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What does Eddie Hall eat every day? Tracing the nutritional evolution of 'The Beast'

4 min read

After retiring as World's Strongest Man, Eddie Hall famously shed over 6 stone, a feat underpinned by a drastic shift in nutrition. So, what does Eddie Hall eat every day to fuel his transformation from a 427lb strongman to a leaner athlete? His diet has evolved dramatically, from a carb-heavy calorie mountain to a meat-focused, high-protein regimen.

Quick Summary

Former World's Strongest Man Eddie Hall's daily food intake varies dramatically with his goals, transitioning from a colossal 10,000+ calorie strongman regimen to more focused, high-protein diets like the recent carnivore approach. His eating habits are shaped by extreme training demands, focusing on immense strength and, more recently, weight loss and agility.

Key Points

  • Peak Strongman Diet: During his World's Strongest Man career, Eddie Hall consumed over 10,000 calories daily, with a high volume of carbs, protein, and fat to sustain extreme size and strength.

  • Carnivore Transformation: In a recent shift, Hall adopted a carnivore diet, focusing on meat, eggs, and dairy to fuel his training for combat sports, leading to significant weight loss.

  • High-Protein Focus: A constant across his diets is a massive intake of protein, vital for muscle building and recovery, whether from steak and pasta or pure meat and dairy.

  • Diet Is Goal-Oriented: Hall’s diet changes directly reflect his athletic goals, from bulking for strongman to leaning down for boxing and MMA.

  • Not for the Average Person: His extreme calorie intake and restrictive diets are highly specific to a professional athlete and pose health risks for average individuals due to lack of balance and potential nutrient deficiencies.

  • Supplements for Balance: On his carnivore diet, Hall uses supplements for essential vitamins and minerals to compensate for the absence of plant-based foods.

In This Article

Former World's Strongest Man Eddie Hall's approach to nutrition is anything but conventional. As a professional athlete whose career demanded immense size and power, his diet was an all-out, high-volume affair. However, his transition to new athletic pursuits, including boxing and MMA, has necessitated a fundamental shift in his eating habits. To understand what he eats today, it's essential to look at how his nutrition has evolved over the years.

The Strongman Diet: Peak Performance Fuel

At his peak, when pursuing the World's Strongest Man title and the record-breaking 500kg deadlift, Eddie Hall's diet was a testament to extreme calorie loading. Consuming upwards of 10,000 to 16,000 calories a day was the norm to fuel his demanding training and maintain his massive physique. This phase wasn't concerned with 'clean' eating but with sheer volume and density.

The 20,000-Calorie Attempt

In a famous experiment, Hall attempted to consume 20,000 calories in a single day by drinking a litre of double cream, a challenge he later regretted due to the severe digestive distress it caused. This anecdote illustrates the almost superhuman effort required to simply consume enough calories, an effort that sometimes involved waking up in the middle of the night for extra protein shakes.

A Typical Strongman Menu

  • Breakfast 1: A full English breakfast with multiple sausages, bacon slices, eggs, fried bread, black pudding, beans, and tomatoes, often accompanied by a litre of milk.
  • Breakfast 2: Porridge with fruit, honey, raisins, and several scoops of whey protein.
  • Lunch: Massive portions of steak, pasta, and vegetables.
  • Snacks: Beef jerky, protein shakes, nuts, and cranberry juice.
  • Dinner: Another enormous meal of mince meat, pasta, and garlic bread.
  • Dessert: Often half a family-sized cheesecake with lunch and the other half with dinner.

Transition to Boxing: Leaner and More Agile

As Hall shifted his focus from raw strength to boxing, his diet changed to prioritize agility and shedding excess weight. For his highly anticipated 2021 fight against fellow strongman Hafthor Bjornsson, Hall dropped his calorie intake to around 6,000 calories per day, favoring leaner protein sources and cutting down on carbs.

The Carnivore Diet: What Eddie Hall Eats Today

More recently, Hall has experimented with a strict carnivore diet, focusing exclusively on meat, eggs, and dairy for a month. He found this high-protein, zero-carb approach effective for losing weight while retaining muscle mass. His daily food intake during this period featured massive quantities of animal products, supplemented by electrolytes and multivitamins to offset the lack of fruits and vegetables.

A Sample Carnivore Day

Based on recent accounts, a typical day on his carnivore diet included:

  • Breakfast: Smoked salmon, five eggs cooked in butter, cottage cheese, and a protein milkshake.
  • Lunch: A large ribeye steak and more eggs.
  • Mid-Workout Shake: Another high-protein shake.
  • Snack: Biltong, a form of dried, cured meat.
  • Dinner: Two ribeye steaks and two eggs.
  • Dessert/Final Meal: A shake, bone broth, and yogurt with protein powder.

The Science Behind Eddie Hall's Extreme Nutrition

Regardless of the diet phase, Hall's nutrition is intensely managed and always corresponds to his training goals. His coaches and nutritionists have helped him navigate the demanding requirements of his body's immense size and activity level. While the carnivore diet is not backed by widespread scientific consensus for general health, Hall, as a high-performance athlete, works with his team to ensure his micronutrient intake is supplemented, often through tablets containing vitamins, minerals, turmeric, and Omega-3s.

Comparison: Strongman vs. Carnivore Diet

Feature Strongman Diet (Peak) Carnivore Diet (Recent)
Calorie Range 10,000–16,000+ per day ~8,000–10,000 per day
Macro Focus High volume of carbs, protein, and fat Very high protein and fat, near-zero carbs
Primary Goal Maximise size and strength Weight loss, leanness, agility
Key Foods Steak, pasta, eggs, rice, cheesecake Ribeye steak, salmon, eggs, cottage cheese
Training Context Max strength, lifting heavy Mixed Martial Arts, agility, stamina
Digestive Impact Regularity and volume management were a struggle Required supplements and caused initial issues

Is Eddie Hall's Diet for Everyone?

Eddie Hall's extreme nutritional journey is not a blueprint for the average individual. His diet is highly specific to his unique athletic demands and immense physical size. The risks of adopting such an unbalanced, high-calorie or restrictive diet for the general public are significant, including potential heart problems, nutrient deficiencies, and digestive issues. For general nutritional guidance, athletes are often advised to follow a balanced macro approach with a variety of nutritious foods.

Conclusion Eddie Hall's daily diet is a dynamic element of his professional evolution. From the gluttonous, calorie-fueled mountain of his strongman days to the disciplined, meat-focused regimen of his latest career phase, his eating habits mirror his training goals. While the quantity and composition of his food may seem impossible to the average person, it is a precisely calculated system designed to achieve a very specific performance outcome. The underlying principle, however, remains consistent: relentless dedication to his nutritional program to support his extraordinary athletic aspirations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Eddie Hall's calorie intake varies significantly depending on his athletic goals. At his peak as a strongman, he consumed over 10,000 calories per day. More recently, during a carnivore diet phase for MMA training, he consumed around 8,000 to 10,000 calories.

While packed with protein and calories, his strongman diet was not 'clean' in the conventional sense. It often included large amounts of high-calorie, processed foods and sugar, like entire family-sized cheesecakes, to meet the sheer volume of calories needed.

The carnivore diet is a restrictive eating plan where you only consume meat, fish, eggs, and some dairy. It eliminates all plant-based foods, and Hall adopted it for a period to promote weight loss and reduce body fat percentage.

To prepare for his boxing match against Hafthor Bjornsson, Eddie Hall drastically cut his calorie intake from over 10,000 to around 6,000 per day. He also focused on leaner protein sources and increased his agility training.

At his strongest, Hall regularly consumed huge quantities of steak, pasta, eggs, and cheesecake. Eating became a chore to get enough calories in, with some meals being so dense they required a nap afterward.

Yes, his diet is vastly different. While his strongman diet was focused on pure volume and bulk, his recent diets are more targeted. The carnivore diet, for example, prioritized meat and fat for leanness and performance, a stark contrast to his carb-heavy bulking regimen.

No, Eddie Hall's diets are tailored for extreme athletes with immense physical demands. They are not suitable for the average person and can lead to significant health problems, including nutritional deficiencies, digestive issues, and cardiovascular strain.

References

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Medical Disclaimer

This content is for informational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice.