Day 23

My love for Juice Press started last summer.  I had a fight scheduled for August and was about 2 months out from having to make weight.  I have always eaten pretty good in the past.  Being a vegetarian since I was 16, I try to balance a healthy diet.  Having been a fighter for the past 15 years, I always tried to stay close to my fight weight.  There could be times you get a last minute call due to an injury of a fighter, and you get a shot to step in.  I don't ever like my weight cuts to have to be more then 5 pounds.  It's just not fun, and you end up stressing more about the weight, and less on training for the fight itself.  I see it all to often in other fighters that are just starting out.

Previous to the fight being scheduled, I was out of hard training for roughly a year and a half.  I was hit by a car, and my hand was dealt quite a blow.  I tore all the tendons in the left index finger and broke 2 bones.  The accident itself was a bad one.  I was t boned from the side and flew from the hood of the car and over the back end, somehow landing on my feet!  I know I was lucky and it certainly could have been worse, but at the time, all I could think about was my hand and would I be able to fight again.  Two surgeries later, I am still not fully recovered, I can not make a full fist, and my index finger is stuck straight!  I love fighting, and it is part of me, so I learned to deal with the pain, and jam my hand into it's glove in order to get at least one more fight in.  I couldn't let this accident take me out of the game.

So here I am with a fight coming up and I was 12 pounds over fight weight.  Dreading the weight cut.  I knew I had to find the perfect balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats.  As a professional fighter, you have no choice.  Plus it's my name, my trainer's name, and my camp's name on the line.  I decided to stop into Juice Press to learn more about their  juice options and smoothies.  I tried them out and they were quite tasty, so I knew I could handle them!  I started 8 weeks out. The first thing I did, was switch up my protein source.  A majority of my protein came form whey or soy based protein drinks.  They always left me feeling bloated and heavy. I would replace one meal with Juice Press's, Fountain of Youth, made with hemp protein. (Check out my post on why I love Fountain of Youth and hemp protein here) and a green juice such as Dr Green Juice then eat clean the other two meals (example: salads made with spinach, beets, sweet potato, walnuts, almonds, fruits such as apples, bananas).  At 6 weeks from the fight, I started adding more juice or a smoothie to my day, replacing regular foods.  I had cut back my calorie count for the day to 1300-1500.  At  4 weeks from the fight, I was down to all juices and one low fat, healthy meal for dinner. I had even moved on to some of the "greener" juices like Mother Earth.  It took me a while to make the transition from having an apple or pineapple for the sweetness, to all greens.   I wasn't sure if I could do a full Juice Press cleanse and still have the energy, or if I could deal with not chewing anything.  It's really hard to change up anything in your life while training for a fight.  You have certain rituals, and routines you like to follow that work for you.  If only I knew then what I know now!!!

In the end, I made weight on schedule, felt strong and had the energy I wanted.  Above are pictures from weigh ins of that fight.  I stand about 5'4" and weighed in at 117.9  (118 was the contract weight!)


Training:

3 Mile run
10 Turkish Get Ups 5R/5L
Zercher Squats 75lb barbell
Bent over rows double 16kg bells

Juice:

Glo, Doctor Earth, Fountain of Youth, OMG, Good Weed