Sumo wrestlers are fit and strong. They spend many hours per day training, yet still manage to carry a lot of excess weight. By analysing how they achieve this, we can learn how to avoid becoming a sumo wrestler ourselves.
Let’s take a look at the sumo diet and lifestyle…
Skipping Meals
Sumo wrestlers only eat 2 meals per day. They skip breakfast and train for 2 or 3 hours before eating lunch. Skipping breakfast can trigger overeating later in the day and cause a drop in your metabolism. Your body then goes into fat storage mode.
Although exercise does increase metabolism, exercising on an empty stomach will actually lower your metabolic rate in the long term.
This is because your body gets used to conserving as much fuel as it can to get you through the activity. Of course you may not be exercising in the morning, but you are still being fairly active if you have worked for several hours before eating an afternoon meal. That is why it is so important to take the time and effort to eat breakfast if you wish to become slimmer.
Sumo wrestlers eat as much as they can with each of their 2 meals per day. They stuff themselves full so they can consume as many calories as possible in a short space of time. The traditional meal for a Sumo wrestler is a stew called Chanko-nabe. This is made up of a different meats, rice and vegetables. Surprisingly the stew is low in fat. The key is the large quantities of food they eat in one go. If you want to lose weight, then eat smaller quantities over more meals.
Drink Beer
Sumo wrestlers also drink beer with their meals. A pint of beer contains around 200 calories. They can consume 6 pints of beer with a meal, which equates to around 1200 calories. That’s nearly half the recommended daily amount of calories for an average adult male. To avoid being a sumo, drink water with your meals. Water flushes out toxins, has no calories, and will help you feel full much quicker.
Sleep After Eating
Sumo wrestlers usually eat their second and last meal just before bed. This allows most of the calories to be stored as fat, rather than being used as energy. So a late night snack and beer can cause the same effect. Most people even if they don’t go to bed straight after eating, usually spend the rest of the evening stuck to the couch, before then retiring to bed. This will have a similar effect. Avoid consuming calories later in the evening, and if you do then do a bit of physical activity, even if it is just a small amount of housework.
Conclusion
To avoid becoming a sumo wrestler don’t skip any meals. Also don’t eat late in the evening. When you do eat, try not to eat until you are stuffed, just eat until you are satisfied. Unfortunately beer or wine contains loads of empty calories which are easily stored as fat. These must be drunk in moderation, or not at all. The next time you are tempted to skip breakfast, or eat late at night, imagine you’re in training to become a sumo wrestler – that should be enough to deter you!
