Bodybuilding legend Phil Heath leveraged his nutrition to win seven consecutive Mr. Olympia titles. On May 6, 2025, he broke down the dieting secrets he used to build one of the most memorable physiques the sport has seen.
Heath held the sport’s highest throne for seven years, routinely dismissing top-tier contenders from ever touching the Sandow trophy. His battles with rival Kai Greene defined his legacy, along with Heath’s rare three-dimensional muscle volume.
Heath’s last Mr. Olympia contest came in 2020, where he secured third place. While he hasn’t competed since, he remains an authority figure in the bodybuilding community. He recently walked through how he fueled his physique to find continued success onstage.
Bodybuilding Legend Phil Heath Discusses Dieting Secrets He Used Throughout His Mr. Olympia Reign
In a YouTube video, Heath discussed how he approached dieting to become one of the greatest of all time. He emphasized that as a bodybuilder, he didn’t eat for taste but rather for function and performance.
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“That’s something bodybuilders will all agree on. You’re not necessarily eating for taste, you’re eating for function, and that’s the biggest thing. Understand that’s what you’re doing and recognizing the fact that everything you do right now has purpose.
Everything that you were doing up to a year out, all the hard work, or all the times you didn’t train hard, or goofed around, cheated on your diet or whatever, it probably is going to dictate how you’re going to look.”
He stressed that having the willpower to avoid certain foods played a role in his success.
“You have to have the mentality to say no to certain foods so you don’t crave it constantly. It will drive you nuts.”
“If you’re a bodybuilder, you should be eating like this non-stop anyway. My body has been able to utilize the nutrients efficiently. That’s what you want. You want everything you put into your body to work.”
While Ronnie Coleman used condiments during his career, Heath said ‘The King’ was an exception and to steer clear of them.
“We’ve all seen the videos of Ronnie Coleman eating his potatoes with drizzles of ketchup and drizzles of different condiments. You can’t do that.
“He’s like well, Ronnie Coleman did it. I said, man, you are not motherfuckin’ Ronnie Coleman. They don’t train like him, you definitely are not on the same program as him, you definitely don’t have the same genetics as him, you don’t have a work ethic like him.”
“You don’t have all those things put together to warrant that. So knowing how to stick to a diet, not overcomplicating things by trying to add in, you get guys that want to add in stupid as cheat meals. You got to stick to the basics first.”
In addition, Heath explained that sometimes it’s necessary to start with smaller portions throughout the day. As you grow, he said this will change.
“It’s okay to eat smaller portions more consistently throughout the day. As time goes, you start increasing the calories, increasing the grams of calories, increasing the carbs and fats, and as you gain more muscle, your body is going to require more of these nutrients.”
“That was my biggest problem was just the eating,” he adds. “There really is no such thing as zero-carb guys, if it tastes like sugar, it’s got sugar. Anyone who says it’s zero-carb, it’s like does it taste sweet, yes it does, there’s just different ways of talking about it.”
Some of his go-to meals were egg whites with rolled oats, tilapia and yams, as well as rice with chicken or steak.
“My egg whites, I usually get a couple of egg whites. I couple that with a cup of rolled oats. Next, would be one of my least but yet most favorite is tilapia and yams.
The fish really helps with thinning out the skin and it’s a lighter protein so there’s been times where I’ve eaten up to a pound in a day. Steak and rice. Next, would be all white-meat chicken with white rice.”
‘The Gift’ hasn’t been the only Mr. Olympia to discuss dieting challenges. Former four-time champ Jay Cutler opened up on spending $50,000 a year to support his bodybuilding diet.
“One time I was eating probably four pounds of meat a day, a lot of it was red meat but I’d buy 150 pounds of chicken at a time. I’d buy 30 dozen eggs,” shares Cutler.
Heath remains one of the greatest bodybuilders to ever compete in the IFBB Pro League. He believes these dieting principles were essential to his triumphs on the sport’s biggest stage.
Watch the full video from the Phil Heath YouTube channel below:
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