When you talk about athletes, golfers do not usually come to mind. Let’s be honest, golf is not known as the most fitness-oriented sport in the world. Yet, that doesn’t mean that those who play at the highest level are not serious athletes. Or that you do not need to be fit to succeed. Ask Keegan Bradley, he will be the first to tell you that his shape vastly influenced his performance on the court.
Today, we will talk about Keegan Bradley’s weight loss story and journey. Of course, there is a certain level of fitness needed to play even sports like golf. Just consider the physical toll of walking 18 holes day after day. It adds quickly without even noticing. And if you do not take care of your body, the swing will not be the same.
Major winner, Keegan Bradley had to lose 30 pounds to get back to the shape he wanted. How did he do it? Let’s take a look.
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Get To Know Keegan
Keegan Bradley is an American professional golfer and a former major winner. Born in June 1986 in Woodstock, Vermont, he showed a passion for sports and athletics as a young boy.
He is a highly accomplished and respected professional golfer who made an impact from his early days as a promising junior golfer, to his rise in prominence on the PGA tour. Throughout the entire journey, Bradley’s life has been marked by determination and talent.
You can say his career path was determined from the beginning. Born in a golfing family, he grew up with his father Mark Bradley, a PGA professional. His aunt, Pat Bradley, was a former LPGA Hall of Fame golfer.
The young Keegan attended Hopkinton High School in Massachusetts, where he tried different sports, including golf, basketball, and skiing. After that, he went on to play college golf at St John’s University in New York. There, the standout player earned a Bachelor’s degree in marketing.
In 2008, Keegan turned professional and initially competed in mini-tours. It wasn’t until 2010 that he earned his PGA Tour card and quickly made a name for himself.
In 2011, he got his big break, winning the prestigious PGA Championship and bursting into the national golf scene. He became only the third golfer in history to win a major championship in his debut appearance.
Following his initial championship victory, Keegan continued his successful career on the court. He won a total of four PGA Tour Events, including the 2018 BMW Championship. Bradley also represented the United States at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup in international competitions.
Nowadays, fans recognize Keegan for his distinctive pre-shot routine. It includes a series of waggles and a unique gripping technique that is now his trademark. And we have to say, his competitive spirit, determination, tenacity, and perseverance have earned him a legion of fans.
Why Did He Choose To Lose Weight?
Following the end of the 2021-22 season, Bradley decided it was time for a change. His form was not at the best, and he told Golf Digest that after missing the Tour Championship, he wasn’t in the shape required to play his best golf. And that is when he decided to make a change.
Speaking about it, he said, “I wasn’t feeling that good in general. But on the court, I felt like was kind of fatiguing”.
At the end of the 2012-22 season, he weighed 220 pounds. To begin his change, he consulted with a nutritionist with the goal to change his diet. His nutritionist told him to eat everything consisting entirely of meat.
Bradley said, “I feel like I play my best golf when I am super lean, kind of like when I first came out on tour, and I feel like my swing is a lot better when I am super lean. And that’s why I did it”.
The famous golfer wondered what he could do differently to improve his overall health. So, he went to one of his Florida neighbors, Dr. Joshua Levitt. Joshua and his wife Amanda founded a nutritional company called UpWellness. And Keegan is not the only golfer they have. Brendan Steele and Charley Hull are also endorsers of its products.
The American golfer had to make a radical change to his diet. He said, “If it walks, swims, or flies, you can eat it, and I did a lot of fruit as well. So, I’d have eggs in the morning, maybe chicken or ground beef for lunch, and then steak at night. All grass-fed meat is the key. No vegetables. And no condiments, no sides, no starches, not even ketchup. All I did was salt, pepper, and some hot sauce”.
How Did He Lose Weight?
As we said before, Keegan Bradley’s weight loss diet was a radical change. His primary focus was on meat and meat products. Thanks to his new meat-heavy diet, he managed to shed 30 pounds in less than five mounths.
He began the diet after the BMW Championship in August 2022 and worked with the nutrition company UpWellness to shed pounds.
When he began his regimen, he weighed 220 pounds. After five months, he managed to bring it down to 190 pounds, and he was then able to reintroduce controlled amounts of starches.
Besides his carnivorous diet, Bradley cut out soda and Gatorade and steered clear of heavy-weight training. Instead, he focused on cardio exercises like stationary biking and elliptical training.
Speaking about the experience, the former PGA Champion said, “This is what I did for months, and it’s very difficult. The times where I am just craving you know, a piece of pizza or pasta I was telling myself, No, this is part of the journey. It’s part of the process. But I feel good. I feel proud for doing it”.
After five months, he weighed 30 pounds lighter, and that completely changed his golf game. During the fall stretch of the PGA tour, he racked up three top-25 finishes and won the Zozo Championship. It was during Zozo that he noticed the positive change.
Keegan said, “At Zozo, coming down the stretch, I felt so good, and that whole week I felt so good. Even at CJ Cup, the week after with no sleep, jet lag, I put a good week together. And I just felt like I did in years past.”
Is Carnivore Diet The Same As Keto?
When you hear meat-heavy diet, you might think, oh, that is a Keto diet. Well, we have to explain a bit about the Keegan Bradley weight loss diet.
A ketogenic diet has been around for many years, and it has shown positive effects for many people. The Keto diet and the carnivore diet have some similarities, but also many differences.
The Keto diet is based on the idea that your body uses carbs to build energy. And when the body doesn’t have carbs available, it switches to burning fat in the process otherwise known as ketosis. The diet restricts carbs, namely simple sugars and sweet treats, and replaces them with low-carb alternatives like fruits and naturally occurring complex sugars.
The carnivore diet takes things a step further, drastically eliminating all sources of carbs to force the body to burn fats. It relies on the consumption of meat as a sole source of nutrition, making your body burn the fat you eat and continue to burn the fat you are trying to lose. In the carnivore diet, the idea is that your body will run on the fats and amino acids in the meat you are consuming.
The advantage of a carnivore diet is that people do not have to struggle to stick to a low-carb diet to achieve ketosis. And you do not need a lot of time to determine whether the foods you eat are appropriate or not. You do not count nutrients or anything like that.
It is simple. No carbs, no nutrient counts, and no limits. The main reason people think a carnivore diet is better than keto is you eliminate foods that can cause inflammation and spikes or drops in blood sugar, like vegetables, nuts, and fruits.
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