CC no longer stands for Cap'n Crunch
Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia says giving up Cap'n Crunch cereal has helped him dropped 25 pounds. (May 3, 2010) Credit: Kathy Kmonicek
TAMPA, Fla. - CC Sabathia went from cereal-addicted to cereal-killer.
As part of the offseason diet that helped him lose 25 pounds, Sabathia had to give up a few of his favorite things.
Crisp apple strudels weren't on the list, but a certain sugary corn and oat cereal was.
The biggest change he made in his diet?
"Not eating Cap'n Crunch every day," Sabathia said with a smile Monday. "I could eat a box at a time."
The diet, combined with cardio exercises twice a day and his usual regimen of weight work, helped the 6-7 Sabathia weigh in at 290 pounds.
"I'm actually what it says on the back of my [baseball] card," he joked.
Sabathia began thinking about losing weight last season and started the diet after surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee just after the Yankees' ALCS loss to the Rangers.
"I got with a nutritionist and a chef and just kind of changed the whole diet," he said. "The pounds just started dropping off."
Sabathia, who said the two things he misses the most are the cereal and the huge quantities of Gatorade he used to drink, talks easily about his size.
"I'm a big guy," Sabathia said. "I've always been a big guy, I'm going to be a big guy. Like I said, this was just something to try and help extend my career. Me turning 30 and having the knee surgery, I thought it was the right time to come in and try to take some pressure off it."
