MDthe washington post
.
thursday, november14
,
2019
Wellness
BY HELEN CAREFOOT
You know Bobby Berk as the
design expert on Netflix’s outra-
geously popular show “Queer
Eye.” Along with cast members
Antoni Porowski, Karamo
Brown, Jonathan Van Ness and
Tan France, Berk has traveled
across the United States — and,
this season, to Japan — helping
“heroes” discover their best
selves. Born in Houston and
raised in Missouri, Berk moved to
New York in his early 20s and,
after years working in retail and
building his reputation as a de-
signer, opened his own show-
room in 2006 and later launched
his own full-service design firm
in 2015. The 38-year-old, who
now lives in Los Angeles with his
husband, has plenty of irons in
the fire beyond the series: He’s
started a furniture line, launched
a comprehensive lifestyle web-
site, and is developing and execu-
tive-producing new television
projects. Here’s how he stays well
amid all his ventures. This inter-
view has been edited for length
and clarity.
Q: You said in an interview that
self-care isn’t selfish or
indulgent but necessary. What
does self-care mean to you, and
what did it take to get to that
place?
A: I think self care is absolutely
essential to keep you being able
to care for others. You cannot
help people to the best of your
ability if you are not at 100
percent.
This has been more of a
realization, honestly, since the
show came out. I was making
sure everything was great with
work, and I never really said no.
Sometimes saying no actually is
the best answer you can give
somebody. Taking on too much
not only doesn’t allow you to do
everything to the best of your
ability, but it also eventually just
drives you down. And then
you’re no good to anybody.
Q: What inspired you to launch
a website that encompasses
lifestyle elements beyond design,
such as nutrition and fitness?
A: I’m very passionate about
design, but at the end of the day
I’m not just a designer. There are
so many other things in life that
I’m passionate about. I wanted
there to be a place where I could
share those things and I could
bring together not just
information from me on design,
but also from other people who
are an authority in their field.
We wanted to combine
everything that could assist you
to live a better life. That’s not
just design, that’s food, it’s
fitness, it’s travel, it’s fashion.
Q: What’s your fitness routine
like?
A: I was in the worst shape I’ve
been in my life after the show
started. I was always on the run
and I wasn’t eating right. I went
from working out four or five
days a week and being in great
shape — 185 pounds, all muscle
— before the show to 210 pounds
with no muscle. I thought to
myself: I had such a good
regimen when I worked with
Zach [Feldman, a trainer and
chef whom Bobby met in Kansas
City when filming the third and
fourth seasons of Queer Eye]. I
was like, I want you to move here
and be my full-time trainer and
chef and to also be a contributor
to my website. I want you to be
able to share what you’re helping
me with and the things that you
know with all of our fans and
readers.
Anytime I’m gone in the same
place for longer than a week, I
bring Zach with me because I
need somebody holding me
accountable. He moved with me
to Philly for two and a half
months, and he was in Japan
with me. We work out every
morning and 90 percent of the
time every evening as well. I’m
doing two-a-days now. There are
weeks when sometimes I can’t
work out, so I try to get in as
much as possible.
It’s good to have somebody
that can hold you accountable,
even if it’s not a trainer. That’s
why I’m a big fan of group
fitness classes. You start to make
relationships with these people,
and when you have those days
when you don’t show up, maybe
they’re texting you and they’ll
say, Hey, I’ve missed you.
Q: What role does nutrition play
in your life?
A: Zach always cooks me a great
healthy, high-protein breakfast
and then for lunch, high-protein
and carbs. Evenings, it’s usually
low carbs or no carbs and lots of
vegetables; usually fish or
Beyond Meat or something like
that. We’re pretty much
pescatarian and try to eat vegan
as much as possible, but we’re
not super strict about it.
I cut out a lot of snacking; we
just don’t keep snacks around
the house. A lot of times with
snacking, you’re not even
hungry, you just want that
action of munching on
something. I find a nice high-
protein nut or seed gives me
something to munch on without
it being potato chips. I keep a lot
of frozen fruit around. I put
frozen fruit in a Vitamix with
some Greek yogurt and a little
bit of almond milk, and it
creates a frozen yogurt. It makes
a nice little sweet treat that has
no added sugar in it.
In the beginning it was
harder, but those foods like mac
and cheese didn’t make me
happy. They caused stomach
issues, and they caused anxiety
with putting on a lot of weight
because I wasn’t eating healthy.
Q: How do you handle the
physical demands of designing
the spaces on the show?
A: It was definitely harder in
seasons one and two, because I
didn’t have the crew I have now.
I had the same crew, just not as
big of a crew. I was definitely
having to be more hands on.
When the show came out, I
realized I had about a quarter of
the screen time as everybody
else because I was always
working. I learned to delegate to
my team more and to let them
go and trust that they were
going to make me proud. I tried
to focus on having more quality
time with our hero.
Q: You’ve shared some really
personal stuff with the people
featured on the show. Do you do
anything to prepare for or
decompress from a particularly
emotional episode?
A: In seasons one and two, there
was definitely a lot of crying
both on and off camera. It was
surprising; we were not
expecting to have emotional
connections with these people in
just a few days. Because we knew
what we were there to do in
seasons three and four, it was a
little bit easier on us
emotionally. We weren’t shocked
and surprised every single day.
Between seasons one and two
and seasons three and four, we
were able to do a lot of self-
reflecting and self-healing. It’s
not just our heroes learning
things from us. We learn things
from them, too.
Q: What elements of design help
you feel your best, and what
could someone change in their
own living space to improve
their wellness?
A: For me, a more minimalistic
home with fewer things makes
me happy. I have so much going
on in my mind all the time, I
need my surroundings to be
minimal. How your home is set
up can really have a big effect on
your mental health. If your
house is messy and
disorganized, it can cause you to
be messy and disorganized in
your mind.
I love Marie Kondo’s
philosophy that if it does not
spark joy, why do you have it?
It’s just cluttering. It’s taking
away from the effectiveness of
the things that really do spark
joy in your life. I always say find
those few things that really
make you happy.
Q: You left home at 15, had
difficulty being accepted because
of your sexuality and have
struggled with depression. What
do you wish someone had told
you as a young person?
A: I would tell myself and any
kid is that being different isn’t
bad. I’m living proof that being
different will set you apart and
will add to your success. Realize
that middle school and high
school is a blink of an eye in the
amount of time of your entire
life. At the end of the day, look at
me. Look at Jonathan. We were
both the outcasts in school. We
were the ones people were really
not that nice to and the ones
who never really fit in with the
normal people. Being different
and being unique might not be a
popular thing now, but as an
adult it is what will make you
shine.
Q: Have you picked up any
wellness tips from your
castmates?
A: I definitely take way better
care of my skin now because of
Jonathan. There are things that I
need to be doing so that my skin
does continue to be its best self.
Notice I didn’t say so that my
skin continues to look young,
because that’s not what is
important — it’s that your skin
continues to be its best self.
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TAKING CARE
Bobby Berk of ‘Queer Eye’ has a lot going on. How does he do it?
CHRISTOPHER SMITH/NETFLIX