Jeff Saturday was a 295-pound center in the NFL, playing mostly for the Indianapolis Colts. After leaving the National Football League, he measured 238 pounds. So, how he lost more than 50 pounds?
Longtime Colts center Jeff Saturday was considered one of the best linemen in the league for almost an entire decade. But after retiring in 2012, he decided to change his lifestyle, diet, and workout regime. While some fans thought he would make a comeback and join Peyton in Denver, that massive loss meant there is no chance of a comeback.
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Get To Know Jeff
Jeff is a retired American football player. Born in June 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia, he played center for 14 seasons, from 1999 to 2012. Nowadays, many consider him one of the best centers in NFL history.
During his career, he won the Super Bowl XLI and spent most of his years alongside close friend and teammate Peyton Manning. Before joining the NFL, he played college football at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There, he was a three-year starter on the offensive line.
Despite not being drafted in the NFL draft, Jeff signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens in 1998. Sadly, he was cut before the season begin. In 1999, he signed with the Indianapolis Colts, a team he spent most of his career with.
Besides his on-field success, many fans remember Saturday for his leadership and advocacy outside of the field. He has been an advocate for player rights during his time as President of the NFL Players Association from 2008 to 2012.
Jeff played a key role in negotiating the 2011 collective bargaining agreement between the NFLPA and the NFL.
Following his retirement from professional football, Jeff became a football analyst and worked as a color commentator. In 2021, he was inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor, with the team recognizing his contributions to winning and reputation.
Nowadays, he is also known for his philanthropy and community service. Jeff and his wife Karen Saturday founded the Jeff Saturday Foundation. It is an organization supporting various charitable organizations and causes, including education, health and wellness programs, children’s health programs, and military support.
How Did He Shed More Than 50 Pounds?
Football is a sport where athletes are required to maintain weight. And the more, the better. A lot of players eat more purposely to gain weight. And when you retire from such sport, you might think weight loss is an automatic thing. Right? Wrong. It is not as easy.
Following his retirement, Jeff lost more than 50 pounds. He brought his weight down to a healthy 230 lbs. What is the diet and workout program he used for shedding the pounds? Let’s see how the six-time Pro Bowler managed to get his weight down.
First and foremost, nutrition. During his time in the NFL, Jeff had to consume a lot more calories to maintain that large weight needed to play in the league. He would routinely crush 8,000 calories per day as a player.
After retiring, he changed his diet completely, eating considerably less. He has also spoken about the transformation he had after retirement.
According to Jeff, “NFL players lead very structured lives wherein everything is dictated by their coaches. Be it when practice starts and ends or when their meetings start and end”. And then, after this kind of handling ends, they need to adjust. It is a transition period for most people.
Jeff had the support of his wife Karen. She works as a physical therapist. The two had many conversations about getting his health and body weight right after retiring from the physical sport.
In one interview, he said that he came back from the Pro Bowl in Hawaii at the end of February and already go into the same workout rhythm at the beginning of March.
Pretty soon, he got down to a weight between 230 and 240 lbs. And nowadays, he manages to maintain that weight by following a balanced diet and workout regime. For Jeff, weight control was a family project alongside his three children and wife.
While he had a weakness for cake and donuts, somehow, they never found their way into the house.
Retiring From Sport, Not From The Gym
One of the big mistakes athletes make after they retire is they stop going to the gym. No matter if you want to lose weight, add some weight, or maintain your healthy body frame, the gym is essential.
For the former NFL lineman, retirement meant giving up year-round training. But that doesn’t mean gaining weight on the couch. After years of packing on as much weight as he could so he can fight in the trenches, Jeff was ready to go back to a healthy weight.
Saturday managed to shed more than 50 pounds since retiring, bringing his weight down to a healthy 230lbs. The workout was an essential part of Jeff Saturday’s weight loss journey. He just had to change the type of workout he did.
While he was trying to gain weight and mass during his NFL days, he would now exercise to burn some calories and tone up.
Jeff Saturday Weight Loss Diet
As we said before, the former NFL lineman lost nearly 50 pounds since retiring. In many interviews, he has discussed the distinction between Super Bowl week as a player and as a fan or media person. If you are a player during Super Bowl week, coaches push you to grind. And that means a lot of food and trying to build mass and weight.
But as media people and fans, that is not the case. So, one of the big changes for Jeff came in his diet. He still wants to snack, but not as much as before. And his snacks include healthier options like almonds, black and green olives, pickles, hummus and vegetables, sausage, French onion dip and potato chips, and gourmet crackers.
Let’s take a look at his two main meals. For starters, his breakfast changed. While it still packs a lot of calories, it is not as much as his playing days.
For breakfast, Jeff usually has hard-boiled eggs, toast, oatmeal, a fruit smoothie, cereal yogurt, and a protein shake.
And his lunch includes mashed potatoes, steak, salad, protein bars, and spaghetti with meat sauce.
Where Is He Now?
It’s been more than 10 years since Jeff retired from the National Football Association. In the first year since retirement, he shed more than 50 pounds. And 10 years later, fans still want to know how he did it and where he is now.
As of June 2023, the former NFL player is back to working as an interim head coach for the Indianapolis Colts. They hired him as a head coach in November 2022. The move generated surprise and criticism, given his lack of previous coaching experience beyond the high school level.
Saturday became the first NFL head coach with no prior college or professional coaching experience since Norm van Brocklin with the Minnesota Vikings in 1961.
In February 2023, the Colts decided to hire Shane Steichen as their head coach. They kept Saturday as an interim head coach and a potential candidate to become head coach for the 2023 season.
If that fails, Jeff can always go back to his days working as a sports analyst. During his career as an analyst, he worked for ESPN and ABC.
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