In a recent YouTube video, an Olympia-winning bodybuilder walked viewers through the exact meals that built his stage-ready physique.
Plates look sad.
Calorie counts look even sadder.
Yet buried inside this routine are three habits that anyone can borrow, no stage required.
One has nothing to do with food.
Jump to:
Six Small Meals and a Protein Shake
Prep days revolved around frequent, small feedings. The bodybuilder never called the first one breakfast, just meal number one.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
It usually was around six meals a day plus a protein shake. Near the very end, the protein shake would come out.
His reasoning? Eating often kept his metabolism “revving up.” He was upfront about the shaky science behind that idea.
That’s not really proven. People fight against that, but I noticed it firsthand that it actually works.
Evidence for a metabolic boost from frequent eating remains thin. The more defensible payoff is steady protein intake, which he linked to protecting muscle while calories stayed low.
What a Prep Day Actually Looked Like
Almost every meal landed near 250 to 360 calories. Protein stayed high, fat stayed tiny, carbs got rationed.
- Meal one (after morning cardio): 375 g egg whites plus one whole egg. Roughly 267 calories, 50 g protein, 6 g fat, 3 g carbs.
- Meal two (pre-workout): 90 g ground turkey, 45 g oats, pico de gallo, and a scoop of protein powder. Around 362 calories, 49 g protein, 5 g fat, 31 g carbs.
- Midday meal: 100 g white rice, 200-plus grams of white fish, asparagus. About 300 calories, 47 g protein, 29 g carbs.
- Later fish meal: 220 g cod with asparagus. Zero carbs.
- Final meal: 150 g ground turkey, one egg, four egg whites. About 300 calories, 50 g protein, 7 g fat.
You’re trying to get shredded, not enjoy your food.
Taste, he admitted, becomes relative. Hunger does the seasoning.
The Carb-Pulling Method
Protein never moved. Carbs and fat did, and carbs vanished one meal at a time.
You have a meal plan that you know your body’s good on. You follow it to a T. Your body knows when the food is coming, what type of food is coming, and you’re just pulling it away.
At one stage, total daily carbs hovered near 40 g, nearly all clustered around training. Evening meals shifted toward fat, such as salmon with vegetables.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Three Tips Worth Stealing
1. Protect Your Sleep
This was his number one tip. Poor sleep erodes decision-making, and dieting demands plenty of it.
You lose 1 hour of sleep, your discipline tanks. And people don’t understand that.
Hunger made rest difficult during prep, so he often ate, showered, then napped in the sunlight. His advice for anyone whose cravings keep winning: fix sleep first.
2. Build Systems, Not Willpower
He called this the most important lever. Knowing every meal and its timing removed daily guesswork.
Don’t rely on discipline. Rely on systems and structures and routines and set your environment up for success.
3. Walk After Every Meal
His final tip came with credit to powerlifter Stan Efferding. A 10-minute stroll after eating replaces phone scrolling with movement.
Most people will eat a meal and sit on their phone for 10 minutes. If you just take that time to go out for a walk outside and move your body a little bit, it is like a crazy cheat code.
Claims about cortisol and extra fat burning are bolder than what a short walk likely delivers. Still, it is free, simple, and sustainable, which counts for plenty.
Should Anyone Copy This Diet?
His answer: yes and no. Even he would not follow this plan today.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Bodybuilding is the extreme of everything. That’s why everything’s so boring, so low calorie cuz it’s just optimizing as much as you possibly can.
Adherence beats perfection. A plan too punishing to follow loses to a gentler one you actually stick with.
If you set yourself up with a diet that is too difficult that you’re not going to follow, you’re actually doing yourself a disservice.
Cheat Meals: Tool or Trap?
Verdict: it depends on your brain. Some people thrive on a planned Saturday meal, while others spiral into days of cravings.
You just got to know what is going to affect your mind the most.
His Everyday Diet Now
Life after the stage looks far more relaxed. Roughly 90% of his current eating rotates through a handful of simple staples:
- Ground turkey with rice
- Ground beef with avocado
- Eggs with bread
- Brown rice pasta with ground beef or turkey
Snacks sneak in too. Flexibility, not misery, runs the show these days.
