WHAT does a combat sports athlete, Master Weight-Cutter and age defyer eat each day — and WHY do I target certain foods?

Here’s a sneak peek inside the “FoodJitsu” mental calculus of 3x Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Masters World Champ Frankie “The Organic Tank” Forza and his generally higher-fat nutrition choices; The Organic Tank — who has competed in more than 300 competitive grappling matches in his career and performed numerous times at below 5 % body fat — explains why he chose particular foods at certain times and why he sometimes intelligently defies Ket0genic rules that recommend consuming almost ZERO sugar.

MEAL EXAMPLE — 

Quick Question: What is a true Ketogenic Diet?

Well, the short answer based on experts I’ve studied extensively is you are generally adhering to a Ketogenic Diet when you are regularly consuming roughly 80 % or more of your total calories each day from (healthy) fats. We can definitely sit here all day and split hairs and complicate things, but that’s an easy-to-understand working definition. Now, you would still have to test blood or urine levels regularly to determine ketone levels in your blood and really fine-tune being in a healthy, powerful state of Ketosis and to maximize its benefits.

So Frankie, you might be saying, the picture of your lunch above doesn’t seem like it’s packed with fat. The meal you posted — featuring a bone broth Pho soup, red bell peppers, organic beets and a touch of Ghee butter for the steamed broccoli — well, that doesn’t look like it’s even 50 percent fat. Maybe not even 30 percent fat! 

You would be correct on all accounts. Very astute observation.

The low-calorie lunch pictured is far from being the Poster Child for Keto. In fact, it’s a rather low-fat meal and typical of one or two of the meals I consume most days (out of five or seven meals I eat most days).

And to make matters worse, Frankie, you really stepped out of bounds and defied Ketogenic principles when you added in the beets — a vegetable that scores moderately high on the Glycemic Index. You know that true Keto folk try to avoid sugar at all costs, even from veggies and fruits.

So what in the holy name of Organic OJ is going on here? 

Well, for one thing … competitive athletes training five or more times per week, often intensely, have much greater nutritional needs than the average person. And while I have a staple of 20 or so GO TO FATS that I frequently eat and rotate, I don’t want to simply eat 20 or so foods for the rest of my life. Because A) I’m Italian and B) I’m a Combat Sports Athlete — and nobody loves food more than pasta- and bread-gorging Italians and athletes who spend years of their lives depriving themselves of tasty food so they can make a certain competition weight.

Let’s face it: Our bodies need a great diversity of nutrients, vitamins and minerals … and just rotating 20 or so of the same foods is not going to put those nutrients in you. As my friend and nutrition guru Mike Dolce told me years ago, “Some nutrients you can only really get from eating fruits and if you’re going to avoid those fruits (or veggies) then you’re going to deprive yourself of those nutrients, vitamins and minerals.” 

Mike, a former wrestler and fighter himself, was 100 % right.

In my case, since I place an extreme premium on cardiovascular efficiency and heart health (heart attacks being the No. 1 killer in America), I incorporate Beets to my diet and consume them a few times per week in relatively small quantities. Now, if a client is diabetic or pre-diabetic, overweight, or dealing with a serious condition then I will usually recommend against Beets and go in a different direction. But beets are wonderful for the heart, and all in all a healthy person shouldn’t fear them (for context, read this piece):

http://www.livestrong.com/article/370347-glycemic-index-beets/

Let me make it clear: Other than Fiber I consume via veggies, and perhaps a morning Organic Oatmeal bowl and small red apple that I eat most days, I largely avoid carbs. Most experts in the U.S. recommend the average person consume anywhere between 250 and 400 or more grams of carbs per day; I consume maybe 50g or 70grams of carbs per day. A little more on the days when I am training for a major Jiu Jitsu tournament and training two or three times per day.

But I eat the vast majority of my fat calories in certain meals: A meal that might include two heaping tablespoons of high-grade organic raw almond butter, plus oatmmeal with another teaspoon of ghee butter, and some almonds on top, combined with chia and flax seeds.

Or at lunch perhaps 3 or 4 ounces of wild caught salmon, ghee butter and a small avocado with pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top.

Or a Sumatra coffee with a tablespoon of organic, unrefined extra virgin coconut oil.

So I’m always looking for ways to GIVE FAT CENTER STAGE ON MY PLATE. But it’s not always easy …. and I don’t believe it’s wise for a combat sports athlete like myself to avoid blueberries, raw honey, beets, pineapple, fresh-squeezed orange juice and red apples (packed with like 500 different nutrients) … because each of them is packed with some incredible and vital nutrients that can enhance peak physical performance. But again, I consume them in moderation and still derive probably 60-75 percent of my daily calories from fat (and feel really damn good for my age).

Let me say this, I don’t like the word “DIET.” I don’t. I still use it because that’s what most people call it.

We are the sum total of all of our habits. We are whatever we think as our core identity. We are whatever Lifestyle we spend the most time embracing. Nutrition to me is a lifestyle. And of all the nutrition programs and diets I’ve used over the past 31 years as a competitive athlete — the one I’ve used for the past 4 and 1/2 months is BY FAR the best. Best recovery from intense and grueling workouts (Very little soreness or stiffness). Best sleep. Quicker healing from injuries. Less inflammation in the body. Superb mind clarity.

Listen … I’ve had five surgeries in my life. I’ve had a bypass surgery on a blocked artery in my leg, I have a Titanium plate inserted in my neck, a 27-inch scar runs down one of my legs, my right shoulder has completely dislocated 13x, broken my nose, my cheek bone, stress fractured a tiba … on and on and on …

And guess what? What’s my point?

My point is: Guess how many aspirins I’ve taken in the last two years? Guess how many Advils? Guess how many prescription painkillers I’ve taken in the past 7 years?

Take a guess?

Are you ready … a whopping total of …. ZERO. Exactly zero.

Part of that is because I pride myself on extreme mental toughness and I do a wonderful job of reminding my Body that My Brain & Spirit are the (expletive) COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. Whenever I get hurt my brain gives my body an unequivocal demand: “You are going to Heal 100 %. You are coming back stronger.”

But another key factor is my lifestyle, one of those key ingredients being my nutrition choices. I always say, “Every Bite Matters.” Every Bite you take is a statement about you, your values, how much you love yourself. That may sound extreme to many, but it’s how I see it. Weakness of will in my eating — and I have plenty of those moments just like everyone else — is still weakness in the body that I need to kill. If you’re careless in your food choices, then you are being careless about your health … and if Health = Wealth then you are squandering wealth and tremendous opportunity. Why do that? Why live that and waste such a precious commodity — namely, the body and brain that are doing their damnest every single day to take care of you and how do a lot of people repay them? 

Given that mindset, I do my best to always choose wisely. And the deeper I travel down the Road To Keto, the more impressed I am. Truly the Greatest Nutrition Program of My Life. And I keep learning more about this Healthy High Fat approached that has been demonized and villianized in our country (we’ve been programmed since childhood to see FAT as the bad guy of the food groups).

I’m an advanced age athlete, now 45 years young, in a combat sport. All things considered I feel the Clock is Being Turned Back and expect that Age Defying trend to become even more pronounced in the next few years. I expect to look and feel younger in the next five years. 

Choosing the right thoughts are central to aging well and maintaining a high level of performance. Choosing the right foods is key, too.

I field an ever-growing number of questions about my nutrition and hope this is helpful.

For those interested, and those who might not have known, I create transformative NEXT LEVEL diet plans and tailor them to each client’s unique individual needs. What I do and teach goes WAY BEYOND WEIGHT LOSS AND WAY BEYOND what the vast majority of nutritionists, doctors and scientists are teaching. Some people who act like they’re experts on nutrition and diet are actually playing checkers; a small percentage are playing GrandMaster speed chess. I know where I fall on the spectrum of Eating for Peak Mental and Physical Performance and Elite Health — and I’ve worked extremely hard to acquire that expertise over the past three decades.

I have traveled the world and really enjoy connecting with good people for corporate speaking event opportunities, seminars and one-on-one Skype appointments.

TO CONTACT FRANKIE:

Email: frankie@frankieforza.com

instagram: frankieforza_organictank
Website: www.frankieforza.com
Skype: @frankiecurreri
Phone: ‪702-237-9386‬

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Frankie “The Organic Tank” Forza is the founder/CEO of ForzaFit™️ global training systems, a mission emanating from his distinguished career as a world-class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, widely published writer, inventor, TEDx speaker, peak performance coach and elite Healthy Living strategist.

A University of Maryland-trained philosopher, Forza will soon host a high-energy podcast featuring lively, thought-provoking and candid conversations with some of the world’s most successful and extraordinary high performers. Winner of three IBJFF Masters World championships, Forza is an age-defying athlete who aspires to become the modern-day Jack Lalanne. His effervescent style and People Building passion are rooted in what he calls “The Scars of Baltimore” — the often chaotic experience of growing up in Inner City Baltimore (where just 4 % of the kids went on to graduate college) and attending 11 schools in 12 years. With the help of many, Forza transformed himself into a ferocious competitor, relentless researcher and enthusiastic ambassador for Thinking Like A Champ (“Mindjitsu”), Eating Like A Champ and carrying the torch for consuming the highest quality Organic foods and products.

Prior to founding ForzaFit™️, Frankie worked with companies such as Ultimate Fighting Championship, The Salt Lake Tribune, Las Vegas Review-Journal, NBC-affiliated World Series of Fighting, AXS TV-affiliated Lion Fight promotion, adidas Combat Sports USA and an ESPN2-affiliated Arena Football League franchise. The former Digital Managing Editor has been to the White House on assignment, covered anti-security preparations for the Olympic Games, traveled across North America as a correspondent and conducted seminars in China.

Frankie has served as guest commentator on FOX national news, “On the Record With Greta Van Susteren,” MSNBC’s “The Abrams Report” and Court TV, among others. The Healthy Living & Organic Life consultant earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2010 and successfully “made weight” for more than 300 competition matches, a feat that contributed mightily to his peak performance obsession and expertise — constantly exploring what works best, what Turns Back The Body’s Clock, naturally boosts recovery and what promotes Age Defiance.