UrbanUpdate

The Friday before the Super Bowl, we chatted with Tim Tebow (who was on Houston's Radio Row as a brand ambassador for Avocados from Mexico) for about eleven minutes, the first seven of which were dedicated to avocados: how many he could eat; how far he could throw one; how much Tim Tebow loves them. Hours later, a photo of him eating guacamole with a spoon created a not-insignificant ripple in the Twitter pond. Clearly, he wasn't lying about the importance of that creamy green fruit in his daily regimen. Of course, it's only one small part of the extensive diet of this former NFL quarterback, current MLB minor leaguer, and potential future...President? (What.)

GQ: Most of these athlete endorsements smell like bullshit, but you seem like a man who loves a good avocado.Tim Tebow: 100 percent. I'm on something called a ketogenic diet which is high fat, moderate protein, low carb, low sugar. So I have to take in a lot of fat, and the number one fat comes from avocados. It's incredible. It's a super food. And even if that's not your diet, it's incredible food for you. I put them in my smoothies, guacamole, a bunch of different things. For me it's more than just trying to stay in shape for sports, it's a way of life, of trying to be healthy. Also when so many of our next generation kids are just having sugar and carbs all the time, well, can we moderate that just a little bit? Pull that back a little bit? And one of the great alternatives can be avocados.

What's in Tim Tebow's smoothie?Avocados, spinach, lemon, ginger, sometimes Cayenne, protein power, sometimes Stevia. And a little bit of crushed ice.

How many avocados are you eating a week?A lot. My avocado bill is high.

So, like, more than fifteen?Honestly, probably four a day.

Four a day?Think about it: If you have two in your smoothies for breakfast, one at lunch, one at dinner, that's four.

Here's the thing about buying avocados, though: it's difficult to tell if it's ripe.It's not easy. And it's totally a feel thing.  Can't be too early, too late. Just right.

Two-part question: one, can you describe what a perfectly ripe avocado feels like? And two, can you describe how to squeeze an avocado at the grocery store without bruising it?  First of all, I can't do either one of those because that would be super weird. But I will say that I have, even when some of them have gone slightly bad, I'll still put it in my smoothie because you can't even tell.

I do that with bananas.Except bananas have so much sugar.

How far do you think you could throw an avocado?I don't know. We'll go with about 53 yards.

Outside of avocados, what are your desert island foods?Eggs would definitely be one. Love eggs. Scrambled. Chilean sea bass. Steak. And asparagus. I have my fat, I have my protein, I have my greens. You see how we do that? It's a well-balanced meal. And I got a little flavor with the sea bass.

Don't you ever get a hankering for dessert?Not really. And one of the reasons is [that] you can make some things that taste really sweet. Avocado is actually something that really helps with that. There's avocado ice cream. Being able to mix things. Being able to use Stevia. And I think another one of the keys is continuing to eat on a regular basis, so your metabolism continues to work and burn, so that you're not hungry. A lot of the time, when people make bad [food] decisions it's because they're hungry. So they're going to make a decision to go eat an entire pizza or something. By themselves.

How many times a day are you eating?Seven or eight. But it doesn't have to be big meals! Constantly keep that engine burning, keep that metabolism going. That can be easy. One avocado. Boom. That's a meal replacement. Now I can get to the next one. And I'll add some more greens to it. Add a little more protein. It doesn't have to be: sit down and have these big meals America has become so accustomed to. Are there times when you want to do that? Of course. But you can also just do it where it's to go. It's nice and easy. I throw [something] in [a] smoothie and I just drink it really quick. And so it's not about consuming 1,500 calories at one time. It's about finding something that can sustain you, give you fuel, and then keep your metabolism burning because the ultimate goal is to be as healthy and satisfied as you can.

When is your first meal?Right when I wake up. It totally depends where I am, but let's just say I wake up at 7:00, [then] I will eat at 7:10. As fast as I can. And then I eat every couple of hours. It doesn't mean it's a meal. But if I eat at 7:00, it'll be 9:00, then it'll be 11:00, then 1:00, and so on and so forth. It's not always on the time, but I feel like it's made me way leaner, it's made my metabolism burn and I think it also gives me more energy throughout the day. Because you're not weighted down by having three huge meals and nothing in between. So you're on a huge roller coaster.

You are relentlessly positive. Do you ever get mad?I get mad, disappointed, frustrated, all those things. But it's not about things that happen. It's about: how do you deal with it when it happens? It's about not letting it fester, not letting it grow, not letting it build into bitterness. We all go through those emotions, highs and lows. But it's: what is our foundation? And how are we able to handle that? If you're able to handle that with faith in your family, and love for people, then you can bounce back from it. Life's not always going to be easy but when you're trying to live for a purpose, it can definitely be worth it every time. And so instead of focusing on the disappointment, focus on: how can I learn from this? How can I not let this happen again? How can I grow?

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Back in October, during the Arizona League, there was a man who had a seizure in the stands. And Twitter sort of blew up because you leaned over and consoled him. What happened there?I was signing autographs for some fans and one of the young men that I just signed for, he went into a seizure. And then he was unconscious. I tried to lean over and pray for him. And he came back to. I still try to keep in contact with him. [I] was just texting with him the other day. Very special young man. Just tried to hang with him in a moment of need. And hopefully that's what he would do for me, or what a lot of people would do. And so I think it's about just trying to be there for people.

What are you trying to do next with your career?I'm getting ready for spring training here in a couple of weeks. But I think my biggest passion is what we're doing at the Tim Tebow Foundation. We have a hospital we take care of over 2000 orphans in four different countries. A week from tonight we have something called A Night to Shine every year it's a worldwide prom for people with special needs and we'll have over 380 proms on one night around the world, in all 50 states and 11 countries, celebrating people with special needs.

Is the NFL in that future?Right now I'm just so focused on baseball and Night to Shine, that that's my focus and that's what I want to do. So that's my future.

Okay, but how about a Tim Tebow presidency in 2020?[laughs] I don't know. When I've been asked about it, it's not something that's out of the realm. Right now, other things are my focus. If one day I feel like that's the greatest way I can help people, then that's what I'll do. But that's not yet. Not this day.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Clay Skipper is a Staff Writer at GQ.XInstagramRelated Stories for GQTim TebowReal Life DietNFLGQ SportsMLBNFL