Generally constant travelers and studio
rats, artists often struggle to find a route for good nutrition. Nights filled
with fast foods, slow movement and long hours can kill your metabolism and your
energy, but Lyfe Jennings has been able to find balance through a vegetarian diet and a
positive attitude.
Now on the verge of releasing his third
album, Lyfe Change, he is all about
maintaining his focus and energy. We spoke with him in January about the new album and where hes been. In our latest conversation with him, Lyfe offers
AllHipHop.com a few pointers on how he stays in shape and maintains a positive
mental outlook through the chaos of his career.
AllHipHop.com: Give us a rundown of your basic eating plan.
Lyfe Jennings: When I wake up I try to eat something with grains in
it, some cereal like some Corn Flakes or something like that, and as my day
goes on I really dont eat anything in between meals per se. I really only try
and eat two times a day – thats my thing. At the end of the day, I try and eat
a veggie chicken patty and some starch, some fries or something like that, and
I try and eat a piece of broccoli and squeeze some fruit in there. Then
I wash it all down with a Heineken. [laughs]
you always been a vegetarian, or did you decide to do that later in life?
in life, Ive been a vegetarian for about 15 years.
types of changes did your body go through in going from eating meat to just
eating vegetables?
a lot of weight, and my energy level went way down. But then after a little
while I gained a lot of weight back and my energy level went right back on up.
I guess my energy level was feeding on itself.
you balance out exercise with changing your diet like that when you first
started?
really didnt change anything. I played basketball a whole bunch and definitely
I started getting more tired quicker once I became a vegetarian. But the more I
did it, it seemed my body got even stronger.
road youre faced with a lot of fast food places, diners and things like that.
Do you find it hard to keep your diet balanced when youre traveling?
find it harder, but Burger King offers a veggie burger. I go to Burger King and
get me a veggie burger. I try to stay away from those fries cause they are too
salty. Like I said, I pretty much only eat two times a day, so its not like
Im searching for food and stuff that all the time.
talked a good deal of trash about how great you were on the basketball court.
Are you playing a lot with friends or are you in tournaments?
Well, right now I dont get a lot of chances to practice, but I still do
tournaments. I do celebrity basketball games and things like that, and Im
about to get me a personal trainer to create ‘me’ time so that I can still be
able to play.
feel that a personal trainer gives you a little more structure?
think what a personal trainer does is look at your day and see the things that
you cant do without, because one of the things you cant do without is
exercise. He can look at your day and eliminate some things, and I guess
incorporate some things, and he can be that driving force in the beginning.
Obviously youve stayed very fit throughout the course of your career and you
have your new album coming out next month. Have you had to change up your
photos and things like that to make sure you look right?
do the same thing. Part of why people be affected by that stuff is because they
worry about it so much. It is what it is, it aint never what it aint, and
when your jumpshot aint working you take it to the paint.
have a new single out right now. Why dont you talk a little about the single
and how its a prelude to the album.
single is my fastest growing record ever. I think its gonna be my biggest
single yet. Its called Never Never Land and its just about a lot of people
not handling their responsibilities and saying Well, Im not old enough to be
doing this.
It doesnt even have anything to do with
age, but those people are living in Never Never Land, right next to Peter Pan
where they didnt want to grow up. But just like in Peter Pan, the only one
that didnt get any older was Peter Pan. If you aint
got on green tights, youre kind of out of luck.
been through a lot of things in your life. Has there been any particular book
that influenced the way you look at life?
Yes, actually the first book that I read. I used to think that I didnt like to
read until I was in a situation where I aint have nothing else to do, and the
book was just sitting there, so I said Hell, let me read this. Its been
I grabbed the book and it was called Make Me Wanna Holler by
Nathan McCall. It was the first book I read that didnt have a happy ending,
and it wasnt a sad ending. The ending was that he was still looking for his
happy ending. The book was about him going to jail, coming out of jail and
trying to live up to a lot of other peoples expectations. His happy ending was
that he still had the mental and physical strength to look for his happy
ending.
sure that through all of the experiences youve had with the ups and downs in
the music business in general, you have to do a lot of self-therapy and help
yourself stay positive day to day. How do you inspire yourself everyday when
you wake up?
business world, I definitely try and read something encouraging before I get
out of bed. I try to smile, even if I aint got nothing to
smile about, I try to smile before I get out of bed. Then in this business, I
always try to remind myself that this is just business.
This is just a game of chess, I know a lot
of people try and put compassion into the rules and all that, but just as you
put that stuff into the rules, some people dont put that stuff into the rules.
Thats the way they play their game, and in this business it is just that, just
business. I dont take it personal, you know?
kind of advice would you give to a person thats coming into the music
industry? Realizing that theres a lot of pressure to look good and keep a
positive attitude, be a role model, etc.
advice to them is to figure out whats your strongest attribute and then feed
that. Let that be your purpose and guide, and always go where youre wanted. In
the beginning, go where youre wanted. If youre not wanted there, dont go