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Apr 5

The Real-Life Diet of Vince Carter – GQ Magazine

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Professional athletes dont get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focusand that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Heres a look at the daily diet of the Grizzlies veteran Vince Carter.

At 40-years-old, Memphis Grizzlies guard Vince Carter is the NBAs oldest active player. Its an odd dissonance, considering hes one of the greatest natural athletes in NBA history and arguably the greatest dunker of all time. And yet, we do Carter a disservice in failing to take into account his love for the game. Part of his longevity is his commitment to his body, which allows him to still chase around young guys who were literally in pampers when he took home the Dunk Contest title in 2000. We caught up with Carter recently to discuss what hes doing to still be able to do things like this.

GQ: From the time you entered the league in 98 until now, how much more of an importance have you seen in the focus on nutrition?

Vince Carter: The focus itself is different entirely in terms of nutrition and the equipment that is available now. They didnt have NormaTecs and Cryotherapy [when I entered the league]. It was just a cold tub and ice bags. You had your therapists, and still had nutritionists, but now technology is so advanced. Theyre taking more information on monitoring the body to know what its doing and how its reacting and responding. Its just a different ballgame as far as whats accessible to you.

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How big of a transition has that been for you with how far youve seen things advance?

Its definitely a huge transition. But the important thing is its to protect the players. Its all predicated on trying to avoid injury and trying to get guys to last longer. For as much as we hateand I mean we as in basketball playersall the things there are to monitor your workload. In the end, for myself, you have an appreciation for it because you can gauge what needs to be done to last longer in the league.

What was different before?

My mindset would be "Im young, I can ice and keep going." Now, its more important for me to understand what theyre telling me about my body. So, if my legs are heavy, thats my body telling me I need more sleep or to stretch. I have to listen to that now and be more attentive to the nutritionist and the body load numbers that comes from games and practices.

Looking at how technology has advanced and all the information that is available now, is there anything you wish you had earlier in your career?

Man, I wish the Cryotherapy, Normatechs and all the other outlets were around for sure. You had to figure it out back then and thats still the case for guys now. Now, there are some guys who will come in and theyll get it. Maybe because they had it in college and they went to a great program that was more advanced as far as taking care of the body. But when youre young, youre still trying to establish yourself as a player, so you want every opportunity there is to play. Now, theyre trying to provide all of that, but its kind of hard to see the big picture sometimes as a young guy.

Everything is kind of thrown at you at one time and youre still in the figure-it-out stage. Thats the case still in year two, three, and four, regardless if youre classified as a star, or a superstar. You go from trying to figure out the NBA to now trying to figure the NBA out as a star or superstar. So youre trying to figure out how to carry that load while keeping your body intact, and now that goes back to nutrition because now youre playing more minutes and theres more of a workload. Youre not just sitting in the corner anymore. Now, youre always in the pick and roll or isos. Thats more stress on your body and you have to learn how to utilize all this technology and information at your disposal to still perform at a high level. Its a lot that goes into it that you might not necessarily think about, because the mindset is lets go play.

Im sure you cant eat the same way now that you did at 25, 30 or 35. Are there any foods you try to avoid or get more of now with having to focus more closely on what youre putting into your body to get what you need out of it?

I try to eat lots of vegetables and greens. I like foods that fuel. Im a sweater, so I prefer pasta for my pre-game meals most of the time. I dont drink soda because I lose so much [fluid] when I play that I need to replenish. I dont really eat as much fried food as I would have when I was younger because my body cant shed it as fast. Im able to have more bad days than the average older guy with just the way my body works, but I dont take advantage of that. I know I can get away with bad days, but I dont do it all the time. For me, playing in this league and playing a lot of minutes, I make sure I have the energy foods that kind of help me perform. I dont really eat pork as much. Theres no particular reason. I just stay away from it. Im just smart about what I eat and the times I eat.

There are times where Ive seen postgame meals consisting of pizza and wings and theres a flight to catch afterward. How do you maintain trying to eat healthy later with landing in a city in the early morning and the options available at those times not being the healthiest?

Thats a challenge but theres also little things that I dont hear people talk about as much that I think is very important that I learned as a young kid. The one thing my mom told meand I hated itwas when I eat, whether its bad or good, not to go right to sleep. Sit up for 30 minutes. I think thats an issue for us because we eat late at night. I dont care if you go out or not, you go straight to bed afterward because were getting into cities late at night and youre ready to get to bed, so the food sits there. You want to stay up, so the food can run its course and digest. Thats been a big thing for me over my career. It might sound stupid, but thats something Ive always done. I dont care how tired I am, I just try to sit up instead of laying down, so the food doesnt sit in my stomach. And stretching helps me a lot, as far as keeping my body loose and intact, as well.

That sounds like sound advice for anyone.

Digesting your food is a major factor. I think the general population makes the mistake of eating late, being tired, and wanting to lay down and that food is just sitting there... Its always been something that has been a part of my family for a long time before all of the technology. When your food is properly digested, you sleep better and your energy should be better the next day. [Theres] a lot that plays into it. Everyone has his or her ideas and things that works for them. This is something that I know that has worked for me.

"Thats been a big thing for me over my career. It might sound stupid, but thats something Ive always done."

You did mention you do allow yourself some cheat days. What are some guilty pleasures of yours?

I ve learned that Im willing to do the work when I have my cheat days. So lets start by saying that. [laughs] Im not a big sweets guy, but Im a chocolate chip cookie guy and a red velvet guy. Thats pretty much it. Ill have a burger if Im going to cheat but Ill try and do it on the healthy side, if thats possible. So I wont eat the bread with the burger. Ill try and compromise with myself. With that being said, Id much rather get a grilled chicken sandwich without the bun if Im going to cheat like that because I dont eat fast food very often... If I cheat, I know I have to put in a little more work. Fortunately, for me, Im constantly running the bad stuff off. I was blessed with good genes, but I know everyone isnt like that.

What are some things youve adopted now that you didnt necessarily have in your routine when you were younger?

Im a big water drinker now. Im also a cranberry juice drinker. I know it has lots of sugar, but I dont drink it all day like I used to. If Im having a meal, Ill have one glass of cranberry juice and lots of water. I wont drink [juice] just sitting around the house anymore. It will have to be with a meal.

I cant tell you the last time I had a soda. I see my friends or some of the young guys after a game drinking it and my body feels like its going to cramp up just watching them drink it. When youre trying to break habits, its extremely hard. I remember trying to cut back on the cranberry juice and just trying to drink water. It was hard to do! I felt like cutting back on cranberry juice made water taste nasty. How is that possible? [laughs]

Everyone marvels at the things you can still do at 40, but describe the commitment and preparation to still be able to even try those things?

People always say, Youre not suppose to be able to still do these things. I know that. But my preparation in the summer sets everything up prior to that, so during the season, all Im doing is maintaining and keeping it at the level I need to be able to compete at this level I had to develop the routine to make it work.

"I felt like cutting back on cranberry juice made water taste nasty."

Developing the routine is the easy part but sustaining it is where a lot of people have difficulty.

The toughest part is getting your body to cooperate when you need it to. Then comes the hours in the gym, the sacrifices you have to make. I was a guy who liked to go out, listen to music and hit the club sometimes, and I had to make sacrifices. I know I cant go hang out, have a drink and be able to play the next day. In general, I just cant go out. [laughs]

If Im going to be up late, Im going to be up late in my room with my feet up. I might be up late like the other young guys who are able go out, but Im up with my legs in a NormaTech, icing my knees or just being off my feet. That makes a huge difference and I learned that. You just have to learn your body, learn what works and be honest with yourself. Yes, I would love to go out, but I love this job, love competing, and thats way more important than hanging out. If I want to listen to music, theres Apple Music. [laughs]

This is all great information because I think for most people, when we see you do things now that remind us of your youth, we just automatically chalk it up to you being blessed with great genes and athletic ability. Which is true but we arent privy to the preparation.

Youre absolutely correct. I am blessed with great genes, but I feel like you do yourself a disservice just being content with that. Im trying to stay as close to that guy that we all know and remember, and I know that its possible. I know Im not going to be Vince from 2000, 2005, 2010. But I can get as close as possible if I continue putting the work in.

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The Real-Life Diet of Vince Carter - GQ Magazine

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