From chocolate chip cookies to six egg whites: How Yankees icon CC Sabathia dropped 25 lbs after major health scare

New York Yankees star CC Sabathia announced his retirement at the end of the 2019 season.

He experienced health issues during his playing career and struggled to control his weight, which was often over 300 pounds. In spite of this, he could effectively demonstrate his dedication to the game.

Sabathia embarked on a new journey after a serious health scare as he began a ketogenic diet in January 2020 and shed 25 pounds. He made the long-term decision to concentrate on building muscle and eating healthy after losing weight.

Every day at 6:30 a.m., he had six egg whites, sausage, and grits for breakfast before heading to the gym. Then, six days a week, Sabathia worked out with his personal trainer, Dave, doing arm and leg exercises. He drank a protein smoothie before returning home for a midday snack of apples and Greek yogurt.

For lunch, Sabathia had T-bone steak, wild rice, and asparagus.

"I'll wake up normally starving, and it gets my day going. I'm not eating anything late," Sabathia once said (via Men's health).

CC Sabathia: "I couldn't feel my body in space"

Sabathia suggested that his poor season in 2014 was a direct result of his diet.

"I felt good, but I just wasn't strong. I just had no velocity. I had no push. I couldn't feel my body in space," Sabathia said (via Business Insider).

Thus, Sabathia abandoned his diet and resumed his previous eating patterns. When he reported for spring training in 2015, his weight had rebounded to 290 pounds. Though he only made a few starts that season, his play improved. However, he left the team in September and was unable to play in the postseason due to his continued alcoholism.

Then, with Sabathia at the bottom of the Yankees' pitching rotation and a contract that was set to expire after the 2017 campaign, many believed in 2016 that he was on the verge of retirement at the age of 35. Subsequently, he resumed his pitching style and attributed it to his physical makeup.

Tampa Bay Rays v New York Yankees

Between 2016 and 2017, the 2007 Cy Young winner's stats improved, particularly during his three postseason starts in 2017, during which he helped the Yankees come within one game of winning the World Series again. After that, Sabathia signed two additional Yankees contract extensions before he announced his formal retirement in 2019.