!["Starving yourself isn't the answer because you can't sustain it."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/7f/ff/1358531509_4151_Untitled.jpg?itok=638Kq5q0 ""Starving yourself isn't the answer because you can't sustain it."")
Rapper 50 Cent has just released a fitness book, "Formula 50," where he reveals how he maintains his rippling physique.
"For me, it's being able to offer what I paid for, with having nutritionists and personal trainers travel with me and keep me in shape at different points," 50 told MTV.
The 37-year-old rap star says being fit and healthy is important because he needs the stamina to handle his long workdays and juggle multiple projects all the time. To stay ripped and lean, 50 Cent follows a high-protein, low-carb diet, lifts weights and does plenty of cardio exercise.
"I focus on my metabolism and having a high heart rate [when I work out]," says 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson. "Even when I lift weights, I do really high repetitions and I move faster. Your most important muscle is your heart, so train it accordingly."
Jackson's diet is also light on sugary sodas, juices, processed foods and junk food and heavy on lean protein and vegetables. 50 Cent, who lost 54 pounds in 2010 to play a cancer patient in a movie, says it's important to not overeat, but equally important to not starve oneself.
"Starving yourself isn't the answer because you can't sustain it," he says. "When you eat again, you're going to eat more."
The key to being fit is to adopt, and stick to, a healthy lifestyle, not look for a quick fix. "It's a shift in lifestyle," says 50 Cent.
"If [people] don't actually make the adjustments to sustain it, then they should expect to go back to the actual physical state they were in when they started."
