This is our blog, and it's new so you'll see a lot more stuff added over time.  We invite you to search for posts of interest, and please make comments and speak your mind. We're always looking for new information, points of view, testimonials, corrections, etc.  This site belongs to everyone who is interested in better strength, fitness and performance, so please join in the conversation.

Randy Couture, Uriah Faber, Jon Fitch, Nick and Nate Diaz and more…

Jake Shields isn't the only UFC fighter getting attention for eating no (or less) meat products. You may be surprised to see the number and level of fighters who are proponents of this diet enhancement.

Randy Couture and Uriah Faber both eat only limited meat. Jake Shields eats no meat at all, and Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, Jon

Why Fuel 4 The Fighter exists

Welcome.

This is the first of what will be many blog posts filled with ideas about eating better and training harder.  I hope you'll take the opportunity to respond with whatever you think, so this can be a two-way conversation as much as possible, and we can

Definition of terms- let’s be sure we are speaking the same language.

I thought it would help to have a post defining some of the terms used on this website, and when talking about diet in general. These are not the dictionary definitions, just plain English so we can think about things correctly.

So here you go.

Eating "close to the source".  This is just a way to think about every fruit, vegetable, nut, root, plant, etc. and all the

What should I eat and will it taste good?

You probably already eat a lot of great foods that either don't contain meat, or could easily be made without it.  The easiest thing to do is to take a glance at the What to Eat page, and notice just this basic list of examples of foods that are closer to the source. You'll see pastas, burritos, rice dishes, veggie burgers, salads of every kind,

Jon Fitch’s diet

Jon Fitch shot a simple video of what he east on an average day, and here it is.  All foods from the source, and no meat or dairy, and Jon Fitch is a beast in the cage!

Nick Diaz comments on his no meat and dairy diet

Nick tells it like it is.

What’s the deal with Tofu?

Tofu is a curd make of soy beans.  It's amazing because it can take on any flavor when added to a dish, and has good protein with no cholesterol.  People in Asia have been eating tofu for centuries, tossing it into stir frys and curry dishes.

Tofu gets a bad rap because it has no flavor.  Just think of tofu like a protein powder.  It needs to be

Should I be taking supplements like vitamins or protein powder?

Well, it never hurts for anyone to take normal amounts of dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals. If you decide to eat no products from animals at all, you may want to take a sublingual B-12 supplement, and hemp seed or flax seed oil for omega 3's is good as well. Some people also take a Taurine pill or powder.  Also, if you are

Is it in our nature (instinct) to eat meat or not?

When we think of the way people have eaten over thousands of years, we sometimes have a notion of cave-man type people doing nothing but hunting down mammoths.  The truth of course is people have throughout time (prior to our ability to mass produce foods of all types) been at first hunter/gatherers, with most of our food being gathered (berries, plants, roots, etc.), and then agricultural.  The

How will I get protein?

Many beans and nuts, and products made from them (tofu, casseroles, stir fries, bean and vegetable burritos, peanut butter, etc.) have a good deal of protein per ounce, but without the cholesterol, hormones or pesticide concentrations.  In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) say the average American is eating significantly more protein than they need - and that's the average

Can I still eat some meat products and be healthy?

Sure, but you can be more healthy and have better performance if you eat less or replace them entirely with great tasting "close to the source" foods". More and more, doctors and telling us to eat more vegetables and less meat products.  What's up with that?  Is meat good for you and necessary, or bad for you and not necessary?  Well here's he deal.  Meat, when cooked and

Are we humans built to be carnivores, omnivores, or herbivores?

Should we eat like a tiger or eat like a raging bull?  Well this could be a long post, but I'll keep it as short as possible.

A carnivore exists by eating only meat, and that means raw meat of animals it catches and eats, chews apart or swallows whole.  My friends, we are not carnivores.  Herbivores graze grasses and plants and can digest vegetable products. Omnivores can