The Real-Life Diet of YG, Who Loves a Cleanse

Photograph: Getty Images; Collage: Gabe Conte

Like so many brilliant ideas, rapper YG’s latest business venture—a male enhancement supplement called Cherry Bomb, released in February under his lifestyle brand 4HUNNID—was born from a group chat. “Me and my friends, we got the group chat going. There’s like 20-something of us in the chat, and we be talking about all type of shit…and sexual wellness is one of ‘em,” YG says.

The newly minted wellness entrepreneur tells GQ that he was surprised to learn just how many men deal with sexual challenges—and how eager they all are for a solution. “One thing I noticed is, with me and my homies and just people I start having convos with about this product, it's like a secret society,” he says. “People just don't openly talk about this type of product and using it. But when I start bringing it up in my conversations, I start noticing that everybody is taking a product like this.”

With Cherry Bomb, YG not only wants to provide men with an all-natural alternative to a certain blue pill, but wants to take these chats about sexual wellness out into the open. “What I’m trying to do with the brand is just normalize this, you know what I’m saying?” he says. “It's okay to talk about this. It don't got to be a secret society.”

So here we are, talking about it—along with YG’s other healthy habits, like his fondness for cleanses, commitment to daily exercise, and (probably unsurprising) belief that “sex makes your life better.”

For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and other high performers 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: I love that you’re using your platform to reduce stigma around some of the issues or insecurities men might have in bed, which is a theme that we've seen with a lot of sexual wellness products. Considering you’re in the wellness market now: Do you think of yourself as a wellness guy?

YG: Yes, I do. Back in 2015 I started going vegan and doing real cleanses—alkaline vegan, the highest level of vegan. I'm saying plant-based food and fruit—I wasn't doing nothing else for months. And I have these moments where I do this once a year. I'm very picky on the waters I drink, the food I eat, the groceries we buying. I don't promote that, but my real life is really like that. And the people who work with me, who know me, they know, ‘Nah, he really be on that type of shit in life.’

Is the veganism something that you still dabble in, or is that behind you?

No, I'll be dabbling here and there. Lately when I go on my diet or I'm doing a cleanse, I go protein and veggies and shit now, you feel me? I just stop all the carbs and all the fake sugars. If it's not natural sugar that's from fruit or agave sugar, I won't fuck with it.

Why do you choose to eat that way? Do you see a difference in your mind and body?

So I started doing cleanses because I used to drink a lot of alcohol, you know what I'm saying? And I knew, alright, the amount of alcohol I'm drinking, it's going to start to affect me. So what I need to start doing now is learning how to do these cleanses to restart my organs and shit—clean the motherfuckers out. That's the true reason why I started going vegan and doing these cleanses.

You know what? Oh my God, my mind be clear as fuck. My eyes start looking more wider. I'm going to sleep for five hours, waking up with a whole lot of energy. Shit, just be better.

That's great. It sounds like you were kind of thinking about future—you, too, and your longevity when you do this.

Oh yeah. That's mandatory. I got two daughters and all that. So everything is about longevity with me.

What does your fitness regimen look like?

I work out Monday through Fridays. I do push ups, bench press. I do do abs, and I run two miles on the treadmill Monday through Friday every day.

When you're on tour or when you're deep into creating an album and you maybe don't have as much time, do you still fit in that same workout regimen? Or how do you adapt?

Oh yeah, I fit it in. I fit it in. When I'm on tour, I wake up and I work out. It's a part of the schedule.

I got back to LA yesterday and I was going to work out, but I was so tired. I said, Man, you know what? I'm going to just start this shit back up tomorrow. So weekends where we partying extra hard and it’s going longer than the normal, I might miss a day. I miss a day here, there type shit. But most of the time it's Monday through Fridays—especially when I'm on tour, I'm working out every day.

Hey, I mean, sleep's important, too. You’ve got to take those breaks when you need to.

I definitely get my five to six hours every night for sure.

Do you have any other wellness habits? Anything you do to relax?

The gym is therapeutic for me because when I'm out of the gym, when I'm done, my energy be high, my mind be clear. And then when I'm going through some shit, when I'm stressed out or something or I got shit going on that shit be heavy on my mind—when you in the gym, that shit goes away.

Yeah, for sure. People talk a lot about, whether it's on purpose or not, mindful movement and using exercise as a form of meditation almost.

Yeah, I definitely do that when I'm stretching and shit. Yeah, that shit feels like meditation for me.

Now that you’ve entered the sexual wellness market, how do you think about a person's relationship to sex as being part of their overall wellness routine? Do you think about the ways that sex can positively benefit someone's life?

I think all the time. [Laughs] Yeah, because what? Oh my God, when I be going through shit and be stressed out and then I have sex, it feels like I'm rebooted and I'm ready. So I think sex is very healthy for people in their life. It's a part of life, sex. But yes, I think about that all the time for sure. And good sex makes your life better. It makes your relationships at your crib better. You know what I'm saying?

For sure.

I'm all about that.

Originally Appeared on GQ