During an appearance on the “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” podcast, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich once again credited the group’s healthy diet and lifestyle for its longevity, insisting all his bandmates eat well and try to live balanced lives when they’re not on the road.

Regarding the fact that METALLICA has been preparing to embark on a two-year world tour, Lars said: “It doesn’t get any easier whatsoever. It takes twice the effort or more just to reach the same level, just to plateau. So it’s not I’m on the Peloton an hour and a half a day and I’m working out and I’m watching what I’m eating and I’m being healthy and all that to get better; it’s just to stay the same at this age. But I take it seriously. All of us, in our own ways, take it seriously. All of us have different routines, our own unique ways of approaching it. And the main thing is that when we get up on that stage, we wanna be there for the other guys in the band and, obviously, for the audience and be the best we can be.”

He continued: “I do find myself often at a crossroads in my mind where I eat the same shit for breakfast every day, I eat the same shit for lunch every day, more or less the same thing for dinner every day. I’m very, very routine based, and I really like to be in that routine. But as soon as I’m out of that routine, it’s, like, ‘I need my tofu for dinner. And I need my protein. And I need this and that.’ And I kind of sit there and go, ‘Really? You can’t just go to a restaurant with your friends and have what’s on the menu? You’ve gotta be that rigid?’ If you could sit here with your 22-year-old (self), I’d go, ‘Really? That’s what you’ve become?’ So it’s a constant battle between those two approaches.

“Somebody said a couple of weeks ago when I was explaining these new lifestyle choices, as we call ’em, he said, ‘It feels good to feel good.’ And I like that,” Ulrich added. “I still occasionally drink, but it’s, like, once a month now. And I eat my protein and my yogurt and my egg whites and my tofu… This is where you’re gonna end up if you wanna keep doing this shit.”

Lars went on to say that he doesn’t mind all the sacrifices that come along with being in a touring rock band.

“When I’m up on stage and I feel strong and I’m in that moment and the four of us are connecting and we’re connecting with an audience, whatever the size is, all of it’s worth it,” he said.

“Who would have thought, coming up on 41 years later that METALLICA would still be functioning, would still be relevant enough to be sitting here with you guys, thank you very much, still going out there and playing a two-year tour and putting records out that still connect with people. Even in the wake of something like ‘Stranger Things’ last summer, reaching more and more people (through the appearance on METALLICA‘s classic song ‘Master Of Puppets’ in the show). Who the fuck would have thought that?

“(Paul) McCartney just turned 80. He’s still out there. (Mick) Jagger is doing all those sexy bum wiggles better than he’s ever done and connecting. It’s inspiring,” Ulrich added. “And I think that as long as the shoulders and the necks and the knees and the backs, if they keep functioning on the four METALLICA guys, we’ll keep doing this hopefully for another 20 years — egg whites and tofu included.”