NO BREAKFAST. No lunch. No snacks. Only one meal each day at 4pm. For Andrew Raso, CEO of Online Marketing Gurus – one of Australia’s most successful digital agencies, generating over $30 million in annual revenue – this isn’t a diet or wellness experiment, it is a years-long approach to staying sharp in a demanding role.
One meal a day, or OMAD, as it’s commonly known, works for Raso less as a weight-loss strategy and more as a way of keeping his days clean and focused. His meal is simple: meat and vegetables, with no sugar and no processed food. He avoids fast food over concerns about oil quality and drinks water exclusively from glass bottles. It might sound extreme, but the logic is sound – he wants to control every variable that affects how he feels and thinks.
“What you eat directly impacts how you think, and how you think impacts how you perform,” he says. “A bad decision made on a foggy mind can cost the business a lot more than just a bad day.”
Raso’s interest in body composition goes back to his years training as a bodybuilder, which he credits with teaching him the fundamentals of discipline. Fewer eating windows mean tighter calorie control and a steadier insulin response – habits that, combined with daily training, have shaped both his physique and his approach to work.
Raso spends around $70,000 a year on his health. That includes $2,400 a month on his gym membership and $1,000 a month on blood tests and biomarker tracking. “I want to know what’s going on inside my body and I don’t think twice about the cost,” he says.
He also takes 40 supplements a day, ranging from NAD+ and Omega-3s to CoQ10 and adaptogens like Ashwagandha, covering everything from physical recovery to cognitive function.
For Raso, this level of investment isn’t separate from running a business. “High performance is about showing up as the best version of yourself for the people who depend on you. If I expect a high standard from my team, they need to see it from me first.”
Raso is up at 6am and in bed by 10pm. That eight-hour window is fixed. To protect his mental energy throughout the day, he limits trivial decisions where he can – including wearing more or less the same thing every day. “I don’t want to waste mental energy on what I’m wearing; I want that energy for what actually matters.”
The gym is daily, no exceptions. For Raso, it’s less about aesthetics than about the mindset it reinforces. “The gym teaches you a lot about what you need to succeed in business. Delayed gratification, consistency, showing up when you don’t feel like it – those are the habits that build your body, and they’re the exact same habits that build a company.”
Alcohol has largely disappeared from his life too. “I rarely drink anymore. Every bad decision I’ve ever made traces back to it. Cutting down was one of the best things I’ve done for my clarity, my relationships, and my business.”
Raso’s approach won’t be for everyone, but it’s hard to argue with the results.
