Tom Brady is one of a kind, a phenomenon who shows no sign of slowing down any time soon in a sport where longevity is rare. That’s why he landed a two-year, $50 million deal with Tampa last March, making it likely he’ll still be playing when he’s 45.
Source: https://nypost.com/article/tom-brady-diet-fitness-routines/
Brady sticks to an 80/20 (plant-based/animal protein) diet. Even his favorite ice cream is plant-based, made from avocado with a little cacao mixed in so it tastes like chocolate.
Daily schedule
- 5:30 a.m.: Wake up, drink electrolyte water and smoothie
- 7 a.m.: Breakfast with family
- 8 – 10:30 a.m.: Hit the gym for strengthening and conditioning
- 10 a.m: Beach time
- 11 a.m.: Review game footage
- Noon: Lunch
- 3 -5 p.m.: Team practice or, in the off-season, surf and workout
- 5-6 p.m.: Post-workout pliability session
- 6 p.m: Dinner with family
- 7 p.m.: Review films, strategy w/ Coach, charity work
- 7:30 p.m.: Family time, including reading to kids
- 8:30 p.m.: Lights out and sleep
Diet
While there’s no denying that Brady’s spartan diet has played a major part in prolonging his playing career, some of his former New England Patriots teammates thought it obsessive and unappetizing — or as one put it, “that birdseed s–t.”
Caffeine is off the table. So is white flour, white sugar, dairy products and anything with gluten. He steers clear of veggies — tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, mushrooms — that could cause inflammation. Everything has to be organic. Brady each day tries to drink “a couple of hundred ounces” of water, usually enhanced with electrolytes. (He sells those, along with various nutritional supplements, through his TB12 site.)
Allen Campbell was Brady’s personal chef from 2013 to 2016 and helped him to create the “TB12 Nutrition Manual,” published in 2017. He told The Post that, at this time of year, “We focused on dark leafy greens, some grass-fed animal protein as well as legumes and whole grains.”
But that’s not what Brady will eat before the Super Bowl. His game-day meals are even more basic: a smoothie and a sandwich of almond butter and jelly.
It’s all a far cry from his rookie season in 2000; Brady admitted that his pregame snack used to be nachos while his default lunch was ham-and-cheese subs with onion rings and a large orange soda.
So does he ever cheat on his diet now?
“If I’m craving bacon, I have a piece,” he told Men’s Health last year. Same goes for pizza. “What’s changed as I’ve gotten older is now if I want pizza, I want the best pizza,” Brady added. “I don’t eat a slice that tastes like shit and then wonder, ‘Why am I eating s–t pizza?’”
“Tom talks often of his love for a good burger and dark chocolate,” Campbell told The Post. Specifically, the QB has said he’s into Unreal Chocolate, a brand of vegan, gluten-free, low-sugar candies.
Other
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Food weighed to the gram based on an algorithm and prepped by his personal chef… but pasta and ice cream are BANNED: How Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s strict diet has him tearing up Serie A in great shape at the age of 39 – even though he rarely goes to the gym!
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has become the oldest player to score ten goals in the first eight matches in Serie A – and the 39-year-old has a special diet to thank for this form.
The Swedish forward is having his best season for a number of years and his AC Milan lead the Serie A table after an unbeaten start to the 2020-21 campaign.
One reason why Ibrahimovic is keeping in shape despite his age is his nutrition plan, which has been compared to fellow Serie A star Cristiano Ronaldo’s.
Like the Juventus star, the Swedish striker is meticulous with the type of food he eats and how much of it he consumes. According to GQItalia, Ibrahimovic has every single food item he eats weighed on a scale, with everything measured to the exact gram.
Common foods he eats are white meats, bresaola meat and fresh vegetables, while frozen foods, ice cream and even Italian pasta have been culled from Ibrahimovic’s diet.
Overall, his diet requires a great deal of carbohydrates, though he tends to get this intake from cereals rather than pasta – which is often a popular choice among footballers.
Too many carbohydrates, however, and Ibrahimovic, who also has a personal chef, is weakened as he likes to keep his weight inbetween 92 and 94 kilograms.
This way of preparing his body goes back to his first stint in Serie A at Juventus, where he welcomed advice put to him by Italian dietitians who ordered him to eat eight almonds a day due to their richness in magnesium and ‘good fats’.
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Unlike some other soccer players, Zlatan has never discussed his diet in detail. In 2013, when he was asked if he paid attention to his diet, he gave the following answer:
“In the beginning of my career nutrition was not really important to me. When I came to Ajax we ate what we wanted. It wasn’t like today. I think this issue has become important in the last 5 to 10 years. Of course before I wasn’t playing at the top level, but for me the focus has grown over the last 5 years.
“Today I think every team now has a nutritional adviser who looks out for what we should eat and drink, when to eat and how much and it’s become a really important issue. It’s something that you learn with experience. When I eat at home now I know what I can eat in relation to how active I am and it becomes something that you are always conscious of.”
