Competitors that eat the same thing every day for weeks?

[chelle21689]

Is it absolutely necessary? My sister's friend competes and she didn't even celebrate Thanksgiving with healthy food. She said she just eats chicken and broccoli...THAT'S IT. No brown rice, no other meat, no other vegetable. She eats that every day all meals for the next 10 weeks or whatever was left. That sounds insane! I mean being strict on your diet I get but nothing but chicken and broccoli? Is this normal in the competing world?

[wrkoutfrq]

Is it absolutely necessary? My sister's friend competes and she didn't even celebrate Thanksgiving with healthy food. She said she just eats chicken and broccoli...THAT'S IT. No brown rice, no other meat, no other vegetable. She eats that every day all meals for the next 10 weeks or whatever was left. That sounds insane! I mean being strict on your diet I get but nothing but chicken and broccoli? Is this normal in the competing world?

Depends on what school of thought you follow. I agree micronutrient dense foods (such as chicken and broccoli) are good to have as the primary base of your diet, but I'm very much a proponent of flexible dieting. Google it up, watch some of Layne Norton's vids about flexible dieting vs. traditionally clean eating, and you'll see that it's not all black and white

[anonymous]

That is normal for people who really know very little and basically doing their first competition... As people get more serious and know how there body is they can branch off a lot more.. You see pros eating huge variety in the prep, maybe the last 2-3 weeks gets a bit more boring but that's to control bloating and stomach issues more than anything

[fltallpaul]

There is absolutely no reason to eat the same foods all the time, unfortunately this idea is considered hard core and necessary and used by coaches who have not learned proper nutrition. Diets that lack variety are unhealthy, lead to eating disorders and mirco nutrient deficiencies. A well balanced diet and flexibility with foods will provide a much improved and long lasting relationship with the sport.

[tbrady1pttools]

There is absolutely no reason to eat the same foods all the time, unfortunately this idea is considered hard core and necessary and used by coaches who have not learned proper nutrition. Diets that lack variety are unhealthy, lead to eating disorders and mirco nutrient deficiencies. A well balanced diet and flexibility with foods will provide a much improved and long lasting relationship with the sport.

totally agree.
Idk what's more crazy eating the same thing over and over as a way to prep for a contest or...mentally being able to do it day after day

[fitnessexpos]

A good meal plan for prep will allow for some variety.

[pteixei2]

Is it the only way? No

Is it the healthiest way? No (due to micronutrient deficiencies)

Is it a sure-shot way of getting to the lowest body fat %? Yes!
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Typically my diets are pretty boring and repetitive, BUT I do get some natural fats and some other nice additions to my diet. At around the 3-4 week out mark, however, my diet turns super boring and consists mainly of just the Brocoli chicken or tilapia.

Again, as stated above, it depends on the school of thought that you follow. If you simply do the calories as a deficit (based on daily maintanance requirement) then you can add much more variety. Personally, however, this is not good enough for contest prep because you don't know how you'll react to certain foods (eg. eating some some fast food as long as it's in macro needs may not be a good idea when you are 1 week out of competition).

If you have years of experience with diet, you can find what works for you. For those competing the first time, coaches often stick to basics (broccoli and chicken, for example).