Jersey Male Model Says ‘Carbs Are Not The Enemy’
Anything is possible in New Jersey—including staying thin while eating carbs! Male model Brad Kroenig, 38, who lives in Wyckoff, has strutted on runways for designers like Chanel and Versace and starred in fashion campaigns for brands such as Fendi, Hermes and Tommy Hilfiger. He has spent a good part of his career staying away from carbs, he recently told The New York Post. But last year he started feeling sluggish, moody and tired, so he embarked on a new diet: one that includes eating six to seven cups of rice a day! Now he says his stomach is flatter, his face fresher and he’s lost 20 pounds (not that he really needed to lose weight—he was 180 pounds at his heaviest and 6 foot 1 inch).
Kroenig’s new eating plan was devised by Nate Miyaki, a San Francisco-based author, certified personal trainer and sports nutritionist, whose latest book is The 6-Pack Checklist. The focus, says the author, is on “strength training and targeted micronutrient intakes” that finely calibrate total protein, carb and fat consumption. After skipping carbs for the first six weeks to promote initial fat loss, Kroenig began upping his daily carb intake by 50 grams every three weeks to his current daily intake of 325 grams, which is six to seven cups of basmati rice spread between lunch and dinner. Kroenig’s current maintenance diet allows him 2,400 calories a day: precisely measured rice, simply grilled meats and steamed vegetables for lunch and dinner, along with three hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, plus some black coffee and the occasional piece of fruit thrown in. Sometimes, says Kroenig, he’ll substitute sweet potatoes for the rice, but he never eats refined carbs typically found in snacks or diet foods.
“I feel like a rebel eating so many carbs,” Kroenig told the Post. “It’s like I was brainwashed for 15 years by the fitness world [about] how bad carbs are.”
The rice keeps him feeling full, he says, but still, his diet is strict. Kroenig says he rarely cheats, but he will have the occasional slice of pizza or piece of cake at one of his sons’ birthdays.
Garmany has everything you need to look stylish as you slim down.