How much fat should a Boxer eat

How Much Should a Boxer Eat Boxer Feeding Chart

Dogs are one of the best companions of humans, but people often forget the responsibility part. Boxers are one of the most intelligent and energetic dog breeds.

But they are also prone to some health conditions related to food. So, you need to be very careful about their food from puppyhood. This article will provide you with comprehensive information about young boxers feeding.

How much should a Boxer eat?

The food requirements of boxers vary depending on their age, sex and weight. In puppyhood (2-3 months), they need to eat four times, about 2.25-3.75 cups per day. As they grow up, they need less frequent but more food. Consider various factors to make a complete feeding schedule for your boxer.

Answering the feeding requirements of a boxer in a few lines is quite a hard task to do. There are a lot of things you should know about the best ways of feeding a boxer. Moreover, no rule of thumb will help you properly feed your boxer.

The paragraph above may sound intimidating, but dont worry. By remembering some simple facts, you can easily understand when you have to change something in their feeding style.

We will also provide all the detailed information you need about the feeding requirements of different ages of a young boxer.

Boxers are medium breeds of dogs. So, they need dog foods of medium-large puppy food at a young age. Those types of puppy food are necessary so they do not grow too fast. For large dog breeds, fast growth comes with some health complications.

Boxer puppies should stick with the puppy food for 24 months. Early shifting to adult food can cause digestive complications.

This article will primarily discuss two-week to 10-month-old boxer puppies, which is certainly the most important time for their growth.

How much should your boxer puppy eat? How to determine the amount of food your boxer puppy needs? First, lets talk about the factors that affect the food requirements of your boxer puppy.

When determining the amount and frequency of food, the age of the boxer puppy is the first thing you should consider.

As the puppies grow up, they need more calories and nutrition to support their growth. As puppies have a faster metabolism, they need to eat more frequently than adults.

You also need to consider the weight and size of your boxer puppy. Usually, larger puppies need a bit more food. However, you should also care about obesity.

The gender of boxer puppies also determines their food amount. Male ones are slightly bigger than females, and they need more food.

The more active boxer puppy needs more food. Also, make sure your young boxer does not have too much exercise. It can be harmful to their bone health and development.

We will provide all the information about boxer puppies food requirements for different ages. Still, you can change the amount of food slightly depending on the factors mentioned above. Here are details about food requirements for boxer puppies.

2 to 3 week old Boxer:

2-3 week old boxers should not eat any puppy food. They should only drink their mothers milk. Feed them their mothers milk every 6 hours. Before 2 weeks, they should drink milk every 4 hours. They can not eat puppy food before 4^th week.

4 to 5 week old Boxer:

From 4 weeks, boxers puppies can eat some puppy food. But they are not mature enough to eat puppy food directly.

Mix the food with warm water and make gruel-like food. Your boxer puppy may take a few days to learn to eat the food. Slowly reduce the amount of water in the puppys food.

In the 4th week, feed cup of food 4-5 times daily. Feed a little more than one cup in the fifth week.

6 to 7 week old Boxer:

From the sixth week, your boxer puppy should be able to eat dry puppy food. In the sixth week, feed 1.75 cups of large breed dry puppy food a day. Divide the amount into four parts and feed four times a day. Feed 2.25 cups of food in their seventh week.

8 to 9 week old Boxer:

After eight weeks or two months, you must feed your boxer puppy with 2 cups of food. They need 288 397 calories daily and over two cups of puppy food to fulfill that. Increase the food a bit in the ninth week. They should eat 2.4 cups of food at that time.

10 to 11 week old Boxer:

They are growing super fast in the 10th and 11th week period. Your boxer puppy should eat 3 cups of food per day in the 10th week. You should slowly increase the amount, and in 11 weeks, the puppies should eat 3.4 cups of food.

3 month old Boxer:

3 month old boxer puppies should eat 3.75 cups of food every day. They need over 300 calories every day during that time. Divide the food into 3 parts and feed them after every 6 hours. They can eat small snacks throughout the day.

4 month old Boxer:

4 month old boxers should eat 3.5-4 cups a day. They need 489 567 calories a day. During that time, they are growing very fast, so you need to ensure they get high-quality puppy food every day.

5 month old Boxer:

5 month old boxer puppies should eat 4-5 cups daily. From here on, their food amount starts to get a bit stable.

6 month old Boxer:

In their sixth month, boxer puppies need 4-5.1 cups of food daily. You can slightly adjust the amount of food depending on their activity.

7 month old Boxer:

7 month old boxers should eat 4-5.2 cups of food daily. Keep track of puppies weight every week.

8 month old Boxer:

In the eighth month, boxer puppies food requirement stays almost the same. They need 4-5.3 cups of food daily.

9 month old Boxer:

A 9 month old boxer puppy need to eat 4-5.4 cups daily. Male puppies are slightly heavier than female ones, so they need slightly more food.

10 month old Boxer:

After ten months, boxer puppies growth rate slows down. So their food requirement slightly decreases but stays stable for the next months. They need 3.75 to 4.80 cups of food every day.

The table below contains important information about boxer puppies food, weight, and calorie requirements.

Are you overfeeding your Boxer or not feeding enough?

You should consistently keep track of your young boxers weight and size. If the boxer is over or under the safe weight and size range, you should be careful about overfeeding or underfeeding your boxer.

A slight loss or high weight than the ideal should not be a concern. But keep that in your mind.

Overfeeding is more common among dog owners.

They like to see their dog eating and happy, but it can hurt them badly. Underfeeding happens when you stick with the same amount of food, but your boxer grows up. You need to update the feeding amount with age consistently.

You can also understand by the look of your boxer. A healthy boxer should have a small curve in its belly. If you overfeed your boxer, it will get fat, and there will be no curve in its belly. Underfeeding can cause a big curve in their belly.

The effects of overfeeding or underfeeding can be dangerous for your boxer. Overfeeding will increase the risk of obesity, heart problems, arthritis, and other obesity-related diseases.

Underfeeding can cause some immediate negative effects on your boxer.

You will notice stunning growth, skin problem, low weight, and similar health issues in your boxer dog.

How frequently to feed your Boxer?

Boxers are medium-breed dogs, and they dont have a fast metabolism. Young boxers need to eat more frequently as their metabolism is faster. As they grow up, they need to eat less frequently.

At the first eight weeks of their age, they need 4-5 time feeding. Sometimes it gets hard as they spend most of their day sleeping. You must have a strict feeding schedule to ensure your dog gets enough nutrition.

2-3 month old boxers need to eat four times a day. The amount may increase every week, but the frequency should be constant.

4-12-month-old boxers need to eat three times a day. After one year, they are about 80% of their adult size. And for one year, they need to eat two times a day. After six years of their life, they should eat one to two times a day.

Recommended feeding time:

Your boxers feeding time depends on your boxers age. If it is five months old, it will need to eat three times a day.

So, you can divide the days food into three parts. And feed them at about the same frequency. Four hours is the ideal frequency to feed a 2-3 month old boxer. Six hours is the ideal frequency for feeding a 4-12 month old boxer.

You can organize feeding sessions depending on your convenience. But make sure to be constant about their feeding timing and other habits.

Final thoughts

Boxers have a different energy, nutrition, and calorie requirements in different stages of their life. As a boxer owner, you should consider all the factors to determine the right amount of food. but on average the adult ones need 3.5 to 5 cups of food a day.

What do Professional Boxers Eat: Best Diet Plan for Boxers

Boxing is a sport that requires strength, stamina, and endurance at the same time. For every boxer having a full understanding of what to eat is equally important as training if not more.

A professional boxers diet is completely different from yours as they require great levels of energy throughout the day for sparring and performing other exercises.

The right nutrition and rigorous training are what enable the boxers to show spectacular performances and supreme skills in the ring.

Proper nutrition is what ensures that boxers are maximizing their gains throughout their training and getting the best out of every session.

Read More: What You Should Eat as a BJJ Practitioner

Importance of Diet in Boxing

Boxers need a high amount of nutrients in their diet to fulfill their energy needs before a sparring session and post-workout for effective recovery to build muscles.

Boxers take effective measures to control their diet based on their goal of weight loss or weight gain to compete in specific categories.

They dont have an aim to build an aesthetically pleasing body because a toned physique is complimentary due to their rigorous training.

Boxing is a sport that offers numerous benefits for your overall health. But due to ineffective nutrition and not tracking your diet, you could be undoing all those health benefits.

As a boxer, you must maintain sufficient energy levels to recharge the depleted glycogen levels and get ready for your upcoming training session.

What Foods to Avoid as a Boxer?

By giving up on some food items and substituting them with other healthy choices you can make a big impact on your performance.

Lets have a look at some foods and drinks that you might be consuming daily but they have a bad impact on your health and performance in the ring.

Juice

You might consider juice a healthy drink because of the misconceptions caused by big companies selling processed and fresh juices.

Juice is a low fiber sugar due to which it can rapidly penetrate the blood causing a sudden increase in blood pressure.

This is also followed by a sudden spike in insulin levels that give you a rapid burst of energy. But, just in a matter of minutes, you lose energy and become lethargic.

In addition to this, you also have an increased risk of sugar cravings, and you already know the negative impacts of sugar on your health.

Alcohol and Sodas

So, you cut down on those scrumptious cakes and sweets because you know how bad sugar is for your health. But, do you know how many calories are in your drinks?

No matter if you have a few pints after work on a Friday night or a glass while watching football, it can destroy your healthy eating habits.

According to research, a large glass of wine has as many calories as a large bowl of ice cream.

Apart from this alcohol can have negative impacts on your training and recovery. Alcohol impacts the brains ability to process information rapidly for up to 24 hours.

This means that your training and performance can be greatly affected just for the sake of a few drinks.

It can also have negative impacts on muscle growth during the recovery phase, you might also cause cramps and strains.

Plumped Poultry

The majority of chicken producers pump saline water into the chicken before freezing it to keep the chicken juicy and flavorful.

This type of chicken has more sodium per ounce. Due to the high sodium count, water retention is caused in people consuming plumped chicken.

Due to these problems like high blood pressure, the risk of heart failure arises. If a normal chicken breast is weighing 5 ounces, after plumping it would be near 8 ounces.

The remaining 3 ounces is just water and sodium, due to this the manufacturer makes more profits and provides consumers with chicken that is damaging their health.

Especially when this plumped poultry is consumed as fried, it can have some serious negative impacts on your body and performance.

Researches have shown the high consumption of fried foods with type 2 diabetes and heart problems.

Dairy Products

Yes, you heard it right the hype of considering dairy products healthy and essential for growth have been created by dairy companies to sell their products.

Green vegetables are enriched with calcium. Most people believe that milk is the best source of calcium but it has been proven wrong.

Consuming dairy produces mucus which can disrupt the digestive system. Most people complain about bloating and gas after drinking milk.

The processed dairy products are acid-forming, they can lead to stomach pain, gas, and diarrhea.

Effective Diet for Boxers

An effective diet for the boxer begins with a few basic notions. That is, eating in the right amount, balancing the nutrients, and consuming a variety of foods.

It is necessary to fulfill your cravings for all kinds of food and avoid the temptation to cut out any food group completely.

Boxing Diet Plan: Carbs

Carbohydrates are the powerhouse for your body. When you eat carbs, they are stored in your body in the form of glycogen.

While training, this glycogen is converted into glucose to meet the energy requirements of your body.

The foods that contain carbs are rich in minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. You cannot get these nutrients without eating carbohydrates.

If you are not consuming in the required amount then you wont have enough energy in the ring and wont make it as a boxer.

If you feel like you are performing well in the ring despite sticking with a healthy diet then its time to change your boxing gear to boost your performance.

High Carb Foods

Now, keep in mind that there are two types of carbs:

• Good carbs are the ones that are complex and have a low glycemic index.

Some of the food that contains good carbs are:

• Whole grains like corn, brown rice, and oats.
• Fruits like bananas, oranges, and blueberries
• Vegetables including sweet potatoes, corn, beets, and peas
• Nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts
• Bad carbs are the ones that have a high glycemic index. You should avoid taking them, some common examples are white bread, white rice, and cereals.

When to Eat

Try to consume carbs earlier in the day like in breakfast and lunch. Eat the carbs before your training session so you have energy through the training.

If you are planning to eat before hitting the ring then eat your meal before 2-3 hours.

Boxing Diet Plan: Lean Proteins

Consuming the right amount of protein is very important for boxers due to their demanding training schedule.

Protein is essential for effective recovery after a sparring session, without the required protein intake your muscles wont repair and grow properly.

Especially if you are following a low carb diet then the consumption of protein is very important for maintaining the energy levels in your body.

Not eating enough protein will surely lead to muscle loss and a drop in your boxing performance.

Typically, a boxer needs to take in more protein than normal people. It is recommended for boxers to take around 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein per kg of their weight daily.

High Protein Foods

Some of the high protein sources to include in your diet are:

• Whole eggs
• Lean beef
• Tuna with water
• Chicken Breast
• Fat-free Greek yogurt

When to Eat

Consuming protein within 30-45 mins after a training session is very important, if your protein intake is not fulfilled then your muscles wont be able to repair themselves.

And, also make sure to eat high protein foods for breakfast. It will help you in providing energy throughout the day as well as make your stomach feel full.

Boxing Diet Plan: Good Fats

Essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6 are important for maintaining the health of bones and joints.

Just like carbs and proteins, fats are also used by your body to supply energy for a long time.

Fat acts as fuel for your muscles during training. They can be used by the body for long periods and supply energy gradually.

Good fats help in the internal body functions such as cell building, supply of energy, and mineral absorption.

The bad fats are the ones that are saturated, they are found in fast food, lamb, and milk products. You need to avoid them in order to stay fit.

Foods to Eat

• Canola oil
• Coconut oil
• Avocado
• Fish
• Peanut Butter
• Nuts

When to Eat

They can be eaten any time of day, combine these foods with your normal meals for breakfast, and lunch.

Fibre

The fibre intake comes automatically through your regular meals. It is a type of carbohydrate, you dont have to worry about consuming fibre specifically if you are sticking to a nutritious diet already.

It helps you with digestion and maintaining bowel movements. A fast metabolism is crucial to take benefits of your meals.

If you are eating a strictly healthy diet but your digestion system is not strong then it would be of no benefit.

Suggestions for meals

As a boxer, eating to gain muscle or lose fat is not your concern. All you need is a balanced diet that supports your training and keeps your body healthy.

Everyone could tell you that you should avoid junk food, and eat healthily but what makes the difference is at what time you should eat.

Your body utilizes constant energy throughout the day. But as you step in the ring, the energy demand is increased immediately.

Should Boxers take 3 Meals a Day or 6 Meals a Day?

You might consider that eating 3 meals a day is a lot healthier than consuming 6 meals as you dont want to be overweight by eating in high quantities.

But surprisingly eating 6 meals per day is healthy for your body and also supports your training.

Eating 3 large meals a day will cause overeating as you will be starving. This will cause the storage of fat cells in your body.

A boxer needs to eat only 2 big meals, one as breakfast and the other one about 2 hours before training.

The remaining 4 meals will be consumed in less quantity only to prevent starvation and to maintain the constant supply of energy.

Cheat Meals for Boxers

By banning the foods, you love, you are altogether increasing the craving to want them even more.

Its impossible to keep yourself away from foods that you have been eating for a long time and you love them.

So, plan a cheat day once a month. It will help you to stay motivated to follow your diet for the rest of the week.

Takeaway

For boosting your boxing performance and to train effectively you need to have full control over your diet.

The time you spend recovering from training sessions and as a pre-workout is equally important as the time spent in the ring.

You might think that its very hard to give up on your favorite foods but once you notice the positive changes in your body when you start eating healthy, you will be motivated to stick with it for the rest of your life.