Trent Williams continuing to benefit from weight loss and healthier diet

ASHBURN — Trent Williams walks at a crawling pace. The Washington Redskins’ left tackle jokes he’s never in a hurry, instead conserving his energy for game days.

Don’t be fooled, though. Williams moves with deceptive speed. He had a rare chance to display it in the Redskins’ 47-14 win against the New Orleans Saints when he hustled nearly 30 yards downfield to block for Matt Jones on his 78-yard touchdown reception.

Williams, in his sixth season, said he has lost more than 30 pounds and it has greatly affected his performance on the field. Not only does he feel faster, but his body is aching less than it has before, even in Week 12. He is playing between 312 and 315 pounds after being listed at 337 last season.

“Losing the excess weight, it helps me in every facet of my life,” Williams said. “I’m able to recover quicker. My joints don’t ache as much. I’m in the 12th week of the season and [except for] banging my knee on the ground, I feel great. I feel like I move faster. Obviously, my wind is a lot better with taking the weight off, so it’s helped me tremendously, man.”

Williams spoke on behalf of the American Diabetes Association, something he has done the past two seasons. His grandfather died from complications of type-two diabetes.

Last season, Williams had the realization that he could be predisposed to the condition and wanted to eat better.

“I get a lot of exercise, obviously, with me playing football, but the eating healthy part was a part that I didn’t tackle full-surface in my life until actually last year, until I realized that with my grandfather dying from diabetes that I might be pre-exposed to it, to have an opportunity to get in that same condition,” Williams said. “So, I wanted to change my lifestyle also, so I hired a chef full-time, not just in the offseason. It’s worked out great, man. I’ve trimmed down about 30 to 35 pounds. I feel great.”

There was concern, of course, for Williams that he was losing too much weight to be effective on the football field, but he was able to do so without sapping his strength.

“I was concerned a lot, actually,” Williams said. “I haven’t weighed as little as 312, 311, 315 since maybe my sophomore year in college. So, of course I was kind of worried about how stout I could be with losing that much weight. My strength was still there. I haven’t lost any strength, but, you know, I was worried, but I’m not worried anymore.

“Obviously, I figured out that it was the best choice for me and it was a healthy choice. I think it can help me out when I’m done with football. Now I know how to go about life and how to eat healthy and how to preserve my health.”