What Brooks Nader (29) Actually Eats to Stay Cover-Ready All Year

Seven appearances in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, a 2023 cover, and a body that keeps making headlines every time she steps in front of a camera. And a diet that, once you hear it, feels a lot more real than most people expect.

Brooks Nader has been surprisingly open about what goes on her plate, and the Sports Illustrated model eats more like a real person than most would ever guess.

The Morning Ritual That Sets Her Up

Nader starts every morning with a probiotic and a large glass of water before anything else. Breakfast follows quickly after: avocado toast with a poached egg and coffee, a combination she has kept consistent across multiple interviews.

She also carries a gallon water bottle with her throughout the day, working through it steadily no matter where the schedule takes her. Hydration, she has said, is simply non-negotiable.

The Eating Window She Lives By

Here is where things get interesting. Nader practices intermittent fasting, starting her first meal at noon and finishing by 8pm, keeping all eating within an eight-hour window. It is a rhythm she has built into her lifestyle rather than treating it like a hard rule.

She pairs bread with fiber and does not restrict carbohydrates, choosing balance over elimination. The goal, she has made clear, is to feel good rather than to shrink.

What Goes on Her Plate at Lunch

Midday meals are light, fresh, and loaded with vegetables. Nader’s go-to lunch is a custom salad built from kale, spinach, romaine, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, and bell peppers, finished with balsamic dressing, usually assembled at Sweetgreen or Chop’t in New York City.

For something heartier, she reaches for a chicken salad sandwich or a Mediterranean bowl with chicken or salmon. Clean, satisfying, and never fussy.

The Dinner She Would Eat Every Single Day

Dinner is her favorite meal by a long stretch, and she makes no secret of it. As she told Celebwell, “I could have sushi every single day of the week.”

Her sushi favorites include salmon nigiri, yellowtail sashimi, and spicy tuna rolls, with California rolls always on the table. On other nights, she goes for a rice bowl from Cava loaded with feta, chicken, and spicy peppers, or a simple pasta.

The Indulgences She Refuses to Give Up

Nader is completely honest about the things she loves that do not belong on any clean-eating list. Spicy margaritas and ramen are her two biggest weaknesses, and she has openly joked that she could eat three bowls of ramen a day. She cuts both briefly before big shoots, then gets straight back to them.

She avoids sugar and dairy when she can but does not restrict herself when a craving arrives. The philosophy is balance, not deprivation.

The Workout That Makes It All Click

Food alone does not build the body on those covers. Nader boxes regularly, working with her trainer Rob Piela at Gotham gym in New York two to three times a week, a habit she credits with more of her strength and tone than anything else in her routine.

Hot yoga, Pilates, and walking across New York City round out her week. Before major shoots, she bumps boxing to four sessions, cuts alcohol for a week or two, and adds extra core work, but nothing she would call extreme.

Nader has spoken openly about a long, complicated history with food and body image, cycling through crash diets and restrictive approaches before finally landing on something that actually works for her. What she has now is not a program.

It is a lifestyle, and seven Sports Illustrated covers later, the results are hard to argue with.