Having a 7’1″ height in the NBA has its perks, but it is a tough task to maintain such a body. And who better than Shaquille O’Neal to know this fact, who always intimidated opposition defenders with his domination on the court during his laying days? However, The Big Diesel struggled to keep his body fit throughout his NBA career, despite his heroics on the court. And in his own words, Shaq’s parents’ health and dietary suggestions were not much of a help.

In a recent interview, the 4x NBA champion discussed growing comfortable in his own body and how he takes care of himself at age 51. Shaq also addressed how he turned around his fitness journey through self-education and motivation from different sources. But first, let’s see what Shaq has to say about his parents’ health and dietary suggestions!

Shaquille O’Neal on his humble upbringing and his parents’ lack of understanding on required diets

While in a conversation with Kaitlin Reilly of Yahoo, Shaq revealed that growing up, he only knew about two vegetables, spinach, and carrot. He remembered his parents telling him, “If you eat your carrots, you won’t go blind, and if you eat your spinach, you’ll be as strong as Popeye.” However, in his quest to become a world-class athlete worth $600 million, Shaq had to educate himself. His parents obviously wanted the best for Shaq, but they didn’t have the necessary knowledge to arm the Big Fella in his fitness journey.

The Lakers legend said that the league today is very different from what it was back in the day. “Now guys are really conscious of their bodies and have nutritionists. There’s more understanding,” he added. The Big Diesel further stated that today the athletes have the additional pressure to “look the part”. It is much more than just being a great athlete, your physique should equate to your skills.

However, later, Shaq took it upon himself to educate himself about fitness and take charge of his body. After putting in the effort in the gym, the Lakers icon shocked the world a few months ago with a picture of his ripped physique on Instagram, which garnered over 1 million likes.

Read More: “His Skeleton Was Big”: 1200 Lbs of Weight Ruined Shaquille O’Neal’s Body Beyond Repair

Shaquille O’Neal follows the regular man routine in his fitness journey

Shaq said that he likes to keep his fitness routine like a regular man. He said that a regular man doesn’t have extensive equipment or ample time. So the Big Man keeps his regime just as simple. He said, “I don’t run and jump and do all that extra stuff.” Shaq added that he eats a sandwich when he wants to, he just tries to not have multiple cheat meals in one day. Just by keeping it simple, the NBA legend has managed to shed over 40 pounds.

Because of his impressive fitness journey so far, Shaq is now motivated to be an underwear model. He said that he wants “to do an underwear ad” with his two sons.

Watch This Story: Millionaire Charles Barkley may be in a 1,000,000,000 $ debt to Shaquille O’Neal