Experience gained: The Weight-cut

So, I was set to have an MMA-competition last weekend, as a bantam weight. For those of you, who don't know what that means: in MMA, as in most other martial arts, there are different weight classes, so the competitors stay comparable and none has an unfair strength- or weight-advantage on the others. In MMA the weight classes go something like 105lbs. (atom weight), 115lbs.(straw), 125lbs.(fly), 135lbs.(bantam), 145lbs.(feather), and so on, with the most common weight classes for women being bantam weight at 135lbs. or 62,1kg and feather weight at 145lbs. or 65,8kg. One of my best friends and trainings partners has already been competing at feather weight, plus she is taller than me, so I got stuck with bantam. 

What I mean by that is: you have to be as light as possible with as little fat and as much muscle as possible to have a better chance at winning. When I moved back to Germany after a stressful summer and loads of ice cream in Finland, I weighed 73,4kg on my worst day. Basically I was at about 72kg. But let me tell you, that wasn't muscle. That was ice cream. And chocolate. And burgers. But it was not muscle.

 

Me in October 2015, at about 69kg

So, I had to slim down. I thought feather, but then my friend told me, she was doing feather. I had six months to get rid of the sh**. So, I started a sustainable diet at first, to get my body fat percentage down as well as my weight. Which worked quite well, up to the point where I started doing Crossfit on a regular basis. While my body composition continued to shift in the right direction, my weight loss was stalling, came to a full stop by Christmas and after that went into the wrong direction. I was gaining weight. Something they call "gains" or "gainz", you know. I thought I wasn't even eating enough to get any gains, but. I was wrong. 

By the end of January, I started getting nervous, because while my weight didn't go up any longer (I was at 66kg at that time), it didn't go down either. I had a talk with my Crossfit coach, who is also a former MMA competitor and has some experience in the field. He told me to eat normal, so my body doesn't shut down or slow down my metabolism, but to switch one meal a day with a salad. No fat, no carbs, just salad, veggies, and lean protein (no cheese). Also, it would be smart to do that in the evening, so the hunger strikes at night. 

I did as I was told and dropped another 2,5kg until the beginning of March. So, by March 3rd, I was at 63,5kg, plus/minus 500-800g, depending on the number of carbs I had eaten the day before and how much I drank the day before.

A week out, I ate no more starchy carbs, no candy, reduced salt and started drinking like my life depended on it. I followed a diet plan that was loosely based on paleo. Five days out, I stopped having dairy. Three days out, I stopped eating salt and started reducing the water intake. I was at 62,6kg at that point. So, I had to make weight until Friday evening. On Thursday, I had a small breakfast consisting of fruit and a protein shake. I had one glass of water. And I started the sweating: I put on a sweat suit (non-breathable material) and did a 60min work out. Afterwards, I was already a little lighter. And light headed. At four in the afternoon, I had a small packet of low fat quark and a handful of oats (because protein and fibre, and Thursday didn't count into the diet plan anymore), and went to the gym. I put on three layers of clothing (one Nike Dry longsleeve, the sweat suit, a thick sweat shirt) and smashed a Body Combat -class. I don't even know anymore on what energy I did this, but I had the time of my life. After that it was into the sauna, then I had 150ml of water. I was weighing 61,9kg.

            

After Combat and sauna at 61,9kg

In the morning I did something, that my training mate's mom had said and that my dad had tried for different purposes; I took some Glauber salt. For those of you, who don't know what that is, it is a salt that is not being absorbed by the body, but stays in the intestines, where it draws water from the surrounding tissue until your intestines are basically flushed threw. So, it helps you dehydrate even more. Which was pretty bad, as I already felt a little light headed from dehydration the night before. My dad knew what's up the whole time, and kept an eye on me. After that went down, I was at 60,1kg. Which meant I got to drink a little apple juice ( I hadn't eaten anything since Thursday 4pm, right). Then we went and met up with the crew to make the 6 hour drive down to the competition location. Funny thing, though, our scale at home is off by 800g, so after having some coffee and some water (as I thought, I had a buffer from about 1kg), I was just so and so 61,2kg.

Friday morning at 61,1kg

And that was when we tried the old Swedish credit card trick (because my friend and trainings partner was still 600g over as well): sit in the sauna, scrape off the sweat with a credit card, repeat until you made weight. I don't have to tell you, how bad it felt to squeeze the last few drops of sweat out of our bodies. Those last few grams really were the hardest and respect to everyone who does these weight-cuts on a regular basis (and partly with a more significant weight difference). 

But before you think that this is a great way to prepare for THE party of the year or some big event with a great dress, I want to remind you that I had the help and support of three trainers who've done this routine before and a friend who supported me through this, who has been doing this since she was a kid. They knew what they were doing and had I showed any worrisome signs of dehydration, they would have known exactly what to do. So, what I mean to say is: DON'T DO THIS AT HOME!!!! 

Because this whole weight cut thing is not only physically challenging, but also mentally exhausting. I was so tired most of the time and as soon as I was free to eat whatever the heck I wanted, I ate myself through everything I found for a whole week. This is no way to lose weight, which is why it is called weight cut. You cut it out for a week and it comes back, and let me tell you, it does bring friends. 

Without the support I got, I would not have been able to do this, either. Because you want to give up and give in and just eat most of the time. You never even realise how much our culture revolves around food and drink, how often they are mentioned on tv, in magazines, etc. Also, you are desperate, tired, angry, aggressive, depressed, cold, hungry, miserable, exhausted and dizzy. There is a point at which you get into a flow and it doesn't affect you as much, but then it hits you again. Frustration and irritability. Hunger, cold and thirst. It's not fun. Cutting weight is a gruelling process and I honestly wish, I will never have to do this again. Which is why I will now go back to my sustainable diet (diet in the sense of nutrition plan, not cutting calories) to further this process of shifting body composition and losing weight the healthy way. So, the next time you'll see me in a competition, I will not have gone through this horror again. 

Project "Back to Bantam"

So, I've rarely ever cared about my weight as a number, because it rarely ever has been a problem or anything. I usually go with how I feel and when my favourite jeans feel a little tight for a change, then I ate a little more strict, meaning less carbs and sweets, but more veggies and protein. But. 

You might have noticed that MMA (mixed martial arts) and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) are weight-class sports and when you are actively competing, you have an advantage when you are able to compete in a weight-class that has opponents about your own size. For males that is rarely a big problem. It might get uncomfy for them, but the biggest weight difference possibly are 5kg or 10lbs. For women however, this looks different, at least in BJJ-tournaments, because there just aren't enough women to fill all weight classes. And since it doesn't make any sense to have three or four weight-classes with 3 competitors each tops, they are mostly just divided into -60kg/+60kg. And let me tell you, it is no fun whatsoever to compete against someone weighing in at about 78kg, when you yourself are 65kg, which is my "happy weight". 

This being said, a friend and training mate of mine is fighting in MMA featherweight (-65,7kg), so if we ever were to start in the same competition, chances are that if I was my happy weight, we'd be fighting against each other. Which just isn't fun, because a) for the fighters it is never fun to hurt a friend, and b) for the audience it's kind of boring, because both fighters know the other's strengths and weaknesses, and tend to avoid them, which makes them careful, which makes the fight a boring escape-game. 

After my moving back to Germany this summer and the stress at work I've had before, I actually weighed about 71kg when I arrived in Berlin. After a month of okay eating I was back at 69kg. Which was still too much. Then my trainer told me after my first Jits competition here in Berlin that I had to lose weight, if I did not want to face opponents significantly bigger than me (what happened to me during the White Belt Challenge). So, yeah, I knew I was going to have to diet. And then, my "blood thirst" or rather competition spirit awoke after a few sessions back in MMA, the spirit I'd been missing after this spring's competition debacle (preparing for four different comps, making weight, thus harming my metabolism, and being told that there is no opponent). Said team mate told me that we could run the world together, if we weren't in the same weight class. And well, she's a few centimetres taller than me and doesn't have anything left to lose, except for a foot or a hand, because she's totally shredded. So, it's my turn to lose weight, and go down to Bantam class (61,2kg). Not to cut it, because I don't want to wreak havoc on my metabolism again, but slowly lose it. 

I've done this once before, in 2014, when I wanted to compete at -60kg in the Finnish Amateur Open, and back then it worked well. I just felt like I looked a little anorexic as soon as I reached 61kg. Also, friends and family started telling me to stop losing weight. So, I gained some back. I knew I could do this, so, I was ready to go, when my trainer told me what to cut and what to not cut even though it might sound like you should cut it. Like carbs in general. Cut the simple carbs, the ones your body burns through right away, which don't give it anything for fuel. But keep the complex carbs, the ones your body needs to keep up power. Because you need power to train. Oh, and he was pretty clear in that I can't have candy. Which doesn't matter, because I don't like candy anyway. The chocolate however is a whole other thing. I miss chocolate. I have an allowance of one bar of dark chocolate per week (55g), of which I am allowed to eat before craving gets out of hand. But after that, none. 

You can't imagine how hangry I got in the beginning. There's nothing that sucks as much as sugar withdrawal. Because yes, sugar is addictive. And I don't really know the middle ground, I either go all the way or I don't eat anything. 

So, yeah, working with a 1600-2000kcal/day diet (depending on how much and what I'm doing on the gym side of things) right now and last Monday I was already down to 66.3kg. Only 5kg to go, so 1/3 of the way went in two weeks. It's going to slow down, though. It always does. 

I also changed my exercise regimen, I am now attending 3 BJJ classes, 2 MMA classes, 2 Combat classes, 2 Crossfit classes, 1 Body Attack class, 1 LMIStep class, 1 Pump class, 1 rolling session and 1 boxing class a week, if everything works out. However, it rarely works out perfectly, so most of the time two to four classes a week don't work out, because of work or soreness/failure to recover properly in time. 

This is another thing I've changed; I am now taking rest seriously, too. There is one day a week, where I don't do anything, and every five weeks, I take it really easily. 

During project "Back to Bantam", I have so far fallen in love with Crossfit, LMIStep, and found my abs again. I can actually see them again (in the right lighting :D ). Also, I am feeling better now, and maybe I have become a little judgmental, when I see people eating crap, but that's probably just jealousy in most cases. Because yes, some days, a muffin would be great. Or a brownie. Or red velvet cake. And yes, I am still hangry every now and then, and nothing sucks more than having your calories for the day used or planned and then thinking about eating something great. But all in all, I'm doing okay. When I reach Bantam weight, I can add a good 200-300kcal to my diet again, but until then, well, it's really strict. Today I was totally excited, because I could eat a jackload of stuff, because the main ingredient was spinach which has so few calories that you can eat away at it until you burst, basically (not really, but almost). It's the simple things.