GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Cheeseheads' quarterback won't be eating cheddar, provolone or any other kinds of cheese anymore. Believe it: The Green Bay Packers' leader has eliminated dairy products from his diet.
A leaner-looking Aaron Rodgers said Tuesday that it's part of his long-term nutrition plan to help him play as long as possible. Since his knee surgery in January, he said he has followed "more of a vegan diet with some red meat at times and some chicken." He said he has tried to stick more to fruits and vegetables -- "mostly vegetables," he said.
"I just wanted to get healthier," said Rodgers, who turned 32 last December. "I've done a lot of research and talked with Adam Korzun, our [team] nutritionist, and some other friends around the league about how I can extend my career and how I can be and feel healthier."
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been an influence on Rodgers, who said last week that he used to follow an 80/20 eating rule: Make sure 80 percent of what you eat is healthy, and enjoy the other 20 percent.
Rodgers said he's at his lowest weight -- "218-ish" pounds -- since 2007, when coach Mike McCarthy set what Rodgers called "a completely random" weight limit. Rodgers said McCarthy required him back then to report for training camp at under 217 pounds.
"I came in at 216.9, and I'm as light as I've been since that year," Rodgers said. "I would like play between 218 and 220. I think that's how I can extend my career if I can eat a little bit better. Because it carries over not just in the offseason, but what you're eating the night before the game and what you're eating in the morning and the afternoon -- if it's a night game -- just how that it affects your performance."
At his heaviest weight, Rodgers said he was around 230 pounds.
"Through your eating, you can reduce inflammation because if you do research, you learn the different foods you eat can actually increase the inflammation in your body and especially in certain parts of your body," Rodgers said. "And with a knee condition I've had a long time, it really started after the surgery, thinking about exactly what I'm going to eat the first couple of weeks after surgery to kind of limit the amount of inflammation in my knee and carried that around the rest of the offseason."
Weight loss has been a major topic of conversation around the Packers this offseason, led by running back Eddie Lacy's workouts under the guidance of P90X founder Tony Horton.
All-Pro guard Josh Sitton also said he shed 20 pounds since the end of the season.