Brooks & dunn: 'we really do have a good thing' | members only

Brooks: Yeah, I guess. It's just how I act and how I am and how I think. I like to think, in some regards, I try to mature in a respectful way. Probably when I was 30 I was a little

less respectful of the world around me. But honestly, I'm as healthy as I can remember being in a long time. I try to do cardio every day and eat way healthier, drink way less than I

was, and that's just been a natural progression. The older you get, the pain of really getting drunk, the next day it's like, _Man, this sucks._ ARE THERE THINGS YOU DO DIFFERENTLY

— SLEEP, DIET, EXERCISE? Dunn: You do have to exercise. Brooks: All of the above. Dunn: All of the above, but that's nothing that we didn't have to do when we were younger, too.

If you establish those habits at an early age, you can carry it over through the aches and pains at this age. Brooks: We had tours years ago where as soon as we got done with the show,

we'd head for the bars before we'd go to the next town. That was a lot of fun. We aren't inclined to do that. AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR DIET — AVOID ANYTHING? Dunn: I cut back to a

half a bag of potato chips after 10 at night. Other than that, we just hydrate between cocktails and keep rolling. Brooks: Honestly, for several weeks now, I've been fasting until about

one or two in the afternoon and then I'll eat. I love avocados, for instance. Guacamole toast. Dunn: It’s a healthy protein. Brooks: I make guacamole every day. I'm not

exaggerating. I've probably got six [avocados] in the fridge right now at different levels of getting ripe. At night, I whip up some shrimp and pasta and whatever. I love to cook, but

I've found [that] if I just keep it to one meal a day in the evening, I'm really fine. I try not to eat that much because, man, it is hard. Metabolism. I get a potbelly and I

don't like how it looks, so I just have to go to work on it. I have a winery [Arrington Vineyards, near Nashville] and I love to drink. Especially wine — and it'll make you fat in

a hurry. Brooks & Dunn perform "Play Something Country” in Atlanta with Lainey Wilson. Braden Carney AFTER 20 YEARS TOGETHER — YOU FAMOUSLY BROKE UP IN 2009 —  DID YOU MISS EACH

OTHER? No, we still communicated. We traveled to Europe and did all kinds of things together. It kind of gave us the freedom to actually hang out on a social basis. Brooks: Did a little duck

hunting, this and that. We saw each other a lot. YOU REUNITED IN 2015 FOR A LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY —_REBA [MCENTIRE], BROOKS & DUNN: TOGETHER IN VEGAS_. WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THAT? Dunn:

We didn't have to hit the road every night and travel three, four, five hundred miles to get to the next show. We could go up to these big, big, ridiculously nice suites where they

spoil you to death — and butlers. I'm trying to get my wife to go for that at home, but she won't do it. Brooks: Anyway, 105 shows later, we said, "I think we did that. Time

for me and Ronnie to get back in the honky-tonk business." PEOPLE LOVE VEGAS. DONNY OSMOND TOLD ME HE'S NEVER LEAVING. Dunn: Yeah, it's pretty darn easy. After a while it

gets to be a little so-so, every day Groundhog Day thing, but not the way we did it. We were doing three, four shows, and then come back home and a couple weeks go back. It really helped

bring things back together. Venue was great. We played the Colosseum at Caesars [Palace]. Brooks: It was a fun show. It was fun with Reba, but it didn't take Ronnie and I long to

realize we really do have a good thing, and we do enjoy doing it.