How does Canadian R&B superstar Deborah Cox maintain a busy tour schedule, remain healthy, and make sure all of her children are healthy as well? She admits, “It’s been tough. I think the biggest part is time management. Use your time wisely and make the most of the time.” Cox, 40, reveals how she makes the most of her time amidst a crammed schedule.
Cox is constantly on music tours. In fact, her tours place her in different cities weekly! It’s easy to make poor health choices while on the road (i.e.: junk food, fast food, etc). But not Deborah! Her favorite meal on the road is a stir-fry that she can make herself. “I usually get the egg noodles to do it and then you get like all your vegetables that you like. Throw it in a fryer with a little bit of olive oil and you can make yourself a really nice, quick stir-fry that is healthy and tastes really good. I like to use a lot of sea food because sometimes I like to give my system a break from any meat. With shrimp and fish and salmon they are perfect ways to get that protein in but you don’t overeat.” Many people who cut out meat from their diet still eat seafood: vegetarians, for example. “The key is really making sure that you have wholesome foods in your diet. I think that’s the only way I’ve been able to survive this long and I’ve never gotten sick. I’ve always managed to get fresh fruits and vegetables.” Imagine, Cox is on her tour bus passing countless fast-food restaurants. But she won’t stop until she finds a produce, for a healthier choice. “…organic places like Whole Foods and get wholesome foods to eat. You miss a home cooked meal when you’re living out of hotels. Between room service and restaurants it can be hard to find good foods [but] I try to make an effort to get that kind of stuff in that diet and I find that it’s been working.” If Cox can do it on the road, you can do it at home!
Like any good mother with young children, Cox not only manages her health, but she also managers her kids’. Now imagine one of those kids is allergic to almost anything you can think of. “…my son has a lot of food allergies – gluten, nuts, wheat, dairy and fish.” These are integral parts of the typical food pyramid in text books. So, when Cox takes her children on tour with her, you can imagine just how hard it is to prepare a decent meal for him, all the while, also focusing on the music tour itself. ” It’s really tough travelling, because we can’t eat out. His food has to be specially prepared. We do a lot of brown rice and pasta. Once I found out he was allergic to pretty much everything, we became strictly organic.” It’s a widely excepted idea that brown rice and wheat pasta (and wheat bread) are healthier than white pasta and white rice.
So why go through the hassle? It all comes back to her kids. “As far as being a mother, I try to make sure that I’m raising great citizens that have a love for humanity and grow up to be really good, well-rounded people. That’s ultimately the biggest challenge, but it’s what I intend to do.” With the challenges that she has been facing and conquering, I’m positive she will be successful in doing so!