Lebron James diet & routine: 5 things to know about Lakers star's diet ahead of NBA 2023-24 Season

LeBron James' diet & routine at 38 years old makes him one of the fittest human beings on the planet. In his prime, James was arguably the best athlete in the world and easily had a higher peak than Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in terms of athleticism.

LeBron James has constantly preached mental and physical health as essential pillars for his success. He is 6-foot-8 and weighs around 250 pounds. Undoubtedly, his physicality has a lot to do with what he eats. Here we explore five things to know about James' diet.

5 Important Diet & Fitness snippets Lebron James Routine

1) LeBron James went on a Paleo Diet to lose weight

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In 2014, although in his prime, LeBron James was arguably in his worst shape according to his standards. James was coming off his second straight NBA title with the Miami Heat and enjoyed the 2013 summer given it was his first free summer and James was also recently married at the time.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported that James was becoming self-conscious about his weight. James had maintained a weight of around 250 pounds for most of his career but has weighed 260 or 270 pounds at times. Windhorst stated that since James had a slow start to the season and was having back problems, he thought it would be a good idea to lose 10-12 pounds of weight.

LeBron James reportedly followed the lead of Ray Allen and went on a Paleo diet for 67 days. Here is what James had to say about his diet:

"I had no sugars, no dairy, I had no carbs. All I ate was meat, fish, veggies and fruit. That's it. For 67 straight days."

When James was asked why he went on this diet, here is what he said:

“Stop the speculation on why I did it. Every summer I challenge myself to do something different that’s outside the box. I stopped eating candy last summer, just no candy the whole summer. Just challenge myself to see if I could do it.:

James continued:

"So I decided to do this particular diet this summer for two months, it had nothing to do with basketball. Nothing at all. Once I set out a goal, I like to accomplish it. In the process, I lost some weight and the stories came out that I did it for basketball. But it did make me quicker, so it will help our team.”

Whatever the reason for the diet was doesn't matter as much. What matters is that James followed the diet religiously and got results to show for it.

2) LeBron James and his Protein Shakes

During Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals, LeBron James had muscle cramps. This was a low point for James who is constantly in the limelight for being an all-time great athlete. After this physical meltdown against the San Antonio Spurs, James decided to focus more on his supplements. This is when James' sports nutrition company Ladder was born.

James likes his protein shake to be a crossover between peanut butter and banana. Here are the ingredients he uses:

1 packet Ladder Chocolate Plant-Protein Powder
1 frozen banana
1 heaping Tbsp peanut butter
8 to 10 oz vanilla unsweetened almond milk
Handful of ice cubes

Here is how to make the shake:

Add the first 3 ingredients and blend until well combined. Then add the almond milk and ice until the desired consistency is achieved.

Here is the nutrition per shake: 445 calories, 26g protein, 53g carbs (6g fiber), 15g fat.

This makes for a great recovery drink that tastes great as well.

3) LeBron James and his love for Wine and Tequilla

LeBron James does not shy away from a glass of wine, or two, whenever he feels like it. James has been seen posting images of him drinking wine on Twitter and Instagram fairly often.

There is no telling how James' body manages to perform at a high level despite his wine consumption. Perhaps, there might be some truth to red wine being regarded as healthy.

James is also seen drinking tequila on several occasions. He is the owner of Lobos 1707 and features it on his Instagram fairly often.

For all the health regimens that James follows, he is definitely more human when it comes to his love for wine and tequila.

4) LeBron James' Gameday Diet

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There is no shortage of energy or spirit when LeBron James steps foot on the basketball court. James comes fully prepared for the battle and is one of the most consistent yet dominant players that the game has seen.

When James was asked about his pre-game diet in 2016, here is what he had to say to Business Insider:

"Before competition for me would be like a chicken breast and maybe a little pasta. The carbs help because you're going out and playing a lot of minutes. But a salad and some veggies will have me perfectly fine. And before the game I might have a protein shake and some fruit, and I'll be ready to go."

LeBron James expends a lot of energy in a 48-minute game and the right fuel is a requirement for his body to sustain his needs. During the playoffs, when there are even more demands on James and his body, here is how he adapts. James said:

"The thing that I started cutting down is the sugars. When it comes to the playoffs, it kinda slows down the process of recovery. Throughout the regular season it's okay to have a little bit of it. But in the postseason, optimal recovery—whoever can recover the fastest from game to game is going to put themselves in position to be successful the next game.

James continued:

"So the sugars I kinda cut out, but the carbs I kinda ramp up. Because you're losing so many calories, you're burning so many calories, burning all your energy throughout those games. So I kinda go heavy on the carbs because it gives you energy. It's worked for me."

Over the years, James has perfected his diet to match the output he needs from his body. During games and across the day, James makes sure that he gets enough fluids to stay hydrated and optimize his recovery.

5) LeBron James and his high sugar intake

LeBron James is reported to be consuming around 5,000 calories on an average day. This is due to his high energy expenditure. However, James' teammate Tristan Thompson shed some more light on James' love for sugar.

Thompson appeared in an interview with Joe Vardon and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic and said that James' diet is not actually good. Instead, Thompson said that James eats anything and everything but it all works out because of his physical demands. Here is what Thompson said:

"He has the worst f***ing diet ever. Ask him what he eats for breakfast. He has like five pieces of french toast, drowns it in syrup with strawberries and bananas. Then he has like a four-egg omelet and then he goes and just f***ing dunks on somebody. It doesn't make sense."

Thompson continued:

"He eats desserts with every meal. He'll come with his one-week diet, vegan crap, but he literally eats like it doesn't make sense. He's really a specimen. He eats like shit."

It seems that James' diet can only work for him because he is the most physical player on the floor. With the amount of calories that James eats, it is hard for a normal person to replicate it, let alone have a dessert with every meal.