Ripped dad who only exercises for 20 minutes a day has simple ChatGPT diet hack to keep lean

A dad who has got into seriously impressive shape with just 20 minutes of exercise a day said he gets ChatGPT's help when he's going out for lunch somewhere.

When you're getting in shape exercise is all well and good for building a healthy body but the real benefit you'll get is going to depend on your diet.

Utah man Skye Mackintosh saw a photo of himself in 2024 which he 'didn't recognise' because he'd gained some weight and he resolved to undergo a bit of a body transformation.

At first he decided to cut sugar out of his diet, but realised this was not really sustainable and has since settled down into a more manageable lifestyle change where he does 20 minutes of exercise and pays close attention to what he's eating.

Skye, 29, recently laid out what he eats in a day and a couple of hacks he uses which he reckons boost his diet.

The daily diet

The dad's day starts with him quaffing a chocolate protein drink with five servings of liquid egg whites, and he swears 'you don't even notice the liquid egg whites' once they're mixed into the drink which is a hack in his book.

Next meal of the day is lunch and the man says he almost always eats out then, with a bit of help from AI.

"Don't hate me for this, I asked ChatGPT what should I order at this place if I want to eat high protein and low calories, and I just look at the options," he said of his decisions when it came to munching on lunch.

For his fitness goals he's aiming for between 50g and 70g of protein and 400 to 700 calories for his lunch, which will typically be some form of meat and greens.

As for the dinner order day, Skye said 'usually my wife makes something, thanks babe', adding that his wife's evening meal options were 'typically some sort of meat like beef or chicken paired with my favourite which is sweet potatoes'.

Adding 'maybe some broccoli, brussels sprouts or rice' rounded things off for him, besides the most important meal of the day in the form of dessert.

While you might think a man who is all about getting in shape with his diet would stay away from dessert, Skye said he eats it 'literally every day'.

His two main options are either something from Costco called fruit riot, which he describes as being 'like sour candied fruit', or he goes for 'true fruit' which is chocolate covered strawberries and raspberries.

On top of that he'll treat himself to a protein ice cream a couple of times a week, and generally in a day he's aiming for 2,200 calories and 160g to 170g of protein a day.

20 minutes of exercise

As for exercise, he previously told Business Insider: "I knew that if I put my fitness journey online, I wouldn't be able to face the embarrassment of not following through on my word.

"I chose 20 minutes because 30 isn't always achievable, and 10 didn't seem to be enough. My wife and I are going to have more kids, and then I'll have grandkids, and who knows where my career will take me. But regardless of what's going on, I figure I'll always have 20 minutes.

"I chose push-ups and jump squats to start with because I wanted to hit the core muscle groups while keeping it simple enough to do anywhere."