Vince GiRonda's Hawaiian Diet - Iron and Grit Fitness

Legendary trainer Vince GiRonda’s Hawaiian diet can help you burn one pound of body fat per day. It’s a bold claim yet entirely possible. And lucky for you it’s delicious.

Vince GiRonda’s cliental include a long list of champion bodybuilders and iconic celebrities. Many credit Vince for getting them in the best shape of their life. Reading between the lines this means they were the best built men and women on Earth. Any reasonable person can conclude that Vince Gironda knew what he was talking about.

Vince wasn’t a boiler-pan type of guy, he knew everyone was different. He knew that everyone reacts to diets differently. He understood nuance of training, psychology and physiology. He was an artist as well as a scientist. Plus his instincts and dedication to his craft were unmatched. You could not get a better coach. Vince was obsessed with natural bodybuilding in the best sense of the word. And for that the physical culture movement was moved forward toward a better place.

Just look at his body of work and it will reveal he was way ahead of his time. Often outpacing science by decades. The man was a genius and proved it again and again. His ideas and principles still work to this day.

Alright, let’s get to the diet. Had to honor the man who came up with the diet and contributed so much to bodybuilding and fitness as a whole.

The Hawaiian Diet

This was Vince’s reducing diet. “Reducing diet” in the olden days referred to a diet that reduced your waistline.

in other word, a fat loss diet = reducing diet. Capiche? Okay, moving on…

Hey, why is it called Hawaiian Diet in the first place?

Because the diet consists of eating tropical fruits in addition to fresh meats. And those tropical fruits are native to the majestic isles of Hawaii.

Vince GiRonda’s Hawaiian Diet consists of meat, pineapple and papaya fruit. That’s it – simple and sweet.

The hardest part about this diet is finding a ripe papaya. Other than that the meals are easy to make and very tasty.

Let’s take a closer look at the foods allowed on the Hawaiian Diet.

Fresh Meat

The meat can be red meat, chicken or fatty fish. You need to eat fat so don’t skip dietary fat. You need animal fat to build natural testosterone which helps turn you into a fat burning muscle building machine. It’s worth explain the details here:

Red Meat: Beef can be ground up or steaks filets. Sirloin, porterhouse, ribeye, New York Strip, or Filet Minot – They’re all good. Just make sure you get enough fat. Don’t eat too lean or you’ll go backwards. You need dietary animal fat for the nutrient and to digest protein. Ground beef is a cheaper option. Get 85-90% lean so you get some fat content without it being too fatty.

Pro Tip: Fry up or grill a bunch of burger patties Sunday night so you can eat them for the next few days. You’ll stay on track and eat well. Plus you’ll have time to actually do something after work since your meal is ready to eat and there’s virtually no clean up. (Learn how to meal prep here.) Get yourself a nice frying pan to cook with.

Chicken: Let’s get this out of the way first: Skinless chicken breast is too lean. Eat chicken thigh or eat the breast with the skin instead. Obviously it should be baked. No fried chicken. Turkey, duck and even ostrich can be substituted for chicken. Just eat some poultry or water fowl baked and get enough fat content.

Fish: The best fish for this diet are salmon, snapper, swordfish, tuna, trout, walleye, perch, orange roughy and Mahi Mahi.

Salmon can be sockeye or steelhead, doesn’t matter as long as it’s wild caught in clean cool water. Same goes for the other fish.

No farmed fish allowed. Farmed fish have dead flesh. Those farmed fishes are very unhealthy. And their sickly properties transfer to you once ingested. No bueno brochacho.

Therefore, stick the fresh caught wild fish.

If you’re feeling exotic you can opt for crustaceans such as lobster, crab, scallops and shrimp. All are fine substitutes for fish once in a while. Hell, even calamari works with this diet. (Just not fried calamari. Good luck finding non-fried calamari on a menu though. You need a recipe from the Old Country for boiled squid in tomato sauce. Mmmmm).

Fresh Papaya and Pineapple

Now for the interesting part. Why in the world would fruit be allowed in a reducing diet? Yes, it’s true that fruit is loaded with sugar. But the neat thing about these two tropical fruits is this: They have enzymes that help digestion and boost metabolism.

Here’s a part worth noting. Most people don’t look at things holistically. They look at fruit and go “it’s healthy!”. Well, yes and no. It depends on what else you eat with the fruit. Chemistry is always at play. The food you mix in your belly makes a difference. You can’t eat any fruit with meat and expect results. In fact most fruit will sit on top of the meat in your stomach and won’t digest properly and will actually interfere with your digestion. Not good.

On the other hand, pineapple and papaya which provide digestive enzymes. Enzymes the break down the meat faster and more efficiently than stomach acid alone. Something about the combination of protein and pineapple/papaya makes your metabolism spike.

Papaya contains papain and pineapple contains bromelain. Papain is a digestive enzyme that breaks down protein into peptides and amino acids so they are easily used by your body.

Bromelain reduces inflammation in some mysterious way. And when your body isn’t inflamed everything works a whole lot better.

Both papaya and pineapple work together to rejuvenate your body’s cells and provide an environment to burn fat and build muscle. That’s where the protein from the meat comes in.

Hawaiian Diet Results

Vince Gironda claimed that the Hawaiian Diet was good for reducing body fat at the rate on 1 pound per day. For some people this might be true.

If you’re over 15% body fat this is likely true for you. (Almost everyone in over 15% body fat so this will very likely work for you too).

I know that when I want to get ripped fast I only eat meat, eggs, fish, and sometimes fruit to get a pump in the gymnasium.

We already established that the Hawaiian Diet provides you with protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals needed for fat loss, but there are more reasons this method is effective:

You’re also doing the following good things from a healthy diet stand point:

Eating all natural whole foods
You’re not eating any processed foods

These two points ensure your are 1) getting adequate nutrition, 2) not overeating, and 3) no junk calories.

Junk calories fatten you up and slow down your metabolism. Without junk calories your body heals and works much better at burning fat and building new healthy tissue, including muscle.

In closing, there is no silver bullet when it comes to health and fat loss (except fasting). But with the Hawaiian Diet you get to eat tasty meals while building muscle and burning fat. Hard to beat that setup.

The Hawaiian Diet: Now it’s Time to Execute

Eat 2-3 meals per day of meat + pineapple and papaya. Eat as much as you’d like. A good place to start is probably 1/2 pound of meat and 1/4 of each fruit per meal.

And remember the one rule: Only eat beef, chicken, and fish with pineapple and papaya. Now, I say that to make a point. People always look for an easy way and ruin their progress. Rules are meant to be broking but you need to break rules intelligently.

If you branch out to different foods while on the Hawaiian Diet, stick to all natural, fresh Whole Foods:

Eggs are fine. Some vegetables are fine too. Leafy greens eaten plain, no dressing other than pure extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar with the mother in it. Salt, pepper, and herbs are fine too.

But that’s it don’t push it. Unless of course you are in tune with your body and know your boundaries.

A common gripe about dieting is people don’t like eating the same thing. Well, you need to put some work into it if you want to get anything out of it. I just provided several alternatives of foods to can eat within the meat category. There are many others. You just need to think. Always feel free to experiment with a diet as well. Just make sure you understand the cause effect relationship of what you eat, how much you eat and how your body responds. And don’t give up or be a quitter…

“But I don’t like eating the same thing all the time.” Then don’t. And definitely don’t complain when you don’t see results. Besides, everyone I know that says this does not train properly. (Meaning with appropriate workout frequency and intensity.)

People bitch and moan about eating the same thing all the time. Big deal. If you train hard you will be hungry. Problem solved. Your appetite will seem insatiable when you’re hitting the iron with gusto. Your body will crave nutrients in meat and the fruit with taste sweeter than ever.

I love eating the same thing everyday. I get to eat my favorite foods every single day. And they taste incredible because my body and taste buds are primed and ready for flavor town.

The Hawaiian Diet can be done for as long as you like. Listen to your body and have some vegetables as needed. Fresh, green leafy vegetables are best. Bonus points if you grew the veggies in your own garden.

So Can you Really Lose a Pound of Body Fat per day?

You sure can. And if you don’t one day one don’t be discouraged. IT TAKES TIME, especially if you start from zero. You better be training 4 days a week minimum and challenging your mind and muscles. You need to burn 3,500 calories to lose one pound of body fat.

Most people burn 1500 calories a day just by living. You’ll burn another 1,500 calories with a hard workout + afterburn effect. If you eat 2000 calories that puts you at a 1000 calorie deficit. At that rate you will lose about 2 pounds a week. Which is a very good number. A week passes fast and 2 pounds a week adds up to big results quickly.

These are conservative estimates for UNTRAINED individuals who give an honest effort in the gym. Once you have a few months of training under your belt you’ll see fat loss of one pound a day at some point. Will it last indefinitely? No of course not. Every diet needs a purpose. And if you’re purpose is to lose 10 pounds, the Hawaiian Diet can help you do it.

Famous Vince GiRonda Diets

Steak and Eggs Diet – The ultimate muscular definition diet to get lean and cut. All you do is eat two big plates of steak and eggs each day and watch your body fat melt away.

36 Eggs a Day Diet – Vince Gironda is quoted saying that 36 eggs a day is equivalent to steroids. Now, that’s a bit of a stretch, but unless you want to take the oath of the needle samurai then 36 eggs a day is a good diet for you to try. The protein and cholesterol will boost testosterone and build muscle mass.