Tim Tebow is scouring his mini-fridge for everything he needs to make coffee. So far, nothing on the table looks like it belongs in a cup of java. There's a stick of Kerrygold butter. A small green vial with an eye dropper in it. Heavy organic whipping cream.
"Oh, I love unsweetened almond milk, too," he says, placing a quart on the table, next to a black Keurig.
Now he's ready.
Fresh from co-hosting Saturday's episode of SEC Nation at Ole Miss in Oxford, MS—where the Rebels were vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff on New Year's Eve on ESPN—Tebow has agreed to show us his secret recipe for bulletproof coffee (his go-to drink to get pumped before a taping or serious workout), while also sharing the aww-inducing best meal he's ever had, and breaking down what it's really like living on a ketogenic diet.
He Takes His Coffee with a Smidge of Butter, Plus...
Bulletproof coffee has become known as simply adding butter to coffee—Dave Asprey, who's credited for launching the trend, advocates using unsalted, grass-fed butter and 'Brain Octane Oil'—though Tebow's recipe is a bit more involved. (Unlike Asprey, however, his ingredients listing doesn't include anything that sounds like it'd be fought over in the next Avengers movie.)
He mixes half-regular, half-decaf coffee—"I don't want that much caffeine," he says—before stirring in "a tap of heavy organic whipping cream," a sliver of butter, a little unsweetened almond milk, and two-to-three drops of liquid Stevia, English Toffee flavor. The end result is a bit unsettling at first, given that the coffee has an oily film on top, but the smooth drink tastes remarkably like a Toffee Nut Latte—or, as Tebow describes it, "a little bit like a milkshake."
"It really kickstarts your day," he says. "It's fantastic."
He Admits His Regular Diet Seems "Boring."
Tebow sticks to a ketogenic diet, which means eating a lot of healthy fats, moderate protein, very few carbs and hardly any sugar.
"A lot of people would think that's very boring, and sometimes it is, but you find ways to really spice it up," he says. "I eat a lot of things that run, swim or fly; I eat a lot of greens, a lot of Greek yogurt, a lot of avocado."
More specifically, though, here's what his typical food day looks like:
- Breakfast: Eggs. "I have eggs in some form, whether it's an omelette with spinach and ham and bacon and sausage all in there, or a scramble with avocado."
- Lunch and Dinner: Sparkling water—specifically La Croix, if he can get his hands on a can—and plain Greek yogurt are must-haves throughout the day. Beyond that, Tebow sticks to lean meats, like chicken, steak and salmon, often pairing them with asparagus, spinach or avocado. And guacamole: "Love it."
Nobody Cooks Like His Mom.
"Mom's food is the best; it's not even close. I've had the privilege of eating at a lot of fancy, really nice restaurants, and they just don't even compare," Tebow says.
Every year for his birthday, his mom would make ground beef or turkey tacos, which remain his favorite food to this day. "Back when I wasn't as cautious about what I ate, we'd take a soft-shell taco, mix it with cheese, then wrap it around the hard shell, and fill the hard shell with whatever you want. It was so good."
His mom also makes a killer Pizza Pie, which they demo'ed in a segment onGood Morning America, and is exactly as it sounds: A pizza, made in pie form—like deep dish taken to the next level.
There Are Three Foods He Misses from the Philippines.
Tebow, who was born in the Philippines and opened the Tebow CURE Hospital in Davao City in 2014, has spent plenty of time in the country over the years, and says there are three dishes there that are unlike anything you'll try anywhere else: Mangos—"They're unreal there. You can grab one anywhere, cut it in half, and it's a crazy meal," he insists—rambutans (a red, furry fruit that's "very hard to peel"), and Calamansi Juice, a citrus-y drink that some liken to lemonade.
"[The juice is] very sweet tasting, maybe a little bitter. It makes you go like this," he says, puckering his lips and closing his eyes. "It makes you squint a little bit, but it's very sweet and good."
He's Not Into Counting Calories.
"I usually eat until I'm full," he says. "I mean, you don't want to overdo it, but I think eating the right things is more important than portion control. If I'm eating the right things, they're going to fill me up with the right amount of fat and protein."
What Tebow's more concerned about is the amount of sugar found in most foods—something he became passionate about while serving on the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness as a student at the University of Florida.
"So many things are full of sugar, carbohydrates and things that will spike our insulin, which causes people to crash afterwards and store more fat," he says.
He Has Zero Interest in Fat-Free Greek Yogurt.
"The higher fat is always better, in my opinion, because a lot of times, when something's lower in fat, they substitute it by adding extra sugar," Tebow explains. Plain, unsweetened Chobani is his go-to.
He's A Huge Fan of 'Game Day Filets.'
Tebow's best friend makes some of the best steaks around, he says, and it all comes down to the marinade. "It's—let's see if I can remember—50 percent Dale sauce, 40 percent zesty Italian dressing, 10 percent Worcestershire, and then, to kick it up another notch, a little black pepper—I think it's black pepper."
Sounds like a grilling recipe we'll have to try at our next tailgate.
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