Summary

• I love what I eat
• I love how I exercise
• My assessment metrics are solid

Check out this article if you are curious what I actually do.

Ray's Take

This article makes the important things I've learned actionable for my friends to be a little more healthy, look a little better, and feel a little better.

I have news for you - you can do it. 100% chance. The best part is, it really only takes a couple lifestyle changes that are easy to execute on. All you have to do is:

• know what you can do (this article and our other articles)
• decide you want to do it (up to you)
• add it to "My Program" on our app (so RayAI can help you)
• see if you like it enough to repeat (up to you)

It becomes real when you know your own metrics, why they matter, how to improve, and then see the improvement. That's what this is for.

If you add enough healthy routines to your life, you'll improve, effortlessly.

Let's get into what I actually do.

Assessments

When people ask me for advice, I always ask them, do you know where you are? This means have you measured and written down the metric you care about, and are you constantly updating this metric? This is literally the only way I know how to succeed in life, health, and business.

That's why we need assessments. To improve anything, you have to write it down (or have someone else write it for you in the case of a blood test or DEXA).

For me, I get the following assessments:

Should you get these assessments? I would.

Should you write down your workouts? 100%

You can find my metrics in the appendix at the end of this article, or here.

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Nutrition

I eat everything I want to eat.

Home cooked food:

Proteins: Fish, beef, steak, pork, chicken, shellfish
Vegetables: Cauliflower, broccoli, asian vegetables, salad, spaghetti squash
Extras: Cauliflower rice, mashed cauliflower, low carb tortilla/bread/noodles, guacamole, other tasty dressings and sauces, protein fluff

I've written 100s of articles on nutrition, research, recipes, and more, but the key to all of it is sustainability.

My personal strategy is pretty simple but before telling it to you, let me explain what I optimize for:
1) I want a 6 pack
2) I want to eat really delicious food
3) I want to eat a very high volume of food
4) I like ice cream
5) I enjoy drinking alcohol

Sound impossible to optimize for? It's not. I've accomplished 1,2,3,4, and 5 for the last 15 years.
Thanksgiving in 2015 (31 years old):

Thanksgiving in 2017 (33 years old):

Thanksgiving in 2023 (39years old):

I probably drank too many beers before the photo :)

Sustainability is the only thing that matters
"I love how I eat, I eat what I want, I do not feel like I'm missing out on anything. If my friends shake a fry or chip in my face, I just chuckle or ignore, thinking to myself yea i'd rather look like me than you." -me

What does sustainability mean?

• Love what you eat
• Do not feel like you are missing out on anything
• Moving toward your goal *If you are unsatisfied for any reason (hunger, taste, social, access, etc), you will fail. You will not be able to "sacrifice" long term.

The way that I have been able to achieve sustainability is through what I call "max volume, min calories."

What is max volume min calories eating philosophy?
- Eat as much as you want for foods that are are high volume, low calories
- Eat good quality, delicious higher calorie foods, but don't overeat
- On all other foods aka "bad" foods, be knowledgeable, and actively decide if its worth it (i.e. I drink beer)

Master Rule: I eat and drink whatever I want, but only if its worth it.
This is actually my super power, and can be yours too.

For what I actually eat on a normal day, see this

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Exercise

I have an unfair advantage here.

No, I do not have special genetics.

However, I do love exercising. I played tennis my whole life and was captain of the Cornell Varsity Tennis Team. I still play 4-5x a week now.

I also love lifting. And building strength is very good for your health. (I actually do not love zone 5 training or zone 2 training, even though it is good for you).

I also have a full rack and weights at my house. This is a major f'ing key.

So what do I actually do?

It's actually super simple. I bench, squat, and deadlift. I write down what I did. That's all that really matters.

For fun or in between sets, I might do some pull-ups or use TRX system, but this is really just for fun.

Here is a sample for workouts i did in a month:

Through just keeping it simple, and writing down my numbers, I got to a bench press of 295 lbs, squat of 340 lbs, deadlift of 460 lbs, 5 sets of 34 pull-ups (while weighing ~150 lbs).

This is what I look like from keeping it simple and progressing:

One of the craziest things to me, is seeing how many people can spend years going to the gym and exercising, and not improving on strength or aesthetics AT ALL.

The reason, is because they are not challenging themselves, and not planning for progress. This is called "fuckarounditis."

One more symptom of fuckarounditis, is making things too complicated aka "the illusion of complexity." I keep it very simple.

The other key to avoiding fuckarounditis, is you must write down every single one of your workouts, and try to beat what you did last time, on the same exercise. This is essential. You must plan for progress..

I recommend the core lifts I do (which is why I do them). But the main thing that matters is you track your workouts (yes write it down), and plan for progress (beat what you did last time).

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Ok so what else?

I play tennis. I do zone 2 cardio on a peloton ("just ride" no classes). I take my dog to the beach and do sprints (for fun).

On zone 2 cardio - I now understand and believe in the benefits. However, I have never liked cardio. In fact I hate it.

How did I "fix" this?
Luckily, I didn't have to. I'm lucky as hell that I'm a decent tennis player, and have very good players to play with. I track my workouts with an apple watch and see that I can average 125 bpm for 60-90 minutes. Boom zone 2. I'm counting it.

I also recently started with a peloton on "just ride."
(No, I don't pay for the subscription. I don't like workout classes and the leaderboard is a sham - some bikes are WAY EASIER than others because of differences in calibration. AKA you can do the same exact workout on two bikes, and get vastly different outputs. I simply monitor my bpm with apple watch).

I like it now bc I feel like I'm improving the health of my mitochondria, and getting mad non-insulin mediated glucose uptake. Thank you Peter Attia.

Sample week

Monday - Bench and tennis
Tuesday - Squat and zone 2 on peloton
Wednesday - Tennis only
Thursday - Bench and tennis
Friday - Tennis only
Saturday - Deadlift
Sunday - Go to beach and sprints with dog (I don't count i just go all out 6-10 times for fun. Bailey loves it).

Notes

Lifting: I often work and bare min listen to a podcast or watch a video while I lift. I take a long time between sets.

Tennis: Can you play tennis and count it as a zone 2 workout? PROBABLY NOT. Tennis actually isn't a great workout for most people. Why? Because unless you are at least a college player, you don't move enough, and you miss too much. You're spending most of the time picking up balls. Sorry if that was unsolicited bad news. If you want to check if you're getting a real workout playing tennis (or any other recreational sport), I highly recommend tracking with an Apple watch. See how much you move (steps, miles) and your average heart rate. See if that qualifies for zone 2 (or zone 5).

Zone 5 / VO2 max: I should probably focus on this more, but honestly I don't like it. I used to go to Barry's bootcamp 1x a week and get to 170 bpm, but it was really hard. I didn't like it (and noticed that no one at Barry's is ripped). I sometimes can get to 160 BPM while playing tennis (albeit not sustained for that long) and I can definitely do it while sprinting (albeit not sustained for that long either). I would consider adding rowing, which makes it easy to get HR up.

Supplements

I keep it pretty simple.

Creatine, whey protein, BCAAs, ZMA is basically it.

More details on specific brands I use, why I take it, and how here.

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FAQs

Do you consider what you do strict? No. I feel like I have maximum flexibility and never feel restricted.

When did you first get a 6 pack? During business school. I decided to try not eating bread, rice, pasta, and guess what, it worked.

Do you do keto? No. I don’t do keto. You can if you want. It's not for me though.

Can you eat carbs? Yes. A lot. Mostly from high volume veggies.

Do I have to eat exactly like you to get your results? No

Do I have to cook? No, but it would be better if you did.

Do I have to lift weights? No, but you should.

Do I have to do cardio? No, but you should do at least a little.

Can I drink? Yes, I drink wine/beer..

Should you drink? Not if you don't need to.

Will you help me gain muscle? Yes

Can i get jacked like you? Yes

Can i get a 6 pack in 3 months? Depends where you are starting, how dehydrated you are, and how good the lighting is

I work all the time, can I still do this? Yes. I work all the time and have lived this for 15 years.

I have kids, can I still do this? Yes.

Appendix

Who I am

Age: 39
Weight: 150 lbs

My cardiovascular and metabolic numbers from my last blood test are all pretty good.
- ApoB: 55 mg/dl
- Triglycerides: 55 mg/dl
- HDL: 81 mg/dl
- HbA1C: 5%
- Insulin: <3 uIU/ml

My last (DEXA scan) was also pretty solid.
- Body fat: 11%
- Abdominal body fat: 7%
- Bone density: 4.8 z-score, t-score (99th%)

My main strength metrics are also decent for a 150 lber
- Bench: 225 lbs 6 times as of Jan 2024
- Squat: 225 lbs 6 times
- Dead: 335 lbs 1 time

Why you should believe me

The main reason is....I live this shit. And I work, a lot. I love work. I love working on this project. And I have maintained the above while doing it...for the last 15 years. Anyways, on to the credentials:

Education
Cornell Engineering 2006
Cornell MD 2012
Cornell MBA 2012
Series 7, 24, 63

Career
McKinsey for one year post MD/MBA.
Consumer health and weight loss for the last decade.

Weilos
- Health and weight loss social network
- Acquired by Weight Watchers. Now the #1 health focused social network as WW Connect.

Keyto
- Comprehensive weight loss program that included breath sensor
- It was proven to be the most effective DIY weight loss program ever assessed in a randomized controlled trial
- 50k+ devices sold

Personal statement
If you know me, you know I stay jacked. You also know I have strong opinions on most things, including nutrition and exercise. What you may not know is that my dad had a heart attack when he was 39, and in addition to looking good, I care a lot about preventing disease.

I recently read Outlive by Peter Attia, and was like wow, this guy just put in a book what I figured out and have lived for the last 15 years. This book is amazing, but it is like mental masturbation - it is not actionable (unless you decide to pay Peter $200,000 per year). He also doesn't really talk about what every single one of my friends care about - aesthetics.

I’m making the important things I've learned actionable for my friends to be a little more healthy, look a little better, and feel a little better.

It becomes real when you know your own metrics, why they matter, how to improve, and then see the improvement. That's what this is for.