UrbanUpdate

On the morning of May 29, I’m en route to Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters when the Internet starts buzzing: Robert Mueller has called an impromptu 11 a.m. press conference to speak about his much-publicized report. This is unfortunate timing, because Rev. Sharpton and I are scheduled to discuss his diet and exercise routine—a topic of vital importance, sure, but one that does not quite measure up to Mr. Mueller’s end-of-semester class presentation.

So while the Reverend, who has a daily syndicated radio show as well as a weekly television show on MSNBC, watches Mueller’s remarks in his office, I am exiled to a conference room to watch on my phone. Then it’s over, I’m called in, and we exchange small talk about one of the more consequential moments in recent memory.

Having covered the fate of democracy, we proceed with the business of the day: analyzing Sharpton’s legendary diet. The New York Times has been reporting on Sharpton’s weight-loss routine since 2005. Sharpton himself has kept us abreast of his progress via a series of viral selfies. He’s less than half the man he used to be, down from 300-plus pounds to 130 pounds. But he’s still figuring out what works at the age of 64.

In an interview with GQ, Sharpton broke down his no-days-off 5 a.m. workout routine, his extremely regimented diet, and how he’s tried to turn a Jay Z dis into a positive. He also divulges the one thing James Brown always made him eat whenever they dined together.

For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in-between about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

GQ: You got to 130 pounds without working out all that much. Why did exercise become the next frontier for you?

Rev. Al Sharpton: As you get older, you’ve got to strengthen your bones. That’s why the weightlifting is important, and why the elliptical is important. The more I did it—and I’ve been doing it every day, seven days a week—the more I found that it was a calming thing. You’ve got to remember, I run a national organization and a television show and a radio show every day. That’s with three different staffs. These are different personalities, different problems, and things you gotta deal with. You need time in the morning to just set yourself down. It’s my morning therapy, and it gets me in shape at the same time.

When did you start doing the workout routine?

Around a year-and-a-half ago. I get up wherever I am in the world at four in the morning, because I like to go to the gym when I can be in there alone. People like to talk politics with me, but I want to use this as my time to meditate and deal with my stress, get that out of me while I workout.

Every morning, I either do 20 minutes on the elliptical, and try to do 2.5 miles, or I’ll do two miles on the elliptical and two miles on the bicycle. Then I do weights. I do three sets of weights of 25 or 30 pounds, and rowing for three sets. And then the pull-ups. In my building on the Upper West Side, they have a gym, so I’m used to that one. When I’m on the road, scheduling always makes sure the hotel has a 24-hour gym. I won’t stay in a hotel unless they have a gym.

Have you always woken up at four in the morning?

I always was an early riser. As long as I can remember, I was up at 5, 5:30. But I get up at 4 now so I can be in the gym by 5. The first hour I like to read a bible scripture, look at some inspirational stuff.

I watched some of your inspirational morning messages on Instagram.

Yeah, that’s pre-workout and post-workout.

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What was the idea behind that?

I’ll tell you a funny thing: Jay Z did a song, and he was talking about trying to get himself together. He says, “Al Sharpton doing selfies, so who’s gonna help me?” I said, “Well, the selfies can help you—I’ll give you a message.” So I’ve been doing messages with my selfies every morning when I workout.

When did you find out the selfie of you in the workout gear had gone viral?

My daughters called me and said, “You’re all over the Internet.” And then when Jay Z rapped that line, it blew up again. I thought, all my life, in politics and civil rights, I’ve tried to take a negative and make it a positive. So I said, “Thank you Jay Z, I’m going to turn that around.” And I did.

People have definitely enjoyed the selfies. Plus, sometimes those photos make the selfie-taker feel good about themselves, you know?

It makes the person feel good, and it hooks you into a generation that understands, yeah, he may be in his 60s, but he knows how to deal with our kind of communication. So it works.

On your diet: I read you wake up and eat toast every morning?

No, it’s changed. I eat a banana before I work out at about 4:15 am. I have the protein powder with that. Then I may have a salad anywhere between 11 and 12, and I’ll also have one slice of seven-grain toast. In the evening, around six o’clock, I have two more slices. The doctors said I have to have more carbs. So I have three slices of seven-grain toast a day in total. I have to stay at a hotel with a fitness room and that also has seven-grain toast.

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Waka Flocka once told me he doesn’t think we need food to survive, just the nutrients from food. It doesn’t sound like you have a particularly high calorie intake. Do you agree with his take?

Absolutely. I eat kale salads with maybe some tomatoes, onions, and sometimes a boiled egg. That’s it. That plus the banana and three slices of toast. One day a week I’ll eat fish. You can have all the food I used to like right in front of me and it doesn’t bother me at all.

Yeah, it looked like you stuck with toast for that meal with Pete Buttigieg at Sylvia’s, right?

I didn’t even eat the toast that morning. Same when I met with Kamala Harris. I’m very disciplined with stuff like that. I haven’t eaten chicken in seven or eight years.

I know you were quite close with James Brown and would often meet up when he was on tour. Do you recall any memorable meals with him?

James Brown was a steak man. Loved steaks. He was very autocratic, I would say. He liked to eat at the Stage Deli in New York on 7th Avenue and 53rd. It’s now the Stage Door Deli. Anytime he’d come to New York, we’d go there. When I say he’s autocratic, I mean he would order, and we all had to eat what he ate. He loved Hungarian Goulash in the Stage Deli, he liked hot dogs, and he loved the steaks. If he ordered that, nobody else asked you, “What are you having?” I went all over the world with him—steak, steak, steak.

One day, he told me, “I heard steak is no good,” so he started cutting it out in his later years. But I knew James Brown from ‘73 until he died, and for at least 25 years, he was totally a steak guy.

It’s ironic you asked me that—a lot of mornings, he loved bananas. I think about him when I have my morning bananas. I stayed at his house, which was rare, he didn’t like letting people do that. Very private guy. But he would do his hair every morning, and would sit under the hairdryer and eat a banana.

What was the most interesting meal you’ve ever had with a politician?

It was probably at Sylvia’s with Barack Obama. This was ‘07, he was running for president and was a senator then. I had just started my diet. He ordered the fried chicken, the macaroni, all that stuff. He started digging in, and I wouldn’t eat. He says, “C’mon Rev!” I said, “Man, I don’t even touch that stuff no more.” There’s a famous picture of him eating a chicken leg and laughing because I just told him that I don’t touch that stuff. That’s when I knew I was really disciplined: I was at a soul food dinner with Barack Obama and didn’t eat the food.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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