CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It has been one year since Jordan Gross announced his retirement from the Carolina Panthers. In the past 365 days, Gross has gone from 305 pounds to 230. He says, “The guys in the locker room were the worst when I came back for training camp. (They said,)’You gotta be sick. You need to gain weight right away. What’s happened to you?'”
What happened, says Gross, wasn’t sickness, but rather an improvement in health. He retired when he did in order to end his career at the pinnacle of performance and enjoyment. Gross broke his ankle in 2009 and his bulk continued to aggravate it. He says he had to be an eating machine, he says, to maintain his weight in order to play successfully as a offensive lineman. He says, “I say every meal was Thanksgiving. You know, that feeling when you’re just stuffed. That’s what I would do.”
Breakfast back then included up to 8 pieces of bacon, hash browns, eggs, and added salt to help retain water. Snacks of hard boiled eggs, jerky, bananas. Lunch was veggies, pasta, potatoes. Dinner was whatever his wife cooked and then ice cream, pretzels, or whatever he wanted. Plus, multiple high calorie protein shakes throughout the day.
Gross says, “I got tired of eating that much all the time.”
Gross says he had to change how his palate tasted food and that took a couple months. Now he craves veggies and lean meats. He snacks on nuts and berries throughout the day. His exercise has also changed from low cardio, low rep, high weights to more cardio and circuit based weight lifting. Naysayers tried to suggest Gross’s dramatic weight loss was an indication he used steroids while he was playing. He says, “I take it as a compliment that someone thinks I had to do something chemically to see the results they were seeing.”
He loves his new body and new found energy and so does his family, especially his wife. Gross says, “Nobody in my family wishes I played still.” He continues, “I definitely can tell she likes me better now. You know, I’m not sweating all the time. That’s a good benefit. We can go dancing or something and I’m not wanting to be done instantly.”
WCCB News @ Ten anchor Morgan Fogarty asked Gross if he’s had any regrets about retiring. Gross says, “I never felt for a second that I wish I was playing still. It was, I feel incredibly lucky because I really think I got every last drop of football out of my system.” He continues, “So glad I got to do it, but so glad I’m done.”
During training camp, Gross says he had to eat even more to keep weight on, including shakes of whole milk, ice cream, cookies and Hershey’s syrup along with entire pizzas and 1,500 calorie protein shakes before bed. He’s got three tips for people looking to lose weight: 1, shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Inner aisles feature primarily processed foods. 2, eat a “rainbow” a day, meaning, a variety of colorful, real foods. And 3, if it has a food label on it, it’s not real food.
