Keeping Fit: The David Goggins Diet

When it comes to getting fit and staying fit, the balance between diet and exercise is one of the most important things you can focus on.

Everyone needs a different diet and training program when they’re looking to reach their health and fitness goals but one that’s been gaining in popularity is the David Goggins diet.

This is an extreme diet plan introduced to the world by David Goggins who is an ultra-endurance athlete and a retired US Navy Seal.

Depending on your overall health and wellness goals, this may be just the kickstart you need to get your diet on track!

Who Is David Goggins

A super-soldier might be too mild of a word for David Goggins. Goggins has become known around the world for the intense level of workouts he does to keep himself in shape.

His first motivation came when he wanted to get into the Navy Seals and training was intense. To qualify for the Seal training, Goggins started on a diet and workout plan that was designed to help him lose a massive amount of weight.

Throughout this process, Goggins lost 100 pounds in 2 months and was able to successfully try out for Seal training!

After he completed Navy Seal training, Goggins decided to challenge himself further and go through the Army Ranger School and Air Force Tactical Air Control Training. He is currently the only person to have gone through all three!

Goggins then served in Iraq and Afghanistan before returning to the States. Once he was back in the states, Goggins did pull-ups to honor fallen friends and fellow soldiers who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

He also holds a record for the most pull-ups in 24 hours, completing 4,030 in just 17 hours!

If all of this wasn’t enough, Goggins has been living with and training with a heart defect and asthma. Even with these setbacks, Goggins has completed 60 endurance races which include running 100 miles in under 19 hours. All with no prior training!

He’s currently an ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, author, and motivational speaker.

With all of the training he’s undergone and the difficult physical challenges he’s faced over the years, his focus has remained on how to fuel your body well to complete this training.

David Goggins Before and After

The world is a stressful place and Goggins proved to be no exception to dealing with stress the way many of us do: eating. As stress seemed to seep into Goggins’ life, he continued to eat too much and quickly put on a large amount of weight.

Much of this stress seemed to stem from his broken how and low self-esteem. While watching a commercial for the Navy Seals, Goggins determined that he’d become one no matter what it took.

To get a chance at Navy Seals training, Goggins needed to lose over 100 pounds to even qualify. Weighing in at nearly 300 pounds before he challenged himself, the task was a steep one.

All that weight needed to fall away in just 2 months. To cut, Goggins needed to weigh just 191 pounds!

Goggins is now an elite athlete and the only person to complete the Seal training, Army Ranger training, and the Air Force elite training. The after-effects of his journey are a man built of lean muscle who has stuck to an incredibly rigid diet and exercise plan to reach his goals.

David Goggins Daily Routine

All of the incredible things Goggins has done in his life are all due to his strict discipline and determination when it comes to reaching his goals.

When you say yes to going on a journey like this, you necessarily have to say no to some other things. This quickly manifests itself in the type of schedule you keep throughout the day and the diet plan you use to reach your goals.

Goggins’ daily routine is strict and when you choose to jump into a routine like this, it can end up being a bit of a shock. But with some encouragement, determination, and a desire to see a change in your own life, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish!

Daily Diet

Goggins is a big believer in the Ketogenic diet and participates in intermittent fasting as well.

A whole set of meals throughout the day is what delivers enough fuel to Goggins to keep his body moving and performing well.

With all of the success Goggins has seen with his diet, there are plenty who are jumping at the chance to do what he’s doing too!

Breakfast

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day and with the Goggins diet plan, no time or meal goes to waste. Goggins starts with breakfast after part of his morning routine which gives him the fuel for the day.

Breakfast starts as every breakfast should with some coffee. Goggins opts for bulletproof coffee which is coffee, grass-fed unsalted butter, and 1-2 tablespoons of MCT oil mixed in a blender. This is meant to be a high-calorie alternative to other types of breakfast foods and it also gets you a jolt of caffeine for the day!

The rest of breakfast is 2 fried eggs plus the bulletproof coffee which comes out to about 470 calories total for breakfast!

Lunch

Lunch comes in the middle of the day when workouts, cardio, and regular work have all been happening.

Your body will need some serious nutrition and calories to push through the rest of the day so this meal is heavier on calories while remaining light on carbs and fats.

To start with lunch, Goggins diet fanatics begin with an arugula salad greens for 20 calories, then move on to crumbled hard-boiled eggs for 156 calories, cooked ground turkey for 167 calories, 1 diced avocado at 234 calories, and crumbled blue cheese at 119 calories. This comes out to a total of 696 calories for the midday meal!

All of these foods are low in fat and carbs and high in protein. Protein tends to be the primary fuel for any Goggins diet follower and your body will continue to build muscle with this as its source of fuel.

Dinner

To finish out the day, a solid dinner is needed. This isn’t a chance for you to overload on anything and everything you can get your hands on but is instead the last chance for you to fuel your body before bed and give your muscles something to build on as you sleep.

Dinner is simple: one grilled pork chop and a cup of steamed vegetables to round out the night with only 438 calories. Protein is the key to staying lean and fit with the Goggins diet and even the end-of-the-day meal focuses on that building block nutrition.

Instead of a pork chop each night, other lean protein sources include lean beef, chicken, or fish to keep yourself on track with this diet plan. 

Snacks

Since this is an intense workout and training program, your body needs to keep up the fuel intake throughout the day.

Three square meals a day is a good start but you’ll most likely need a few simple snacks throughout the day to keep you going.

Some good snacks that are low in calories but give you plenty of protein and good healthy fats are full-fat plain yogurt and 1 cup of keto granola. This comes up to a total of 305 calories when eaten together and gives you some fuel to push through the rest of your day

Exercise Routine

No weight loss and fitness plan are complete without some exercise to come alongside your diet! Diet and workouts work hand in hand to help you reach your health and fitness goals in no time.

A quality diet can help you drop weight but adding in an intense workout routine is going to help you keep building up those lean muscles that will give you the figure you’ve always wanted.

No exercise routine is perfect and you may need to adjust or tweak certain aspects to help fit in with your lifestyle and your body type. You should always check with your doctor or healthcare provider before starting an intense routine like this one to be sure you’re able to take part in the exercise.

There are two different sides to Goggins’s workout routine. The first is the routine he used to drop 100 pounds in 2 months and the second is the routine he currently uses to keep his Navy Seal body in tip-top shape!

Pre-Seals

To get in shape enough to take on the Navy Seals training, Goggins got serious about his health and took things up a notch when he started working out.

Goggins wakes up at 4:30 a.m. each day. He starts feeling his body with a banana right away upon wake-up then hops on the exercise bike and rides from 5-6 a.m.

Since he was attempting to get into the Navy Seals program, Goggins then spent an hour from 6-7 a.m. studying for the ASVAB before heading out to swim 2 miles from 8-10 a.m.

The intensity goes up a notch for the full-body workout from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. This involves moves that include 100-200 reps pre-movement! Each of these is carefully documented and focused heavily on calisthenics and bodyweight-based movements that simulated the training routine that  Goggins would follow if he got into the Seals program.

After a short break, Goggins got back to the exercise bike and split that with more studying from 3-5 p.m. Dinner was at 7:30 p.m. then back to the exercise bike from 8-10 p.m. At 10:30 p.m. the day was finally done and Goggins went to sleep before starting the day all over again!

Navy Seals Workout

The Navy Seals don’t share all of the intense training secrets but after Goggins left the Navy, he’s adapted some of the training regimens to his daily routine so the workouts remain intense without giving away any of the Seals secrets.

The day starts similarly with Goggins waking up between 3-4 a.m. At 4 a.m. he goes for a long run, anywhere from 10-15 miles for the run. Then at 6 a.m., he bikes the 25 miles to work.

Work goes on as normal until 11 a.m. when Goggins takes off for a run during his lunch break. After work, the timing of which varies depending on the day and the tasks at hand, Goggins then bikes home.

Once home, he goes for another run, this one shorter at only 3-6 miles to round out the day!

Endurance is a big part of the Navy Seals program and with both of these workout routines, the focus remains on building up not just muscles but cardio and stamina throughout.

If you’re not ready to become this intense in your workout, you can adapt much of the routine to suit your needs. A simple balanced diet and some moderate activity is a great way to stay happy and healthy for your whole life!

Goggins has kept up with the ultra-marathons and long-distance races and his workout program reflects that aspect of his routine.

If you’re just looking to build some muscle and keep up with a healthy lifestyle, you won’t need to work up to the levels that Goggins adheres to. But if you’re looking to take a chance, sticking to a strict schedule can help get you over the hump when you’re trying to start living a healthier life.

Benefits of the David Goggins Diet

Goggins will regularly admit that he was far too unhealthy and out of shape before he decided to join the Navy Seals and start training with them.

The secret to his success is a diet plan that’s become extremely popular in recent years: the ketogenic diet.

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that’s the ancestor of the Atkins diet which was popular in the ’90s.

Your body is forced into a state of ketosis that completely reduces and often eliminates your carbohydrate intake and replaces it with healthy fats. Your body, once in ketosis, becomes efficient at burning fat.

Keto often results in improved mental clarity, lowered blood sugar, and lower insulin levels that give you more than just some loss of body weight.

Combining this with weight lifting exercises, the muscle you build burns even more fat until there’s little you can’t do!

In addition to the Keto diet, Goggins takes part in intermittent fasting. This is a staple of the Keto diet and has helped many people kickstart their weight loss.

For many, fasting can be a habit that leads to binge eating but when handled carefully and with great precision, it helps your body get on the right track. Clean eating and the keto diet help turn your body from fat-logged and slow to a fat-burning machine.

Counting macros may sound like math class gone wrong but when done for the sake of nutrition, it helps you keep the building blocks of your diet in check. Macronutrients are the building blocks of your daily food intake. These include protein, fats, and carbs.

Goggins sticks to a strict split of macronutrients, 40/40/20. He tries to take in 40% of his calories in protein and fats and the final 20% in carbs. This means he skips bread, pasta, and other carb-heavy ingredients that can slow your body’s natural processes down.

Keto, intermittent fasting, and counting macros is the key to getting enough food and nutrients in your body to help fuel you without adding in additional calories.

All of these components are regularly practiced by high-end athletes around the world. While the specific diets may be different from person to person, the basics stay the same.

There are some serious things about keto that you want to make sure you eat and some things you want to consistently avoid. The list of foods you can and should eat on keto is long! Don’t think you’ll be missing out on tons of different meals by sticking to this diet.

Foods you should eat while on keto include eggs, avocados, leafy greens, meat and poultry, fish, unprocessed cheese, coconut and avocado oil, butter and cream, nuts and seeds, and low-carb veggies. All of these can be combined to make some of the best meals you’ve ever had!

Things you should avoid on keto is a decent list as well but each of them has a reason that makes it a foodstuff that should be avoided.

Anyone on keto skips fruit that is high in sugar, low-fat dairy, and milk which adds calories without healthy fats, grains and starches, beans and legumes, alcohol, and unhealthy fats like vegetable oils and mayo.

Risks or Side Effects

All great things come with a bit of a risk.

Getting healthy has great rewards but there are also some risks and side effects associated with this extreme form of diet and exercise!

The first thing you should do before you jump into any form of extreme dieting or exercise is consulted with your doctor to make sure you’re healthy enough to do the workouts and that your body can tolerate the diet. Your healthcare provider is the first line of defense against these risks and side effects so heed their advice!

They want you to be as healthy as possible and may even have some tips about how you can tweak things to make sure it works for you.

Many people who jump into the keto of Goggins diet experience the Keto-Flu. This is a whole set of symptoms that mimic the regular flu but are brought on by switching up your diet in such an extreme way.

Symptoms range from nausea to diarrhea, cramping dizziness, and lack of concentration as you work.

There are some tips to help you recover from this keto flu including getting plenty of sleep, cutting out carbs more slowly, fill your body up with healthy fats instead of carbs, and then exercise so you can burn off that excess energy.

If you’re mixing up your diet plan with the Goggins exercise plan, you’ll already be on track to keep the keto flu at bay!

With the exercise plan that Goggins advocates, there are plenty of potential risks. Your body may not be ready for this extreme form of exercise. Bring your body up to speed slowly and work your way through several forms of progressions before you latch on to the final set of workouts.

The entire workout plan and subsequent dieting plan are based on giving your body the fuel that it needs and pushing yourself physically to a level where you’re experiencing some personal discomfort.

This discomfort shouldn’t be painful and if you’re experiencing pain as you work out or as you’re dieting, you should stop the plan and go visit your doctor.

For most, the side effects and risks with any type of diet or exercise plan are low. The key thing is to keep your body hydrated, well-fueled, and listen when your body tells you something is wrong. Acting quickly to listen to your body’s needs can keep you from being injured as you work out!

Takeaway

David Goggins has gone from regular guy to Navy Seal and beyond with just his competitive mind and some grit and determination.

Through a strictly regimented diet and exercise plan, he lost 100 pounds in two months and was accepted into Navy Seal training.

With the building blocks in place, others can join with Goggins in reaching for their health and fitness goals through diet and exercise!

While many won’t run ultra-marathons, become a triathlete, or do 4,000 push-ups in 24 hours, following along with this diet and exercise plan can help you get in shape and do great things!

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