Joe Staley revealed to ESPN last month that he had lost 50 pounds since retiring. The former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman recently shared the following photo of his new self on Instagram (h/t to Grant Cohn for the find).
A slimmer @jstaley74 is enjoying life after football. It's always good to see the #49ers icon. pic.twitter.com/3ZRd29qKHB
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) August 8, 2020
Staley told ESPN's Emily Kaplan that he had already gone from a size-40 waste to a size-36, and that was a month ago.
"As an offensive lineman, you're always known as this big, humongous, unathletic blob," Staley told Kaplan. "Offensive linemen get casted in a movie, and they're always 500 pounds. Then you get the opportunity to be healthy again, and all of the effort you used to put into football, you put into that. It gives you a focus once you retire. It's a little bit vain, but I'm starting to see abs that I've always wanted. And it's kind of exciting."
Staley has accomplished his weight loss simply by eating healthier. After all, he's not expecting to block massive defensive linemen anymore.
"In the NFL, I always ate when I was hungry and whatever was available," Staley said. "If it was salmon, great. If it was frozen pizza, I'd eat that too."
Staley announced his retirement from the NFL on April 25.