It’s probably safe to say that Joe Thomas was carrying a little more weight than he needed to while serving as the Cleveland Browns’ left tackle.

Three days removed from the first anniversary of his retirement, Thomas’ podcast co-host Andrew Hawkins shared a photo showing that the 34-year-old now looks skinnier than the average tight end.

Use the Retweet button as a round of applause for @joethomas73 incredible transformation. pic.twitter.com/JkquDuRRN4 — Andrew Hawkins (@Hawk) March 17, 2019

You can insert your own Cleveland Browns before and after jokes here.

Joe Thomas does not look like this anymore. (Getty Images) More

Losing that amount of weight was apparently something that Thomas had looked forward to for a long time. Back in July, when Thomas had already cut 50 pounds from his 300-plus playing weight, he told NFL Network he was “more eager to lose weight than almost anything in retirement.”

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That makes sense. You need to be around 300 pounds to survive as an NFL offensive lineman, but maintaining that weight while still staying in shape has to be exhausting and probably harmful to your health in the long run.

However, cutting such a large amount of weight in such a short time span must also be exhausting, even it’s a more healthy way to live. Thomas revealed on Twitter that an embrace of swimming, yoga and a ketogenic diet, as well as a banishment of breakfast, were the keys to his weight loss.

Facts: I think the first 25 fell off in a month, than I had to kick my butt to keep going. Swimming is the best from a cardio standpoint, and #keto w/ intermittent fasting is gold. I can eat 1500-2000 cals/day and feel full. https://t.co/HToJA3VVat — Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) March 17, 2019

Easy, 2 steps:



1) stop eating breakfast

2) stop eating carbs



Any questions? https://t.co/rkHVTn6vLb — Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) March 18, 2019

Try to swim 2x per week and love yoga. https://t.co/0YOucDAcOD — Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) March 18, 2019

Of course, Thomas’ transformation had at least one detractor in Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.

Do some squats.. ya got legs like a flamingo 😂 — Jurassic Myles🦖 (@MylesLGarrett) March 17, 2019

Fair enough, but we’ll see what Garrett looks like once he hangs up his cleats.

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