How UFC Fighters Lose Insane Amounts of Weight
(6-minute read) And DON’T make this your weight loss strategy.
Good Morning!
In my six years as a health coach, I’ve come to one realization that I have to break to all of my clients trying to lose weight:
“Losing weight should suck, but it should feel tolerably sucky.”
If you’ve never felt that feeling before, I hate to say it, but you might not have cut calories hard enough in your dieting practice to see meaningful progress.
And if that stung a bit, that’s okay.
It’s incredibly hard to strike that pain balance.
I was reminded of the pain it takes to lose weight while watching UFC 300 this past weekend, where fighters drop (and gain back — that’s important) upwards of 20-30 pounds of water weight before and after fights.
Tyler Minton, who explains his coaching method for some of the sport’s top stars in a Reddit AMA and his new book, “Fueling Fight Week,” says aspects of dieting this way — low-carb, low hydration — can lead to brain fog, among other side effects, in the short term.
Many people might adopt a similar practice of sweating hard and slashing calories to shed water weight not knowing how close they are to actually starving themselves when they diet.
For most people, this method isn’t sustainable because a bulk of the weight lost is water.
And water weight fluctuates heavily, which can make scale tracking your weight a bit of a doozy.
If you eat any sort of carbohydrates, you’ll gain a decent amount of water weight right back, since carbs are a water retaining macronutrient.
Why can’t I Cut like a fighter?
UFC Fighters diet down past the pain threshold of most average person with “ultra-low-calorie diets” or Very-Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs).
But are these diets safe?
It depends.
Lowering sodium is a good idea for most people — the typical American diet is arguably oversaturated with it, and it could help shed pounds.
But venture below Minton’s recommended sub-1000 mg intake and some food just might not taste as good.
And good luck feeling full.
Fiber is typically the thing you’ll want to keep you full, but Minton cuts even that out to have fighters consume mostly protein and fat (similar to a keto diet) since those are hydrophobic macronutrients.
Furthermore, taking a weight loss journey to this extreme might result in some serious irritability.
In short, if you’re really serious about testing your pain threshold, I’d aim for a dumbed-down version of Minton’s protocol.
How low, though, can we actually get our calorie count before it becomes unhealthy?
Luckily, some scientific evidence gives us a physical and psychological lens into the outcomes of such a diet.
Whether or not you find the outcomes desirable is up to you…
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
About 80 years ago, researchers at the University of Minnesota conducted the famous "Minnesota Starvation Experiment."
In this study, 36 men voluntarily semi-starved themselves by consuming only about half their average calorie intake for six months.
The results were pretty poignant—they lost about 25 percent of their body weight but also gained an overwhelming obsession with food.
Their preoccupation with eating became so intense that they’d ravenously lick their plates clean and even go so far as to check the trash bin at their testing facility for leftover scraps. 😳
(I’ve never used an emoji in a newsletter, but that one felt warranted.)
Now, it’s one study, so that’s not to say everyone will become completely feral on a diet like this, but it’s hard to believe you won’t come close.
While VLCDs may yield initial results, our biology makes it increasingly difficult to sustain over time.
Other Pitfalls of Semi-Starvation
Reading this summation of the study from Precision Nutrition, I was surprised by the word “starvation” about this diet.
However, the subjects’ behavior in the Minnesota study made it abundantly clear that no average non-starved person behaves like that.
What does this mean for you?
Well, you might think you’re restricting calories to an extreme degree, but truthfully, unless you’re tracking them rigorously, your intake is likely varying day-to-day. You should be okay with that because that’ll likely still lead to weight loss.
Any day you’re not rummaging through trash for food is a win.
Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD, Precision Nutrition's Director of Nutrition, explains, "Most people are in the ballpark four to five days a week, but they're likely compensating with higher-calorie foods on other days."
The Importance of Tolerable Suffering
Losing weight often involves some degree of hunger. It's a natural part of the process.
Remember that “pain balance” I mentioned above?
Losing weight, while tolerably sucky and mildly painful, shouldn’t cause animal-like hunger symptoms to the point of significant physical discomfort. If it is, you’re likely bordering on semi-starvation.
More moderate weight loss solutions can still do the trick.
And truthfully, I could spend a whole newsletter on this topic, but I’ve lately changed my thinking on the old phrase, “You can’t outwork a bad diet.”
I think you can. Lots of people might just not be working hard enough. I may have to do a deep dive on this soon.
Further Reading
In pursuing weight loss, I think VLCDs work in the short term, but like most extreme diets, cannot be sustained.
A more balanced, moderate, and individualized nutrition approach (that includes resistance training!) is typically the most effective and sustainable way to achieve your health and fitness goals.
It's essential to consult with healthcare professionals and registered dietitians to develop a plan tailored to your unique needs and support your long-term well-being.
For a deeper dive into the challenges of VLCDs, other diets, and tips for a more sustainable approach, you can read the full article by Alyssa Bowman, a writer at Precision Nutrition, "Is a 1200-calorie diet (or any super low-calorie diet) realistic?"
See you all on Wednesday!