We Asked Rob Lowe What He Eats While on Set—Here Are the 5 Lunches in His Rotation

Plus, the actor shares his morning and night routines.

Reviewed by Dietitian Emily Lachtrupp, M.S., RD

Rob Lowe is turning 60 next month—yes, really. And in this exclusive interview with EatingWell, the actor and current host of The Floor talks about the lifestyle habits he maintains for healthy aging.

Back in October, we first spoke to Lowe about his favorite Atkins snacks, his ideal last meal, travel tips and more. Now, through his partnership with Atkins, we dove deeper with Lowe about his daily rituals, plus the nutritious lunches he enjoys while busy on set, and his perspective on sobriety. Read on for the personal details.

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EatingWell: With your birthday coming up, do you have any advice regarding healthy aging?

Lowe: I think it's two things: body and spirit. For the body, it's about a consistent regimen that's sustainable. It's not a particular diet, it's a way of life. It's why I have been Atkins’ spokesman for many years now because I've been eating that way since I was in my 30s: low-carb, lots of healthy proteins and trying to keep an eye on my sugar. It's sustainable, doable and easy. I also work out a lot, and it's more for my mood than anything else. It really helps my head and my thought processes, and it's usually outside. I think being outside is super, super important even if you live somewhere where the weather isn't great. And sleep is huge—I'm very lucky that I sleep well and I sleep a lot.

And then the spirit of it, which I actually think is almost even more important than the body element, is maintaining a natural curiosity about life. Still being curious, still being interested and engaged and open to new things and actively seeking out new things and memories so you have great stories for your life. Those two things put together I think are a really great recipe for anyone—it certainly has been for me.

EatingWell: Do you have a morning routine that you stick by? Night routine?

Lowe: My life is sort of divided into when I’m working and shooting or when I have some time off and I'm at home for long stretches. So when I'm at home, I try to sleep in because when I work I have to get up at all hours. I try to milk that clock as long as I can. When I wake up, I start with a cup of coffee, do a little bit of prayer, a little bit of meditation, then get to the gym. And then after the gym, I have my first meal and then go and do whatever kind of busy work I need to do: office work, emails, things like that. In the afternoon I try to get outside somehow, whether it's surfing or a walk, whatever to get out in the world, get sun on your face and air in your lungs. At night I'm with the family and the dogs, it's simple. My life is really, really, really simple when I'm off the clock.

When I'm on the clock working, I start my day just with some water and coffee. I drink a lot of water and then I have a nice big lunch. Sometimes I work out at lunch—I've done an entire TV series where I work out every single lunch break. It was West Wing, I did it for four years. Went to the gym every single day at lunch, but now, not so much.

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EatingWell: What are some of your favorite lunches to help you stay satisfied while on set?

Lowe: I'm a creature of habit. I have meals that I cycle through that I love. I just had a Tostada salad with grilled chicken today, I have that once a week for sure. El Pollo Loco’s yummy seasoned chicken with coleslaw, maybe a little side of beans, that's another one. I'll have chicken kebabs with a little hummus and Greek salad. And I'll do a lightly breaded chicken Parm with a miso salad. These are all super-yummy lunches, by the way. And I have been known to do a protein-style In-N-Out hamburger, and I drink sparkling water or water with lemon. It's pretty simple.

EatingWell: Do you have any advice for those looking to start their sobriety journey? Any misconceptions that you wish you could debunk about sober living?

Lowe: It's such a deeply personal choice for everyone. For me, I got sober on May 8, 1990, and I was at a point in my life where I knew that my relationship with alcohol was a detriment. I think a lot of people go through that; it can be a real detriment. But I think that more insidiously, it's maybe something you don't really notice until it's years of cumulative infinitesimal incremental negatives to your life. The notion of Dry January is a testament to those people who want to experiment with, “What would it be like if I just move this out of my life for a while?” It's in the zeitgeist in a way that it certainly wasn't for me the years ago when I first gave up alcohol. There's so many other options today. There's great nonalcoholic beers, there's nonalcoholic wines, there's so many mocktails.

My biggest thing because I got sober in my mid-20s was that I would somehow not have as much fun or I would have to figure out how to have a different version of fun. I remember going, “Well, what am I going to drink at Dodger Stadium? Maybe I'll just never go again.” Because what's the point of going to Dodger Stadium if you can't have a beer? Of course I've been going for years and it's absolutely great, but there was a moment of readjustment. I think that has been made much easier with some of the really fun non-alc products that are out there.

Related: I Cut Out Alcohol for Dry January—Here's What Happened

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Read the original article on Eating Well.