Getting Ready For A Pro Boxing Match

[Sam Suska]

Hi,

I am a first-time poster, but I’ve been reading here for maybe a year or so. I would like to know what I can do to help me lose about 5 pounds or so in the next 23-24 days. I know it’s drastic and I also know that it will likely deplete my health to some degree, but I am a professional boxer and it’s just what I have to do to compete. I workout a lot at this time- too much for health but just enough for my sport-, and I will step it up even more the next 3 weeks; so there’s that. Over the last year or so I have incorporated many Peat principles into my diet and life, and I have benefitted very much, for the record. I am 5'9" and 185 pounds at this time, and I would like to get to 180 by June 30th, that way I only have to shed 5 lbs. of water weight (in the sauna and by not drinking water for 30 hours or so) to make 175 for my July 1st weigh-in.

I want to say that I am very aware that working out for 15+ hours per week is too much, and I believe that restricting calories is detrimental as is getting punched in the head, but I am knowingly taking these risks. I would like to know how I can tweak my diet/lifestyle for fat loss, and some tips, pointers or advice that you have for me as I prepare. Here is my current routine for the past 10 days or so:

Sleep: about 7-8 hours most nights; although I work as a firefighter so once a week I do not get to sleep straight through the night- maybe 2-3 hours at a time for a total of 4-5 hours one of the days per week

Current daily Dietary Regimen: eat less than I need but hopefully enough

1-2 bananas
1 liter orange juice
1 apple
20 grams whey protein
4 whole eggs with some cheese
1 bar (85g) of 88% dark chocolate
4 oz. kefir
32-48 oz. coffee
6 oz. sardines
12-16 oz. bone broth
a few cups of vegetables

Current Supplement Regimen:

Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)- 100mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)- 100mg
Niacinamide - 1,000 mg
Vitamin B6 (P5P)- 15 mg
Vitamin B7 (Biotin)- 600mcg
Vitamin K2- 2400mcg
Aspirin- 1,3000mg 3x per day
Taurine 10g
Theanine 500mg
Glycine 5g

Thanks a lot for any help.

 

[EIRE24]

Hi,

I am a first-time poster, but I’ve been reading here for maybe a year or so. I would like to know what I can do to help me lose about 5 pounds or so in the next 23-24 days. I know it’s drastic and I also know that it will likely deplete my health to some degree, but I am a professional boxer and it’s just what I have to do to compete. I workout a lot at this time- too much for health but just enough for my sport-, and I will step it up even more the next 3 weeks; so there’s that. Over the last year or so I have incorporated many Peat principles into my diet and life, and I have benefitted very much, for the record. I am 5'9" and 185 pounds at this time, and I would like to get to 180 by June 30th, that way I only have to shed 5 lbs. of water weight (in the sauna and by not drinking water for 30 hours or so) to make 175 for my July 1st weigh-in.

I want to say that I am very aware that working out for 15+ hours per week is too much, and I believe that restricting calories is detrimental as is getting punched in the head, but I am knowingly taking these risks. I would like to know how I can tweak my diet/lifestyle for fat loss, and some tips, pointers or advice that you have for me as I prepare. Here is my current routine for the past 10 days or so:

Sleep: about 7-8 hours most nights; although I work as a firefighter so once a week I do not get to sleep straight through the night- maybe 2-3 hours at a time for a total of 4-5 hours one of the days per week

Current daily Dietary Regimen: eat less than I need but hopefully enough

1-2 bananas
1 liter orange juice
1 apple
20 grams whey protein
4 whole eggs with some cheese
1 bar (85g) of 88% dark chocolate
4 oz. kefir
32-48 oz. coffee
6 oz. sardines
12-16 oz. bone broth
a few cups of vegetables

Current Supplement Regimen:

Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)- 100mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)- 100mg
Niacinamide - 1,000 mg
Vitamin B6 (P5P)- 15 mg
Vitamin B7 (Biotin)- 600mcg
Vitamin K2- 2400mcg
Aspirin- 1,3000mg 3x per day
Taurine 10g
Theanine 500mg
Glycine 5g

Thanks a lot for any help.

I would cut out the bar of chocolate and replace it with more protein or carbs. Basically I would go low fat higher protein and carbs, mostly from fruit and vegetables. Should do the trick

 

[paymanz]

yeah,chocolate is not that good,too much fiber and it also can increase nitric oxide.

 

[Dopamine]

-I think going high carb, high/moderate protein, and low fat can help you lose weight without calorie restriction and energy loss. Maybe lower fat intake to around 10% of caloric intake. 70/20/10- carbs/protein/fat... or something like that. Basically what EIRE24 said.

-Also I would be careful with taking that much aspirin and going into a fight if you find aspirin thins your blood. If you start bleeding it might open up the flood gates... you are taking K though so that probaly balances it out but you might consider taking more- I think Peat recommends 1mg per 325mg aspirin.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

I recommend getting some Progest-E. Not for training, but to take it after the match. It'll stop the stress and prevent it from causing any extra damage. Also, a good sugar source, like OJ, to go along with it. Thyroid hormone might help, too.

 

[Morning Star]

Too much aspirin, 1 g a day max. Ditch the whey protein and drink a half gallon of 1% or skim milk. Cut out the bananas, they're chock full of serotonin. Apples are ok, but should be well cooked, even then the pectin could be a problem. Sardines are extremely high in PUFA, supplement oysters or liver once a week or so. Ditto on the dark chocolate, tons of fat and probably contains soy lecithin anyway. Add gelatin, eat fewer eggs (1 or 2 a day). Low fat cottage cheese (watch out for carageenan) , low fat Greek yogurt are good, add sugar to them to compliment the protein. Don't drink the tap water, get RO or spring and add some salt to that. If you take Creatine, stop until after weigh in as it will cause you to retain some water weight.

 

[Peata]

I don't know anything about boxing, but are you going to wear head protection? Head injury, even if it seems "mild" is nothing to play around with. So, I second the Progest E. Google progesterone + head trauma. Here's a sample that came up from the NEJM:

Progesterone has been shown to have broad neuroprotective properties in multiple animal species and in a variety of models of neurologic injury. Multifactorial effects of progesterone include inhibition of inflammatory cytokines, reduced levels of inflammation-related factors, prevention of excitotoxicity, reduction of apoptosis, and control of vasogenic edema.7-10 The progesterone receptor plays a key role in these neuroprotective effects.11 A total of 20 research groups working with four species and 22 different models have found neuroprotective effects of progesterone in more than 180 experimental pharmacologic studies.12 In addition, two phase 2 randomized, controlled clinical trials with progesterone showed a clinical benefit.13,14 On the basis of these collective data, two phase 3 trials were initiated at around the same time: the Study of a Neuroprotective Agent, Progesterone, in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (SYNAPSE) and the Progesterone for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (PROTECT III) trial.15

 

[Sam Suska]

Too much aspirin, 1 g a day max. Ditch the whey protein and drink a half gallon of 1% or skim milk. Cut out the bananas, they're chock full of serotonin. Apples are ok, but should be well cooked, even then the pectin could be a problem. Sardines are extremely high in PUFA, supplement oysters or liver once a week or so. Ditto on the dark chocolate, tons of fat and probably contains soy lecithin anyway. Add gelatin, eat fewer eggs (1 or 2 a day). Low fat cottage cheese (watch out for carageenan) , low fat Greek yogurt are good, add sugar to them to compliment the protein. Don't drink the tap water, get RO or spring and add some salt to that. If you take Creatine, stop until after weigh in as it will cause you to retain some water weight.

Hi, thanks for the input. I am going to cut back my Aspirin to 325mg 3x per day. I will also alternate Sardines with Oysters and liver.

 

[Sam Suska]

I don't know anything about boxing, but are you going to wear head protection? Head injury, even if it seems "mild" is nothing to play around with. So, I second the Progest E. Google progesterone + head trauma. Here's a sample that came up from the NEJM:

Progesterone has been shown to have broad neuroprotective properties in multiple animal species and in a variety of models of neurologic injury. Multifactorial effects of progesterone include inhibition of inflammatory cytokines, reduced levels of inflammation-related factors, prevention of excitotoxicity, reduction of apoptosis, and control of vasogenic edema.7-10 The progesterone receptor plays a key role in these neuroprotective effects.11 A total of 20 research groups working with four species and 22 different models have found neuroprotective effects of progesterone in more than 180 experimental pharmacologic studies.12 In addition, two phase 2 randomized, controlled clinical trials with progesterone showed a clinical benefit.13,14 On the basis of these collective data, two phase 3 trials were initiated at around the same time: the Study of a Neuroprotective Agent, Progesterone, in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (SYNAPSE) and the Progesterone for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (PROTECT III) trial.15

What dosage of Progesterone do you recommend? You think I should wait til after the fight to take it?

 

[Sam Suska]

-I think going high carb, high/moderate protein, and low fat can help you lose weight without calorie restriction and energy loss. Maybe lower fat intake to around 10% of caloric intake. 70/20/10- carbs/protein/fat... or something like that. Basically what EIRE24 said.

-Also I would be careful with taking that much aspirin and going into a fight if you find aspirin thins your blood. If you start bleeding it might open up the flood gates... you are taking K though so that probaly balances it out but you might consider taking more- I think Peat recommends 1mg per 325mg aspirin.

Thank you, I will cut the chocolate in half and eat one less egg and alternate the sardines with oysters and beef liver to achieve a 10% fat.

 

[Peata]

What dosage of Progesterone do you recommend? You think I should wait til after the fight to take it?

Well, it sounds like they give it through IV infusion or an injection. Not sure what this would amount to sublingually or transdermally. @haidut or someone?

How and When Progesterone Is Administered After a Brain Injury There's a short video on this site and you can click on the transcript to read what he says.



Transcript:
The animal studies show that the neuro-protection works probably up to 12-- maybe even as much as 24--hours after injury. However, we--in our clinical trial and our phase three clinical trial now-- are required to get the drug in within 4 hours. The reason we're doing that is rather complex. The animal studies-- When you do an animal model, it's very homogenous. The brain injury is exactly the same. The animals are exactly the same. Everything is maintained equally. So, small improvements in outcome can be identified in an animal model. But when you go to a human model that is very heterogenous, that improvement can get washed out in the noise. From the animal studies we can show very clearly that the earlier you get it in the better it is. The 1-hour post, the 6-hour post, and the 12-hour post-- there's a scale that shows the earlier the better. It's common sense. It's a neuro-protectant--meaning it's got to protect-- so if you don't get it in early, you're already behind the eight ball. That was the reason in the phase three trial we chose a 4-hour window-- was to try to get it in absolutely as soon as possible but yet feasible, and give the drug maximal chance to work. The formulation that we use in the human trials is natural progesterone, so that's key. Many of the progestins--which are artificially produced progesterones-- have very different mechanisms and very different properties. So, it's natural progesterone which, by the way, comes from yams. We buy it as a powder from a company and dissolve it in a small amount of ethanol, and then it gets mixed into an intra-lipid formulation just before it's delivered. We give it as an IV infusion over 4 days with a taper towards the end. The goal is to reach a steady state--to sort of coat the brain-- during that critical time period immediately after the injury.

PROGESTERONE EXERTS NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS AFTER BRAIN INJURY

Read the whole article, but here are some excerpts:

"Cerebral edema developed in rats within two hours of injury, peaked at 24 hours, and decreased by 7 days. Progesterone given one hour after injury reduced the level of cerebral edema at 3 days to that normally seen at 7"

"Although this study seems to suggest that more progesterone is better, there appears to be an upper limit for dosage. Goss et al. (Goss et al., 2003) reported that administering relatively high doses of progesterone (32 mg/kg, first SC, then IP) was ineffective. However, the investigators reported that lower doses (8–16/mg/kg) produced beneficial effects on cognitive performance and reduction of inflammatory factors."

 

[haidut]

Well, it sounds like they give it through IV infusion or an injection. Not sure what this would amount to sublingually or transdermally. @haidut or someone?

How and When Progesterone Is Administered After a Brain Injury There's a short video on this site and you can click on the transcript to read what he says.



PROGESTERONE EXERTS NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS AFTER BRAIN INJURY

Read the whole article, but here are some excerpts:

"Cerebral edema developed in rats within two hours of injury, peaked at 24 hours, and decreased by 7 days. Progesterone given one hour after injury reduced the level of cerebral edema at 3 days to that normally seen at 7"

"Although this study seems to suggest that more progesterone is better, there appears to be an upper limit for dosage. Goss et al. (Goss et al., 2003) reported that administering relatively high doses of progesterone (32 mg/kg, first SC, then IP) was ineffective. However, the investigators reported that lower doses (8–16/mg/kg) produced beneficial effects on cognitive performance and reduction of inflammatory factors."

They tried subcutaneously (SC) first and the intraperitoneal (IP) The doses are high, but not excessively high. The 32mg/kg dose would translate to about 5mg/kg for a human. The 8-16 mg/kg would be 1.25 - 2.5 mg/kg for a human, which is really not that much. Considering Progestene's equivalence to SC absorption, you can replicate the study with 10 doses. However, I am pretty sure the SC administration of progesterone in the study does not achieve 100% bioavailability as they typically use propylene glycol or some other toxin like it that does not really provide good bioavailability. So, the study may have actually achieve close to 30%-40% bioavailability of the administered dose.

 

[schultz]

I recommend getting some Progest-E. Not for training, but to take it after the match. It'll stop the stress and prevent it from causing any extra damage. Also, a good sugar source, like OJ, to go along with it. Thyroid hormone might help, too.

Smart! I didn't even think of using progesterone for this, but it makes sense since Ray talks about it for preventing brain damage. I was thinking car accidents or something and never thought about it for something like boxing.

I would take it after in case it makes you a little sleepy or too relaxed.