Recently, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get leaner and stronger for my upcoming Muay Thai (kickboxing) fight. I made an effort to do some research. 

The backstory

Some people think I’ve got the genes to be naturally skinny and fit, but I actually try pretty hard too. Since teenage years, I’ve always been trying and failing to eat less. It’s hard to ignore the pop culture influences, even when you think it’s silly.

I had been training muay thai 5 days a week for a few months, but I felt stuck with my fitness level. My strength and cardio fitness levels remained the same. I wasn’t getting any leaner either. It felt like things weren’t going anywhere, and I often felt hungry.

So I asked the fighters at my gym, who have incredible 6 packs, about what they ate.

The answers were consistent — eat every food group and stick with unprocessed, home-made food. They eat “good carbs” from rice, potatoes, pasta, bread and fruits. Protein from lean meat, fish, eggs and dairy. “Good fats” from avocados, olive oil and nuts. And a lot of fresh vegetables.

Now this was both good and bad news to me, because that’s what I was eating already. I thought it must have been the ratio of foods.

After reading some confusing articles on the internet, I decided to see a sports nutritionist for professional advice.

The plot twist

I went to see the sports nutritionist, feeling nervous and curious. I thought if I wanted to get leaner, I’d have to be eating less and exercising more, so this was going to be tough.

The nutritionist turned out to be friendly enough. I guess he was experienced and figured that I was a bit scared. Before we met, he got me to record what I ate for a week. He looked at my food dairy and said I needed to eat more.

He told me about how your body shuts down important functions when you don’t eat enough, and the harmful effects of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), which was formerly called the Female Athlete Triad.

In summary, this is a very common condition with female athletes and male athletes in sports where people pay close attention to their body weight, for example in boxing and cycling. It can also be unintentional, because training sometimes reduces the amount you can eat. When your body doesn’t have enough energy, it reduces your immunity, reproductive health, bone health, mental functions, just so you can handle the workload and still be alive. Your body would reduce metabolism and hold on to the fat, even when you aren’t eating enough.

The recommendation

So how do I get leaner, stronger and faster?

Apparently, you eat the right amount, where your body has enough for base metabolism plus the exercise, and over time your body gets leaner and stronger naturally. In terms of what to eat, eat plenty of good carbs and protein throughout the day. Eat healthy fat in small amounts, and a lot of vegetables.

The result

It’s been about 2 months since I started following the plan.

The results:

• I’ve been feeling great overall. I have better physical and mental energy at training.
• I haven’t been feeling hungry.
• I can recover from the intense exercise quickly, and not feel sore or tired the next day.
• My weight went up for a couple weeks, and then back down again.
• I gained 1kg of muscle. 🙂

So was it worth it to see a sports nutritionist? For me, I am very glad that I got the advice 🙂

My thai boxing trainer

• Female athelete
• Fighter
• health and fitness
• nutrition
• RED-S
• Sports Nutrition