It’s funny when you go off topic on your blog what a different direction your conversation takes! I typically blog endlessly about children’s books but my post on My Path to Pugilism is Strew with Skeptics connected me with boxers of all stripes including one boxing expert I’ve been watching on YouTube — Johnny of ExpertBoxing. What fun for me since I have been obsessively watching his boxing training videos!
I like that he is articulate and breaks things down step by step. He is also encouraging and realistic. And that he is a Tango dancer as well confirmed my suspicion that boxing and dancing are very similar with their emphasis on rhythm and footwork!
Johnny offered me his Boxing Diet Book — giveaway below — and I was struck by his emphasis on nutrition and healthy eating habits. His advice is very similar to visiting a nutrutionist and I like that it breaks it down step by step in an easy to understand manner. Just like his boxing videos!
Is a Boxers Diet for you?
Let’s find out. I’ve asked Johnny 5 questions.
1) How is a boxing fighter’s diet to “make weight” different from other diets geared towards weight loss?
The fighter’s diet is the healthiest, most natural, and most proven diet.
Fighter’s lose weight more often than any other type of people I know. We are separated into different weight classes in competition (e.g. lightweight – 136 lbs, middleweight – 160 lbs, heavyweight – 200 lbs, etc). So it’s our advantage to lose weight to fit into the smallest weight class possible. It’s better for fighters to lose weight and fit into a smaller weight class than to face a bigger, taller, stronger opponent.
Now the catch is we can’t just starve ourselves on a fad diet. We have to eat all the right nutrients in order to train 100% and give our best performance during the fight. Fighters may eat more during the training periods but trim down right before the fight. The average amateur boxer may be losing weight up to 10-20 times a year. So we learn very quickly what works and doesn’t work. The result is an absolutely proven diet guaranteed to tear off fat in the shortest time possible!
2) Why should women — my audience is moms — want to try a diet designed for boxers? Would you recommend this diet if you are not a boxer?
Moms (or everybody) should try the fighter’s diet because it’s healthy and fast! I designed my diet guide to remove weight in as fast as 30 days. You could slim down in time for social events such as a wedding, reunion, summer at the beach, or even simply because you want to live healthier. Ideally, you would keep up the diet all year round for long-term benefits. Being in-shape and healthy can benefit anyone.
I initially wrote my diet guide for fighters but it quickly became popular with women. They had taken up boxing or kickboxing classes to lose weight which is how they discovered my boxing website at www.expertboxing.com. These women were struggling to lose weight they gained after getting older, slowed metabolism, having kids, working lifestyle, etc. Despite being health conscious, the pounds kept coming back and they figured it couldn’t hurt to try yet another diet. Their feedback has been nothing short of phenomenal, raving with enthusiasm and excitement about finally getting in shape. It’s truly an honor to help people lose weight and feel great about themselves.
3) Are the vitamin supplements necessary if you do this diet but are not actively boxing or even exercising?
Vitamins are unnecessary in your diet if you’re eating correctly. I do talk about the more essential vitamins to help you determine if they’re in your food or not. For people involved in extreme physical activity (such as fight training or marathon training), more nutrients are necessary making vitamin supplements a helpful convenience. For the average person doing regular exercise, vitamin supplements are not needed as long as your diet is complete.
4) Boil down this diet into three bullet points.
- FAST – proven diet used by fighters to burn fat as fast as possible
- EASY – simple ways to figure out what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat
- HEALTHY – you’ll feel great, and have more energy and strength throughout your day
5) You are a young and fit guy. I’ve seen your 6 pack. You look like the last person on earth who would have to lose weight or worry about weight gain. How did you come to write a diet book?
As a boxing coach, I’m responsible for many other fighters, not only myself. I’m in charge of making sure my fighters train right, eat right, and show up for competition ready to fight at 100%. People online and offline were asking me the same questions over and over for years, that the book was practically half-written through email replies and website comments by the time I started writing the book.
I wrote the fighter’s diet guide to help fighters lose weight and have energy for their training. But it wasn’t long after that I realized how many people, even health-conscious athletes, do not know how to eat right. While successful dieting has become routine for many fighters, the process still remains a mystery to the average person.
People are still looking for the “secret diet plan” of foods to eat instead of learning how different foods affect their bodies. Most diet books you see today are taking advantage of people’s lack of knowledge, hyping up different dieting methods as if they were fashion trends…which doesn’t make sense when the human body has virtually stayed the same throughout the years.
Once you know how to eat, you are free to mix and match foods however you like! And if you have to cheat, you know when to do it. Most important of all, it’s got to be easy. Nobody (especially moms and athletes) has time to go hunting down random ingredients or otherwise burning time in the kitchen for every meal. My diet guide shares the most effective and proven dieting methods used by boxers over the past decades.
The 30 Day Fighter’s Diet (eBook), retail cost $34
- 180-page eBook — broken down into 10 detailed chapters. Learn what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat. Complete with lists of foods, recipes, and diet plans to guide you through 30 days and beyond. Plenty of helpful charts, lists, links, tips, and printable worksheets to help you GET IN SHAPE FAST!
- Fighters — get the exact diet plan to guide you from day one to fight day. Learn how to schedule meals around workouts, fighter’s supplements, what to eat on the day of the fight BEFORE & AFTER weigh-in. Get strong & make weight in 30 DAYS!
- THIS IS A DIGITAL EBOOK — no physical book will be shipped to you. The eBook is in PDF format, downloaded through the internet (available anywhere worldwide).
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
If that’s the case, then I’m going to start this diet.
Hi Christopher,
The Fighter’s Diet is based on sound principle’s of healthy eating habits. Thanks for entering!
Interesting. It sounds like a helpful diet!
Hi Erik,
Johnny says that women who don’t box find it helpful for weight loss because it’s based on healthy eating habits.
I agree that boxer’s diet is really healthy and nutritious, but it should be combined with sports. So you should not only keep to a diet but to do a lot of exercises and only then you can see the result. I doubt that this diet suits to women because I think that it is rather harsh or am I wrong?
Hi Maria,
Actually Johnny tells me that women (who don’t box) have been the largest audience for buying his book because it’s based on healthy eating habits and not on fads or unrealistic low calories or an emphasis on eating one kind of thing.
I read his book and it’s very similar advice to what a good nutritionist would give. (We are working with a nutritionist now so it’s top of mind for me).
Hi Maria,
You don’t need to do exercises although that isn’t a bad idea. When it comes to losing weight, I would say the diet is at least 70% of the work with exercise being the other 30%. Now if you’re diet is really bad, then changing that would make a great impact without you getting to the exercise part.
I’d be interested to see a sample 2-3 day meal plan! If you could show that, it’d be awesome. Thks. I don’t box, but interesting nonetheless.
Hi Jill,
I’ll see if Johnny would be willing to post this. Thanks for entering. You don’t need to box to follow what this healthy diet.
Hi Jill,
The sample meal plan is basically a breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. And using the simple recipes provided in the book.
Hi Johnny,
I thought the recipes looked delicious too!
Thanks Mia! 😉
How’s the boxing coming along, btw?
Hi Johnny,
It’s great. I am boxing 3x a week plus trying to run a little with my dog and jump rope 15 minutes 3x a week. I am working on catch and counter and slip and counter with my trainer. I’m back to right side dominant. All the moms who have tried it have loved it.
What do you think of my idea? Yoga Boxing? I did yoga for 5 years and there are many similar elements. I’m trying to get that started at my boxing gym now. Yoga warm up, boxing heavy bag or circuit for cardio, core work, yoga cool down. I think it will appeal to the moms. Everyone who has tried boxing from my mom circle also does yoga. The breathing emphasis is very similar! The Vinyasa is a kind of push up. For core work in boxing, we do chair pose, plank, side plank.
Do you do yoga?
Cool- I love how into boxing you’ve gotten, Mia. I feel slightly guilty that I’m reading this post and can only type my comment with one hand because my other hans is holding a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.
Shhhhhh
Hi Jeanette,
Yum! What flavor? May have to steal a bite!
Ice pops were a good way i would keep the weight off a few days before i wont the sunshine state games tournament medal. water ran right through me.. and sweet potatoes gave me lots of energy.
Hi Joshua,
Thanks for your great advice for a healthy diet for boxers!
Sweet potatoes are a favorite! Popular with wrestlers, too, I believe.
Hi Johnny,
I wish my kids would eat sweet potatoes. They don’t like them and it’s surprising because they are delicious! Not sure why my kids don’t like them! The Asian versions are not as sweet but even those varieties did not work. My husband grew up in Korea and fire roasted sweet potatoes were sold by street vendors and considered a treat!
I have done yoga for a bit but stopped to focus on other things. It’s a great exercise for a very tense-muscled athlete like myself. I’m usually dying in that class. Humbling, fun, and so beneficial. At the end of the workout, I’m one of those guys that almost falls asleep during the eyes-closed final words part of the workout.
Now that I think of it, I need to do more yoga. 🙂
Hi Johnny,
Did you get my email with the winner of your eBook giveaway? She is SO excited to win! She says this is the first contest she has ever won.
I have fallen asleep in yoga before too (and I snorted myself awake which is pretty embarrassing) but yogis are nice about that kind of thing and no one laughs or makes fun of you.
Yoga and boxing would be a good mix, don’t you think?
Yes, I did email her! I’m happy for her first contest ever won. 🙂
Yoga goes well with any lifestyle, that’s for sure.