Whether you’re an athlete, fighter, or box for fitness, this definitive guide is going to show you the best boxers diet plan to help you lose weight, gain muscle ― and maintain that weight loss ― for good.
As a boxer and former mixed martial artist myself, I know that losing weight can be tough, but I’m going to help you reach your goals.
What Is a Boxers Diet?
A boxer’s diet is a critical component of their overall training plan.
Eating the right foods and drinks, combined with proper hydration, rest, and supplementation can give boxers the edge they need to reduce fatigue and perform better in the ring.
Eating balanced meals that provide plenty of protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates can help boxers build muscle, gain strength and improve endurance.
Additionally, consuming adequate amounts of fluids can prevent dehydration and improve recovery time between rounds.
As boxing is an intense physical sport requiring high levels of energy, it is important for boxers diet to provide them with all the nutrients necessary for maximum performance.
How Much Do Boxers Eat in a Day?
A boxer’s daily diet should be tailored to their individual goals and lifestyle. Generally, a boxers diet should aim to have a balance of protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
Carbohydrates are especially important since they provide energy for workouts and matches. Depending on weight class and intensity of training, the recommended amount of daily caloric intake can range from 2,000-3,500 calories per day.
The type of food and meals a boxer consumes also depend on training schedules and personal preferences. With a few diet plan modifications to include more nutrient-dense foods like lean meats, green vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low-fat dairy products, boxers can still enjoy good tasting meals while meeting their dietary needs.
Boxers Diet – 1 Week Sample Meal Plan (When Training Hard)
Monday
Breakfast
Overnight oats – this easy make-ahead breakfast is packed with fiber and protein to keep you full until lunch. Simply mix rolled oats, chia seeds, nut milk, and your favorite fruits and nuts in a mason jar the night before.
Lunch
Protein-packed salads – mix your favorite greens with grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, or other lean proteins for an easy lunch that’s full of nutrients. Don’t forget to top it off with a tasty dressing too!
Dinner
Fish tacos – taco night just got better with this light and delicious option. Grill up some flaky white fish then pile it onto whole wheat tortillas and top it off with fresh tomato salsa, lettuce, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Snacks
Hummus & veggies – dip crunchy vegetables like baby carrots or celery sticks into a yummy hummus for a protein-packed pick me up.
Almonds – go for plain roasted almonds for a nutrient-rich snack that’s full of heart-healthy fats and vitamins.
Tuesday
Breakfast
Egg muffins – these savory egg muffins are perfect for meal prepping ahead of time. Mix together eggs, spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, and cheese for a tasty grab-and-go breakfast.
Lunch
Wraps – get creative with what you put inside your wraps but make sure to include some lean protein and veggies for a filling lunch.
Dinner
Roasted vegetables – roast up your favorite veggies like eggplants, bell peppers, or sweet potatoes for an easy side dish or main course. Add some herbs and spices to make them even more flavorful!
Snacks
Trail mix – combine your favorite nuts, dried fruit, seeds, and even some dark chocolate chips for an on-the-go snack that’s fun to eat!
Greek yogurt – opt for plain Greek yogurt then top it off with some fresh berries or chopped nuts for extra nutrition.
Wednesday
Breakfast
Avocado toast – this classic breakfast staple is loaded with healthy fats that will keep you feeling energized all morning long. Top whole wheat toast with mashed avocado and a sprinkle of sea salt for an easy yet nutritious meal.
Lunch
Buddha bowls – layer quinoa or brown rice at the bottom of your bowl then top it off with roasted vegetables, chickpeas, avocado slices and a light dressing.
Dinner
Stir fry – cook your choice of vegetables in a wok then toss with cooked quinoa or brown rice for extra protein. Add soy sauce or teriyaki sauce for an Asian-inspired meal that’s full of flavor.
Snacks
Apple slices & peanut butter – pair sweet apple slices with creamy peanut butter (or almond butter) for a satisfying snack any time of day!
Popcorn – air pop some popcorn kernels then sprinkle with sea salt and herbs of your choice; add Parmesan cheese if you fancy something savory!
Thursday
Breakfast
Yogurt parfait – layer Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and granola for a balanced breakfast that’s ready in minutes! You can also add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup for added sweetness.
Lunch
Turkey sandwich – go classic with a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread and add some lettuce leaves and tomato slices for extra nutrition.
Dinner
Chicken & veggie tray bake – layer chicken thighs and your favorite vegetables on a baking sheet then drizzle everything with olive oil and seasonings like rosemary and oregano. Bake it in the oven until everything is cooked through and crispy!
Snacks
Rice cakes – top whole grain rice cakes with mashed avocado and tomato slices or spread them with nut butter for an easy snack on the go!
Fruit smoothie – blend together your favorite fruits, a handful of spinach or kale leaves, ice cubes, and some liquid like water or almond milk to make your own delicious smoothie in minutes!
Friday
Breakfast
Smoothie bowl – blend up your favorite fruits and veggies into a thick smoothie then top it off with crunchy granola, coconut flakes, chia seeds, or whatever else you like!
Lunch
Veggie stir fry – cook up some vegetables in a wok then add your favorite sauce like teriyaki or sweet chili for flavor! Serve it over some cooked quinoa or brown rice for a complete meal.
Dinner
Grilled salmon – grill up some salmon alongside some roasted asparagus or other veggies for a complete meal that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Top it off with a dollop of pesto sauce for even more flavor!
Snacks
Hard boiled eggs – cook up some hard boiled eggs then season them with salt and pepper as an easy grab-n-go snack that’s full of protein.
Edamame – steam up some edamame pods in the microwave then sprinkle them with sea salt or chili flakes; they are also rich in antioxidants and essential vitamins!
Saturday
Breakfast
Breakfast burrito – wrap up scrambled eggs, black beans, cheese, salsa, and other toppings of your choice into a warm tortilla for an easy on-the-go meal.
Lunch
Soup & salad combo – warm up with a tasty bowl of soup alongside a colorful salad topped with crunchy nuts and seeds for crunch! Add beans or chicken to the soup if you’re looking for extra protein.
Dinner
Quinoa bowls – mix cooked quinoa at the bottom of your bowl then add grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, black beans, avocado slices, salsa, nuts, or whatever else you like!
Snacks
Cheese & crackers – pair sharp cheddar cheese with whole wheat crackers (or rice cakes) which is high in calcium yet low in calories!
Banana & nut butter wrap – spread peanut or almond butter onto a banana then roll it all up for energy boosting goodness anytime you need it most!
Sunday
Breakfast
Protein pancakes – whip up some protein pancakes using your favorite protein powder for an extra boost of energy first thing in the morning! Top them off with fresh fruit or nut butter for added flavor and nutrition.
Lunch
Quesadillas – stuff whole wheat tortillas with shredded cheese, black beans, corn, and bell peppers for an easy yet delicious lunch idea!
Dinner
Vegetarian chili – warm up with a bowl of vegetarian chili made from chickpeas, kidney beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn kernels and spices like cumin and chili powder all simmered together in one pot!
Snacks
Baked sweet potato chips – slice thin rounds of sweet potatoes then bake them until crispy; season with Italian herbs, garlic powder, paprika or whatever flavors you like best!
Chia pudding – stir together chia seeds and coconut milk until thickened; add fresh berries just before serving to add natural sweetness without all the added sugar
Types of Food Boxers Eat: Proteins, Fats & Carbohydrates
The types of food a boxers diet plan often include a variety of protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Let’s look into each type and see what foods you can and cannot eat.
Protein
As your body is made up of different proteins, you’ll want to make this one of your primary sources of food, especially if you train very frequently. To retain lean body mass while losing fat, you’ll want to add clean, unprocessed lean meats, poultry, and dairy to your shopping list.
Types of protein to eat:
- Eggs
- Fish
- Cottage cheese
- Tofu
- Nuts, seeds, and legumes
- White meats like turkey and chicken
- Dark meat on occasion like lean beef (steak)
Unhealthy proteins to avoid:
- Processed deli meats
- Large consumption of bacon, sausage, and pork
- Pizza in large quantity
- Processed cheese
You also have the option to increase your protein intake by using Protein Powders. My personal favourite for building muscle is MyProtein Impact Whey Protein.
Fats
There are many myths related to fat consumption where the rumor is you should “avoid fat at all cost in your diet.” This is especially hyped up in marketing, where retailers sell “low-fat’ products, which can be secretively loaded with sugar.
Now, while fatty foods are loaded with calories, which make you gain weight very easily, some healthy fats ― for example, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats ― are very good for you as the biggest nutrients, such as vitamins D, A, and E, from certain high-fat foods, are good for your cholesterol, heart, and overall health.
High-fat foods that can also contain unhealthy fats are also very filling, which is one of the reasons why the ketogenic diet, which has an intake made up of 70 percent fat, 20 percent protein, and 10 percent carbohydrates, can be a highly effective method for losing weight if (and only if) you are sensible with counting calories and maintaining portion sizes.
Healthy fats that you should eat (in moderation) as a fighter can include:
- Peanut butter, such as those with no palm oil or added sugar
- All nuts, as long as they are unsalted and unprocessed
- Avocados
- Dark chocolate that is 70 percent cocoa and up
- Nonprocessed cheese
- Oily fish like salmon, sardines, trout, mackerel, and tuna
- Chia seeds
- Hummus
Unhealthy fats that, as a fighter, you can eat if you pay close attention to caloric intake:
- Butter
- Cream, including heavy cream, whipping cream, and half and half
- Certain puddings and yogurts
Carbohydrates
Studies show that carbohydrates are a vital part of your nutrition plan because they are much better at producing glucose and glycogen, which fuel your workouts more than protein and fats on their own. Therefore, in a Boxers Diet, carbs should remain a part of your diet plan ― just not a significant part of it.
Examples of good complex carbohydrates you can eat:
- Brown wholemeal bread
- Wholemeal pasta (brown pasta)
- Fruit (non-dried is best as dried fruit is high in sugar and may contain sulfites)
- Oats
- Quinoa
- Sweet potatoes
Examples of bad carbohydrates:
- White bread
- Sugary drinks
- Fruit juices
- Chips
- Ice cream
- Pastries
- Cookies
- Cakes
Boxers Diet – Top Four Weight-loss Tips for Fighters
Losing weight is challenging and unnatural for nearly everyone. Our brains are wired to overeat, and we can feel undernourished emotionally. We eat more when we feel less connected, less understood, and not in touch with our feelings.
The solution to this big weight-loss problem is simple. We need more:
- Friendship: to talk about the biggest struggles we face
- Help: in calming down when needed to feel reassured
We all know that biting into that last burrito isn’t the solution but, sometimes, there isn’t anywhere else to turn. It’s a simple short-term solution.
So, what’s the biggest thing we can do to lose weight?
Find the right psychological and emotional things to nourish our brains.
The following are more easy-to-apply tips that will help you stay on your diet.
1. Drink Water Before Every Meal
There has been a persistent myth around drinking water before meals as water has been “claimed” to “dilute digestive juices which affect the breakdown of food, meaning nutrients aren’t able to be absorbed.” Thanks to science, we now know from the various studies [1,2,3] that drinking water before every meal can be a great strategy that can help with weight management as water consumption before a meal reduces the energy density (space) within your stomach.
What this means is when you increase your water intake before (and during) a meal, you’ll increase your satiety ― the feeling of fullness ― that, in turn, helps you put down your knife and fork earlier or helps prevent cravings that might cause you to reach for seconds or thirds.
Secondly, drinking water before every meal not only helps with calorie reduction but can also help with your digestion, according to Michael F. Picco, M.D. This is because water can help break down chunks of food that can slide down your esophagus (throat) and into your stomach easily.
Lastly, a study shows that drinking water (more than 16 ounces or 500 milliliters) before meals could also speed up your metabolism by 30 percent and help you lose an additional 24 calories. This may be because your body needs to warm up your drinking water to body temperature, which requires energy, although research on the impact of water and metabolism is limited.
Summary: Drinking water before meals has been proven to help reduce caloric consumption, increase metabolism by up to 30 percent, and could help you digest food.
2. Make Unhealthy Food Invisible to Your Eyes
Let’s face it, eating and drinking foods high in sugar, fat, and salt can be detrimental to losing weight because we can all very easily overconsume what we eat. What’s worse, these unhealthy, frequently processed foods are addictive due to sometimes unnatural or highly caloric ingredients.
Note: Some scientists also think that sugar is equally as addictive as the class A drug cocaine. Could this be the reason why the United Kingdom’s obesity rate for adults age 20 and older is 28.7%, and it’s 39.8% for the United States? [4]
Making unhealthy food invisible to your eye can be easy for some. However, for others, it can be hard, especially if you’re surrounded by people who buy and share these foods, such as your colleagues, friends, and family. If you keep eating unhealthy foods, you’ll start to develop bad habits where you subconsciously reach for these caloric foods without consciously thinking about what you’re doing. Making them invisible is going to be one of the best ways to reduce your cravings, according to James Clear in his book: “Atomic Habits, An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones,” which is worth reading to aid in your quest for diet success.
Reaching for unhealthy food can be easy to do because it’s a fast and cheap way to eat. However, if the price of food is an issue for you, I’d recommend meal prepping. Meal prepping is where you cook, prepare, and freeze all of your meals in advance for the days and weeks ahead. You’ll be able to control how much you spend on the ingredients and access healthy, ready-to-eat meals right from your refrigerator and freezer. Watch the following video for a high-protein vegan meal prep recipe lesson that I use on a weekly basis for my lunches and dinners.
Summary: The problem for most people on a diet is the cravings for foods they’re not allowed.
This is normal, but to prevent yourself from reaching for these foods is by making them invisible to your eyes. Meal prepping can also help you avoid walking into supermarkets or fast-food chains and buying unhealthy food.
3. Eat Meals on Smaller Plates
The visual aspect of a meal, such as how much food is on a plate, has been proven to influence how much we eat. In a satiety study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) called “Bottomless Bowls,” a group of 54 participants between the ages of 18 and 46 was asked to sit at a table and eat a bowl of soup.
Half of the participants involved ― (let’s call them Group A ― had bowls that would be refilled automatically by an unknown tube attached underneath the table as the soup was consumed. The other group ― Group B ― had a bowl that was the same size but didn’t have a tube refilling the contents.
The result from this study was Group A consumed a massive 73 percent more soup than Group B, who refilled the bowls themselves. After the meal, Group A did not feel any more satiated than Group B.
What does this mean for you?
It means that even if someone isn’t secretly refilling your food from under a table, it’s likely you’ll eat more no matter how much food is on your plate. Secondly, research has also shown that, to some extent, eating meals on smaller plates can trick your brain on a psychological level to make you think you’ve had more food than you’ve already eaten. What we’ve learned from the above information is that visual senses alone do not determine when you are or aren’t full, so you may well keep eating until you’re stuffed.
Summary: Eating food on smaller plates can impact how much food you think you’ve had as it tricks your subconscious mind into seeing an overfilled plate of food. However, it can be hard to determine when you feel satiated, as noted with the soup experiment.
4. Maintain Consistency
One of the most important tips for successful weight loss in a boxers diet is to maintain consistency.
This means setting yourself realistic goals and consistently following through with healthy lifestyle choices such as exercising regularly, eating nutritious meals and snacks, and keeping track of your progress.
Don’t be afraid to reward yourself when you reach your milestones – this can help keep you motivated to continue on your weight loss journey!
Consistency is essential for successful weight loss because it helps build up momentum and encourage healthier lifestyle habits.
When you are consistent with your diet, exercise, and other lifestyle choices, it becomes easier to stay on track and make progress towards reaching your goals.
Additionally, a consistent routine can help reduce cravings and increase feelings of satisfaction from food.
Finally, when you are consistent with your weight loss efforts, it becomes easier to maintain long-term results.
Conclusion
A boxers diet is like any other successful diet: a sustainable, satiating, and healthy deficit to help you reach your desired weight and maintaining it.
With this article, we hope that you have learned:
- That weight loss is created by being in a caloric deficit
- That overeating is a common problem that is caused by a missing emotional connection, which causes you to indulge in additional food for its short-term pleasure
- Three brilliant weight-loss strategies
- About the differences between protein, fats, and carbohydrates and how you should create a realistic caloric deficit
And much more
Over to you:
What have you learned about a boxers diet? Could it be to hide unhealthy food from your sight?
Maybe you learned that you can eat fat to lose weight?
Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below.
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