It’s common for many of those who are new to Muay Thai to neglect many things, particularly, nutrition and diet. Many of them often think that in order to build the muscle and strength they need, they just have to train, train and train. They rarely think about what they eat, which may not seem important, but trust me, it is.Diet plays a key role in making sure you’re able to do everything you want when training and in the ring. As such, you’ll want to make sure that you know the right diet and these tips below will help you with that.
Do keep in mind that we still encourage you to consult your physician and dietician first. You may have different nutritional needs or may have certain allergic reactions to certain food items. As such, please consult the experts first.
- Don’t skip meals. It’s no secret that many of those who take up muay thai do so to lose weight more than anything else. This is why many think that skipping meals will help them lose weight even faster. But no, that’s not exactly how things work. Unless you eat two boxes of pizza for every meal, skipping meals isn’t recommended. Remember, you’re still new to this and your body needs all the nutrition it can get to keep up with all your training.
- Slow, gradual changes. You can’t just change your eating habits overnight. It’s going to take time and much like your training, you’ll have to take it day by day. Instead of completely changing your meal plan from eating whatever is available to planning it out, do it slowly. Start with your breakfast, then gradually, move on to your lunch, then dinner up until your body’s used to a whole new meal plan.
- Don’t be absent-minded. Many people do what we’d love to refer to as “mindless eating”. It’s sort of eating without really eating, if you know what I mean. When you eat, make sure that you savor every bite and chew as slowly as possible. Enjoy the food and try NOT to do anything else. This way, you’ll know exactly just how much nutrition your body needs and prevent overeating.
- Less shit food, more fruits and vegetables. Rich in nutrition and very low in calorie count, fruits and vegetables should be a staple of your daily meals. Be sure to buy them fresh as much as possible as processed ones are rarely as good, both in terms of flavor and in nutrition. Also, another thing to keep in mind is to avoid shit food, or to put it simply, everything that’s already been processed.
Follow these tips above and you’ll find yourself living a much healthier life before and a much better fighter as well.