MMAWLS Blog

Many people have a difficult time convincing themselves to do something. That something could be just becoming active, or cutting back on the food they eat, or anything. Until something becomes a habit, you need a different tool to get yourself to do that. That tool is psychological manipulation. Today, I'll talk about how to use psychological manipulation to help you create effective habits.

Salesmen, politicians, and the media use psychological manipulation on us all the time, and it is very effective, so I propose we should use the same tactics on ourselves for positive results. Robert Cialdini wrote a book called "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion." This book talks about 6 principles, these are: Reciprocity, Commitment, Social Proof, Liking, Authority, and Scarcity. You can use these principles to influence yourself. Also, you have a very successful person by the name of Charlie Munger who has described what he calls “The 24 Causes of Human Misjudgement. Since there are 24 of them, I don’t feel like listing them all here, but a few of the important ones are these: ”Reward and Punishment Super Response”, “Disliking/Hating Tendency”, “Inconsistency Avoidance”, and “The Lolla Palooza Effect.”

As I said, these are used on you every day. Robert Cialdini is hired by politicians to help direct their campaigns. Charlie Munger used these to create a net worth of over a billion dollars. Salesmen, advertisers, and your boss, and NGO’s all use these techniques. If other people are using them successfully on you, for their own gain, why can’t you use them to influence yourself for your own gain? Well you can, and I’m going to give you a few ideas on how to do it.

The first one we’ll use is the Lollapalooza Effect. This isn’t really an effect all by itself, instead it is the result of using several at the same time. Think of the frenzy at a TupperWare party, or a Jewelry Party. Why does this happen? You get scarcity, liking, social proof, and reciprocity all coming together at the same time. Four of Cialdini’s 6 principles all at once. It’s a tsunami of influence. That is the Lollapalooza Effect, and we’re going to use it on ourselves.

The next one to use is the Reward/Punishment Super Response. We want to create an environment where we reward ourselves for doing something that gets us closer to our goal, and punish ourselves for doing something that moves us away from our goal. For example, work a treat into your meal plan. But only eat it if you achieve a certain level of physical activity for the day. You don’t get to eat the treat if you didn’t do the activity. Reward and punishment.

You can use Commitment to your advantage. You know how salesman get you to write down your offer? That is commitment in action. Write down your goals and your strategies to achieve those goals. Use big bold writing in bright bold colours. Make them stand out. Then sign and date each goal and strategy. Read them back to your self out loud several times. Every day, look at what you wrote and look at your signature. This is commitment.

One option is to pick your favorite some a group of influencers. Consider the Liking and Social Proof influencers along with the Disliking/Hating Super Response. Choose one and use it to your advantage. If you choose Liking, then you need to find examples of a body you like, post it somewhere where you can see it frequently. Every day visualize that body and how you would like to have it, and think positive thoughts. Or, you could find an image of someone surrounded by happy cheerful people who has a body you would like. Visualize that every day. Or, you can find an example of a body you do not want. Do not use an image of yourself. You do not want to hate yourself. Every day, visualize doing the things that need to be done to not look like that. Think of the good life that person would have once they slimmed down.

I provided examples of three influencers that you can use at the same time to provide powerful incentives and drivers to do those things you need to do every day to create the habits you need to lose weight. There are many more you can use, it just takes some thinking. Once things become habits, you don’t even need to think about them.

Do you want help with your nutrition and weight goals so you can be the best possible you? Imagine the feeling you get when your goals are met. We can help you achieve that. As nutrition and weight cut coaches, we have done that already for many people. Go here for a free nutritional analysis to get started.

I decided to go with the name “MMA Weight Loss Secrets” because it created a differentiator for me. My expertise is in weight loss for combat sports that have weight classes, so I wanted to leverage that knowledge, but the knowledge itself is highly transferable to all people who want to lose weight. The only difference between your neighbour Suzie losing weight to get healthy and your nephew Jimmy the wrestler losing weight for National’s is the final sprint to the weigh-in. MMA is really gaining mainstream traction and becoming very popular, so not only are there more people who need to learn this, but more people are seeing what MMA competitors do and wondering how they do it.

The “secret” isn’t really a secret. Instead, it is knowledge that is not widely disseminated. What’s really funny is there is another group of people who use the same techniques: Models. Underwear and swimsuit models will use the same techniques as combat sports athletes to look the way they do. So, how do they do it?

First they lose body fat, then they lose water, and they lose a lot of water. That’s it: “the secret”.

This is how it’s done: They will get down to the point where they have either essential body fat or just a small percentage above that. For men, essential body fat is 3%, for women, it is 10%. Then, 24 hours before the weigh-in (or the photo shoot), they will cut their water intake in half. Then, 8 to 12 hours before the shoot or weigh in, they will cut out all water, and sweat out whatever water they can. Once they get to their target weight, they will only stay there for a few hours or minutes, then, after the weigh-in or the photo-shoot, they will replenish all the weight they lost. Some people will even go on intravenous to replenish water and electrolytes as quickly as possible.

Before reading further, I need to state the standard disclaimer: I am not a doctor, do not consider anything in this article as medical advice. There are now two questions: 1) How do you get down to essential body fat? 2) How do you lose all that water? My book is all about cutting body fat. So go buy that if you haven’t already to learn that information. This post is about losing the water.

I’m not a doctor, I’m just describing my experiences. Consult a doctor before trying any of this yourself. Water loss as a form of weight loss must be done very carefully because your body absolutely needs water. Also, it is only a temporary form of weight loss. 24 hours without water and your kidneys will shut down. When your kidneys shut down, you will probably die. But, if you cut out your water correctly, you will have no problems. Your body evolved to endure the hardships of minimal water intake, and even no water for a short period of time. Think about this: If you get 8 or even 12 hours of straight sleep, how often did you get up and have a drink of water? Did you die?

So, the answer to the question “How do they lose that water?” is, they sweat it out. The easiest way to sweat it out is in a sauna. They sit in a sauna, for several hours, until the water is gone. They may even wear a sauna suit and possibly exercise while in the sauna. Some people know exactly how long they have to sit in the sauna to lose a pound of water. I used to bring a stationary bike into the sauna. The sauna was set between 35C and 40C, I had a plastic sauna suit, and I rode the stationary bike. It didn’t take me long to lose that water. I knew that cracking a good sweat was .2Kg and would take 20 minutes, then every 10 minutes after that was another .2Kg. I’d check the clock, calculate how long I needed, then do it. I would not check my weight again until I knew I was where I needed to be. That first 20 minutes was hard, so I wanted to make sure of where I was and how much I needed to drop before I went in. Also, to weigh in, you need to be dry and not sweating, so it was costly time wise to make a mistake. If you miscalculated, you need to put your cold wet clothes back on before heading into the sauna again. Overall, I could expect to lose 1KG per hour in the sauna. One final problem: You can’t spend 4 straight hours in the sauna or you’ll overheat. Again, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t recommend this. I’m just conveying information on how people do this.

Post weigh in consists of replenishing your water and electrolytes. Pedialyte, Gatorade, Powerade, and diluted fruit juice are all good for this. You want to drink slowly. Take a sip, wait 20 seconds, take a sip. Do this until you have drank as much water as you lost. If you are under a doctor’s supervision and whatever activity/sport you’re doing allows intravenous recovery, then I guess you can, but nearly all sports consider this “Performance Enhancing” and have outlawed it, so, if you’re an athlete, it could be called cheating.

Once most of your water has been replenished, you can start eating. Your meal plan will depend on when your competition is, if you’re an athlete. Fats and proteins digest more slowly that carbohydrates. If you have less than 12 hours before competing, you will want to eat high carbohydrate food. If you sleep overnight, you can add some protein and fats to the meal. If you did everything correctly, the short term water loss will not affect you, and your glycogen stores should be adequate for competition, although, you will still need to continue eating throughout the competition.

Do you want help with your nutrition and weight goals so you can be the best possible you? Imagine the feeling you get when your goals are met. We can help you achieve that. As nutrition and weight cut coaches, we have done that already for many people. Go here for a free nutritional analysis to get started.

Everybody knows we need to recover from a weight cut. But not everybody knows how to do this the right way. In this blog post, we’re going to learn a very important part of the weight cut process: Eating for recovery. During recovery, drinking water is very important too, we combine water with the right amounts of glucose and fructose and time our consumption of it all in order to fully recover from the weight cut. 

During the weight cut, you will have completely depleted your glycogen stores and eliminated a great deal of water. Your body stores carbohydrates in your muscles, and during the cut, you will have used up all that energy and provided no way for the body to replenish so now we have to do that. There is some science stuff you have to keep in mind:

1. Usually, your body can only process about 60g of carbs per hour
2. You need to replenish up to 400g of carbs
3. You will only have anywhere from 4 to 24 hours to do that
4. After about 4 hours of constant/y consuming carbs, your body slows down absorption and eventually only 50% of the carbs will be digested.

Doing the math, we start out at 60g/hr, so in the first 4 hours, we only consume 240g, and then for the next 5 hours, we only consume at 30g/hr, to get the last 180g. This means a total of 9 hours of recovery. At first glance, you will spend an entire evening consuming carbs at a slow measured rate and may have to get up early on competition day and finish. If you compete on the same day as your weigh-in, you won’t be able to recover in time.

But there is a way to make it happen faster. Both glucose and fructose are converted into glycogen. Additionally, they are digested in different parts of the intestine, so if you are consuming just glucose and fructose at the same time, you could digest up to 102g/hour.

• 400g at 102g/hr means a total of 4 hours ⇒ success, although it still means constant carb consumption for 4 hours

Now we have to consider the best way to do this. The answer to that includes water. You have just finished depleting a lot of water and all your glycogen. Restore them both at the same time. Your body can only process 1L of water per hour, so mix 60g of glucose and 60g of fructose in 1L of water, and drink that over the course of 1 hour. Do this 4 times. You should have a good percentage of your water and all your glycogen restored. Pre-mark a see through or translucent  jug with 60 intervals, set a one minute timer on your phone, drink to the next interval mark at each one minute alarm. You will need discipline at this point to not guzzle down the fluid. Faster than an hour or slower than an hour are suboptimal. Make sure to eat some fats and proteins while you're drinking your recovery drink. 

So the last question to answer is where to get liquid fructose and liquid glucose?

• Coconut water has about 40g/L of fructose
• Honey has about 1g/g of fructose (almost pure fructose)
• Dextrose powder provides 27g of glucose in a 30g scoop

One option is to mix 1/2L of coconut water, a 1/2L of water, , 40g of honey, and 2 1/5 30g scoops of dextrose powder, then take an hour to drink it. Do this four times, and make sure to take an hour to drink it each time. Another option is to mix 60g of honey in 1L of water and add 2 ⅕ scoops of dextrose powder.

You might want to experiment with this recipe and make sure the coconut water has no adverse reactions, and possibly add some sort of flavoring before you try to drink this in real life. Do these experiments months before competition so you know ahead of time exactly what you like and can handle.

Fructose, glucose, and water are your recovery friends. Use 4 full hours to consume 4L of water, 240g of fructose, and 240g of glucose. We go a bit over to ensure full replenishment in 4 hours.

One last thing: I’m not a doctor, so please consult with your doctor first, and if you have any issues such as diabetes, kidney, or liver disease, you really need to be careful with this.

Do you want help with your nutrition and weight goals so you can be the best possible you? Imagine the feeling you get when your goals are met. We can help you achieve that. As nutrition and weight cut coaches, we have done that already for many people. Go here for a free nutritional analysis to get started.

All of talk about habits, and even instinctively know how they influence us on a day to day basis, but we don't really understand how much, let alone understand how we can change existing habits or add new ones. Habits are key to lasting weight loss and also short term weight cuts. So why would I discuss some psychological tendencies before much of anything else?  I already told you the secret to MMA weight loss.  Weight loss is like learning to swim.  You have to start small before you can go big.  You don't swim the English channel the first time you drop into the water, and you don't cut weight like George St. Pierre the first time you try losing weight.  Besides, that's not the way to permanently keep weight off.

If you are looking to lose weight, then you are already overweight.  You are overweight because you have inadvertently learned some new habits.  You need to learn new habits.  Learning new habits is a matter of instilling new behavior patterns over a long enough time that the subconscious takes over.  That period of time is about 28 days (some people say it is a bit more).  How do you make yourself do that new thing for 28 days?  Psychological manipulation.

Now we use the psychological manipulation methods discussed in prior posts along with one more.  Charlie Munger calls this the "Lollapalooza Effect."  I wrote previously about three psychological tendencies.  If you were to bring all three of those together, and use them on yourself, you could, hopefully, create a Lollapalooza Effect on yourself, and help motivate yourself to power through those 28 days needed to create the habit.

I have just glossed over habits so far, but what are they?  habits are evolution's way of helping you multitask.  Imagine what would happen if you had to think about how to run, while also observing your environment, while communicating, and at the same time trying to tackle an opponent, or catch a ball, or hunt an animal.  You would not be very successful at any of them.  Habits allow the subconscious part of the brain to take over the simple actions while your conscious brain concentrates on the tactical procedures that require thought and reason.

For people that are overweight, eating is a habit.  Eating too much, eating without keeping track, eating the wrong things, and eating without knowing are all actions which are habitual and lead to overeating.  In addition, the lack of exercise is a habit.  Watching TV while knowing you need to be doing something else is a habit.  That means, in order to lose weight, we have two difficult tasks.  The first is changing existing habits, and the second is adding in new habits.

So, how do psychological manipulation and habits tie together?  Until the 28 days is finished, and your new routine becomes a habit, you need to use psychological manipulation to make yourself do the tasks you need to lose that weight.

If you search the web for habits, the title for this post, or something similar, will show up.  "28 Days Makes a Habit" means, you can expect that after doing an action for 28 days, that action will become a habit.

Examples:

• Going for walks at coffee break and lunch break, after 28 days, it becomes a habit
• Tracking your calories consumed and burned, after 28 days becomes a habit
• Being aware of what you eat, after 28 days becomes a habit

Habits are the cornerstone to weight loss. There are some tricky parts about forming good habits that make them difficult.  This is where you use the psychological influence tool set I promised I would describe in a future post.  To help understand that better, I suggest you look for a speech by Charlie Munger called "The Psychology of Human Misjudgement", or alternatively called "The 24 Standard Causes of Human Misjudgement."  In addition, you can read the book “Influence” by Robert Cialdini.  One other tactic is to use gamification as a tool to help induce habits.

Do you want help with your nutrition and weight goals so you can be the best possible you? Imagine the feeling you get when your goals are met. We can help you achieve that. As nutrition and weight cut coaches, we have done that already for many people. Go here for a free nutritional analysis to get started.

So how do guys like George St. Pierre and Connor McGregor drop 20Kg for a weigh in?  How can those male underwear models look the way they do?  How does any model do it?  What about body builders that can show every single little muscle fibre?  Many of us have heard of athletes can drop huge amounts of weight for a competition. How do they do it?  What is their secret?

The secret is they get down to the lowest possible body fat composition, and then dehydrate themselves.  In fact, they lose almost all of that weight in water and gain it all right back again.  It takes them less than 12 hours to dehydrate, so there is minimal damage to your body.  Your body has evolved to be able to cope with that kind of dehydration for a short period of time, as long as it rehydrates very soon and very quickly after dehydrating.  I don’t recommend this method of weight loss because it is not sustainable and it is not long term viable.  In addition, when you do it wrong, you can expect significant muscle loss and other health problems.  Kidney failure occurs after 24 hours with no water, death soon after.  I’m not a doctor, so go talk to your doctor before attempting anything like that.

A few days before a weigh-in, a male athlete or model will drop from 8% body fat to 3%.  This is about the absolute minimum a body will go to.  Women have significantly higher body fat limits.  Immediately after weigh ins, the photo shoot, or competition, they will begin the rehydration process, as well as begin consuming food calories.  They will never stay dehydrated for longer than 12 hours, and will not stay at 3% (12% for women) body fat for longer than a day or two.  Rehydration techniques for some people will include an actual IV drip which is illegal in UFC now, but still allowed in some jurisdictions.

The chart below provides some guidelines for fat percentages in men and women:

High performance athletes who need to weigh in will drop to about 3% body fat (for men, women will drop to about 12%) about 24 hours before weigh ins and be fully hydrated.  Then they will reduce water for 12 hours, and begin depleting their water reserves.  With 12 hours remaining, they will eliminate water, and continue to deplete water until they have reached their target weight.

You may be asking now, “How do you deplete water?”  It’s called a sauna.  Crank up the heat and sit in the sauna.  Some people can lose as much as 5 lbs an hour in the sauna.  Some people know exactly how much they lose per hour, so they can time it to the minute.  For example, they will know they can lose 20lbs, at 4lbs per hour, in 5 hours.  They may take a 5 minute break every 30 minutes to regroup.

Bodybuilders walk around at about 20% body fat.  Other high performance athletes and models walk around at between 7% and 10% body fat (women 15% to 19%).  If you’re looking at anorexic people, they need help and are obvious to spot.  The reality is, that six pack striated look is very short term and unsustainable.  The people you see in the magazines cannot and do not stay there.  Magazines provide PhotoShop improvements as well, which don’t happen in real life.  Makeup artists know how to spray on the muscles, and lighting experts know just the right way to shine a light.  What you see in a magazine or on the internet is usually just an illusion.  In addition, we’re looking at the top 1% population with respect to will, ability, and appearance.

That's the secret.

So what about you?  What can you hope to expect?  What have you set as a goal?  Do you have 3% body fat as a goal?  Are you expecting to lose 50lbs in one week?  I hope not.  No one can walk around every day at 3% and no one can safely lose 50lbs in one week.  Maintaining 8% to 10% body fat is an achievable goal for men, and 16%-18% is achievable for women.  Losing about 1KG of body fat per week is probably a good goal, but it really depends on how much body fat you already have.  The lower the body fat, the more food related sacrifices you need to make.  You need to balance your healthy love of food with your body goals.

Do you participate in a combat sport that requires a weigh in?  Will your weight target require you to lose muscle mass?  Are you willing to lose muscle mass to achieve your weight goal?  How much time do you have for recovery?  Does your sport allow IV drip recovery?  There is actually a formula for calculating how much weight you can lose without losing muscle mass.  You need to balance your sport goals with what your body will actually let you achieve, and there are many factors to consider.

Do you want help with your nutrition and weight goals so you can be the best possible you? Imagine the feeling you get when your goals are met. We can help you achieve that. As nutrition and weight cut coaches, we have done that already for many people. Go here for a free nutritional analysis to get started.

Achieve your weight loss goals with our personalized weight cutting consultation service tailored for combat sport athletes.

Understanding Weight Cutting in Combat Sports

Everyone familiar with a weight class based combat sport knows weight cutting is a common practice, where athletes aim to lose weight quickly in order to compete in a lower weight class. The purpose of weight cutting is to gain a size and strength advantage over opponents in the same weight class. However, it is important to understand the risks and challenges associated with weight cutting.

During weight cutting, athletes primarily focus on losing water weight, which can be achieved through various methods such as sweating, restricting fluid intake, and using diuretics. This can result in temporary weight loss, but it is crucial to approach weight cutting safely and effectively to avoid negative health consequences.

Weight cutting can have a significant impact on an athlete's performance and overall health. It is important to seek professional guidance and support to ensure weight cutting is done in a safe and sustainable manner.

Assessment and Customized Plan Creation

Our weight cutting consultation service begins with a comprehensive assessment of your current weight, body composition, and training schedule. This information helps our expert nutritionists understand your unique needs and create a customized weight cutting plan.

The assessment involves evaluating your current weight and body fat percentage to determine the amount of weight you need to cut. Our nutritionists also take into consideration your training schedule, as it is important to ensure that your weight cutting plan does not compromise your performance or recovery.

Based on the assessment, our nutritionists will create a personalized weight cutting plan that maximizes your performance while minimizing health risks. The plan will include recommendations on calorie intake, macronutrient distribution, meal timing, and supplementation.

Nutrition, Hydration, and Supplementation Strategies

Proper nutrition plays a crucial role in safe and effective weight cutting. Our nutritionists will educate you on the importance of balanced meals that provide adequate energy for training and recovery, while also promoting weight loss.

Hydration is another key aspect of weight cutting. Our nutritionists will guide you on maintaining optimal hydration levels throughout the weight cutting process. Dehydration can have serious health consequences, so it is important to follow proper hydration strategies.

Supplementation may also be recommended as part of your weight cutting plan. Our nutritionists will provide guidance on safe and effective supplementation strategies to support your weight loss goals. It is important to note that supplements should be used under professional supervision and in accordance with regulations.

By following the nutrition, hydration, and supplementation strategies provided by our expert nutritionists, you can optimize your weight cutting process and minimize health risks.

Progress Monitoring and Support

Throughout your weight cutting journey, our team will provide continuous support and monitor your progress. Regular check-ins with our nutritionists will allow us to assess the effectiveness of your weight cutting plan and make any necessary adjustments.

We understand that weight cutting can be challenging both physically and mentally. Our team is here to provide guidance, motivation, and support to help you stay on track and achieve your weight loss goals in a healthy and sustainable manner.

With our progress monitoring and support, you can have confidence in your weight cutting journey, knowing that you have a team of experts guiding you every step of the way.

Benefits of Safe and Effective Weight Cutting

Safe and effective weight cutting can provide several benefits for combat sport athletes:

- Improved performance: By competing in a lower weight class, athletes can gain a size and strength advantage over opponents, enhancing their chances of success.

- Enhanced recovery: Proper weight cutting techniques can help athletes recover faster between bouts and training sessions, leading to improved overall performance.

- Reduced health risks: By following a safe and effective weight cutting plan, athletes can minimize the risk of dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and other health complications associated with improper weight cutting.

- Increased confidence: Achieving weight loss goals in a healthy and sustainable manner can boost an athlete's confidence and mental resilience.

With our personalized weight cutting consultation service, you can experience these benefits and achieve your weight loss goals while prioritizing your health and performance.

Do you want help with your nutrition and weight goals so you can be the best possible you? Imagine the feeling you get when your goals are met. We can help you achieve that. As nutrition and weight cut coaches, we have done that already for many people. Go here for a free nutritional analysis to get started.