He is iron man! The former poster boy for sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll continues to worship at the altar of heavy metal. But now it's the kind you lift

Men's Fitness, Nov, 2003 by Jeff O'Connell, Michael Glynn

WHEN A ROCK Star tells you his pants are loose, any number of reasons spring to mind--a year of exercise and clean living isn't one of them. But that is precisely why Ozzy Osbourne, former Black Sabbath lead singer and current star of MTV's megahit The Osbournes, no longer strains the seams on his leather trousers.

"[My wife] Sharon bought them for me" says Ozzy in his home gym, wrapping up an hour-and-a-half-long workout. "And I can get them on me now. I got f***ing room to spare."

Living inside MTV's fishbowl, Ozzy's newfound dedication to working out appears designed as much to maintain his occasionally tenuous grip on sanity as it is to keep him physically fit. Since fall 2002 his personal trainer, Pete Steinfeld, has helped the rocker shed 34 pounds from his frame (to 165) and 5 1/2 inches from his waistline (to 32) with four or five days a week of cardio, usually done on an elliptical trainer, and resistance training. Some days he boxes; once a week he heads to the UCLA track for four miles of running. Today Ozzy cranks out a nine-minute mile, down from 12 when he started.

Hear now The Prince of Darkness on fit-and-healthy living.

ON WORKING OUT Even in my crazy days, I never wanted to be overweight. And when I was drinking large amounts of booze and partying all the time, it was inevitable. I always had one foot in the gym and one foot in the bar. So it's good therapy for me. I get a heartbeat.

ON INTENSITY Pete's not from the old school that goes, 'No pain, no gain: I'm not out here to break my f***ing--I'm not going to get a f***-ing medal at the end of this. I'm here because I want to work my body.

ON FITNESS AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS Not only is it good for my body, I've written five songs in the last three weeks. F***ing great songs. You know, it's good for the body and the mind.

ON EXERCISE CLASSES AND TAPES I think it's horses**t. I don't like--I'm not into the group--if Ozzy Osbourne went into one of them classes at these gyms, they'd all go: [makes stuttering sound].

ON HIS DIET NOW I-I-I-I've--now my diet consists of nonfat cottage cheese, fruit, and turkey. Instead of having breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I'll have a bit of protein in the morning, then a protein shake about noon, then at 2 o'clock I'll have some more turkey. I try and eat about eight times a day. I'm not anorexic, believe me. I eat like a f***ing horse.

ON HIS DIET THEN I-I-I would eat anything, but with a 12-pack of beer inside me. Then I'm on the phone and smoking pot--a joint or something--I'm eating f***ing burritos up the ying-yang, pizzas, any s**t. All my mistakes, all my stupid f***-ups that I've done in my life--which I don't regret, because now I look at it as a learning process--was a direct result of alcohol and drugs or both. Because I wouldn't go near either [unintelligible ... sounds like "a chicken or a bar"].

ON WEIGHT LOSS I wasn't feeling good yesterday. And every [unintelligible] is f***ing, is telling you that you'll be 10 pounds underweight, 10 pounds over, whatever. No--I'm here to finally set [unintelligible] that believes its own ... and it was on a carpet and [unintelligible] I was 160 pounds. When I started I weighed 199 pounds.

ON BEING AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS Before you know it, it's true, you have a new body. You can [unintelligible] you new bones. Trying. I'm going to get nervous, getting [unintelligible].