A fitness trainer and blogger who followed Tom Brady’s TB12 diet for a month has warned that it can lead to too much weight loss.
Keltie O’Connor, a former pro basketball player based in Toronto, attempted the diet ahead of Christmas as a way to lessen bloating and improve digestion.
But, according to O’Connor, who explained that she was 127lbs at the start of her YouTube video, she did not want to lose weight.
To adhere to the “odd” diet, O’Connor had to follow the rules outlined in the Patriots quarterback’s diet book: “The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance."
According to Brady, peak performance is achieved by following a diet that is high in nutrient-dense foods so that the body becomes alkaline, or pH-balanced.
The rules included such things as only 200mg of caffeine a day, limited amounts of carbs and no carbs for breakfast, no eating for the three hours before bed, and 20oz of water at the start of each day.
The diet also does not allow the mixing of proteins and complex carbs, in addition to no soda, dairy, fruit juices, carbonation, or alcohol.
According to O’Connor, the diet is difficult for a number of reasons - first being the price.
Because the diet relies so heavily on fresh seasonal foods, it can be expensive to create shopping lists of the recommended foods.
She also found the caffeine restriction difficult - as it allows just two cups of coffee a day - and the inconvenience of the diet, which requires most meals to be cooked at home.
“Convenience was frustrating,” she said, while acknowledging that Brady’s income and home chef make it easier for him to follow the restrictive diet. “It is a financial and time-commitment.”
However, the biggest hurdle was the weight loss that O’Connor experienced two weeks into the diet.
Reiterating that she didn’t actually want to lose weight, O’Connor explains in the video that she woke up “gaunt.”
“I woke up and I felt weak and brittle and I looked in the mirror and I was like ‘woah, ribs,’” she said. “And the reason being is because you are eating so much vegetables and leaner proteins. It’s tough to get a lot of calories.”
O’Connor also shared what she looked like mid-way through the diet - at which point she appeared to have lost a significant amount of weight.
According to O’Connor, who admits that “halfway through it was unattractive,” she finished out the month by adding more nuts and high-fat proteins to the diet, such as salmon or “better cuts of beef.”
While she was able to gain back some of the weight she’d lost, and ended up feeling “good,” she thinks the diet is better-suited for someone looking to lose weight - and who can afford the time and money to follow the strict guidelines.
