Don't Call Tom Brady's $200 Cookbook A Cookbook, Patriots QB Says

During an interview with GQ Magazine published earlier this week, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady set the record straight about an important matter: his $200 cookbook — er, “TB12 Nutrition Manual.”

“It’s not a cookbook!” Brady told GQ’s Andrew Goble before launching into a 500-plus-word description of exactly what purpose his manual is meant to serve.

“I’m fairly sure Tom hasn’t broken eye contact (or taken a breath) at this point,” Goble wrote in an aside, “but to his credit, I’m enraptured by his enthusiasm.”

Patriots fans are well aware of Brady’s affinity for health and fitness, and he covered it all in the wide-ranging Q&A, from muscle pliability to proper sleep cycles to, of course, avocado ice cream. One of the most intriguing passages, though, concerned how the QB’s teammates view his unconventional approach to wellness.

“Well, a lot of it (is them thinking), ‘Look, I’m a pro athlete. I’ve been doing this for a long time. Don’t change my routine now.’ ” Brady said. “So I think for some people it might be a little bit fear-based. They feel like if they do change, (they’ll think), ‘I won’t be able to achieve the same results, because I know that squatting … I squatted a ton in college. I know that made me better. So now I can never stop squatting.’

“Every action has a consequence. It may be good for strengthening. And I have no doubt that lifting a lot of weights can get you stronger. I just don’t know if lifting stronger weights can keep you healthy, or it can keep you doing your job better, especially for a pro athlete. And I’m not saying that it can’t help. It can absolutely help. But there’s an expense to that, as well. There are other things that you can do to strengthen your body, to condition your body, that can achieve similar results, that don’t put certain stresses on your body that don’t need to be there.”