It might surprise you to learn self-proclaimed red meat lover Jason Momoa isn’t on the paleo or keto diet. What’s not a surprise is he’s a big freaking guy—especially if your first Momoa sighting was the actor as Khal Drogo, a Dothraki khalasar chieftain in Game of Thrones. If that’s the case, you’ve always had the impression of Momoa being a mammoth human. Standing at 6’4″, the actor’s got an imposing frame—and adding slabs of muscle doesn’t take a gargantuan effort. If you’re curious how the actor trains to become a superhero the likes of Aquaman and stay limber on the reg, check out Warrior Workouts: Jason Momoa’s Trainer Shares the Secret Sauce of Shaping a Superhero. That said, Momoa’s trainer and healer, Damian Viera, does have Momoa clean up his act to get that shrink-wrapped look for blockbusters like Aquaman.

How Jason Momoa Eats to Get Skin-to-Muscle Ripped for Movies

“With Jason, he’s not trying to lose weight,” Viera says. “He already operates between 15 to18 percent body fat. So, from there, I know we can get to our ideal 10 percent in about two or three weeks.” Obviously training plays a huge role, but Viera is able to affect the physiology to a higher level of precision with nutrition before and during filming.

To maintain superhero physique, Viera manages Momoa’s macros ratios in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, so he gets the fuel he needs to get the work done without excess left in the body at night that’ll become stored fats.

“Carbs are a very important part of the nutrition used for fuel,” explains Viera. “Jason couldn’t do something like a ketogenic diet, because he needs readily charged energy from carbs to be explosive. And when I say carbs, I’m not talking about breads and pastas—those are long gone. I’m talking about cruciferous vegetables and fruits. You can’t train the way we do with fat for fuel; you need the carbs for explosive movements.”