It was quite difficult for Sylvester Stallone to get into fighting shape for the role of Rocky Balboa. It is one of the most famous characters in movie history.
“I used to drink about 25 cups [of coffee] a day when I was doing Rocky III,” the actor told The Wall Street Journal of the his fitness routine for the 1982 film, where boxer Rocky famously fought Clubber Lang (played by then-newcomer Mr. T).
“My entire breakfast would be maybe two [small] oatmeal cookies made with brown rice and 10 cups of coffee because I wanted to keep my body fat down to 2.8 percent.”
His diet was so restrictive, Stallone, 76, says it impacted his memory.
“I was forgetting my phone number. I was eating just tuna fish. My memory was shot, it was completely gone,” Stallone says of his experience making the film. “I was getting all kinds of debilitating physical effects. But it was for the cause.”
These days, Stallone says he has pulled back on the coffee intake — “I keep getting reflux, so I have to cut it down,” he says — and breakfast is a family affair, with wife Jennifer Flavin, 54, taking charge.
“My wife is focused on breakfast. It’s amazing,” he tells The Wall Street Journal. “It’s avocado, four eggs, cottage cheese, three slices of watermelon and grapes.”
The pair — who reconciled last year after filing for divorce — chronicle their daily lives in their Paramount + reality show, The Family Stallone, which also features their three daughters, Sophia, 26, Sistine, 24, and Scarlet, 21, who often tease their Dad about his workout aesthetic.
