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The Martial Arts Diet Plan

There are lots of diet plans out there: the South Beach Diet; Atkins; Makers; the Zone. Like most of you, I have tried them all. I have found that the only way to drop those extra pounds and not sacrifice important muscle mass, is the good old-fashioned "Lay-off the feedbag and get off your butt" diet plan. The Martial Arts Diet Plan.

On the Martial Arts Diet Plan, I personally lost 20lbs. in 6 weeks, went from a waist size of 36 to 34 inches and toned some serious guns! If you follow this plan, there is no way you can fail. The Martial Arts Diet Plan is more than just physical. In the Martial Arts we teach the power of our sub-conscious mind. If you follow this Mental and physical plan, you will succeed!

The Martial Arts Diet Plan basic elements:

• Reduced Calories
• Cardio Exercise
• Resistance Training
• Auto-Suggestion
• Write it down!

 

Reduced Calories:

• Contrary to popular belief, a starvation diet is not healthy because too low of a calorie intake will cause your body to pull nutrients from your muscles and vital organs.
  
  Weeks 1-2 Men 1500 calories per day, women 1200
  Weeks 3-4 Men 1400 calories per day, women 1100
  Weeks 5-6 Men 1300 calories per day, women 1100
   
• Maximum calories for a single meal should not exceed 400 calories for women and 500 for men.
   
• Larger meals stimulate more insulin (the pro-fat hormone) production, which increases fat storage. The goal is 4 or 5 small means about 3 hours apart. What I did was divide the total calories per day by 5. You want to average about 300 calories per meal. You can also shift calories around too- You can have a 200 calorie breakfast and have a 400 calorie lunch.
   
• It is important to have a meal every 3 hours. For one, you want to kick in your metabolism- digestion burns calories. Two, if you go a long time between meals, you will be more hungry and want to over eat.
   
• Common Calories Keep track of your calorie intake! If you want to succeed, you have to stick to the Reduced Calories part of the plan.

 

Cardio Exercise:

• Cardio should be done every day of the week, except on days that you train your lower body. I believe in slow cardio. Each cardio session consists of 45-60 minutes on the treadmill at a SLOW PACE on an incline, about level-5. Aim for around 3.0 MPH, that will put your heart rate in the 80%, fat burning zone.
   
• Do cardio 20 minutes after weight training, as glycogen (carbo) is used up from weight lifting and the body will be primed to dip into fat and mobilize it for removal.
   
• When the cardio session seems easy, increase your incline level instead of your speed. I start at level-5, climb to level-8 after 5 minutes and on to level-10 after 10 minutes. This kind of cardio will actually have your body turn to stored fat as fuel instead of the usual carbohydrates.
   
• You need to keep your heart rate at 80% of your max heart rate.
   
• To calculate your Target Heart Rate, first gather the following information, then do the math:
  
  1. Your Resting Heart Rate. As you sit, take your pulse with your index finger, not your thumb. Count the beats per minute. Mine is 65.
  
  2. Now calculate your Max Heart Rate: 217-(your age x 0.85)
  
  3. Your Working Heart Rate: Max Heart Rate - Resting Heart Rate

Example: A 40 year old person
Resting Heart Rate = 65 (your normal pulse)
Max Heart Rate = 217-(40 x 0.85) = 183
Working Heart Rate = 183 - 65 = 118

Now take this information to calculate your Target Heart Rate:

(Working Heart Rate x 0.65) + Resting Heart Rate
(118 x 0.65) + 65 = 141

A Target Heart Rate of 141 will burn 85% Fat, 5% Proteins, and 10% Carbohydrates. The ideal Fat Burning Zone!

A 40 year old person needs to maintain a heart rate of 140-145 beats per minute for 45 minutes.

 

Resistance Training:

There are 3 reasons for weight training: 1- strength; 2- muscle burns fat; and 3- toned guns look good!

• There are 3500 calories in 1 pound of fat. Each pound of added muscle requires (consumes) 35 to 50 calories. So, an additional 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately 350 to 500 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 7 to 10 days! That's without doing anything else. Once you build the muscle, a regular training regiment will make you a fat burning machine.
   
• I like to do a 3:1 weight training split- 3 days on, 1 day off.
   
• Do 2 body parts per day.
   
• Use heavy weights. If you want to build serious muscle mass, you have to lift some serious weight. Remember, muscle burns fat.
   
• The last rep should be enough to make your eyes pop.
   
• The trick to adding size is rest and time. You need to let your body repair the tear you put on the muscle. You grow out of the gym. Abs can be worked everyday. You probably already have a six-pack, but like me, it was covered over with a layer of fat...
   
• Pyramiding: Start with warm-up weights, do about 15-20 reps; then gradually increasing the weights until you are only able to do 2-5 reps of you max weight. For example, when I do curls- I start with 20 lbs., then move up to 35, the next set 40, 45, then max out at maybe 1-2 reps at 50. It’s a great way to work all 3 muscle fiber types. 

This is my routine. You will need to experiment with the amount of weight necessary to max at 8 or 10 reps:

Day	Exercise	Sets	Reps
1	Bicep Curl	5	8-12
1	Calf Raises	5	Max
2	Bench Press	5	8-10
2	Leg Extensions	4	Max
3	Tricep pushdown	4	8-10
3	Close Grip Bench	4	8-10
3	Ab Crunches	4	Max

 

Auto-Suggestion:  Martial Arts teaches the Power of the Mind...

"we are shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think." Buddha

• Why are Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig weight loss programs so successful? Because they provide coaching. If you are like me, I like to coach myself. To make this work, you need to train your mind. You train your mind the same way you train your body- you subject it to repetitive exercises, over and over, until you reach the desired result.
   
• The number one reason why fad diets fail, is because your mind is not ready to succeed. In the martial arts, we teach our students the power of the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind combined with the infinite universal power, that power everyone believes to exist, God.
   
• Repeat this in the morning and evening before bed- out loud:
  
  "I will be at ___ pounds, by _____ (date in six weeks). I will accomplish this by consuming 1500/1400 (man/woman) calories per day, perform at least 45 minutes of cardio each day and weight training. My faith is so strong that I can actually see myself. I can imagine how good I will feel (place yourself in the moment, how does it Feel). My faith is so strong- I can see the scale, at 20lbs. Less. I will never give up until I have reach my goal. I have full faith in my mind’s, plus the infinite universe to provide the plans and willpower to succeed.
  You can use this with anything."
   
• Repeat this as well- reinforcement:
  
  I know through the principle of autosuggestion, any desire I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some physical means of attaining the object back of it; therefore, I will devote 10 minutes a day to DEMANDING of myself the development of self-confidence. I have clearly written a description of my definite chief aim in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.

Remember: Faith is the head chemist of the mind. When faith is blended with thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translates it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence, as in the case of prayer.

"there are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge" Dr. Napoleon Hill
In other words- remove "can't" from your vocabulary!

 

Write it Down:

• Write down all the calories you intake per day. If you really want to succeed, this is very important. Get your self a small pad of paper and after each meal write down what you have eaten, then attach the calorie values. Keep a running total for each day. This gives you an idea where your are from meal to meal and also forces you to stick to the plan.
   
• Also, write down the exercises you do each day along with the total reps and weight of each. Remember- when weight training, you always need to do more each session. Whether you do more reps with same weight or if you step-up the amount of weight. What I do is print off a table similar to this link, It lists the exercises for that day and you fill in the weight and reps performed. Each day before you begin, take a look at the day’s regiment- can you increase the reps or the weight? Do one or the other. If you did 6 reps of 100lbs. Set a goal of 7-8 reps with same weight. If you are at 9-10 reps, increase the weight by 5 lbs. Muscle will not grow unless you stress it more than the previous session. Muscle Burns Fat!

 

Coaching:

• To heck with the fad diets. They just don't work. You may loose a few pounds, but you need to ask yourself: What did I gain? You need to realize that a lifestyle change is the only way to life-long fitness. When you do make this realization, life will truly begin with a new mental and physical attitude.
   
• Water- your body temp is 98.6. When you ingest something that is colder, it must be brought up to your body temp to be digested. This take energy- calories.
   
• Once you are in the second week, you will notice your cloths fitting a little bit looser or not as tight. This will give you some motivation- “wow, a week from now, I should really feel more of a difference!”
   
• After a week or 2 of programming your mind- your thoughts will be guiding you towards success. You will be subconsciously looking forward to the day when this goal IS going to be met! There will be no doubt in your mind.
   
• Another thing you will notice is that you look forward to making healthy choices from the menu. I get a kick out of going out with friends to restaurants. Most people love to indulge, not me. You actually become the strange one of the group because you are health conscious- all of the time! This is a good thing! People will respect you for it.
   
• You will feel great! I do. You will be more energetic. Try this: have 2 cups of Pineapple for breakfast (about 160 calories) you will be on cloud nine all day!
   
• I have to add, in closing: Martial Arts are a great way to accomplish all of these elements. A typical class at Palm Beach Martial Arts begins with getting your heart rate up, either upper, abdominal or lower bodybuilding exercises, followed by lots of running, jumping, kicking, punching and all while having a good time with friends. The whole time programming your subconscious mind to succeed. Make Martial Arts your hobby and your life will change forever.

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Useful Information

Common Calories