How to eat like the San Francisco 49ers

There's been a lot of talk about weight gains and losses during training camp for the San Francisco 49ers. Ahmad Brooks came in leaner and meaner and Aaron Lynch says he's on a strict diet that apparently Jim Tomsula did not put him on. So what do the 49ers eat? (I'm not talking about the Mike Davis funded RB dinner at Michael Mina's either.) Everyday during training camp, the members of the media covering the 49ers are allowed to eat in the team cafeteria, after the players have finished eating and gone into their afternoon meetings. (What I would give to see the quantities of food they actually eat, I honestly want to know how much flank steak a 300 lb. lineman consumes on a daily basis.)

There's nothing revolutionary about the the cafeteria, but what I found interesting were the nutritional suggestions hanging over the buffet style serving stations.

Good to know that the 49ers are eating grass fed beef. None of that grain fed stuff here. We need muscle recovery and increased muscle mass for beating people at the line of scrimmage. There are always chicken, beef and fish choices.

Vegetables are good for you. There were big trays of delicious grilled cauliflower and broccoli under this sign. Again we need muscles and please no broken bones. More Popeye spinach for the guys please!

More talk about muscles. We are building an army. There are no deep fried foods anywhere in sight. I think we are talking about the salad dressing now, of which there are several varieties, all unlabeled. You must choose visually and wisely.

Honestly, the most unhealthy item in the room is probably the soda. There are the usual suspects here, water, iced tea and lemonade and in the corner there were bins of empty protein shakers on their way to be cleaned. Don't tell Chip Kelly that there may be smoothies somewhere other than in Philadelphia.

Basic rule of thumb when trying to lose fat and get lean: consume less carbs and eat more protein and vegetables. This is difficult when the cookies at the end of the buffet are warm and delicious. So good that they were actually brought to my attention before lunch.

Finally, there are the ratio suggestions:

Depending on what your day ahead looks like, you can plan accordingly. More carbs for endurance workouts and less carbs for fast twitch, speed exercise days. No one can say if the players really read and follow these suggestions but the nice gal behind the 'ratio' signs, who was afraid I was including her in the picture, said "Everyone is always staring when they stand here, and I always forget why."

Any time there is a discussion about what professional athletes eat, the segment on how many calories Michael Phelps consumes when he's training pops into my head. We can all follow the guidelines above for a healthier lifestyle but just make sure to not consume the same amount of calories as your favorite 49er player unless you are training like your favorite 49er player.