LeBron James says he stopped drinking wine and gave up on the chocolate chips cookies for desert - completely took them out. The reason was his injury - missing training camp and the first 14 games of the season.
Lot of players, like Kobe and Ray Allen spoke about their diet changes in their 30s in order to keep playing at a high level. Ray Allen hadn’t eaten fries or a cheeseburger for like the last decade of his career at least. Kobe gave up pizza when he hit 30.
Modern nutrition and exercise science have come a long way, but the player still has to commit to it and discipline themselves to reap the benefits.
I think Kobe said he gave up junk food entirely in his 30s not just pizza. And he fucking loved junk food apparently lol
Yea pretty much all simple carbs and processed foods. I only mentioned pizza cuz he grew up in Italy and loved carb dishes like pizza and pasta.
Ray probably mentioned cheeseburgers specially cuz he likes to eat them, and it’s to just show the sacrifices they make to keep playing at a high level.
I believe Steve Nash basically said he got out all processed sugars after he hit 30 and that was a key to him playing so long into his 30s. It really cut down on his inflammation and recovery times
I did something called the Daniel fast with no animal products, no refined sugars, no highly processed oils, and it was amazing how good I felt. Did it for 2 years, it’s just impossible to do on the road, I travel a lot for work.
So what were you eating bro if u don’t mind explaining a Daniel fast
You cannibalize some dude you found named Daniel that didn’t run fast enough
You can actually just suck him off three nights a week if you are uneasy about killing and eating a human being.
They call that the Semi-Daniel Fast.
The biggest drawback is finding a Daniel willing to let you do this 3 times a week, every week.
I have a rotation of Daniels to address this exact issue.
Fuck, you’re living the dream.
Indeed.
We are on a minutes restriction, unfortunately. Damned human needs.
We are only able to maintain the dream between four, to roughly twenty-four, hours a day, depending on substance imbibed.
Our brain is like Yao Ming’s feet.
what sub am i suddenly on?
It really works. Source: I’m Daniel #3
I think that’s called the liquid Daniel fast.
Well if he’s unwilling then just turn that Semi-Daniel Fast into a Daniel Fast
I think this was a plot line in one of the later seasons of that show True Blood.
Daniel slow, but he sure is tasty.
If he’s not running that fast it’s because he’s full of highly processed oils and refined sugar. Defeats the whole purpose. You need to find an athletic Daniel and get him with the element of surprise.
a shit ton of chips and salsa with baked tortilla chips. fruit, nuts, and steamed veggies with olive oil and spices. my suggestion is to add some eggs due to amino acids. it lacked amino acids and some times I got foggy brain
This is basically a Mediterranean diet (though your version is very low in protein), which is generally considered to be the most effective diet of longevity and brain health.
Adding fish, yogurt, and occasional poultry makes this a lot more achievable and ensures you aren’t a frail wimp as well.
Yeah I would say eggs and fish are the best for the protein and amino acids. I wasn’t frail, just got brain fog and a runners hit. I was playing basketball 2 hours 4 days a week and running 15-20 miles at 30.
what kind of chips were you eating without processed oils?
a shit ton of chips and salsa with baked tortilla chips.
Fucking hate it when people just skim a comment and then ask a dumb ass question lmao
In my defense, I didn’t understand that baked meant there wasn’t oil on them
it’s literally the first of four sentences.
reading comprehension at all time lows.
baked tortilla chips.
I think i saw a video back in the day showing that Ray was a maniac about his diet, but gave himself a free pass thanksgiving day
The free pass is the key to success long term imo
If you go cold turky and never feed the need eventually you’ll fall off and the guilt will land you in a nihilistic sort of view and then you’ll rebound.
It’s why so many people who lose weight eventually gain it back and then some. A “day off” when things get stressful turns into a week…then a month…..then….
It’s much easier to regularly schedule a cheat meal at a set interval that’s totally outside anything else in your life to keep consistent to.
Is 30 the magic number their team is telling them to cut stuff out?
It’s just the age it really catches up to you.
When I was 20 I could eat whatever the fuck and hit it hard the next day and not feel it at all. At 30, not so much.
You could also stay up all night and not give a fuck.
At 30+? Give me my eight hours or give me death.
God I fucking hate it so much. I’ll have a hard time sleeping if I eat a certain way. Then it fucks up the next day.
Man, it’s over for Luka over 30 then 😫
I only mentioned pizza cuz he grew up in Italy and loved carb dishes like pizza and pasta.
With that said, eating pasta and pizza in Italy is much different than US. I felt much less food bloat when I ate in Italy vs any pasta/pizza here.
These guys are 2 meters tall and weigh more than 90 kg of pure muscle, all while having an extremely active lifestyle. Their daily calorie intake should be around 5k calories or more.
How is a simple cheeseburger or a pizza so bad for their health? Of course not a fully loaded piece of junk, but for instance a home made pizza napolitana. I’m sure an elite athlete can consume that kind of food in moderated dosis, and it’s just misinformation sometimes what makes them take extreme choices about nutrition.
You’re forgetting an important context: pro sports. Of course it won’t hurt or kill you to occasionally eat it but for these pro athletes who put insane miles on their body yearly and play against other giants every night, it makes a difference long term as the greats has proven. Less inflammation, more energy, better recovery, etc etc.
But for regular joes like us who play basketball in summer league? No.
Well - I am no athlete for sure but gave up cheeseburgers fries, desserts and processed food and my cholesterol dropped from 270 mg/dl (7.1 mmol/L) to 4.5 mmol/L (175 mg/dl) - no statins, just also added vegetable sterols.
Is this the middle age cardiovascular health group, right? Right???
I saw him at an in n out drive through in 2011 but it’s possible he was just picking up food for his family? They did get swept by the Mavs in playoffs literally the week after so maybe he did have the in n out himself idk
Shit getting swept like that will cause anyone to relapse
He had the in n out right before the sweep actually. Prob why they lost
That explains everything
Oh he loved his pozole and menudo that his wife’s side of her family were always bringing them on family dinners
I remember seeing a photo of him right after his retirement, boy was thicc
And he fucking loved junk food apparently
Who doesn’t 😄
LMAO I think that is exactly what I am dealing with like I can’t eat a chocolate without gaining 10lbs
Damn. Do I need to give up pizza if I want to make the league in my late thirties? I might give up on the league and keep pizza.
LeBron didn’t have to until his 40’s that’s the difference
It’s not like those are the first things he gives up on. It’s more likely those are the LAST things he gave up on lol.
He did deal with sciatica also. As someone whose keg is currently on fire from a sciatica flare up . Cutting out alcohol and sugar helps reduce inflammation when dealing with sciatica issues . I’m sure his doctors made it aware to him, and it helped him recover sooner .
Surprised Kobe didn’t commit to more rest and sleep, especially as he got older
i don’t think sleep and rest was as appreciated then
He did say after he retired that he should’ve taken rest and recovery more seriously
I remember Kobe talking about on his birthday. He would often get a birthday cake from the team staff. He always would blow out the candles but wouldn’t even eat a single bite of the cake. It was once he was locked in, he was 100% committed to not eating anything that could derail his diet.
As I’m in getting into my 30s, I understand how you reallyyyyyy have to watch ur diet more.
I feel so much more fragile playing sports
I’m not trying to compare myself to professional athlete by any stretch, but as someone who’s continued to play sports well into their 30s.. You just have to. Sleep is the even bigger factor I’ve found out as I get older. If I don’t get a good nights sleep and a pregame nap, my reactions, reflexes, pop, and even stamina takes a hit.
Awkward Zion noises
If you wanna extend your career to the maximum, food has to be treated like medicine
I’m barely an amateur athlete and I’ve done to the point where I may have one or two drinks every 6 months.
If you’re still highly active in your 30s ( I still do endurance triathlon, running events, soccer league, and play golf), the inflammation and delayed recovery from alcohol is going to contribute significantly to your health and overall body.
I enjoy the feeling of competing at a high level a ton more than a glass of wine or cheeseburger.
Honestly for Lebron, giving up the wine is a pretty big lifestyle change. He’s known as a big wine fan.
LeWineMom
LeWino
LeTwelvestepprogram
LeInVinoVeritas
Reminded me of the joke Richard Pryor did where he said he went to Africa and the people he saw around had successful doppelgangers.
“Or someone here. Like, is a wino… you see him over there, they’d be a diplomat. You go, “Willie the wino! Goddamn!”
African LeBron would be one of the most prolific winos
If only he’d watch The View like other wine Mom’s so he’d at least have a limited understanding of what’s happening in the world
Also a huge chocolate chip cookie fan. Dwade said when pat riley took his cookies away he knew he was leaving
Cookies are goated 🍪
didnt he have his own wine or something too (in before LeVino jokes)
He had a tequila and it was one of the worst celeb tequilas I’ve ever had in my life.
Why do even people buy celebrity tequilas to begin with?
Unless of course it’s tequila avion, pushed by Vincent chase.
Casamigos is decent.
Casamigos uses caramel and vanilla for flavor and coloring. It’s an overpriced, not organic tequila with great marketing. Try out Tequila Ocho or G4 brands for a nice variety with traditional, additive free manufacturing process! (Bonus points to G4 for sustainability)
Edit: Slightly cheaper too :)
Trying to get people to try/enjoy good additive free tequila is hard work. Most people who aren’t “ in to tequila” or whatever u wanna call it, are looking for the exact thing youre trying to steer them away feom to them a “good” tequila os super sweet and caramel or cotton candy notes in casamigos.
Definitely echo your recommendations and would throw in El Tesoro as well. If you want something cheaper Tres Agaves, cascahuin, arette, and el tequileno are good choices .
No its not. Its not an additive free tequila
How are you gonna tell someone what they like to drink?
They can drink if they want but it doesn’t change the fact that its a poorly made tequila. Most people drink bad tequila, pretty much any brand you likely know is not well made
I bought Michael Jordans because they used the bottle in an episode of The Mandalorian and said it was from Coruscant.
I drank the tequila, it wasn’t terrible. Cleaned the bottle, scraped off the branding, painted it, decaled it and made it look like the prop. It now holds whiskey next to a storm trooper helmet and Luke’s lightsaber.
So if you are ever wondering why someone would buy celebrity tequila….that’s the reason
Closest I ever came to buying was when Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul launched one
Their product is Mezcal (Dos Hombres) not Tequila.
All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila
I’ve wanted to try theirs but little pricier than I want to pay for a gamble, especially when I rarely touch tequila as it is.
Its mezcal. Its was a very smokey flavor, i didn’t enjoy it
Sir Davis is solid
…..to try it out?
Because they don’t sell and then my local discount grocery store has them for like 6 bucks a fifth.
I think a few years back I was picking up snacks from the gas station and they were out of starburst gummies, so I said “what the hell” and grabbed some shaq gummies.
That is legitimately the only time in my life I’ve bought a celebrity product that I’m aware of.
BTW: The gummies were bland and sucked.
LeDisappointment
I dont recall for sure. he was working for Hennessy or has his own brandy line?
Lebronnessy was very fun, made for a great gift
Michael Jordan would never
He partnered with $8 a pint vodka.
My intention was Mj would never give up vices
dudes eyes are yelllloooewwww
I could never
I love cookies way too much to ever give them up
I love them too but if I had to cut them out to make $40 million a year I think I could do it…. Maybe.
You got the build and the talent but the cookies are holding you back. Get serious man!
Beer + sweets + Doritos is why I run 7 miles every day at 48
Just pulled some CC cookies out of the oven and OMG, when they’re warm, and with cold milk, I think I’ll have 2 more!
Yeah, I guess that’s the “tough” part of being a sustainable athlete. There are just some foods you gotta give up cold turkey.
Then again, you could be Mikal Bridges, eat Chipotle every single day, and never miss a game.
prime Dwight is proof that some people are just built different lol, he was an iron man eating a legitimately dangerous amount of candy
Not just that, but the amount of McDonald’s and honeybuns he was eating too. I mean, I love both of those things, but even I couldn’t eat those things before a pickup game lol.
yea him and lamar odom should have died from diabetes lmao
Insert Marshawn Lynch and his skittle habit too, gotta have an iron jaw to put em back like that and be an absolute unit.
If you are 6’10” with almost pure muscle and does a lot of cardio it probably got burned off. After retirement is where it gets them tho.
For sure, we’re all built different, but there’s also a difference between doing that in your 20s and your 40s.
I actually think it’s crazier that LeBron didn’t have to give up on the wine and the cookies before.
“eating a legitimately dangerous amount of candy”
That got me
How are you equating Chipotle with cookies and red wine? At it’s core, Chipotle is just rice + protein + accessory toppings.
Plus like some of the toppings like salsa and lettuce are basically just vegetables.
Chipotle was always a favorite with athletes and gym rats
Pretty much all of Chipotle’s ingredients can be a firm staple in an athlete’s diet.
Red wine and cookies are absolutely more expendable than rice beans and protein
Didn’t Bridges get a lifetime Chipotle pass?
Mikal Bridges said his chipotle order and it’s no cheese, no sour cream, so basically pretty healthy all things considered
Oh but when Pat Riley takes the cookies its a huge deal
You need a solid 22 seasons or so of cookies and red wine on your own terms before it’s time to get serious. Riley should have known that. Maybe he is washed.
Tbf If I were running a team I would let Lebron do heroin on the team planes if he wanted to. Insane move to take away his cookies.
Just make sure the needles clean
Especially for someone who was always very diligent with his off-season training. He always came into the season looking great. Now if you had someone like Zion on your team then sure.
Pat wanted to show LeBron who really owns the team…
It’s different when it’s your own choice vs. being forced upon you. Especially given that Miami LeBron was a already an S tier athlete who didn’t require any tampering with his regimen.
Yeah you don’t take a grown mans cookies!
Riley went for the power play and ended up only playing himself, all over some cookies
He never forgave Pat for taking his cookies.
I would read a book written by a psychologist that just got to study Lebrons discipline. Love him or hate him his discipline is quite amazing and unparalleled.
This 40 yo guy that gave up wine and cookies while recovering from an injury is worth a billion dollars.
I’d say the same for Cristiano Ronaldo as well. That guy has been a health freak for a long long time. Ice baths and boiled chicken.
And TB12
LeBron would read it too. But only the first 3 pages.
funny you think he’s getting to page 3
😹🤝😹
“Based on my extensive notes from Page ix, he was a very important man.”
Y‘all would be floored knowing what a bodybuilder has to give up lol
No we wouldn’t.
This is the bar?
Lol yeah dude gave up wine and cookies when he relies on his body to make millions of dollars per year. Plenty of normal people working desk jobs do the same when they have no financial motivation to do.
Obviously LeBron is very committed to his body in general but it’s silly that this example is getting so much praise. Lots of other athletes have similarly strict diets as well
Somewhere, Pat Riley is smiling right now.
Clearing his books
Not me, I can’t stop drinking wine
Same. I literally can’t stop shaking with excitement until I get my first sip in the morning
The shakes make it all worthwhile!
And popcorn!
The lakers said “don’t come to me with a bad deal, I don’t want THAT”
Purple and gold? More like purple and BLACK!
I can’t even watch a movie without a big pour of wine!
There has been no discovery I’ve made in adulthood that I love quite as much as wine. It’s the perfect tipsy/drunk, it’s incredible when paired with the right food, etc.
I bet you hate bald boys!
I’m scared about how much I need wine!!
I wish wine did that for me. Just gives me a headache and makes me waie up at 2am. Beer on the other hand just makes clothes fit differently.
I’m very careful with my parade money
Remember when you learned to make wine?! You forgot how to drive!
The discipline to do that at that age is insane, on top of being injured
The discipline to give up cookies?
Let the fat redditor have this one
Isn’t letting him have it the whole problem in the first place?
Lol
This thread is making me.look at Redditors in a new light.
Everyone flabbergasted over a man giving up cookies for two months.
For real lol is it harder to give up cookies in your forties or something?
It’s harder to make ANY changes the older you get.
Source: me, 41yo fat boy who can’t quit soda
Wine. That’s his vice and he said he drank it when stressed so giving it up is an accomplishment for someone that has nothing to prove at age 41. It’s not like he’s an alcoholic that needed to stop, he just stopped purely for basketball reasons.
Giving up one of the few vices you have when you’re already a world class athlete with an incredibly strict diet and exercise regiment. At 40.
It’s not easy man!!
It would actually take more discipline to give up drinking and cookies at a younger age.
Plenty of people give up sweets and alcohol as they get older because the consequences hit harder.
You’re kidding, right?
No it’s easy, “this food makes me feel like shit, I’m going to stop eating it”
Young people don’t have that discipline because it tastes good
LeDiscipline
LeGettingReadyForOneLastPushWithClevelandCavaliers
LeDietitian
LeSacrifice
LeSnackrifice
This is why I came here
LeLeanAndMean
LeCleanBillofHealth
Keon Coleman just fell to his knees.
Dessert*
Back in elementary school, the teacher taught us dessert has one more s because you want more dessert as a kid.
2 S’s cause you want seconds
carbs feed inflammation, it tracks.
This is much more about processed sugars and alcohol
All sugars are carbs, and wine is high in carbs compared to vodka.
This is a surface level understanding of carbohydrates. Something like brown rice or quinoa has a drastically different effect on the body than chocolate chip cookies or red wine. It’s not as simple as “carbs are bad and cause inflammation” because that’s simply not true
It really does, the amount of processes carbs available to the general public in the USv is insane. Corn syrup on everything and unfortunate a staple in a lot of families.
As a former fat kid that lifestyle was just normal at home. It wasn’t until I got older that I was able to control and purchase what I eat.
i’ve heard nothing but good things
I didn’t have any pizza for the first 6 weeks of 2026.
Gotta up the EPO and HGH.
As long as he doesn’t give up the roids we’re good
Lebron my goat.
But unc be yappin on that pod 😂😂
anyone actually watch this boring ass shit?
LOL I do, these are my two all time fav players, it became must watch for me when Nash joined it. Haven’t watched season 2 yet
“Put the cookies down Lebron!”
LeWineMom is on a health kick
Pat Riley is smiling somewhere
I don’t do both of those things and still can’t play in the NBA
I really doubt he was consuming enough of these things for it to have significant impact. I applaud the discipline, though
3 months no dessert or booze… that would be impressive for my cousin, Jeff. But for the worlds most decorated active athlete… I’m not that impressed lol
Seriously though, did anyone even watch the clip? He says he took gave them up for November/December and has since drank in the new year…
Pat Riley better be on a podcast next week
LeLeavoVino
Would love to see what LeFat looks like.
tel aviv impressed
Good summary of going from your 30s to your 40s is going from “one glass of wine a day is pure health!” to “yeah, every gram of alcohol is a net loss that I will feel, life fucking sucks”.
LeCookie
LeChewyChipsAhoy