Hey Everyone,

Let’s talk about the real reason your body hasn’t changed—despite all the hard work you’re putting in at the gym.

Now I know you’ve probably heard this before, but it bears repeating: you must prioritise your nutrition.

For years, I trained at the same gym and saw the same people grinding day in, day out. Some of them even trained with personal trainers. Yet their bodies never changed. I thought, “Aren’t your gains made in the gym?”

It wasn’t until I experienced it myself that I truly understood the answer.

After 12 months of consistent training — lifting weights, smashing cardio, turning up no matter what — I still looked soft and weak. It was disappointing. I was confused. I was doing the work, so why didn’t I have the results?

In my 20s, I looked like this...

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The truth? I neglected my nutrition. Like so many others, I thought “eating clean” was enough. It wasn’t. I wasn’t tracking anything. No idea how many calories I was consuming. No clue how much protein I was getting.

Once I corrected that — dropping my intake to around 2,000 calories a day and increasing protein to roughly 180 grams — my entire body changed. Same gym. Same training. But now, I was fuelling my body properly.

Fast forward to 39 years of age, I'm now in the best shape of my life at my first Hyrox competition (March 2025).

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What I’m about to teach you is dead simple, backed by decades of research, and hands down the most important thing you’ll learn if you want to burn fat and build muscle.

What Actually Matters for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain

Ignore the fads. Forget the myths. When you look at what’s actually supported by the science, two things stand out:

Your calorie intake
Your protein intake

Everything else — from meal timing, to food choices, to supplements — plays a much smaller role.

You can follow paleo, keto, intermittent fasting, vegan… doesn’t matter. If your calories and protein aren’t dialled in, you will not get lean and muscular. Period.

Calories: The King of Fat Loss

Let’s make this crystal clear:

If you want to lose body fat, you must be in a calorie deficit — that means eating fewer calories than your body burns each day. This is not a theory. It’s not a trend. It’s a biological law.

You could eat the “cleanest” foods in the world — chicken breast, broccoli, brown rice — but if you're still in a calorie surplus, you’ll gain weight. On the flip side, you could eat junk food — and if you're in a deficit, you’ll lose fat.

Remember the “Twinkie Diet” professor, Mark Haub? He ate nothing but Twinkies, Oreos, and protein shakes for 60 days. Set his intake to 1,800 calories per day. Lost 27 pounds and dropped his body fat by 8%.

This proves it: calories in versus calories out is what drives fat loss. Food quality matters for health, but it’s the calorie quantity that matters most for fat loss.

Protein: The Key to Muscle

Now here’s where most people go wrong. They focus only on weight loss — but weight includes both fat and muscle.

If you don’t eat enough protein during a fat loss phase, you’ll lose muscle along with the fat — and that’s how you end up looking “skinny fat.”

Protein changes everything.

It’s essential for:

Preserving lean muscle during a cut
Building new muscle during a surplus
Keeping you full, so you don’t overeat
Boosting your metabolism, because muscle burns more energy at rest

Research shows that people who eat a high-protein diet while in a deficit lose more fat and retain more muscle than those who don’t — even if everything else is equal.

And I experienced this first-hand. Back in 2014, I was getting just 70g of protein per day — well under what I needed. I looked soft, despite all my training. Once I pushed my protein up to 180g per day? That’s when I saw proper muscle definition and strength gains.

Even if you change nothing else but increase your protein intake, you’ll likely see better results.

Let’s Be Honest — This Is Where Most People Fail

I’ve coached hundreds of people. And 9 times out of 10, the problem isn’t their training — it’s that they:

Underestimate how many calories they’re eating, and
Aren’t eating anywhere near enough protein

If you’re not actively tracking, it’s almost guaranteed you’re getting this wrong.

That’s why the goal moving forward is simple:

Eat fewer calories than you burn
Get enough protein to preserve/build muscle

Nail those two things consistently, and your body will change. It’s not a maybe. It’s guaranteed. Not sure how to calculate these two important numbers? Click here to check out my free macronutrient calculator.

Your Next Step

Yes — this means you’ll need to track your food. At least for a little while.

It might seem tedious at first, but tracking opens your eyes to what’s actually going into your body. Within a week or two, it’ll take you less than 5 minutes a day — and you’ll finally have full control over your results.

Don’t waste another 6 months spinning your wheels.

Let’s get this right—together.

Talk soon,
Brad

P.S: Interested in online fitness coaching? I have one more spot open for March / April. Learn more here.

Brad Newton

Fitness Coach & YouTuber

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