The Fighter Diet

So as with our "Big Guy Diet," the Fighter diet isn't exclusive to our current character-in-question, Chun Li.  This is the diet you should be looking at if you want a nice, lean, toned body with some good muscle definition, but not much in the way of bulk, and a solid power to weight ratio.  Think something along the lines of characters like Chun Li, Link, Solid Snake, or Nathan Drake.  Lean, mean, fighting machines.

This diet is, again, not a specific cookie cutter diet.  I'm going to lay out some basic guidelines to shoot for, some good foods to try, and a meal schedule.  After that it's up to you.

Guidelines
5-6 meals a day
0.8-1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight you have.(so if you're 100 lbs, you want to get 80-120 grams of protein per day).
1.5-2.5 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight you have(again, if you're 100 lbs, get 200-300 carbs per day).
1 gallon of water a day.
8 hours of sleep(minimum).  Sleep is really, really important.  Seriously.  Go to bed early if you have to.
EXERCISE!  Food only builds muscles if you work them out!  And cardio is KEY for keeping the fat down and the muscles defined!

The Breakdown:
So we already know from The Big Guy Diet that metabolically, our bodies like to get five to six evenly dispersed meals throughout the day, rather than one big one.  Eat these at regular intervals, usually around 2 hours apart, and make sure one of those is right after your work out.

For protein, and carbs, we're looking to keep our muscles fed, but not over-fed.  Also, we're looking at much more nutrient-dense foods this time, foods that have a lot of bang for their caloric buck, so to speak.  In the Big Guy Diet, we looked at packing a lot of extra calories into our diet with stuff like rice, which doesn't have much other nutritional value.  We're gonna take in a bit more simple sugars from fruits and the like to keep our high-energy muscles powered under short bursts, and get some nice long-chain carbs to keep us going.  Make sure you frontload your simple carbs early in the day(fruits, mostly), and your long-chain carbs in the afternoon/evening(veggies, grains, pasta).

Food Suggestions
Protein Sources:
Chicken
Fish
Greek Yogurt
Nuts
Red Meat(lean and sparingly)

Simple Carbohydrate Sources
Fruit
Honey
Carrots 

Long-Chain Carbohydrate Sources
Oatmeal
Beans/Lentils/Legumes in general
Whole-Grain Pasta
Whole-Grain Bread

Vitamins/Minerals
Dark Green Vegetables(broccoli, cabbage, kale, peas)
Milk


Supplements
Store Brand Adult Multivitamins
Whey Protein Shake

Sample Day
This is what a sample day on the "Fighter Diet" could look like.

Meal 1(7:00-8:00AM ish):
1 Banana
1 Greek Yogurt
1 Bowl of Oatmeal

Meal 2(11:00 AM):
1 Apple
1 Serving Mixed Nuts

Meal 3(1:00 PM):
1 small caesar salad(1 serving chicken breast, 1 serving anchovies, 1 serving romain lettuce)

Meal 4(3:00 PM):
1 open face tuna sandwich(1 serving of tuna, 1 serving bread)

4:00 PM - WORK OUT

Meal 5(5:00 PM):
1 Protein Shake
1 Multivitamin
1 Tablespoon honey

Meal 6(7:00 PM):
1 serving fish
1 serving bean soup




So again, that's just a sample day, something like what I try to aim for currently.  You may need to eat more or less than that, depending on your body type.  If you feel fatigued all the time and you're getting enough sleep(remember, eight hours!), try increasing your food load a bit.  If you're not feeling a little edge of hunger every now and then before each meal, and your energy levels are fine, you might be eating a bit much.  Listen to your body!


That's it for the Fighter Diet.  Tomorrow we're going to take a look at the skills and abilities of Chun Li.  Until then, continue being awesome!


Dan "DaRatmastah" Wallace