Three-time Hyrox World Champion Hunter McIntyre eats like most nutritionists’ worst nightmare.
Ice cream binges, bottles of wine, and a strict no-vegetables policy fuel one of the world’s most dominant hybrid athletes.
The 36-year-old competitor, known as “the Sheriff,” recently sat down with Men’s Health to reveal his unconventional approach to performance nutrition.
What he shared challenges everything traditional sports nutrition preaches.
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The Anti-Diet That Powers a Champion
McIntyre doesn’t apologize for his eating habits. Following his silver medal at the recent Hyrox World Championships, he entered what he calls his “off-season protocol.”
My diet is periodised, so I just got off a week of drinking as much as I could and eating ice cream.
His typical evening? Playing Magic: The Gathering for three hours while snacking on nuts and granola, completely forgetting about proper meals. This casual approach stands in stark contrast to the meticulously photographed meal preps flooding social media.
Sugar, Steak, and Zero Greens
The six-time OCR World Champion built his philosophy around a simple premise: calories matter more than color variety.
You’re gonna run into me in a competition or in the gym and I’m gonna smash you because I’ve been eating sugar, creatine and steak.
McIntyre consumes two to three large steaks daily while maintaining body fat below 10%. He pairs this protein intake with substantial sugar consumption, citing that professional athletes derive roughly 70% of their diet from carbohydrates.
His breakfast routine includes Honey Nut Cheerios with extra sugar on top, or sometimes Twinkies. He supplements with his own brand, Bldr, mixing amino acids with three tablespoons of honey.
Why McIntyre Ditched Vegetables Completely
The athlete attempted veganism twice but abandoned it after finding no performance benefits. His research into elite athletes, particularly Kenyan runners, revealed diets heavy in goat meat and honey-based alcohol rather than vegetable-forward meals.
I’ve never found any data that links eating tons of vegetables to tons of performance.
McIntyre argues that vegetables provide minimal caloric value compared to time spent consuming them. He views nutrition through a strictly utilitarian lens focused on building blocks: protein from chicken, carbohydrates from rice, energy from sugar.
The Alcohol Tolerance That Defies Logic
Perhaps most surprising is McIntyre’s relationship with alcohol. His drink of choice? Double Maker’s Mark whisky on the rocks.
I can down two to four bottles of wine and not even make a dent. I never get drunk because honestly, my metabolism is too fast.
Important disclaimer: Men’s Health explicitly advises against attempting this level of alcohol consumption. McIntyre’s extreme metabolic rate and training volume create physiological conditions not applicable to general populations.
Periodized Eating for Competition Season
Despite his casual off-season approach, McIntyre does adjust his nutrition strategically. As competitions approach, he implements specific modifications:
- Protein source shifts: Transitions from rib-eye steak to leaner cuts, fish, and chicken
- Reduced fat intake: Eliminates fattier meat cuts while maintaining high protein consumption
- Caloric precision: Views nutrition as simple mathematics—calories in versus calories out
- Strategic timing: Coordinates dietary changes with strength training cycles
Between competitive seasons, he stores Tupperware containers of prepared chicken but freely indulges in ice cream and alcohol during designated recovery periods.
McIntyre’s Daily Nutrition Essentials
His morning starts with Strong Coffee containing collagen. Breakfast centers on massive bowls of sweetened cereal or processed pastries that most trainers would eliminate immediately.
Supplement strategy focuses on amino acids mixed with honey rather than traditional pre-workout formulas. His afternoon and evening revolve around substantial steak portions, sometimes exceeding three servings daily.
If you come to my house and you think you’re going to beat my ass after eating an acai bowl or having a smoothie, you’re dead.
The Science McIntyre Ignores (And Why That Matters)
McIntyre’s approach contradicts decades of nutritional research emphasizing micronutrient diversity, fiber intake, and vegetable consumption for long-term health. His focus remains strictly on immediate performance outcomes rather than longevity metrics.
Professional athletes operate under extraordinary physiological demands. McIntyre’s training volume—multiple daily sessions combining strength, endurance, and skill work—creates caloric requirements and metabolic adaptations unavailable to recreational exercisers.
Critical consideration: Elite performance doesn’t automatically equal optimal health. Many championship athletes sacrifice long-term wellness for competitive advantage, a trade-off McIntyre appears willing to make.
What Average Athletes Should Actually Do
McIntyre’s diet succeeds specifically because of his exceptional genetics, extreme training volume, and world-class recovery protocols. Attempting this approach without those factors would likely produce disastrous results for health markers, body composition, and performance.
His success proves that individual optimization trumps universal recommendations, but only when supported by proper context and monitoring. The vegetables-are-girlfriend-food philosophy might work for a three-time world champion, but nutritional science overwhelmingly supports vegetable consumption for disease prevention, gut health, and longevity.
McIntyre remains unapologetic about his controversial stance, prioritizing championship results over nutritional orthodoxy.
I don’t care if you value me as a nutritionist – I’d rather you see me as a world champ.
His results speak loudly, even if nutritionists everywhere cringe at the methods.
