We’ve all seen a lot of things go into and come out of Jackass star Steve-O over the years. But he tells us he’s since switched to a vegan diet and life of sobriety. Steve O says he made the move on Valentine’s Day 2008: “I came across a video of this Krishna consciousness guy in India,” he confesses. “He was talking about how it’s more difficult to be saved in the Western world because there’s less respect for life and the planet … And I was sitting there snorting a pile of ketamine and another pile of cocaine, popping pills, drinking booze, and smoking weed. Watching that video, I determined, ‘I have to quit eating meat.’” He adds, “I lived a lifestyle that was so fucked up,” and now “I’m trying to compensate. I’m so over-the-top conscientious of my diet.” These days, Steve-O is spreading the gospel by contributing tips and recipes as a coach for the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart. So what can you possibly learn from Steve-O about health and wellness? Read on in today’s edition of the L.A. Diet.
Wednesday, January 4
I have a morning routine. I get up and take this coconut water that they pour straight from the coconut in Thailand and immediately freeze. They ship it over to the states frozen and you get it at Whole Foods or wherever. All that Naked Coconut Water or VitaCoco is made from glorified sugar water, as I understand it. But the frozen coconut water has never been pasteurized, it’s totally raw, and all the enzymes are intact.
I took the coconut water and chia seeds. While the chia seeds are soaking for fifteen minutes, which helps me absorb it better, this is my meditation time or sometimes I walk my two dogs. I have this nutrition guru guy, John Jeffries, who gave me a recipe for this crazy shake with the raw coconut water, chia seeds, organic berries, and a litany of Whole Foods health optimizers. And before I drink my shake, I melt three ice cubes of E3Live, this algae super-food that you freeze. I’ll drink a pint of water with a bunch of that shit in there.
My nutrition guru guy told me to steer clear of Tofurky. It’s too heavily processed. He suggested I eat Gardein, which is like, part garden, part protein. For lunch, I ate their “Chick’n” tenders and had a salad which consisted of organic spinach, kale, alfalfa sprouts, and tomatoes — everything organic. I have one guilty pleasure in my diet and that’s Robusto Italian dressing from Wishbone. I don’t always use it, but I even go to a different supermarket for this. And I pretty much drink just water with everything.
Fuck three meals a day. You gotta eat at least four or five meals a day. So for lunch No. 2, I had organic broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower, which I used to scoop up hummus and hot sauce.
So for dinner No. 1, I had one of Amy’s Organic Soups, which I eat right out of the aluminum can. I should avoid the aluminum, but I don’t. The shit is just so delicious, I do love it. It was their Indian dal, with curried lentils. For my second dinner, I went out to Real Food Daily, which is a super-great joint. It’s maybe not the healthiest shit there, but I got the nachos with melted cashew cheese. They’re so fucking good! And anytime I’m at Real Food Daily, I have to get the “mutt-juice,” which is a blend of a little bit of everything: beets, kale, celery, everything. I fucking love it.
Thursday, January 5
Woke up with the same breakfast routine that I usually do. Then for lunch No. 1, I grabbed Candle 79–brand macaroni and cheese from my freezer. For lunch No. 2, I hit up a vegan restaurant called Truly Vegan on Hollywood Boulevard. I ate a lentil burger there, which I ate for lunch every single day I was filming a new TV show over there, with a protein salad. For dinner, I just hit up another tub of hummus with organic veggies.
Friday, January 6
That morning it was the same routine of coconut water and chia seeds in a shake. For my first lunch, I went to the Golden Mean Vegan Café in Santa Monica and had The Works Burger, along with the vegan minestrone. The Works Burger is the hot shit item here, and you can’t go to the Golden Mean without eating dessert, so I had the coconut cake.
For my second lunch, I ran into Whole Foods Pasadena and had them make me a juice, getting ready for motorcycle school. The juice I get the most and got that day is called the “Bodytox,” a detoxifier.
I only had one dinner that night: Amy’s spinach, rice, and red bean soup. It was the first time I’d tried that one and it was great.
Saturday, January 7
When I don’t have time for my morning ritual like this, I just make some organic oatmeal.
I was really on the fly that day, man. I would not normally eat this, but I went to Subway and had a foot-long veggie sub with a veggie patty. This was in a pinch, so I can’t even say with certainty that it was 100 percent vegan. I can’t see why the veggie patty at Subway wouldn’t be vegan, but it’s entirely possible that it wasn’t. It was certainly better than a lot of this shit I eat. I don’t feel really bad about it, but it wasn’t the crown jewel of the week.
I went on a date on Saturday night with someone who has a real problem with eating veggies. So we went to Houston’s. They have a vegetable sushi roll which I’ve had, and as long as you tell them not to put the cream sauce inside, it’s vegan. I also got the fire-roasted artichoke and instead of butter, I had them bring me a classic vinaigrette. I also got a veggie burger with no bun, ‘cause they don’t have any bun that doesn’t have eggs. And steamed carrots on the side.
I would love it if my date was vegan. But if I’m going to go around scolding people for eating meat, I’m just not that guy. When I was still on drugs and even in the early part of sobriety, I was one of those people telling everyone how it is and what to do, and I don’t do that anymore.
Sunday, January 8
I wasn’t home on Sunday morning. But I went home around noon and did my shake routine. A little later, I ran into Whole Foods and got a vegan falafel wrap. Then I brought my dogs to my date’s house for dinner. It’s funny, because this girl and I eat very differently, so all I ate was potatoes. And later a friend came and brought me tacos from Café Gratitude. They were great; Café Gratitude is fuckin’ dope.
Monday, January 9
I went to the box of Cocoa Pebbles. This is something I’m not proud of, but it said on the ingredients “rice, sugar,” but nothing that can come from an animal, so I sat down and tried a bowl of that shit with almond milk. It was fucking delicious. But partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is bad for you; that’s like the most cancerous shit I’ve put in my body for a long time. I don’t recommend that.
I went to the beach in Malibu and hit Whole Foods on the way. In the car, I munched down this fucking incredible thing called Kale Crunch. I ate the entire bag, which was spirulina, orange Creamsicle–flavored kale. It tastes like candy. And I had some curry tofu vegan soup and some tabouli as well, all in the car.
On the way back from Malibu, I spotted a Cirque du Soleil tent going up on the Santa Monica Pier. So I fucking went straight into the tent to see how soon I could see it because I love, love, love Cirque Du Soliel. The tent wasn’t fully erect yet. The show is Ovo and isn’t going up until the 20th. We went into Bubba Gump’s on the pier for lunch No. 2. I asked what they had for vegans, and they actually produced a vegan menu. I was really impressed. I went for the mushroom veggie burger and it was absolutely delicious.
For dinner, it was a home-cooked meal of vegan pizza with tomato sauce. I don’t cook. I’m limited to arranging raw organic veggie plates and salads, microwaving Gardein fake meat and Amy’s Organic Soup, and using the blender for shakes. Then we went and watched a movie and had a bag of popcorn chips. I’m not too proud of that.
Earlier: Porn Star Ron Jeremy Makes Perfect Omelettes, Knows More About Surf and Turf Than You [GS]
Debi Mazar Cooks Like ‘Mama,’ Misses New York Bagels [GS]
