From: alexhormozi
Many entrepreneurs often adopt “weird shticks” related to food, exercise, hydration, biohacking, and even specific accessories like orange glasses or finger toe shoes [00:00:30]. However, from the perspective of someone who came from the fitness world, much of this is considered “complete make believe” and a “complete farce” primarily designed to sell products [00:00:44]. The speaker, who has maintained a six-pack since his early teens while eating ice cream daily, advocates for a different, more sustainable approach to fitness and nutrition [00:01:46]. This method, which has been followed for nearly 20 years, allows for the consumption of desired foods like cookies, ice cream, and alcohol without compromising physical shape [00:01:50].
Understanding Your Body Type and Goals
The first step in any fitness journey is to understand your current body type and what you aspire to become [00:02:22]. Body types can be categorized on a matrix based on fat and muscle levels:
- High fat, low muscle: Often results in a feminine figure [00:02:35].
- Low muscle, low fat: Appears “skin and bones” [00:02:41].
- High fat, high muscle: Described as generally “big” [00:02:44].
- Low fat, high muscle: Characteristic of a bodybuilder [00:02:48].
Once you identify your starting point and desired outcome (e.g., going from skinny to big), you can determine the necessary directional changes in your calorie intake and workout volume [00:02:53]. To gain weight, for instance, you need to increase your calories and volume [00:03:05].
Demystifying Diets: It’s All About Calories
A major misconception is that various dieting and nutrition strategies are fundamentally different. The speaker argues that all popular diets achieve weight loss for the same reason: they reduce overall calorie intake [00:04:48].
- Normal Balanced Meal: Contains an even distribution of protein, carbohydrates, and fat [00:04:01].
- Keto Diet: Eliminates carbohydrates, resulting in roughly one-third fewer calories [00:04:10].
- Low-Fat Diet: Eliminates fat, also leading to approximately one-third fewer calories [00:04:27].
- Portion Control Diet: Reduces the total amount of all three macronutrients, thus consuming fewer calories overall [00:04:35].
- Intermittent Fasting: Reduces the number of meals per day (e.g., from three to two), resulting in fewer total calories ingested [00:04:43].
The speaker emphasizes that the specific type of diet doesn’t matter; the underlying mechanism for weight loss is always calorie reduction [00:05:08]. Diets fail when individuals compensate for eliminated macronutrients by overconsuming other high-calorie foods, negating the calorie deficit [00:05:42]. No one is immune to a calorie deficit; if you eat nothing long enough, you will lose weight [00:14:22].
The Simple 3-Step Flexible Eating Strategy
For 99% of people, only three things are essential for controlling how they look and eat: daily calorie intake, daily protein intake, and workout volume [00:06:12]. The speaker focuses on the first two:
Step 1: Calculate Daily Calorie Needs
Your daily calorie target is determined by your body weight multiplied by a “goal number” [00:06:38]. This goal number varies based on your objective:
- Maintain weight: Body weight x 13-15 (e.g., 200 lbs x 15 = 3000 calories) [00:06:43].
- Fast weight loss: Body weight x 10 (e.g., 200 lbs x 10 = 2000 calories) [00:06:56].
- Extreme weight loss: Body weight x 7 [00:07:37].
- Extreme weight gain: Body weight x 21 [00:07:39].
If you aren’t losing weight at your desired rate, you can simply decrease your calorie target [00:07:21].
Step 2: Calculate Daily Protein Needs
Aim for your body weight in grams of protein per day [00:08:36]. For example, a 200-pound individual needs 200 grams of protein [00:08:43].
- Life Hack: 100 grams of protein is approximately equivalent to one pound of lean meat [00:08:50].
- For 200 grams of protein, you would consume two pounds of lean meat daily [00:08:57].
- Lean meat sources include shrimp, tilapia, tenderloin, flank steak, top round, top sirloin, and chicken breast [00:09:18].
This protein intake forms the “cornerstone” of the diet, protecting muscle mass [00:11:56].
Step 3: Calculate Remaining “Whatever You Want” Calories
- Calculate calories from protein: Multiply your daily protein grams by 5 (to account for a small amount of fat in lean meat) [00:10:57].
- Example: 200 grams protein x 5 calories/gram = 1000 calories from protein [00:11:08].
- Subtract protein calories from total daily calories:
- Example: 2200 total calories (from Step 1) - 1000 calories (from protein) = 1200 calories remaining [00:11:18].
These remaining calories are your “whatever the hell I want” calories [00:11:25]. You can use them for treats like ice cream, cookies, Twizzlers, or anything else you desire [00:11:38].
Benefits of Flexible Eating
This approach to maintaining fitness with simple nutrition offers several key advantages:
- Sustainability: It’s designed to be a lifelong eating pattern, not a temporary “diet” [00:08:12].
- No “Falling Off”: Since nothing is forbidden, there’s no concept of “cheating” or “falling off” a diet, eliminating the typical cycle of restriction and binging [00:13:00].
- Freedom and Enjoyment: You can enjoy foods typically considered “bad” every day, making them less “special” and reducing cravings [00:13:23]. This allows for balancing dessert and fitness.
- Simplicity: It avoids the complexities and “shenanigans” of unconventional diet explanations and biohacking prevalent in some entrepreneurial circles [00:13:36].
- Flexibility: You can distribute your meals however you prefer – five meals a day, three meals, or even one [00:12:43].
This system allows you to achieve and maintain your desired physique while enjoying a flexible diet, proving that focusing on total calories and protein intake is more effective than restrictive and unsustainable dieting fads [00:15:26].