Tom Brady Shares His Retirement Diet — and Yes, There's Ice Cream (Exclusive)

• Tom Brady hasn’t completely abandoned the notoriously strict diet and exercise regimen he followed while in the NFL, but he tells PEOPLE he’ll eat “good ice cream”
• The 7-time Super Bowl winner said it’s less of a diet and more of a lifestyle, sharing that he simply prefers healthy food
• Father-of-three says he wants to stay in shape so he can keep up with his three kids and not “be in pain”

Tom Brady has scaled back his once notoriously strict diet — well, sort of.

“I’ve had 28 years of very intense physical training, so it’s never far from me,” Brady, who has won 7 Super Bowls, tells PEOPLE. But he says he’ll eat anything considered unhealthy now — as long as it’s a good thing.

“My thing is, if I’m going to eat ice cream, I want to eat good ice cream. I’m not going to buy s—y 7-Eleven ice cream,” he said. “I want ice cream. Let’s go. You know what I mean? That’s what you should do.”

Tom Brady shares a fitness selfie. Tom Brady/twitter

The newly inducted New England Patriots Hall of Famer said he prefers healthier foods in general — and as for his infamous strawberry avoidance, it’s not about dieting, but because “I just don’t like them,” he previously said.

“I don’t think it’s a diet. I think it’s just a lifestyle and I don’t think it’s super regulated,” Brady, 46, explained to PEOPLE about what he eats. “It’s not like I think about 85% of the time I’m really good, and then 10, 15% of the time it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re in a great place.’ Let’s go have a good meal.’ ”

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His tastes are the product of years of conditioning, he tells PEOPLE, explaining. “I ate the way I did because it helped me play. So why change?” says Brady.

“I couldn’t even go back to eating bad foods that I might have eaten in the past just because it wouldn’t make me feel good.”

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Brady, who appears in a new ad for Hertz’s “Let’s Go” campaign, said that now that he’s retired, he’s not depriving himself of playing and simply eating what he likes; It happens to be healthy.

“I already like the things I like anyway. It’s not that I eat things I don’t like. I just eat the food I love,” Brady tells PEOPLE. “Over the years, my tastes have changed and adapted to probably a little bit healthier food.”

Tom Brady with his children at the 2023 New England Patriots game.

Maddie Meyer/Getty

The father of three – he shares John “Jack” Edward Thomas, 16, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan, and son Benjamin Rein, 14, and daughter Vivian Lake, 11, with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen – said it’s important to stay active, because although he may not be playing football anymore, he’s still trying to keep up with his kids.

“My physical body is so important to me. I’ve relied on it for so long to perform, and I still do because I love being active. So when I’m with my kids, I want to ski with them. I want to be on the boards, I want to surf with them. I want to golf, and if my son wants to go play basketball, I want to go play basketball with him, but I don’t want to be in pain. So I still devote a lot of time to my physical body and mental health.”

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But instead of just following a gym routine, Brady says he’s spending his time enjoying his new hometown.

“The quality of life in Florida is really good,” Brady, who now lives in Miami, tells PEOPLE. “I love all outdoor activities. And then it’s great to be on the water. I live on a golf course, which I love to just get outside – even for 20 minutes, just toss a few balls, I have to be really active.”

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He continued: “I’m still like a 14-year-old boy, I’ve just got all this energy, and I just go hit a few shots, then come home and swim, then practice, and the kids come home.”

And then, he says, it’s time for “Volleyball in the yard.”

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