Von Miller’s day job consists of stopping extremely strong men dead in their tracks multiple times over the course of three hours. And in case you haven’t been paying attention, Von Miller is very, very good at his job. Like, Super-Bowl-MVP-leading-the-league-in-sacks good. He’s also arguably the only NFL player who looks better than Rob Gronkowski without a shirt on (sorry, Gronk). Which is exactly why we tracked down the Broncos’ linebacker to give us a crash course on his daily diet.

GQ: I’ll start with the most awkward question I could probably ask you: If I wanted to get quads like you, what foods do I need to be eating? ‘Cause I’m doing something wrong.

Von Miller: [Laughs] Honestly, I didn’t really appreciate my legs and my quads until I got to the National Football League. I’ve never really paid any special attention to them. I think it’s just genetics. My mom and my dad, they both are built like donkeys. It’s nothing that I really worked on; I just got it from them.

So there’s no secret recipe or snack I should be chowing down after some deadlifts?

Well, Chef’s Cut jerky is my favorite snack. It’s packed with protein, so it’s fuel for my workouts. I’ll just throw it in my gym bag or my backpack and carry it with me, and that pretty much covers my snacks throughout the day.

Beef jerky has actually become my go-to snack in the past couple months. It makes a huge difference compared to when I was grabbing a granola bar filled with sugar.

"I’m strange in my timing of when I eat. I try to eat at the same exact time every single day."

So what I’ve learned from being in the NFL is that I haven’t always been on top of my nutrition. I had to make that transition from college to the league.

Is there anything from college that you look back on now and say to yourself, “Man, I can’t believe I went that long eating that”?

In college, I really didn’t know any better. I didn’t need to be eating Chick-fil-A every single day, but that’s what was available. It was a situation I couldn’t really handle. So when I got into the league and I could control what I put in my body, I took full advantage of it. I learned that habits create lifestyles. No matter if it’s in-season, the offseason, I’m going to eat the same regardless. I’m always going to try to keep all the saturated fats off my diet. Keep all the candy and sugar off my diet. I’m trying to eat clean every day. Of course I have cheat days and cheat moments, but 90 percent of the time, Von is gonna be 100 percent on the nutrition beat.

Take me through it. What does a typical day look like for Von Miller food-wise?

I never really get too far away from three meals a day with two snacks in-between. That really helps keep me consistent and in the NFL, consistency is what we all battle with. So first and foremost, I’ve got to have breakfast, straight off the top. They say it’s the most important meal of the day—I’m not sure if that’s 100 percent scientifically proven. But for me, I really do need breakfast to wake up. If I’m up at 7:30, I’m going to be eating breakfast by 7:40.

And what’s for breakfast?

Cage-free eggs, every day. I never get tired of it. A typical breakfast is four eggs with five slices of turkey bacon, some type of starch, some type of potato, and some type of fruit with a cold-pressed juice. I start the day like that every day.

Take me now to lunch then.

I like to have some type of protein. Some legit, real protein, like a chicken breast. I’m always having something different for lunch, but it’s going to be some type of meal that is packed with protein and starches. I like to really stay in line with complex carbs because my body uses those to death and I can burn those the fastest. And another cold-pressed juice. Or water. Definitely water.