Why it matters
Everything else (how hard you train, how often, how well you recover) sits on top of what you eat. That's why both levels start with a dietitian.
Diet, strength and conditioning, and focused training are the three things that build your day-to-day plan. Get this one right and the other two get easier. Anyone can get a plan and follow it "more or less". The difference is in the detail, and that's usually where the results are. Show Me and Pro differ in how much structure, detail and support you get, not in whether you see a professional.
The standard
Non-negotiable
- A dietitian at either level, and their plan followed exactly. Not "more or less".
- No junk as a habit. One planned cheat meal a week, at most. No dessert every night.
- Under 18, no weight cutting. No amount. You eat to grow.
- Breakfast, lunch, a pre-training snack, and dinner about two hours before bed. Protein at every meal. Vegetables every day.
- Water all day. Electrolytes when the session is long, hot or a double.
- No alcohol, smoking, vaping or recreational drugs, and no living on energy drinks. See Clean Athlete.
You can talk to your dietitian and find a compromise that works for you. That's what they're there for. "A bit of junk most days" isn't a compromise, though. Calorically, there just isn't room for it.
How to do it
Start with a dietitian, at the level that suits you
Guessing isn't a plan. Both levels start with a dietitian; the difference is structure, detail and support.
Show Me You Mean It
A rough guide you follow yourself
- One consult (about $150, up to $300 tops) with a dietitian for a rough guide to your macros per day: protein, carbs, fats and fibre.
- You turn that guide into meals and follow it yourself. Until then, start from the rough numbers below.
Pro
A full plan, tailored and supported
- A DEXA scan, and full bloods through your GP.
- A full meal plan with recipes, built around your body composition, bloods and daily energy use.
- Regular check-ins as your training and growth change.
How each level runs day to day is in Show Me and Pro. Pro comes once you've shown the discipline (see Going Pro). My own Pro setup was Ethos Performance for strength and conditioning, who sent me to The Fight Dietitian, a team of combat sports dietitians. They started from a DEXA scan and full bloods.
Follow it exactly, down to the gram
The plan only works if you do the plan. Weigh what it says to weigh. Eat what it says to eat. If something doesn't fit your life, take it back to your dietitian and change the plan together, rather than quietly drifting off it.
From the coach
My dietitian would write "two slices of bread" and I'd ask, "How many grams, crust included?" Slices aren't all the same size and I didn't want to be a calorie over or under. Is that intense? Sure. That's the level of detail it takes to follow a plan exactly.
Ricky
Under 18, eat to grow
Non-negotiable
No athlete of mine under 18 cuts weight. No amount.
At the very most I've let about 300 grams go, which really just means "eat a bit cleaner this week". That's it.
Cutting is an unhealthy habit to build. Sports nutrition for growing athletes is a specialist field, and a lot of us grew up hearing "just eat less". A growing athlete needs the opposite, and that's what a dietitian is for.
As a teenager your job is to grow: taller, bigger, stronger, more muscle. I would almost always rather you be in a caloric surplus, gaining weight and muscle, training hard and following the rest of this plan, than "cutting seven kilos at 13 to drop two weight classes so I can win Worlds". That makes no sense long term, developmentally or competitively. Fight in the weight class your body is actually in, and grow into the next one (more in The Long Game).
Adults cutting with a dietitian sometimes trim 5 to 10% off a meal on days they're not hungry, with the dietitian's OK. That's for adults with a professional watching. It doesn't apply to anyone under 18.
Time your meals around training
Timing matters, especially when you train twice a day or late at night.
- MorningBreakfast. If you train first thing, give yourself about two hours between eating and training, or keep it small and easy to digest.
- MiddayLunch in the middle of the day. A proper meal, not a muesli bar.
- SnacksHigh-protein snacks between meals (yoghurt, milk, eggs, tuna, cheese, jerky). Hungry means a bad mood and low motivation.
- Pre-trainPre-training snack. Important. Easily digestible carbs one to two hours before: a banana, rice cakes with honey, a sandwich.
- NightDinner about two hours before bed. Eating late and heavy wrecks your sleep. If you're hungry before bed, a small snack of complex carbs and lean protein (Greek yoghurt, milk) is fine. Avoid fried, fatty, heavy food.
An example day. The shape of a day, not a meal plan: a teen training after school at 6:30pm.
| Time | What | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00am | Breakfast | Oats with milk and banana, plus eggs or Greek yoghurt |
| 10:30am | Recess | Fruit and a yoghurt or cheese stick |
| 1:00pm | Lunch | Wrap or sandwich with chicken or tuna and salad, a piece of fruit |
| 4:30pm | Pre-training | Banana and rice cakes, or a ham and cheese sandwich, plus water |
| 6:30pm | Training | Water. Electrolytes if it's long, hot or a double day |
| 8:45pm | Dinner | Rice, lean meat or fish, and vegetables of a few colours |
| Bed | If hungry | A glass of milk or a small Greek yoghurt |
Drink across the whole day
Hydration is a big one. Drink water across the whole day, not two litres at once at 6pm. Use electrolytes appropriately: after long, hot or double sessions, or when you sweat a lot, not as a lolly drink with every meal.
- Sip all day. Carry a bottle to school.
- Check your colour. Pale yellow is the target. Dark means you're behind.
- Weigh in before and after a hard session (Pro habit). Every kilo you lose in a session is roughly a litre of sweat. Sports dietitians commonly suggest replacing around 1.25 to 1.5 times that over the next few hours. Ask yours what your number is.
- Sip up until bed, but don't skull a litre right before sleep or you'll be up all night.
Start from rough numbers, then get your own
People always ask how much protein and how many carbs. Here are general ranges, so you have something to start with. This is not dietary advice. Your real numbers come from a dietitian who knows your age, weight, growth, training load and goals.
| Nutrient | General range | 60 kg athlete |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 1.2 to 2.0 g per kg per day in sports nutrition position stands. Many combat sports dietitians work around 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg. Spread it over 4 to 5 eats (about 20 to 40 g each). | About 95 to 130 g a day |
| Carbohydrate | 3 to 5 g per kg on lighter days (about an hour of training). 5 to 7 g per kg on bigger days (1 to 3 hours). | About 180 to 300 g light, 300 to 420 g big days |
| Fibre | Australian guidelines: about 28 g a day for boys 14 to 18, 22 g for girls 14 to 18, 30 g for men, 25 g for women. | 22 to 30 g a day |
| Fat | Usually 20 to 35% of your total energy, mostly from foods like olive oil, avocado, nuts, eggs and fish. | Let the dietitian set it |
| Vegetables | Every day. Aim for five colours across the day. | Half the plate at dinner |
- Protein repairs and grows muscle. It keeps you full, so you're less hangry.
- Carbs are your training fuel. Low carbs, flat sessions.
- Fats are good for your brain and your hormones.
- Fibre helps you digest (and yes, poo better).
- Water keeps everything working, including your head.
- Vitamins and minerals keep your immune system up so you're not sick every second week. Fruit, veg, dairy, fish, sunlight.
Vegetables are the easiest win for most young athletes, because fibre matters. Get enough protein, enough carbs and enough fibre, do your runs and your strength work, and you will see improvements. It's not complicated. It's boring and consistent. And the same calories don't mean the same food: a big pizza and a plate of rice, lean steak and vegetables can have similar calories, but only one of them fuels a session.
Make it easy to stick to
The best plan is the one that survives your week. Compliance is the science.
- Reduce decisions. Same breakfast, same dinner, same snacks. Boring is good.
- Control your environment. If there's junk in the pantry, you'll eat it. Don't buy it.
- Pay for simplicity. Pre-cooked rice, tinned tuna, frozen veg, rotisserie chicken.
- Prep twice a week. Sunday and Wednesday is a good rhythm.
- No meal prep today? Match the macros at a takeaway. Put that meal's macros into an AI or a nutrition app and find an order (Guzman y Gomez, Subway) within about 5% of the plan. Know your go-to order at two places before you need it.
From the coach
With The Fight Dietitian I was allowed one cheat meal a week, and that was them being generous. One meal, once a week, planned. Everything else was the plan.
Ricky
Show Me and Pro
Show Me You Mean It
Run the guide yourself
About $150, up to $300 tops
- Book one consult with a dietitian (Diva, below) for your rough daily guide: protein, carbs, fats and fibre.
- Pick the same breakfast and the same dinner every day. You know exactly what it is.
- You make it and you buy it yourself. Not mum, not dad. You.
- Log it every day in your tracker. Honestly.
- No cutting if you're under 18.
Can't get a consult this week? Use the rough numbers above, build two breakfasts and two dinners you can repeat, and book the consult anyway.
Pro
Data, a dietitian, and check-ins
About $800 to $900 to start, then about $20 to $30 a week
- DEXA scan for body composition and a full blood panel (through your GP).
- A sports dietitian builds a full meal plan with recipes around your body composition, daily energy use, training load, growth and goal weight.
- Weekly check-ins: energy, sleep, appetite, cravings, what got in the way.
- Weekly weigh-in, same rules every time: same day, same scale, same clothes, first thing in the morning, after the toilet, before eating or drinking.
- Supplements only if your dietitian says so, based on your bloods.
Is the Pro version essential? No, but the data helps. Knowing "I'm low in vitamin D, I'll take a supplement" is far better than feeling flat for four months and never knowing why. The standard is the same at both levels. Pro gives you more data and more professionals to help you hold it over time.
On cost: the $800 to $900 is a combat sports dietitian package (consult, meal plan and one to two months of check-ins), and the weekly figure is ongoing support after that. Add about $100 to $150 for a DEXA scan; bloods through your GP are often bulk-billed. Those are estimates, not quotes, so do your own research, get quotes and check what your private health extras cover. The full breakdown is in Going Pro.
Common mistakes
- Following the plan "more or less". Close enough adds up over a block. Weigh it and follow it.
- Cutting weight as a teenager. Under 18, you eat to grow. Fight at the weight you are.
- "Just eat less." A growing athlete needs a sports nutrition plan, not a diet. Ask a dietitian instead.
- Skipping vegetables. Fibre matters. Half the plate at dinner.
- Training on an empty tank. No pre-training snack means a flat session.
- Eating dinner right before bed. Aim for about two hours between dinner and sleep.
- Drinking all your water at once. Sip across the day. Electrolytes when you've earned them, not with every meal.
- Grabbing whatever on a no-prep day. Match the macros at a takeaway instead.
Checklist
Do this