The UFC Welterweight Champion. GSP (top) vs. BJ Penn] Georges St. Pierre, better known to fight fans worldwide as GSP, is currently the UFC Welterweight Champion. His publicly stated goal is to retire as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and, at a record of 22-2, ESPN currently ranks him as the #2 pound-forpound fighter in the world. His intellect—and consistency—is what separates him from the brawlers: "I will never fight in a way [in which] I fight like I flip a coin… When I'm standing up, I hit the guy, I pick my angle, and I'm smart… I'm not going to trade punch one-for-one with a guy. I'm going to hit the guy and not get hit. That's a smart way to fight." His analytical approach isn’t limited to fighting. He considers nutrition a critical part of his training, just as important as being in the cage. In this respect, 2009 marked an inflection point. That year, after successfully defending his Welterweight title in his second fight against BJ Penn, GSP hired Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition to help him gain lean muscle tissue and improve his recovery abilities. Berardi, in charge of the nutrient science, recommended that Georges hire Jennifer Nickle and Rosario “Ross” Gurreri, two chefs in the Montreal area who worked at Cavalli and Bice restaurants, for all meal prep. In the next 8 weeks, GSP gained approximately 12 pounds of lean muscle and bulked up to 195 pounds. His upgraded speed and power helped him to dominate every subsequent opponent, posting a 4-0 record since 2009. This sidebar is intended to teach you how GSP ate for his 2009 transformation, how he worked with a personal chef (and how the chef prepared), and how you can use a personal chef for less than you think. While he no longer has a private chef for everyday meals, GSP still consults with Berardi and still flies Jen and Ross to his hotel the week before a big fight to cook for him and his entourage. We’ll answer the questions: What does GSP eat? What is his meal plan? How is it prepared? How much does it cost? -WHAT DOES GSP EAT? Below is the 2009 meal plan designed for GSP by Dr. Berardi. It is based it around "anytime" (AT) and "post-workout" (PW) meals. He gave the guidelines to Jen and Ross and they prepared a menu of roughly 30-40 items that adhered to the calorie and macronutrient (carbohydrate, protein, and fat) requirements and ratios. Berardi explains the basic approach: “Georges’ baseline menu is about 3200-3500kcal per day, with around 250 grams of protein, 350 grams of carbs, and 100 grams of fat. PW meals are higher in protein and carbs, while being lower in fat, and eaten right after workouts. AT meals are higher in protein and fat, while being low in carbs. These meals are meant to be eaten any other time of the day.” The brands and products mentioned are those Berardi recommended for GSP. Though Berardi formulated the original Surge Recovery product while wrapping up his PhD studies in Exercise and Nutritional Biochemistry (University of Western Ontario and Yale University), he has no financial interest in the products. 3 Meals Provided by Ross and Jennifer in Montreal 1 lower carb anytime meal to be eaten whenever you like 650 calories – 60g protein, 40g carbs, 30g fat 1 lower carb anytime meal to be eaten whenever you like 650 calories – 60g protein, 40g carbs, 30g fat 1 high-carb post-exercise meal to be eaten immediately after training (a recipe that can be eaten cold) 700 calories - 60g protein, 100g carbs, 10g fat Two sample recipes are included in the next “How Is It Prepared?” section. 2 Daily Super Shakes 1 super shake at a time, between meals, mixed with almond milk or water. This is used to wash down 4 fish oil capsules. -1 scoop milk-based protein powder -1 scoop greens supplement - 1 cup frozen mixed berries (use “mixed” to avoid developing food intolerances from eating too much of a single variety) 282 calories – 18g protein, 25g carbs, 12g fat Berardi’s suggested products: Muscle Milk protein powder from CytoSport, greens+ from Genuine Health, Flameout fish oil capsules from Biotest Workout Nutrition ½ protein bar before training 20-30 minutes before training – Recommended Brand: Finibar from Biotest 125 calories – 7g protein, 20g carbs, 4g fat 1 workout drink during training Sip throughout training - Recommended brand: Surge Workout Fuel from Biotest 85 calories – 8g protein, 21g carbs, 0 fat 1 workout drink after training Immediately after. Follow this with post-workout meal 1 hour later. – Recommended Brand: Surge Recovery from Biotest 330 calories – 25g protein, 44g carbs, 1g fat Optional Intake If you’re hungry, eat 1 additional meal per day. It can be whatever you like, as long as it’s lower in carbs and higher in protein and fat. Given GSP’s leanness, he was given more latitude, as Berardi explains: “The rule was to eat everything on the menu and then, if he wanted anything else, he could have it. Some days that meant Subway, others McDonalds. Didn’t matter. As long as he got his main food in each day, he could eat whatever discretionary calories he wanted. He ended up reporting that he had a few extra meals a week. But he was pretty satisfied from his normal menu, so he didn’t need to use too many discretionary calories.” Total Baseline Intake (Approximate) 3104 calories – 256g protein (30%), 315 carbs (40%), 99g fat (30%) Q&A on the above with Dr. Berardi: What guidelines should someone use if trying to replicate the above? “When determining a client’s macronutrient split, at Precision Nutrition we use body-type specific guidelines. In essence, we plan someone’s nutrition according to their somatotype, as follows: Ectomorphs –around 25% p (protein), 55%c (carbs), 20%f (fat) Mesomorphs - around 30%p, 40%c, 30%f Endomorphs – around 35%p, 25%c, 40%f” For definitions: Ectomorph - Thin build, challenging to put on weight (muscle or fat) Example: long-distance runner. Mesomorph - Muscular build, can lose or gain muscle easily (fat gain minimal) Example: sprinter or gymnast. Endomorph - Large build, easy to put on weight (both good and bad) Example: shotputter or football lineman. “Since GSP is a clear mesomorph, that’s why his split looked like it did. As far as calories, for most people wanting to gain weight, we’d multiply body weight in pounds x 20-22 to determine the total. This would have put GSP at 3400 to 3700kcal to start with. However, he was chronically underfed leading up to us working together, so jumping all the way up to 20 or 22 would have probably led to fat gain. So we chose a multiplier of 18 to start with. This ended up being perfect for him, based on the outcomes described above.” How much did GSP weigh when consuming the above? “We started this plan about 2 months before a training camp when he weighed around 183lbs. In the 2 months leading up to camp, the plan took him to about 195lbs. At that point his weight stabilized, which was perfect going into camp. We didn’t want him much heavier because it then might be too hard to cut to 170. In the next 3 months, the diet stayed the same, but the high volume of camp helped him come down to about 188 the week before the fight. That made the cut to 170 pretty easy. We did the cut from 188 to 170 in 5 days (from M-F). Then in 24 hours (from F-Sa), he rehydrated to about 188lbs for the fight.” HOW IS IT PREPARED? In 2009, when the GSP experiment began, Jen had the entire professional kitchen of Bice to herself in the morning and prepared 3 meals for Georges during that time: a post-workout meal (that could be eaten cold, so he could have it directly after his workout), a dinner meal, and a breakfast meal for the next morning. Meal prep took between 2-4 hours. Jen did all of the shopping (100% organic foods) and cooking, but someone else delivered the meals to Georges’ gym once daily. Georges, having eaten breakfast and workout shakes, would eat the post-workout meal directly after training in the early afternoon. This cycle repeated itself. These below answers and suggestions are from Jennifer, who has been a chef for 12 years and now runs a private catering business in Toronto. Must-Have Equipment First, she has the right gear for the job. She owns many of the usual suspects that pro chefs favor: a Microplane, 7-9” chefs knives (MAC, which “stays sharp longer than any knife I have ever used”), a Peugeot peppermill, and Kuhn Rikon vegetable peelers. Of the last, she says, “Every time I buy a ‘Kuhn,’ I get a few extra and give them out to friends and co- workers who are stuck in the ‘I've had the same shitty rusty vegetable peeler for years’ category.” For cooking methods, Jen explains the basics: “It’s important to have access to a stove-top grill [She uses a Le Creuset cast-iron “griddle”] and a bamboo steamer. Having this equipment makes it easy to cook fast meals because they are stationary and easy to clean, so you don't have to mess around with pots and pans.” In other words, these cooking vessels stay on the stovetop and are quickly cleaned on the stovetop; no sink involved. “For example, if I were making grilled tuna with Asian greens and sweet potato, I would station a steamer and a cast-iron grill on the back burners of my stove, steam the potato first and then use the same steamer to cook the greens. Using equipment like this guarantees that you won't be slopping extra cooking fat in your frying pan or killing your green vegetables in boiling water. It’s fast and easy.” Shopping Tips “In terms of buying fruit, always buy what appears to be heavy for it's size. And for vegetables, look for bright colors and perky leaves. Fish should have glossy flesh, bright eyes and have the slight aroma of sea water. Meat should be freshly butchered whenever possible and should be devoid of any sulfur-type smell or brownish, greenish tinges.” And perhaps above all, according to Jen, try to incorporate more fresh herbs, spices and vinegars into your shopping list. “It's amazing how much flavor (not to mention health benefits) you can get from these ingredients without having to add calories.” Shortcuts Prepare certain things in bulk so that you have them for the week, something like braised lima beans or lentils, which can be used later in many recipes. “If you store them in their own cooking liquid in an airtight container in the fridge, they have a surprisingly long shelflife. “This is an important step for having access to nutritious carbohydrates, especially if you don't have time to cook them throughout the week. The same beans and legumes can be used for so many different recipes, so that's a huge time saver.” SAMPLE RECIPES Grilled Tuna with "Recovery Salad and Soy-Ginger Vinaigrette” – Post-Workout (PW) Meal CAL-758/ protein-60gr/ carbs-100gr /fat10gr * * * * * 160 grams fresh sushi grade yellowfin tuna 100 grams cooked lentils 190 grams cooked quinoa 28 grams shelled edamame beans 28 grams shaved red cabbage * * * * * * * * * * 30 grams dried apricots or prunes, chopped 50 grams cherry tomatoes, cut in half 28 grams sliced red onion 1 teaspooon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 1 teaspoon grated ginger 1 tablespoon chopped coriander/cilantro 1 tablespoon chopped green onion/scallion 1 handful baby spinach Directions: Set your grill pan to medium heat. Grill the sliced red onion, dry, until it starts to char and wilt. Remove from the pan and chop. Turn your grill pan to high. Prepare the salad: In a large bowl mix together the lentils, quinoa, edamame, cabbage, cherry tomatoes and chopped red onion. Cover and set aside. Prepare the vinaigrette: In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, soy, vinegar, ginger, coriander, apricots and green onion. Grill the tuna evenly on all sides, seasoning with sea salt as you go, until rare or medium rare. Remove from heat immediately and slice. (4-6 thin slices) Mix half of the vinaigrette into the salad. Spoon the salad onto a plate of raw spinach. Plate the sliced tuna on top of the salad and garnish with the remaining vinaigrette. Steak and Eggs Anytime Meal - CAL-700/ protein-60gr/ carbs-40gr/ fat-30gr * 150 grams mashed steamed sweet potato or squash * 200 grams of veal tenderloin The crust/rub for the veal: * 3 chestnuts, dry roasted, peeled and chopped * 1 teaspoon old fashioned or dijon mustard * 1 tablespoon honey * Salt and fresh cracked pepper Sauteed topping: * 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil * 50 grams wild mushrooms like chanterelle or matsutake, brushed not rinsed * 1 teaspoon cider or red wine vinegar * Fresh herbs like basil, parsley and/or tarragon, roughly chopped Sides: * 1 egg or 3 quail eggs * 5 spears steamed asparagus or broccoli HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? But a private chef? Surely that must cost a fortune, right? If you hire a single person full-time, it can, and a good chef will start at $40K per year. If that’s your preference, you can find such a person through http://hireachef.com/ or http://www.personalchef.com/. Otherwise, you can use the Craigslist option from the previous sidebar or meal delivery, which is what Phil Caravaggio, CEO of Precision Nutrition, opts for. He stopped cooking years ago to focus on business and other priorities. Phil uses Essential Meal Delivery out of Toronto: “The meals cost $13-17 each. Every week, I call them and tell them my goals (Intermittent fasting, Paleo, etc.) and they make a menu based on my food likes and dislikes. Then they’re delivered to my apartment every morning, and I get a bill at the end of the week. I only have them delivered Monday - Friday. I save the weekends for going out and cooking with family and friends.” Here are options for throughout North America: U.S. (general): http://hireachef.com/ Eastern US: http://www.personalchef.com/ CA: http://california.personalchef.com/ Toronto. http://www.essentialmealdelivery.com [END] ###
