Vince Carter has proved all season long that he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level.
The 40-year-old has already said that he is coming back next season, and has shown no signs of calling it quits just yet. Recently, the 8-time NBA All-Star sat down with GQ to discuss how he has managed to stay healthy all these years to still do what he does at the age of 40.
During the interview, Carter explained one important thing about his diet that his mother taught him when he was younger that has stuck with him his entire life.
GQ: There are times where I’ve seen postgame meals consisting of pizza and wings and there’s a flight to catch afterward. How do you maintain trying to eat healthy later with landing in a city in the early morning and the options available at those times not being the healthiest?
Vince Carter: That’s a challenge but there’s also little things that I don’t hear people talk about as much that I think is very important that I learned as a young kid. The one thing my mom told me—and I hated it—was when I eat, whether it’s bad or good, not to go right to sleep. Sit up for 30 minutes. I think that’s an issue for us because we eat late at night. I don’t care if you go out or not, you go straight to bed afterward because we’re getting into cities late at night and you’re ready to get to bed, so the food sits there. You want to stay up, so the food can run its course and digest. That’s been a big thing for me over my career. It might sound stupid, but that’s something I’ve always done. I don’t care how tired I am, I just try to sit up instead of laying down, so the food doesn’t sit in my stomach. And stretching helps me a lot, as far as keeping my body loose and intact, as well.
It’s hard enough to stay on a regular schedule with how quickly the world moves these days, but taking the extra 30 minutes out of your day to digest before you go to bed is very important.
Carter has played in the NBA since 1998, so he definitely knows a thing or two about staying in tip-top shape on a hectic schedule.
(H/T For The Win, GQ)
