4 healthy eating tips from nfl players
National Football League Players are considered to be some of the most capable athletes in the world. Although this may seem like a dream job for aspiring young people who would like to be a football star when they grow up, this career comes with many risks.
In order to be on the top list of NFL players, you need to be highly disciplined, to continuously test your endurance, to study different tactics and develop various strategies and to always be on the lookout for ways to bring your game to the next level. For all of this to happen, your body and mind need to be properly fueled with different nutrients. So, let’s see what the most popular NFL players have to say about their eating habits.
New England Patriots Quarterback, Tom Brady, Has a Very Strict Chef
If you want to eat like Tom Brady, who’s ranked as the most popular National Football League player of 2017, it will be necessary to make a serious sacrifice – or hire a personal chef who’ll just prepare your food instead of you. However, you should be careful about what you wish for because this quarterback has a very strict eating routine.
Tom’s personal chef, Allen Campbell, seems to be the perfect obstacle for everyone who needs one on their way to the fridge. For starters, there are a lot of forbidden ingredients in the diet of this football star:
white sugar, white flour, glutamine, iodized salt, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, eggplant, coffee, fungus, dairy
So the following question many of us would like to ask Tom is – what do you eat? Because this list covers practically anything and, considering his physical condition, Brady should be eating at least something.
When it comes to the vegetables listed above, Allen says that they are nightshades and thus without an anti-inflammatory effect. It so happens that a tomato or two wander in one of Tom’s meal once per month tops, but that’s it. Inflammatory ingredients shouldn’t go anywhere near Brady’s digestive tract, and his chef does what he says.
Although fruits are allowed, Tom doesn’t really like them, so an occasional banana ends up in his smoothie but no more. Brady’s chef claims that eighty percent of this diet consists out of vegetables and the rest of it is lean meat. Allen has one simple rule when it comes to the selection of vegetables – if it’s not organic, he doesn’t use it.
Some of Tom’s nutrition consists out of whole grains and fish, so when he’s not enjoying a wild duck or an organic steak, he spices things up with wild salmon.
Von Miller is All about Discipline (and an Occasional Delicious Cheat Drink)
Denver Broncos are proud with their outstanding outside linebacker – Vonnie B'Vsean Miller Jr is a twenty-year old born in Texas, who’s a real football superstar. Naturally, we’re all very interested to find out what fuels this machine and which foods are responsible for Von’s success.
Unlike Tom and his strict chef, Von likes to keep things simple but disciplined. As you might have assumed, sugar or candies in any form don’t go anywhere close to Von’s stomach. Unless – and this is not something this linebacker is trying to hide – he treats himself with a regular soda which contains unhealthy sugar served with ice and a straw. Although this makes him human in our eyes, you need to understand it happens very rarely.
Until that soda time comes, Von is very selective about his nutrition. There are three meals each day and the voids between them are filled with two snacks. His favorite snack – surprisingly enough – is jerky and he just can’t have enough of it. When it comes to recovery nutrients, Von turns to smoothies and has no regard to their taste. If it’s nutritious enough, it’s good enough, and according to Miller, taste has nothing to do with fuel.
When it comes to actual meals, Von insists on having them at the same time every day and he doesn’t like to disturb his routine. For breakfast, there are usually four eggs with some turkey bacon – and this proud Bronco says that he never gets bored from this breakfast. Aside from the main meal, there’s usually some form of starch like potatoes prepared in different ways. Fruit is for breakfast as well, and a nice refreshing cold-pressed glass of juice.
Let’s move to lunch and dinner. For Von, this is the time to take care of his complex carbs – he says that his body can’t really have enough of them. So, the remaining two meals in the world of this athlete are filled with protein, like chicken breast, accompanied by starches. When it comes to dinner, he’s very careful about his timing and he doesn’t like eating after nine, so he has enough time to do some digesting and burn some carbs before bed.
Julio Jones’ Prefers Developing Game Strategies than Kitchen Tactics
Reading about this guy will come as a refreshment. If you’re looking up to athletes, you want to become one, or you at least want to look like one, but you really can’t make yourself give up all those delicious snacks and treat, you should definitely hear what Julio has to say.
This almighty wide receiver playing for the Atlanta Falcons says that sharing his eating habits probably won’t be very helpful to a large percentage of his fans. It’s not that he minds sharing his secrets, but Julio just believes that everyone has different needs. So, in order to achieve the results you set before yourself, according to Jones, you need to listen to your body.
Although he started paying more attention to his eating habits lately, this Falcon still won’t say no to a yummy treat, so you shouldn’t be surprised if you see him eating a brownie or some other piece of candy. However, he did decide to be a bit more selective about his proteins, so there will be no beef and pork on his plate from now on. Instead of that, Julio decided to go with chicken and the rest of his plate is for organic vegetables. Since this change in his diet, Jones says that he feels recovered, healthier and more energetic.
Antonio Brown Eats $1000 Worth of Food in Whole Foods for 3 Days
Another wide receiver on our list and, according to the National Football League, the fourth most popular player in 2017, is a proud member of the Pittsburgh Steelers team. Not only is he one of the most successful football players in the world, but he’s also a highly capable swimmer and a Pilates lover who stays away from alcohol and works out with his childhood friend.
Interestingly enough, his personal cook was an NFL star himself, Nicholas Hasapoglou. So, apart from having serious kitchen skills, Chef Niko has in-depth knowledge about what a professional athlete needs in order to be able to give their maximum during the game.
Therefore, this brilliant tandem is capable of creating the perfect recipe for success – which for three days will cost no less than one thousand dollars, all of which is spent in Whole Foods. Antonio believes that his nutrition plays a very important role when it comes to his success and he’s one of the strongly opinionated advocates who claim that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
So, Chef Niko is responsible for preparing a big breakfast for Antonio which begins with six boiled eggs. Only two of those eggs are eaten whole – from the remaining four, he eats only the whites. Aside from eggs, Brown likes to have bison meat; he claims it’s an excellent source of protein. In the end, there’s also some dietary fiber which is highly concentrated in steel cut oatmeal.
Chef Niko says that each of his work days lasts no less than twelve hours, but other than making three daily snacks, a lunch, and a dinner for Antonio, and bringing his lunch to practices or the gym, and he also prepares food for the entire Brown family.
So, the life of an athlete isn’t only about endurance during the game. In order to be highly successful in this world, each of your days needs to be filled with rich meals which will allow you to use your potential maximally – well unless you’re Julio Jones, obviously, who is managing to neglect most of these rules for the time being. However, you should allow yourself an occasional cheat here and there – like Von Miller does – but use it as a motivational treat to help you stay persistent and disciplined.
