Lady Gaga’s (40) Private Chef Reveals the Food Routine Behind Her Energy

Touring schedules are brutal on the body, yet Lady Gaga somehow keeps enough energy to headline arenas night after night. Her longtime personal chef and childhood best friend has quietly been behind a lot of that stamina.

The actual routine is a lot less mysterious than the stage persona suggests. Keep reading to see what really keeps her going.

A Salad That Shows Up No Matter the Time Zone

According to her chef Bo O’Connor, one habit barely changes no matter where Gaga is in the world. Gaga “definitely will always have a salad throughout the day,” O’Connor told PEOPLE, whether it lands at lunch or dinner.

Nothing about it is a plain garden salad either, since the version Gaga eats usually includes heartier ingredients like protein and whole grains rather than just lettuce. It is built to actually hold her over between rehearsals rather than leave her hungry an hour later.

A Day That Is More Structured Than It Looks

Behind the glamour, her actual eating pattern follows a pretty consistent shape. Breakfast usually lands on a coconut water smoothie or eggs with vegetables, while lunch tends to be a quinoa bowl loaded with black beans, shrimp and vegetables.

Dinner rotates between turkey burgers with sweet potato fries, roasted chicken, or a gluten-free pasta piled with greens and shrimp. None of it looks especially restrictive, just consistent enough to keep her fueled through a demanding schedule.

Snacks Built for the Road, Not the Vending Machine

On tour, the go to snacks lean toward things that travel well and do not spike energy and then crash it. Whole grain pretzels and crackers show up often, alongside nuts, rice crisps and the occasional square of bittersweet chocolate.

Green juice made with kale, spinach, celery and lemon rounds things out, along with plenty of coconut water and tea to stay hydrated through long performances. It is a routine built for stamina rather than anything trendy.

Gaga does not treat any of it as a strict rulebook either, since she has been known to post a bowl of Fruity Pebbles next to a burger and fries the night before a big award show. The real routine seems to be less about discipline for its own sake and more about having enough fuel to make it through the next show.