Vegetarian Star

Phil Collen has been rocking with Def Leppard since the 80s. At 53 years old, he can still drive the band’s female fans into “hysteria” when he’s seen photographed with his shirt off. This weekend, you catch Phil giving a presentation on exercising and healthy eating at the Los Angeles Fitness Expo. Last week, we gave you a preview of our exclusive Q & A with Phil. Here’s the rest of his story.

On Reasons For Going Veg
I am a vegetarian for ethical reasons. The idea of eating dead bodies made me feel ill. With a simple progression towards being healthier and healthier now I’m currently ‘almost’ total vegan (no eggs or milk) although I do dip into the chocolates on occasion.

Green Living  At Home With Wife Helen
Well, we don’t drive a Prius, but we don’t go around spraying aerosols into the atmosphere and throwing cans and bottles down the gutter. It’s really a common sense issue. Recycling is a given—doing it and using recycled products. We use hemp products too.

Tofu, Tempeh Or Seitan
We [he and Helen] do them all.

Favorite Exercises
Muay Thai Kickboxing training and weight workouts. I also have a spin bike that I’m on all the time.

Eating Healthy On Tour
I eat pretty basic on tour. You can find great vegetarian dishes in different cities. I have a Panini grill which is great for grilling tofu and veggie burgers. I drink lots of water and eat lots of fruit and nuts too.

On Plant-Based Diets, Family Eating And Childhood Obesity
Once again, being a vegetarian is a healthy way to go as long as you’re not eating vegetarian junk food. I will state again that I became a vegetarian years ago solely due to health reasons. I refused to eat rotting flesh. My next journey towards health began 4 years after that. SOME parents can be convinced about healthy life choices. Others will turn a deaf ear understandably. You have to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. When it comes to telling parents how to feed their children, it can be a touchy subject if bad eating habits were ingrained in those parents when they were children and so on. To them it may be no other way. There are walls of excuses to get around. The most we can do is deliver the facts of healthy eating and hope that they catch on and take its benefits to heart enough to want to save their lives and the lives of their children. If we can influence parents’ trips to the grocery store and persuade them to begin to change just one meal a day for a healthier substitute then we can count that as a victory for the children’s sake.

Keeping It In The Family
My wife is a vegetarian. Although she was on her way there, Helen became full-fledged vegetarian when we started going out. I have 3 children. Rory, who’s 21 and lives with me and my wife, has never had meat in his life. Samantha who’s 6 and lives with her mom has also never had meat. My youngest, Savannah, who’s nearly 2 and lives with her mom is not on a vegetarian diet yet.

On Whether His Tattoos Are Vegan And Eco-Friendly (questions over the use of certain inks and chemicals can be read here)
We investigated the artist who was going to do our tattoos to make sure the person was qualified to carry out our creative vision. I’ve never heard that take on the inks before so no, that investigation was not on my agenda.

Favorite Vegetarian Celebrity
Prince. [And] Ghandi was pretty cool.

Don’t forget to catch Phil this weekend at the LA Fitness Expo.

Photo: PR Photos

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