the everyone diet
eat more protein
You care about how you look. You want to be strong and lean.
You care about how you feel. You want to live a long, healthy life.
You care about how you perform. You want to be great at what you do.
What if one simple change to your diet was the foundation for making it happen?
The State of the World
Most people are either overweight or under-muscled. Everyone knows being overweight is bad, but few understand the dangers of having too little muscle (especially as they age).
Did you know that after 50, the average person loses 1% of their muscle and 3% of their strength per year if they don’t train or eat properly.
"Having a better body composition can reduce your chances of dying by up to 30%, while having a poor body composition—being overweight or under-muscled—can increase your chances of death by up to 56%."
- Dr. Rhonda Patrick:
More muscle means fewer falls, less frailty, and greater resilience as you age. Strong, lean bodies aren’t just about aesthetics. They’re about longevity and quality of life.
The world is tired and sick (no shit Sherlock) — obesity rates have skyrocketed. The Ozempi is a $30 billion industry. The proof is in the pudding.
Excess fat increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Too little muscle weakens your body, slows metabolism, and makes daily life harder.
So how do you take control? What’s the foundation of a strong, healthy body?
Your nutrition.
You Don’t Eat Enough Protein
You too ladies.
Before I swan dive into protein, I want to say that lifting weights is the most important thing you can do to reshape your body and improve your quality of life.
Again, you too ladies.
However, the easiest change that you can make today, is to eat more protein.
Stop looking for shortcuts, you little devil.
The modern diet is a fucking disaster. Mostly processed carbs and fats, with little protein. If you’re inactive, all that extra energy gets stored as fat. This is why so many people are overweight, insulin-resistant, and constantly fatigued.
Insert Willem Dafoe head tap meme.
"The more I research this topic, the more I find that the RDA of 0.8g/kg body weight is simply not sufficient to build and maintain muscle mass as we age."
- Dr. Peter Attia, a longevity expert
(That’s about 36% of your body weight in grams of protein. If you weigh 150lbs, that’s only 54g of protein per day or around 8oz of chicken.)
OUTDATED SCIENCE.
"If I had to give one simple piece of advice for longevity, it would be to eat more protein and lift heavy things. Muscle mass is one of the strongest predictors of long-term health."
- Peter Attia, my prophet
So, In A Nutshell, Why Protein?
Improves body composition
Boosts metabolism
Reduces hunger
Enhances recovery and performance
Promotes healthy aging
Each of these topics could be their own newsletter. I am going to try to keep it high level, avoiding the science where I can.
1) Improves Body Composition
Here's the sauce. Protein helps you build and retain muscle while losing fat.
Yes, it's true. Higher protein intake supports body recomposition.
“High protein diets cause more fat loss compared to low or normal protein diets when calories are kept equal.”
- Layne Norton, Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences:
Put simply, this means that while losing weight, the body will prioritize burning fat as opposed to stealing muscle (The key to a nice FIZEEK for both guys and girls).
This goes not just for losing weight, but maintaining it as well.
To maintain a healthy weight, your body should prioritize muscle restoration over fat storage.
Thank you ground beef!
This is the only metric I track with my diet and I stay lean year round.
2) Boosts Metabolism
The process of building muscle is called muscle protein synthesis.
Muscle protein synthesis is energetically expensive.
Protein in itself quite literally requires more calories to digest, in turn nerfing the piss out of fat storage.
This is called the thermic effect of food. Spark notes — protein is HARD to digest.
“High-protein diets are so energy efficient that it is much more difficult to induce fat gain and obesity on a high-protein diet.”
- Layne Norton, Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences
I'm sorry I keep saying it, but you too ladies.
You have feared meat all your life but its exactly what you need — I promise.
I have proof later.
3) Reduces Hunger
I won't over complicate this one.
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, keeping you full longer and reducing cravings. This helps prevent overeating, especially during caloric restriction.
The strategy? Eat more protein, eat fewer empty calories.
Pair high protein with lots of fiber and phew, you'll be extra full!
4) Enhances Recovery and Performance
Protein is the muscle building macro, so it's no surprise that you need MORE to rebuild and recover.
Additional protein will also improve your performance.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking they don’t need muscle. Muscle is protective—it prevents injury, enhances performance, and even supports cognitive function.”
- Andy Galpin, Ph.D.
More muscle means better movement, faster recovery, and greater resilience.
5) Promotes Healthy Aging
As mentioned earlier, you naturally lose muscle with age — a lot of it.
This process is called anabolic resistance. Simply put, your body becomes less responsive to muscle-building stimuli, making it harder to maintain or gain muscle.
Over time, this leads to sarcopenia (muscle loss) — which affects strength, mobility, and overall health.
Protein intake and exercise slow this down.
“Your survivability against any cause of disease or death is improved with the health of your skeletal muscle.”
- Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
To stay strong as you age, prioritize protein and resistance training.
So, How Much Protein Should You Eat?
It depends, but here's the general game plan:
0.8 to 1g of protein per pound of goal body weight seems to be the sweet spot.
Example: If you weigh 150 lbs, aim for 130-150g of protein per day (I know this is a lot, it will be hard at first).
Spread it across 3-4 meals for best absorption.
Older adults should aim for 20–30g of protein per meal to counteract anabolic resistance.
How to Hit Your Protein Target
Here’s what works for me:
Breakfast: 20-30g from eggs
Lunch: 50g from meat
Snack: 20-30g from meat or a protein supplement
Dinner: 50g from meat
I'm 150 pounds so this gets me in that ball park.
Best Protein Sources
Animal protein (Beef, wild game, chicken, fish, pork)
Eggs
Dairy (Milk, cheese, Greek yogurt)
Protein supplements (Whey isolate)
For vegans: Tofu, beans, pea protein isolate
I like to cook a pound of meat at dinner and eat the other half for lunch the next day — calling this the Dinner Splitter Protocol.
Protein Myths (Debunked)
Protein causes cancer – WRONG! No evidence supports this as long as you stay active.
Protein is bad for your kidneys – WRONG! Only if you have pre-existing kidney disease.
Protein makes women bulky – WWWWWWRRRRONNGGGG! Absolutely not. Women don’t have the testosterone levels to get "too big" from eating more protein and lifting weights.
Social Proof
I told you I'd share. Here's my younger sister giving kudos.
No I didn't ask her to say this.
If you're reading this, sorry I didn't ask.
Ladies and gents, we got em.
Final Thoughts
This diet is simple. So simple that it's basically the only thing I track.
For some reason, everything else seems to fall into place when I prioritize protein.
I went from 120 lbs to 150 lbs by lifting weights 2-3 times per week and making one change to my diet. I feel fantastic, I’m lean, I’m strong, and I have a healthy relationship with food.
Me at 21
Me at 25
Eating more protein helps you lose fat, build muscle, and live longer.
Pair it with weight training to maintain strength as you age.
I'm not just writing this because I want you to follow my newsletter. Im writing this because I genuinely believe it will improve your life — your parents lives, your friends lives.
Spread the news.
This isn't just advice for gym bros. This is for everyone. Young, old, active, inactive, I believe it will make a difference.
Thank you for reading.
-Dante
If you want coaching or have any questions, respond to this email or check out my website at stan.store/dantemahramas I’d be happy to talk!