ain't cheap but are worth it I guess.
• Flax oil – what even is that? walnut oil, sesame oil, almond oil, macadamia nut oil – are these available in most supermarkets? Don't have all of those yet but have a good few, defo enough to keep me going.

So here's a few things that I haven't managed to figure out yet - I'd really appreciate any thoughts on these:

• Is including steak mince (less than 4% fat) as a regular part of my diet advisable?
  
• Hard-boiled eggs seem good to include in salads but should that be in place of any other protein source (e.g. not chicken and egg - one or the other)?
  
• Baked beans - do these count as one of the pulses that are beneficial to have in a salad (would have them cold in salad)?
• Lentils – what to do to add these to a salad, boil and lob em in?
  
• Coffee - if taken once/twice per day with a small bit of milk, will it have a negative effect on weight loss?

I'll start a separate thread on the biggest problem I'm facing at the moment - what to have for supper/late evening meal as I think that'll have a wider interest for others on the forum.

Roper

Look up protein sparing modified fast. Not healthy in long periods but good for combat athletes looking to get down and chop the fat off while still keeping their nutrient content high.

As for baby spuds, forget that all that high/low GI stuff you're not looking to regulate and be healthy for life you're looking to cut fat so you need to leave out potatoes, carrots and basically any starchy veggies. Fibrous veg, protein in the form of meat (don't worry about striploin) are okay in almost as much quantity as you like.

Arsenal1986

baked beans as in heinz ones are no good, full of sugars....i wouldnt stress the details too much man, if you are doing a lot more training than usual and are eating cleaner/healthier then the weight will fly off simple as that! Whether mince is 4 per cent or 10 percent fat isnt going to make or break anything! It cant seem extremely complex at times the whole science/art of weight loss/nutrition but reallly from what you've wrote so far id be very confident you are doing everything right and the weight will be lost. As im sure you know from your boxing days you can lose a couple of kilos water weight in the hours before the weight in and then put it back on b4 the fight therefore you really only need to lose 3/4 kilos before the day if you are stuck.

DM-BM

Roper wrote: »

Look up protein sparing modified fast. Not healthy in long periods but good for combat athletes looking to get down and chop the fat off while still keeping their nutrient content high.

Roper, I think you said in another thread that Lyle McDonald helped someone in your gym drop 8kg of fat, was he doing a protein sparing modified fast?

Roper

yes he was.

Pro-Nutrition

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Sorry for the long thread, but I need your help! Thanks in advance for any pointers.

The Background
My mate has this week roped me into doing a boxing event on May 6th to raise funds for a young rugby player who has been paralysed due to a rugby injury. It’s a daunting prospect to get back into boxing shape in such short space of time but it’s a good cause and he’s a good salesman so I’m in.

We used to box in college (I used to scrape down to 81kg at a push) but that was 8 years ago and I haven’t boxed since. Did a bit of boxing training the other day and reckon I’ll make it to a sufficient level to handle this event in time with a lot of work as it’s not ultra serious as it’s for charity and all participants will be in a training camp together and will pair off for the 3x2minute bouts based on weight and fitness towards the end.

I’m 29 shortly, would classify fitness as OK at the moment (nowhere near what it was back in the day!) and 96.5Kg though and will need to drop 5Kg to get close enough to the 91Kg limit. I’m 6ft and quite stocky so at 91Kg I’d be about right, though with a longer run in I guess I could get to 87Kg if necessary, but 91Kg is the target for this.

I think I’ve a good handle on what’s needed in terms of exercise for this (and will largely be held to the training camp regime) but I do think I would benefit from the fitness advice on here, but in particular, I’d like to get some advice on diet.

My Current Situation
I’ve read the Boards Better Body Challenge – great tips on the first page in particular (fair play to g’em), the Basic Blocks of Fitness, Diet and Nutrition, and some of the Supplements thread. I hear the message about cutting out processed food loud and clear and I’ve made big changes to my eating in the last 2 days with that advice in mind. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the information overload though and want to get a decent plan together. I’ve ordered the Food for Fitness book recommended by g’em but am not familiar with much of the foods or condiments listed by g’em so it’d be great to get some tips to help put together a great weight loss shopping list for this weekend to get me started. Once I have my hands on all the right stuff, I reckon I’ll figure out what meals to cook and what snacks to prepare a bit easier (with reference to the great info on here).

I work in an office in a job with a lot of responsibility (like to think I do a reasonable job of handling the stress!) and long hours though I’ve just finished a big project last week so here’s what I expect my schedule to be for the next 5 weeks in the build-up to the fight based on current thinking and current shorter hours than usual:

08:30 Wake-up, straight into shower, get ready for work
09:00 Drive to work
09:30 Arrive work
10:00 – Breakfast = porridge with seeds, few bits of dried banana, tablespoon of honey
13:00 Lunch = very hard for me to cut out bread, but I’ll try. Will aim for vegetable soup with a salad with a protein source.
15:30 Snack = a red/pink apple and/or handful of a nut and raisin mix I’ve done up a while back (lots of raisins and plain peanuts in it though – is that ok in moderation?)
18:00 ? Not sure what to eat here – need something to give me energy before the training
18:30 Leave work (will believe it when I manage to do it it though!)
19:00 – 21:30 Training (match on Tuesdays)
22:00 Supper at home – until this week I normally have my main meal at this time. Not sure what to have at this time.
22:30 – 00:00 Relax with girlfriend, watch TV, browse web.
00:30 Lights out. Since I was 16 I’ve gone to sleep at 1am so even this would be a difference but will target midnight lights out.

At the weekend for last 4 weeks I’ve been doing at least one >70km cycle (training for the Wicklow 200) and would like to keep some cycling ticking over. I’m toying with the idea of cycling the 15km from Crumlin to work in Sandyford (takes 40mins with lights – shower in work) instead of driving and also maybe extending the route to take me up the mountains to the Hell Fire Club in the morning with the rationale that that would be good for weight loss and fitness – sound right or not? Downside is it is longer and more hassle to get around on the bike (e.g. lugging gear around, showers needed).


Diet Planning
I think I’ll pop into Pro Nutrition at the weekend and pickup some Optimum Nutrition Whey Gold Standard (is mint choc nice?) on the grounds that it’ll be better to drink that than an unhealthy snack when stuck for food in the office. In my mind I’m regarding this as a temporary thing so will probably go for 5lb and buy 10lb if I go through that later.

I’ve looked at all the foods recommended by g’em in a few threads and I don’t know what a fair few of them are and others that I have seen seem to cost a fortune in the supermarkets – are there better places to buy?

I’ll pickup lots of Tupperware boxes as suggested on the forum and will pick up as much of the below as I can identify. Will buy plenty of brown rice, wholegrain pasta, salmon, chicken and tuna as I’m familiar with those and will expand from there.

So the below are multiple (sorry) specific questions I have on different foods I’m not sure on:

• Coffee - I've cut out lattes altogether and really trying to limit my normal coffee intake....do need a hit during the day sometimes though - do I need to avoid it completely or is moderate consumption ok?
• Is striploin steak ok (I always cut the fat off) – please say yes?
• My girlfriend often cooks with 95% lean mince – should that be avoided and would steak mince be better?
• Baby potatoes – figure these are lower GI than normal spuds – in or out?
• Bulgar wheat – ya what?
• A hard-boiled egg as a snack??? Getting images of that lad off The Office 
• Baked beans (no added sugar) – my veggie sister eats these cold – is that better than hot?
• Dried spices/mixed herbs (cooking novice alert) – we have plenty of herbs but any ideas for spices to pick up?
• Curry paste – where to get this and is it not really fatty?
• Packets of unsalted, plain nuts for adding to salads- sunflower, sesame, almonds, cashews – these are very pricey in most places, where’s best to buy?
• Lentils – what to do to add these to a salad, boil and lob em in?
• Flax oil – what even is that?
• walnut oil, sesame oil, almond oil, macadamia nut oil – are these available in most supermarkets?

Hey there, only seeing this now. If you pop in and I am not there (Keith) tell Tommy that you are from boards and he will look after you. Also pick his brain about your diet because he is dieting at the moment for the world championship in June so he will gladly help you out there.