The Sumo-Wrestler Diet
I just finished Monica Seles' book "Getting A Grip: on my body, my mind, my self." Remember, Monica was the tennis phenom who was stabbed by a deranged man. She lost her father/coach not so long after. Between keeping up with the rigors of her competitive career, traveling the world to compete yearly, and her emotional trauma, she gained 40 pounds. She was a binge eater, who would pack away 5,000 calories minutes after her daily 6-hour workouts. Despite her teams of trainers and nutritionists (some even slept in her apartment to stand guard), she would always resort back to bingeing. She finally found her way out of this mess by reducing her stress, enjoying life, listening to her body and dealing with her emotions. The Dr. Oz quote on the cover of the book says she "saved her really dazzling performance for the game of life." She really did.
I wanted to share one of the many things that stuck with me from her story. While playing a tournament in Tokyo, Monica took in a sumo wrestling match. She got to meet the champ after and, of course, she asked him what he ate. Well, in addition to eating 15,000 calories a day, he followed five strict rules to keep the weight on. Turns out Monica was a sumo rule-follower. Are you?
THE 5 RULES OF A SUMO WRESTLER'S DIET
Rule One: Skip Breakfast. This slows down your metabolism for the whole day.
Rule Two: Eat two big meals a day. Starve yourself in the AM and gorge in the PM to deplete your energy and, again, slow down your metabolism.
Rule Three: Nap right after a meal. Crashing on the couch, or, even better, passing out into a food coma, slows digestion, shuts down your metabolism and turns those calories into stored energy - fat. (Think post-dinner pantry raids.)
Rule Four: Exercise on an empty stomach. This sends messages to the brain that food is scarce. In turn, your body releases cortisol - our stress hormone - which slows your metabolism to keep on weight.
Rule Five: Eat in a social setting. Nothing says "let's eat" like a big communal table.
Yikes! Suddenly feeling so sumo? If you're ready to break some of your sumo wrestler habits, I'm here to help!
Join me for my 7-Day Detox starting Monday, 4/20, to develop new supportive lifestyle shifts, a new healthy perspective on how food affects your body, a sense of lightness and clarity as you rid your body of inflammation and toxins, and tools to eat cleanly after the detox is over. Sign up before 4/18, when the pre-detox opens. Detox includes two conference calls and a private online forum. $75. Sign up here!
"The control of the palate is a valuable aid for the control of the mind."
Mahatma Gandhi
"The control of the palate is a valuable aid for the connection to the heart."
Pam Gross
