Protein-forward eating

Founder · Blueprint longevity protocol

130g of protein a day from plant sources and supplemental protein, specified rather than estimated.

Bodybuilder · Six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia

Dieting has become simpler for him over the years: he says he no longer tracks everything or stresses over exact calories, just hits a protein goal and lets carbs and fats move around by the day. It took a long time to get there, he adds, and it works because it is easy to follow.

Host · Modern Wisdom

Builds meals around a high protein target for training, and talks about how much higher it is than most people assume.

Footballer · Portugal captain and five-time Ballon d'Or winner

Describes his diet as high in protein with wholegrain carbs, fruit and vegetables and no sugary foods, and says a good workout has to be combined with a good diet. Fish is the protein he likes most; Goal lists swordfish, sea bass and sea bream among his favorites.

Actor and former WWE champion · The Rock

Six meals a day. All built the same way. Eggs, bison, oatmeal and fruit at breakfast, then chicken breast with rice and greens, then fish or chicken with sweet potato at dinner. Men's Health puts the protein share at 40 to 45 percent of his macros, with a nutritionist and chef team doing the math so he never feels hungry while dieting for a role.

Coach and IFBB pro · Harder Than Last Time

Prepping for several bodybuilding shows, he said he was eating a low-calorie, high-protein diet, which had also dropped him back into the 82.5 kg class for powerlifting. He was chasing both sports at the same time.

Actor · Wolverine and The Greatest Showman

Bulking for Deadpool & Wolverine meant a chef-prepared day of black bass, Patagonia salmon, two chicken burgers and two grass-fed sirloins, upward of 8,000 calories, after building from 4,500 while still doing The Music Man. He told Chris Wallace he did it the old-school way and apologized to the chickens of the world.

Natural bodybuilder · Science-based lifting

In a recomposition phase he set protein at about 1.5 grams per pound of lean mass, which at 165 pounds and roughly 10 percent body fat came to around 225 grams a day; he says that is what he was eating at the time. Fat sits at a minimum of 20 percent of calories and carbs fill the rest.

Retired Navy SEAL officer · Jocko Podcast

Meat, eggs and vegetables in a simple, repetitive high-protein diet, with minimal decisions involved.

Nutrition scientist and powerlifter · Biolayne

Eats four protein-containing meals a day, spaced from breakfast to a pre-bed meal, and points to roughly 1.6 to 2g per kg of bodyweight as where nearly all of the benefit sits. Older adults, he adds, need more per meal to get the same response.

AI researcher · Lex Fridman Podcast

Meat-heavy and carnivore-leaning is what makes him feel best, he says, though he calls these favorites rather than rules.

Actor and producer · The 2:30 a.m. daily routine

Same breakfast every day at 7 a.m. once the 4 a.m. workout is done: scrambled eggs with turkey, three hard-boiled eggs, and salmon with lemon and blueberries, prepared with his chef Lawrence Duran. He wrote that he eats the same breakfast every day but feels better every day. Lunch, per the chef, is chicken, salad, sweet potatoes, fruit and nuts.

Physician · The Drive · author of Outlive

Targets roughly a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight spread across meals, and argues most people badly undershoot it.

Bodybuilder and YouTuber · Spring Bulk gym vlogs

Around 250 grams a day is the one number he says he will not fudge. Everything else he treats as calories and macros, but the protein has to come from what he calls a high-quality source, which on this day meant a pound of steak, milk poured over cereal and an intra-workout shake.

Actor · the Baywatch body and what it cost him

Eating everything again did not suit him either, per the cover story, and a battery of food-sensitivity tests led him to a protein-heavy plan. Over a steakhouse dinner with the writer he said he was bulking for a role he would not name.

Bodybuilding champion, actor, former governor · Arnold's Pump Club

Protein first at every meal. That is his example of a daily plan for someone whose vision is losing 30 pounds: simple enough to tally on a calendar, not a diet to follow perfectly.

Biomedical scientist · FoundMyFitness

Roughly 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram a day is what she recommends, about 50% above standard guidelines. Women especially, and older adults facing anabolic resistance.

Exercise physiologist · Women Are Not Small Men

Underfueling is the mistake she says she sees most often in active women. Her starting point is 0.7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight a day, carbohydrate timed around training, and no fasted work before anything hard.

Actor · Limitless and Centr

Bulking for Thor meant roughly six meals a day, eaten every two to three hours, each around 450 calories with 30 to 40 percent protein, according to Centr's account of the plan he and Zocchi used. Off-season he eats far less.