Nick Hardwick consumed an insane amount of food to play center in NFL

When San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick appeared at his retirement news conference, it was shocking. He looked like he was half the size he was for his last NFL game.

Not quite. But he lost 85 pounds in less than five months. That, of course, prompted speculation on how someone could quit the NFL and look like a new person in less than a half of a year.

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Hardwick talked about the weight loss in a great story by Emily Kaplan of The MMQB, but the story has to begin with the weight gain. To maintain a body of about 300 pounds to play in the middle of an NFL offensive line, Hardwick's eating habits were mind-blowing. Here's what he told Kaplan he consumed every day:

- At 4:45 a.m., a 600-calorie protein shake and a 20-gram protein bar
- After working out, a 300-calorie Gatorade protein shake
- A large "everything imaginable" smoothie after showering, which included "five eggs, sausage, and 32 ounces of whole milk"
- Snack of mixed nuts while watching film
- Two or three hours into meetings, another 700-calorie protein shake
- After practice, another protein shake
- For lunch, a salad with "as much protein as possible piled on top" and a lot of bread on the side
- A normal dinner with normal portions with his family
- About 90 minutes after dinner, a 32-ounce container of Greek yogurt with cereal on top
- A pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, with 1,040 calories and 104 grams of sugar

Not that anyone thought an NFL lineman maintaining a 300-pound body through massive amounts of calorie intake was healthy, but that's ridiculous. It gives a good insight into what many of the men playing in the trenches in the NFL have to do to maintain the type of body mass needed to survive in the sport. That has to take a terrible toll on one's body.

Thankfully Harwick got his weight under control right after he suffered a season-ending injury in 2014 and decided to retire. Kaplan's story does a great job outlining how he cut way back on his food intake and exercised a lot to get his weight down.

Everyone knows of the physical dangers associated with playing in the NFL. You can add simply eating as one of the pitfalls for many NFL players, too.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab