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I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at 44. I was about 40-50lbs overweight and had never been athletic except for a few seasons of soccer and baseball as a

I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at 44. I was about 40-50lbs overweight and had never been athletic except for a few seasons of soccer and baseball as a young kid. I was amazed at how my body responded. It helps that I immediately fell in love with the sport. However, I found the most important change I made was in my nutrition, which I changed at the same time I started BJJ. Not only did my body really respond to that, I saw dramatic improvements in my mental and emotional health as well. I'm 51 now and I've easily kept that 40lbs off the whole time.

Jimpulse 2y ago
Can you elaborate on your diet changes?
- Zelphyr 2y ago
  I did keto but people don't need to do that if they eat good quality nutrient-dense foods. Preferably organic and locally-grown, and prioritizing healthy fats, proteins, and complex carbs and avoiding at all costs processed food. I can't stress enough how much modern food manufacturers are poisoning us.
xiande04 2y ago
What nutritional changes did you make?
- borroka 2y ago
  I am not the op, but one should not complicate things. There are no secrets. People have been getting ripped since the dawn of time with chicken/tuna and rice and some vegetables. Eating less (95 out of 100 people in the general population today are eating way too much)--in general, it means ingesting fewer calories, solid and liquid--and keeping protein intake between 100 and 150 g per day is an excellent starting point and likely a final one. What does it mean to eat less? Half of what you eat now is a good starting point. If you are losing weight, go on, if you are not, eat less. Some disciplines, such as endurance sports, require special dietary modifications, but if you are fat (and most of us are), you already have bigger problems. My main legacy, much more than my academic research and my work in tech, will be to have encouraged people to get in shape by telling them that they eat too much and are fat (without fat shaming of course, all to their advantage).
  - Zelphyr 2y ago
    Personally, I find telling people to eat less doesn't work. In part because the food manufacturers are such masters at making people addicted to their garbage. Eating healthy fats and protein is so satiating that one doesn't need to try to eat less, they just naturally do. Yes, there are exceptions to that but, for most people that is true.
    - borroka 2y ago
      It is not my experience at all, and at this point, I have been asked for nutritional advice for 25 years. Any specific recommendations for the general population will be interpreted as that food + all the others that have been eaten before. And aside from extreme examples, such as people who eat only candy all day, any reduction in calories ingested will lead to some feelings of hunger. Yes, by eating protein and fiber at every meal, which by the way is included in my recommendations, you can reduce hunger by what, 5 or 10 percent? But hunger will kick in. Should I be eating this food? Eat less. What about this supplement? Eat less. A cheat meal? Eat less. Charles Bronson was asked how he kept in excellent shape in his 50s. His answer? Small portions. Accept you need to eat less, food will be there tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after again (there is a reference there to the movie "The Eclipse" by Antonioni, with Alain Delon and Monica Vitti as protagonists). In a short time, a few weeks, you get used to ingesting fewer calories.
    - Kirby64 2y ago
      If you actually need to lose weight (which, statistically, most Americans do), in my experience you will be hungry at some point even with a pretty healthy diet. There’s just no way around the body’s response to a reasonable caloric deficit. The key is being able to actually have the willpower to ignore those pangs. Maybe you won’t be hungry immediately, but a 500cal deficit (which, is a pretty light deficit) is quite a lot. Most folks are likely at a mild surplus of calories, so the swing to actually get you to lose weight is often as substantial as 700-1000cal to actually lose weight. Per day. It’s a lifestyle change, unfortunately.
      - Zelphyr 2y ago

Jimpulse 2y ago

Can you elaborate on your diet changes?

Zelphyr 2y ago
I did keto but people don't need to do that if they eat good quality nutrient-dense foods. Preferably organic and locally-grown, and prioritizing healthy fats, proteins, and complex carbs and avoiding at all costs processed food. I can't stress enough how much modern food manufacturers are poisoning us.

xiande04 2y ago

What nutritional changes did you make?

borroka 2y ago
I am not the op, but one should not complicate things. There are no secrets. People have been getting ripped since the dawn of time with chicken/tuna and rice and some vegetables. Eating less (95 out of 100 people in the general population today are eating way too much)--in general, it means ingesting fewer calories, solid and liquid--and keeping protein intake between 100 and 150 g per day is an excellent starting point and likely a final one. What does it mean to eat less? Half of what you eat now is a good starting point. If you are losing weight, go on, if you are not, eat less. Some disciplines, such as endurance sports, require special dietary modifications, but if you are fat (and most of us are), you already have bigger problems. My main legacy, much more than my academic research and my work in tech, will be to have encouraged people to get in shape by telling them that they eat too much and are fat (without fat shaming of course, all to their advantage).
- Zelphyr 2y ago
  Personally, I find telling people to eat less doesn't work. In part because the food manufacturers are such masters at making people addicted to their garbage. Eating healthy fats and protein is so satiating that one doesn't need to try to eat less, they just naturally do. Yes, there are exceptions to that but, for most people that is true.
  - borroka 2y ago
    It is not my experience at all, and at this point, I have been asked for nutritional advice for 25 years. Any specific recommendations for the general population will be interpreted as that food + all the others that have been eaten before. And aside from extreme examples, such as people who eat only candy all day, any reduction in calories ingested will lead to some feelings of hunger. Yes, by eating protein and fiber at every meal, which by the way is included in my recommendations, you can reduce hunger by what, 5 or 10 percent? But hunger will kick in. Should I be eating this food? Eat less. What about this supplement? Eat less. A cheat meal? Eat less. Charles Bronson was asked how he kept in excellent shape in his 50s. His answer? Small portions. Accept you need to eat less, food will be there tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after again (there is a reference there to the movie "The Eclipse" by Antonioni, with Alain Delon and Monica Vitti as protagonists). In a short time, a few weeks, you get used to ingesting fewer calories.
  - Kirby64 2y ago
    If you actually need to lose weight (which, statistically, most Americans do), in my experience you will be hungry at some point even with a pretty healthy diet. There’s just no way around the body’s response to a reasonable caloric deficit. The key is being able to actually have the willpower to ignore those pangs. Maybe you won’t be hungry immediately, but a 500cal deficit (which, is a pretty light deficit) is quite a lot. Most folks are likely at a mild surplus of calories, so the swing to actually get you to lose weight is often as substantial as 700-1000cal to actually lose weight. Per day. It’s a lifestyle change, unfortunately.
    - Zelphyr 2y ago