The popular 30-30-30 weight loss routine that sparks debate

For once the backstory as to how this diet came about is perfectly traceable. It all began in 2012 when entrepreneur Tim Ferris published his book The 4-Hour Body. The book was intended to be a study of the habits of astronauts, successful entrepreneurs and members of the special forces and had a simple starting point: to create profound changes in our behaviour as small investments of time are sometimes enough for change to occur. His hypothesis was inspired by something as classic as the Pareto principle, which holds that 80% of the results of an organisation or an activity are achieved with 20% of the effort.

Ferris continued to publish books with the same concept: small investments of time can yield big results. With this idea in mind, he wrote another book on the working day entitled The 4-Hour Work Week. Then, within this philosophy of reducing effort, he laid out his premise for the 30-30-30 diet. His idea has remained in the confined domain of readers of self-help books and those who want to know the stories linked to successful entrepreneurs.

However, his formula fell into the hands of Gary Brecka, a personal transformation guru who spreads his thoughts on TikTok and other platforms. When he talked about Tim Ferris's system, the idea of a simple diet with which to achieve important changes went viral. Brecka has managed to win the support of leading sports figures such as Dana White, the owner of the UFC - the world's mixed martial arts (MMA) league - so the success of his proposal was guaranteed.

The 30-30-30 diet is very simple. It involves eating 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of getting out of bed, followed by 30 minutes of moderate exercise. In practice, it means starting the day in a healthy way and avoiding sugar at breakfast, which is best if you want to avoid insulin spikes in the morning. Moreover, this routine, if practised every day, involves 210 minutes of moderate sport over each week, thus fulfilling the widely-accepted recommendation of 150 minutes of exercise per week for which there is scientific consensus on recognising its usefulness. The problem with the 30-30-30 diet is that it has no scientific basis and, as far as nutritionists are concerned, it is too simplistic a proposition.

According to nutritionist and weight loss expert Pablo Zumaquero, Ferris' proposal "has some interesting things, but, on the whole, it is a problematic idea". To begin with, says this nutrition expert, "the timing is a bit complicated". He explains: "Depending on each person's work schedule, it can be quite demanding to have to get up early to meet the challenge. It can mean losing quality sleep. Besides, why do 30 minutes of sport in the morning and not an hour in the early evening?"

That is one criticism, but Zumaquero takes more factors into account when analysing the 30-30-30. "It doesn't say what to do with nutrition for the rest of the day. Taking 30 grams of protein in the morning is very good and I don't dispute that. But if I then binge on junk food, all the advantages I have been able to achieve are thrown away," he says. "On the other hand, I'm not a fan of overly strict rules, because they can mean that people see them as an unwelcome imposition and tend to abandon them before they become effective."

According to the weight loss expert, this morning activity diet is a simple answer to the much more complex issue of losing weight. "Every person is different, both in their living conditions and in the state of health with which they start a diet. The problem with social media fads is that they offer simplistic solutions. It's the same thing that has happened with fasting. It may be all very well to go a few hours without eating and skip lunch, for example, but it's no good if at your next window of opportunity to eat, you stuff your face." For Zumaquero, the key is still the classic calorie deficit: burn more calories than you consume.