Tag: healthy recipes

LISTEN HERE
Mike Dolce answers your questions! Topics include how to hydrate after a wild night of partying, how to time your meals for optimal weightloss, workouts for obese folks, what food to bring while backpacking, weightlifting belts & straps and more!
The founder of The Dolce Diet & creator of UFC FIT, Mike Dolce is known the world over for his work managing the weight cuts of UFC athletes like Johny Hendricks, Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves, Chael Sonnen, Quinton Jackson, Nik Lentz, Jake Ellenberger and more! His #1 international best-selling books include The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded, The Dolce Diet: Living Lean, & The Dolce Diet: Living Lean Cookbook.
For more information on Mike’s books, MMA weight cuts, weight management, gaining muscle, weight loss, overall healthy living, UFC FIT and so much more, visit TheDolceDiet.com & TheMikeDolceShow.com & UFCFIT.com.

UFC’s leading fitness and nutrition authority talks about his in-home fitness and nutrition program, fighters and more

By Case Keefer
Thu, Jun 20, 2013

Mike Dolce is one of the most sought-after men in all of mixed martial arts.
The sport’s pre-eminent mind on nutrition, fitness and weight cutting grew his profile over the past five years by working with top fighters such as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Chael Sonnen and Gray Maynard.
Dolce is so busy that he can no longer take on any new clients. So how did the 37-year-old former “Ultimate Fighter” contestant carve out enough time to develop the promotion’s first in-home fitness and nutrition program that features 12 workout DVDs and a 132-page nutrition manual?
The Sun caught up with Dolce at a luncheon with reporters to ask him about the recently released “UFC Fit,” his fighters and more.
It supposedly took three years to get “UFC Fit” to the point where it was ready for a release. What was the process of putting it all together like for you?
It was a whole different system with different coaches at first, called UFC Training Camp. They brought me in while that was still running and asked me to write the nutrition book. I said, “Absolutely,” and wrote the book probably the same day and sent it back immediately. They were surprised because it had been a year and they didn’t have the strength program done yet. A couple weeks went by, I came in for a meeting and nothing had happened with it. Then they said, “Listen, can you write the strength program also?” I was like, “I can, but I don’t want to get too involved and make any issues because you’ve got other guys.” They said it wasn’t going to work out with them, and they also wanted to get me involved on camera. I said, “I’m not the guy, I don’t want to be that guy.” But Dana (White) and Lorenzo (Fertitta) looked at me and said, “You are the guy.” So how do I say no to that?
You’ve expressed some disdain for other in-home fitness programs. What makes this one different?
I’d been aware of a lot of the in-home fitness systems and even diet books out there, and unfortunately, it’s mostly all garbage. It’s all fads, marketing ploys to get people to spend $99.99 and keep them in the same situation they’re in. It’s all crash diets that are unsustainable. What I’ve done is keep the same sustainable system of eating, living, training and changing your lifestyle that yields consistent results. No one else is doing this. The P90X, Insanity, they are selling the quick and sexy. That’s it. With me, I want to change people’s lives.
When did you discover your knack for nutrition and fitness?
It’s something I was born to do. As a freshman in high school, I was the captain of the varsity wrestling team and was running the strength and conditioning portions of those practices. I was overseeing the weight cuts. We had 17- or 18-year-old men on the team and I was telling them what to do. It just came naturally. I was always a science and mathematics guy. I was a municipal tax assessor for years, which is very heavy math. It’s just the way my mind works, but my passion has always been applying it to physical things.
Which fighters are you working with currently?
I try to work with less than 10 athletes full time at this point, but I have a few career athletes. My career athletes would be Thiago Alves, Nik Lentz, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Johny Hendricks. Those are the five guys who, as long as they are fighting, I will be with them. I’m also working with Jake Ellenberger, Mike Pyle, probably working with Stefan Struve and Daniel Cormier their next fights, Kelvin Gastelum dropping to welterweight right now and Luke Barnatt.
What was the toughest weight cut or training camp you’ve ever had to oversee?
Chael was 233 pounds six weeks before the Michael Bisping fight. To go from 233 to 185 in six weeks is insane. The hardest issue — I would have to say Rampage is the hardest I’ve ever had to deal with. Not because he was the biggest or heaviest because he wasn’t. I helped Duane Ludwig lose 42 pounds in 13 days to fight Jim Miller on short notice here in Las Vegas. He went from 198 to 156 in 13 days with my coaching. It took eight weeks to do the same with Quinton. Now it was so much easier with Duane because Duane is a professional; he’s a good guy with a big heart. He just got down to the business of working with no complaints, no objections, no obstacles. Some of these other guys, Rampage being one of them, everything was a challenge. He’s shown that not just with myself but with every business deal he’s ever been in.
What’s the story about your time with Rampage before the 2010 fight against Rashad Evans?
He had taken 14 months off to film “The A-Team” and “The Ultimate Fighter.” He came into camp 51 pounds overweight before the fight — seven weeks and six days before the fight.
We weren’t behind schedule, but we weren’t ahead of schedule. But I worry. I wasn’t satisfied with it. I talked to Quinton and he said, “I’m not cheating. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
A day does by and we go to train. It’s a three-story house and Quinton lives on the top floor. He forgets his gym bag, so I say I’ll go up there and get his gym bag. I go up and look and I see something that doesn’t look right inside his pillow — a purple box, or a square. I say, “What the hell is that?” I walk over and see it’s a candy bar, a Cadbury fruit and nut candy bar. There were four of them. Under the bed there were more wrappers. So what he was doing was, we would go and get gas before the gym. We’d sit in the car and fill it up. He’d go in to pay for the gas and the window would be right there, right below window level was the candy rack. He’d buy a bunch of these candy bars and put them in his pocket and go home and eat them.
I caught it and he turned it into a joke. So I say, “What we’re going to do is compromise: You’ve got a chocolate thing. I get it. I understand it. Therefore, I’ve got a healthy alternative to it.” In that area in England, the healthiest thing I could find was Nutella, which is really not that bad considering the alternative. It’s a mental thing, not a physical thing, so I start making him Nutella sandwiches, telling him, “It’s the best thing in the world — toasted, warm, crunchy and with banana slices. It’s delicious. That’s what we’ll have if you train your (butt) off. You’ll get those as a reward system.” We started to do that and the weight dropped immediately.
A lot of your guys have fights coming up. Anything you’re particularly excited for?
Nik Lentz is a story I keep pushing. He’s 3-0 since dropping to featherweight. I’m very excited about this kid. When he reached out to me, I was so busy that I was not taking new clients. I only took Nik Lentz because I believe he’s going to be a world champion at 145. I have all those superstars, too — Chael, Vitor, Hendricks — but Nik is one of the most exciting guys I’m working with right now. He has so much upside.
What about Daniel Cormier? He said he would like drop from heavyweight to light heavyweight before the end of the year. Is that going to happen?

What we’re doing with Daniel is just getting him healthy. My job is to get him down to 10 percent body fat with as much muscle mass as we can pack on his body. Once he’s there, we can decide whatever weight class he wants to go to. My job is to keep him healthy, fit, teach him how to eat and take care of himself. Whether he fights at 205 or not, I mean we could do it this Friday. That’s just what I do. I’ve gotten phone calls where guys are 30 pounds overweight a few days beforehand and we can do it. So we could do 205 or we could stay at heavyweight and go out and destroy everyone at that weight, too. It’s up to Daniel. I’m just happy to be involved because he’s a stud.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

LISTEN HERE
Mike Dolce welcomes Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia and Duane “BANG” Ludwig to a show packed with determination and oceans of mental fortitude. Released from the UFC in May, Garcia has reformed his outlook on his career with one single thought – persistance! With the help of his longtime friend and coach Duane Ludwig, the two speak about training, family and how to find that return to winning ways. If you’ve ever had to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and redefine life as you know it in order to accomplish your dreams, than this is the must-listen-to Mike Dolce Show for you!
The founder of The Dolce Diet & creator of UFC FIT, Mike Dolce is known the world over for his work managing the weight cuts of UFC athletes like Johny Hendricks, Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves, Chael Sonnen, Quinton Jackson, Nik Lentz, Jake Ellenberger and more! His #1 international best-selling books include The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded, The Dolce Diet: Living Lean, & The Dolce Diet: Living Lean Cookbook.
For more information on Mike’s books, MMA weight cuts, weight management, gaining muscle, weight loss, overall healthy living, UFC FIT and so much more, visit TheDolceDiet.com & TheMikeDolceShow.com & UFCFIT.com.

Heather Morton
@HeatherMorton12
Can’t believe the difference of one week on the @TheDolceDiet I feel amazing. #unbelievable #healthy

---

NAME: Christopher Thompson
AGE: 41
DOLCE DIET BOOKS: 3 Weeks to Shredded & Living Lean

My goal was to improve my overall diet and obtain the lean look I had before breaking my hand in a kickboxing match at 145 lbs. I got instant results in 3 days which made me want to complete the three weeks. I went from 169 to 159 in just 8 days, the pic included is my results of 8 days, not bad for a lightweight.

---

LISTEN HERE
In Ep. 36 Mike talks about foods that can suppress your appetite, how to get lean without losing size, exercises that are good for MMA athletes, breads, eating raw eggs, how to measure body fat, how to start UFC FIT if you’ve never worked out, how to use food to help you bulk up and more!
The founder of The Dolce Diet & creator of UFC FIT, Mike Dolce is known the world over for his work managing the weight cuts of UFC athletes like Johny Hendricks, Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves, Chael Sonnen, Quinton Jackson, Nik Lentz, Jake Ellenberger and more! His #1 international best-selling books include The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded, The Dolce Diet: Living Lean, & The Dolce Diet: Living Lean Cookbook.
For more information on Mike’s books, MMA weight cuts, weight management, gaining muscle, weight loss, overall healthy living, UFC FIT and so much more, visit TheDolceDiet.com & TheMikeDolceShow.com & UFCFIT.com.

Aaron Nance went from 205 lbs to 178 lbs in just over two months. Here’s his story:

My story is actually kind of similar to Mike’s. I started out 205lbs trying to be as strong as possible not caring what I ate to gain the strength. I just wanted to be strong. I achieved a few goals of what I wanted to be able to lift, and decided it’s time to get lean and healthy. I started with eating one clean meal a day, then two, now all meals are Living Lean! It took me just over 2 months to drop down to where I am at now, 178lbs. I still have about ten more to go, but I know switching over to 3 Weeks to Shredded I can do that no problem. I work out 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, mixing cardio, weights, and core exercises. I just can’t get enough! My advice I always give is to start with small changes and goals that lead to bigger and better ones. Most importantly YOU GOTTA WANT IT! BOOM! ~Aaron Nance

---

World renowned weight management expert Mike Dolce answers your questions! Topics include foods that keep the mind sharp, exercise for small spaces, how to reduce body fat, pre-workout supplements, healthy weight gain, is milk good for us, high school lunches, glucosamine and chondroitin, building muscle, healthy fat sources, cookware and more.

Mike answers your questions! Topics include energy drinks, the FDA on fish mislabeling, healthy restaurant dining, sweet snacks, nutrient timing, stretching, strength training for MMA, the difference between Living Lean and Living Lean Cookbook, juicing, intermittent fasting, what Mike would have done differently in his earlier years and more!
Additional Media
1) Mike talked about the controversy involving the FDA and mislabeled fish products. Here is the article he referred to:   Nationwide study casts a wide net over seafood fraud
2) Mike referenced Tom Platz’s legs in episode 15. Here is a picture of them below.

3) Listener Gabriel Stein shared his frozen grape recipe with us: Blend frozen grapes, coconut milk and honey in a Magic Bullet. “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever tasted and it’s all natural,” he said. Thanks for sharing Gabriel!

The Jack Brown Interview: Mike Dolce

This is the sixth in my series of interviews with MMA fighters and personalities.  I was very fortunate to have spent some time exchanging direct messages on Twitter with former MMA fighter, current coach, and creator of The Dolce Diet, Mike Dolce.  Please enjoy our conversation below.

Jack Brown: What was the first martial art/combat sport that you got involved with when you were young and what are your thoughts about it looking back?

Mike Dolce: I played football, lacrosse, and soccer as a kid, which are all contact sports.  I also ran a lot.  My whole family did.  We’d all run 5-mile runs or local races together.  I’m talking grammar school years.  The summer before high school, I began wrestling.  Wrestling is a combat sport in every sense of the term.  Wrestling taught me the skills necessary to succeed in any environment because it taught me how to work hard and stay honest.  It also taught me humility at a young age.

JB: What do you remember about your first amateur fight?

MD: I remember the smell of beer, which had been spilled on the canvas by who knows who, and snapshots of the action – like someone took a dozen Polaroid photos of the fight and threw them out on the table.  I remember the feeling deep in my chest.  I loved it.

JB: And what about your first pro fight, did you feel prepared at the time?

MD:  I was very confident going into my first pro fight.  It was in my home state, New Jersey, in a tournament against a guy I felt matched up well for me.  My conditioning was very good and I knew my weight-cutting style would benefit me greatly, as the first round called for a same day weigh-in.  Turns out, I was right.  He won the first round, I won the second, and in the third, I was as fresh as ever and he couldn’t keep his hands up.  I won.

JB: You’re obviously very well known for your weight-cutting style and your diet advising.  What helped you build the foundation for your philosophies about both when you were young?

MD: One of my most vivid memories as a child was seeing my father collapse from a massive stroke.  I was 8-years-old.  The ensuing months were followed with dozens of trips to hospitals, doctors’ offices, and a constant barrage of family and friends all stopping over and talking about the medical issues he suffered from.  I believe this is what planted the notion of “health through lifestyle” in my mind.  I covered this story in-depth in my book, “The Dolce Diet: Living Lean,” in which I trace my own path as a child, now with a single parent, to finding recourse in muscle magazines and strength training, to being the freshman captain of my high school varsity wrestling team, to my career as a 280-pound power-lifter, to dropping all that weight and setting the record for the fastest KO in the IFL as a 170-pound welterweight.

Over time I worked with hundreds of athletes and thousands of weight-cuts.  I believe my system is so successful because I not only have the scientific knowledge base, but also the firsthand experience of cutting weight as a high-level wrestler, power-lifter, and professional mixed martial artist, as well as always learning from each new athlete and team I work with.  What many don’t realize is that I am on the forefront of this sport and very humble to be there.  Each week I am with another elite athlete, and each experience makes me a better coach because I still remain a student of the process.  Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Thiago Alves, Michael Bisping, Nik Lentz, Johny Hendricks, Gray Maynard, Jake Ellenberger, Mike Pyle, Duane Ludwig, Jay Hieron, Mark Bocek, Rampage Jackson, Ulysses Gomes, John Alessio, Kurt Pellegrino, Ed Herman, Nate Quarry, Chris Wilson, the names go on and on.  Each guy is unique.  Each weight cut is unique.  Each camp is like a semester in grad school and I know some of the people out there trying to coach athletes from an office like to take shots at me, but really the stable of athletes I work with is unparalleled and the results we continue to present are unparalleled.  And, to take it all back to your original question, the difference is we eat real food, we drink real water, we train smart and we rest.  It is because we put our health first.  We are healthy, which is why we are able to perform at elite levels and endure weight-cuts that most cannot.

JB: Thanks to your appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, I tried quinoa, loved it, and now it’s a regular staple of my diet.  What are a few other healthy foods like that for finicky eaters to try?

MD: Glad you liked my spot on the Joe Rogan Experience.  I got to tell you that this was one of my most proud moments as a professional and person.   Rogan is a great dude, super smart, and his show is awesome.  I’m pretty sure I’ve listened to all 300 plus episodes and most more than once.

There are so many foods available to us that we simply don’t take advantage of due to 1) lack of knowledge or 2) motivation.  There isn’t a number 3).  It is my job to share as much information as I can and expose as many people as I can to the possibilities of health, fitness, performance, vitality and longevity through easy lifestyle modifications.  Many times, it is simply a matter of eating REAL FOOD and not the processed chemical crap that most companies are trying to jam down our throats.  There are amazing nutrients that grow right here on our planet, are extremely inexpensive, and so much healthier than all the pills, powders, and potions available.  Chia seeds are one of my favorite.  Spelt and buckwheat are amazing.  I put coconut oil in my black coffee as well as cook with it.  The list goes on and on.  As a rule, “if it wasn’t around 200 years ago, you should think twice before eating it today.” (from Living Lean)

JB: You’ve already listed a number of great fighters that you worked with during their training camps.  What was one of your most rewarding experiences with a fighter?

MD:  There are so many:
•Seeing Vitor Belfort’s entire family cry tears of joy because of how healthy and easy the weight cut was for him.
•Thiago Alves coming back from missing weight and losing the fight against Jon Fitch, then hiring me, and making weight easily and reemerging as a top contender.
•Any time I walk out with Chael Sonnen is a special moment because I’ve known Chael since 2008 and watched how hard he worked to get where he is now.
•Helping Nik Lentz drop from 155 to 145 and catapult into the top 10 and soon to be a world title!
•Helping Duane Ludwig cut over 40lbs in under 2 weeks, to fight Jim Miller, on short notice to get back into the UFC.  Duane is such a stud!
•Working with Jay Hieron to storm the Bellator welterweight tournament and win 3 fights in 2 months to win the tourney title, in spite of a massive pile of injuries.
•Helping Rampage drop from 260 to 205 to beat Lyoto Machida in Denver.
•Helping Chris Leben for his KO victory over Wanderlei Silva.  I could sit here all day and relive all these moments.

JB: Your name has been mentioned in connection with Cris Cyborg Santos.  How do you feel about that and are there any other particular fighters that you hope to someday be working with on their dieting and/or their weight cut?

MD: Cris is a great person and super athlete.  I would welcome the opportunity to work with her, if the timing is right.  I don’t get involved in managing or promotion and only focus on the health and performance of my athlete.  With that being said, there are still conversations regarding her career that are outside of my role and I am waiting to hear the outcome.  My hope is that things get resolved soon as I typically book 4-6 months in advance.

As for athletes I would love to work with, I’d love to work with them all!  Unfortunately, I cannot commit to more than 10 athletes per year in order to provide them with my full attention.  I don’t care about stature or spot on the card, I only work with athletes I care about.  But, if pressed, I would have loved to have worked with a prime Igor Vovchanchyn and gotten him to welterweight.  He could have been the welterweight Fedor.

JB: What are the most common foods that you advise fighters to eliminate or cut back on?

MD: Everything processed and anything with an ingredient a four-year-old cannot define, that is where I start.  My system appears to be so successful because it is so easy to follow and effective.  We don’t do fad diets.  We don’t do template meal plans.  We focus on maximum nutrition in a delicious recipe.  It’s so simple people think I’m hiding something – which is a huge compliment!

JB: What plans can you share with us about upcoming books and podcasts?

MD: We released THE MIKE DOLCE SHOW podcast two weeks ago and it debuted at #2 on iTunes behind Jillian Michaels, so we’re off to a good start there.  The goal with THE MIKE DOLCE SHOW is to present as much information as I can in a very casual, conversational tone.  As I said earlier, it is my job to share as much information as I can to help people achieve their goals, and as we progress with THE MIKE DOLCE SHOW, our listener interaction is very high.  We spend most of the show answering your questions and I share insight into fight camps, weight-cuts, strength training, and whatever else my crazy life experiences teach me.

As for books, The Dolce Diet series, “Living Lean” and “Living Lean Cookbook” have become #1, international bestsellers, without ever having spent a dime on marketing or ad campaigns.  It has truly been a word of mouth campaign by those who have found my work helpful, like those here on the UG.  We also released “The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded” in 2007, which continues to exceed all expectations, being sold in over 120 countries worldwide.  It’s funny because each time I am at an event, UFC or local show, one of the fighters who I have never met will come up and thank me for “helping” them with the easiest weight-cut of their career because they simply bought 3W2S.  How cool is that!  I mention 3 Weeks to Shredded because it has always been a very humble manual, but now, 6 years later, we are revising it and turning it into a full-fledged book based on the advancements in science, health, and sport that I have seen.  We’re also turning it into an e-book so anybody can have access to it at any time.  It’s crazy because the original version of 3W2S continues to work extremely well.  The revised version may set the standard for what is expected in weight class dominated sports.  Also, we are working on a book for the ladies (and guys who like to look at the ladies!), allowing them to lose weight and feel great, but not train like a full-time fighter.  Lastly, we are finishing a book for our parents’ generation – the 45 and over crowd who forgot to take care of themselves while they were raising us.  This book should really tie in the health and wellness aspects of what The Dolce Diet stands for and show that the same principles and techniques my elite athletes use can be used by anybody.  In essence, we are just getting started!

JB: Last question, Mike, and thank you so much.  It’s been informative and fascinating.  You’re very successful and have already accomplished a lot, but what other long-term goals do you have?

MD: My long term goals are very long term.  The science is out there to support that the average human being living today can already live upwards of 120-years-old IF lifestyle choices and medical sciences are embraced.  My goal is to spread the word of this ability.  I believe I have information to help every single person on the planet achieve one (or many) of their health, fitness, performance, or cosmetic goals and I believe it is my job to continue sharing this information with as many people as possible for as long as possible.  One person’s goal may be winning a UFC world title, another may be raising a family of healthy children, another may want to reverse the effects of poor lifestyle choices and live a healthy, vibrant life moving forward.  The goals are all so different but the principles remain the same for each of us.  My goal is to help every person I come in contact with to reach their goals, to live long, happy, vital lives with their families, and to continue to exceed the previous limitations set upon us by those who knew no better.  I want to see people happy, healthy, and fulfilled.

Thanks so much for reading and please follow @TheDolceDiet and @jackjohnbrown on Twitter.

Special thanks to @KirikJenness for @theUG

Original article posted here