Wellness Wednesday: Tank Reveals How Cake Helps Him Stay in Shape

R&B singer Tank, who will perform this year on the Essence Festival mainstage, stopped by the Essence offices in New York Tuesday to dish on the state of R&B, his new single and what fans can expect from him this year at the festival. (Spoiler: He has no plans to take his shirt off.)


Tank also spoke candidly about the steps he takes to stay healthy. In this week’s #WellnessWednesday post, Tank shares secrets to maintaining his physique, which involves eating fish and cake. Yeah, it’s an unusual combination, but clearly, it’s working.


In an Instagram post, you wrote “Look as good in your clothes as you do out of them.” What do you do to achieve that goal?


For me, and I think that people are starting to understand this, but it starts with what goes into your body. The interior definitely reflects the exterior.


A couple years ago, I went straight pescitarian. No chicken, no beef, no pork– just fish. What I noticed is that now I don’t have to work out as hard and as often, because I’m not putting things in my body that counteract the work that I’ve put into it.


How do you stay fit and healthy on the road?


[I work out] as much as I can. But when I have a heavy promotion schedule, and I’m working on four hours of sleep, I don’t worry too much about not working out, because I’m drinking my water and I’m eating some good food. That’s how I stay in shape.


But I’m active. We do a lot of running around when we’re promoting. I do try to get some push ups and sit ups in, though. 


What is your indulgence of choice when you’re not 100 percent on your healthy eating plan?


Well, my nickname is snacks. They gave me that name on the road because sometimes when we would get of the bus at a rest stop, and I’d buy two bags of snacks: Chips, Twix, Oreos, orange cupcakes, and iced honey buns. Yeah, I would have all of that. Folks would look at me and ask, “Don’t you have to take your shirt off tonight?” And my response would be (laughing) “I sure do. Anybody want some snacks?”


But I believe in everything in moderation. If you want a piece of cake, go on ahead and cut you a small piece of cake. You want to throw some ice cream on there? Go on ahead and enjoy that. Because if you don’t control those cravings by putting them in good portions, you’ll crash. And when you crash, you dive in and eat the whole cake. And then, three days later, you’re trying to figure out where the bulge came from.


My favorite cake, by the way, is yellow lemon cake. Let that thing sit a day and let the frosting set in…


Last question. Who would win in a triathlon: You, Ginuwine or Tyrese?


Oh,  it’s not even close! Me. No contest. And they would say the same thing.