- Rob Gronkowski says he learned a lot about health and wellness by watching his teammate Tom Brady.
- Brady's example led Gronkowski to cut certain things out of his own diet.
- However, Gronkowski refuses to stop eating his favorite cheat meal.
Rob Gronkowski has followed the lead of his quarterback Tom Brady since coming into the NFL in 2010, including some of Brady's diet and lifestyle habits.
But there is one meal the Gronkowski won't compromise for any diet: his mom's chicken soufflé.
Gronkowski told Insider that dish is his favorite meal, and he's been eating it his entire life. Now that he's 32 and introduced new dietary restrictions to stay fit and extend his career, the soufflé is now his favorite cheat meal and he eats it once a month.
"When my mom's chicken soufflé comes to town once a month, I'm going all in," Gronkowski told Insider. "That's my cheat meal, I'm probably going to devour at least half of it when my mom brings it into town."
If Gronkowski were to follow Brady's diet to a T, then he'd never get to enjoy his mom's signature dish. Brady has earmarked several major food groups as completely off-limits, including dairy, sugar, gluten, refined carbs, caffeine, processed meats, and some fruits and vegetables like strawberries, eggplant, and tomatoes, according to his 2017 book "The TB12 Method," which he spun off into a health and wellness brand alongside his long-time body coach Mark Guerrero.
"Tom's on another level with his diet and nutrition. I've learned a lot from him, I've learned a lot from his TB12 program," Gronkowski said. "My diet is played a lot differently than Tom, he's much more strict with it. I burn a lot more calories, so I like my cheat days too."
Still, Gronkowski does follow some of the more important aspects of Brady's diet, most notably the complete absence of any processed sugar.