Professional athletes don't get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focus—and that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what pro athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Here's a look at the unorthodox diet of big-wave legend Laird Hamilton.
Calling Laird Hamilton just a surfer feels, well, inadequate. He is a surfer of course, arguably the best big wave surfer in the world at 52. His resumé speaks volumes: In 2000, he surfed the heaviest wave in history off the coasts of Tahiti. He helped invent tow-in surfing, allowing surfers to catch bigger and faster waves than ever before. The Washington Post once called him the greatest athlete in the world, and once upon a time, he even saved a stranger’s life in Malibu.
But over the course of his career, the 52-year-old has become a fitness sage, regularly writing workout and diet advice, and even putting out his own line of superfood. At 17 he transitioned from modeling to surfing, and since then he’s been experimenting with all the different facets of fitness and nutrition. “You continue to evolve as an athlete and an innovator and it doesn’t end until you end. You have an obligation as an organism living here to evolve and innovate and learn,” he says. “Clothing, fitness—all part of the evolution of Laird the athlete and Laird the brand. I want to keep evolving that.”
Currently, Hamilton is preparing for the Laird Hamilton Lifestyle Weekend, a retreat he’s hosting with his wife, volleyball superstar Gabrielle Reece. When we spoke, he was between what he called “baking soda purges,” which is not as industrial-severe as it sounds, but rather starting the day off drinking dissolved baking soda in water. (There’s research to suggest that baking soda can prevent the build-up of lactic acid in muscles).
“When things don’t have an effect I stop using them. At one point I was drinking a lot of lemon water in order to eat more alkaline, and I learned you just can’t eat your way into alkalinity.” I ask if he’s developed a bullshit-meter for trends, and he responds politely and professionally: “My approach is more mathematical. If the math doesn’t pan out then I will question it. There’s always stuff that doesn’t sound right even if it is, but you still learn to use your instincts. Your body is smarter than you give it credit for.”
One of those things that doesn’t sound right, even though it is, is the idea that eating fat doesn’t make you fat. The biggest and most fundamental change Hamilton has made over the years was to embrace the necessity of fat, and to eliminate as much sugar as possible from his diet. He’s even cut down the amount of fruit he eats, stressing that fruit is meant to be eaten seasonally and not stockpiled year-round. That’s a huge shift in anyone’s diet, but he eased into it. “The biggest mistake anyone can make is being too strict. That stress far outweighs the value of what you’re doing. There’s a disciplined way to do things.”
Breakfast
Tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in water
Espresso with coconut oil
During the day
Kombucha
Turmeric juice
Lunch
Fish with roasted cauliflower and arugula salad
Dinner
Beef vegetable stew.
