Temptology 101 - Practical Applications of Functional Nutrition and Meal Prep (Beta)

Holistic Nutritionist

Personal Trainer

Chef-To-The-Stars

Musician/Composer/Engineer

Dog Dad

All in a days work, right?

Honestly, I would not be content to pick only one of these careers as my only job, but how do I manage to juggle all of this?

Well, I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is becoming a popular place to shoot films, but it's no L.A. Some years I'll work on multiple films as personal chef/nutritionist to lead actors, and some years there just aren't as many movies filming here, so I have to keep my portfolio diverse.

I also do nutritional consulting and meal plans, take on a couple of personal training clients here, teach a drum lesson or two there, cater a wedding for a friend now-and-again, play drums at festivals and casinos with my cover band Eden Park Band, or a dive bar with my original band Luscious Dogs . . . it all adds up.

There's just one problem, I'm not fulfilling one of my life goals, to make an positive impact on non-communicable disease rates. See, I grew up watching Optimus Prime and other heroes on Saturday morning cartoons and decided I wanted to try to be a hero.

As I matured, I knew that going around and simply beating up bad guys, while romantic, was not my style. I always felt that violence was not the answer and I was known in high school for breaking up fights and mediating between feuding groups and cliques. So what could I do to save as many lives as possible?

EMT? Firefighter? Doctor? I have so much respect for these occupations and the humans who step up and sacrifice so much of their time and sometimes even their own lives . . . these are definitely heroic occupations. But, they all have one limiting factor in common in that you can only save one person at a time. I wanted to make the kind of impact you can see from space (not literally, rather, just illustrating that I want to make a big and noticeable impact).

So, I took the logical approach and began looking up some numbers on what's actually killing people. Was it murder? Chemicals? Drugs? Viral Pandemics? Yes. All of the above, but one culprit stands FAR out front of the world's #1 causes of death.

It's food. Crappy food. Cheap, nutrient deficient food made sometimes entirely from chemicals, put in a box with a well designed label, drowned in salt to mask the lack of real flavor, and sold in groceries for WAY cheaper than actual food.

Around the time my college career began (2010), there was NO ONE delivering healthy food to people, and the "meal-kit revolution" was still years away. So I decided to step up and be that guy. I founded HealthSavor in 2010 and delivered healthy, organic, gluten free meals that covered every vitamin and had balanced macronutrients.

Catering/food service is an insane amount of work. I already knew this, as I worked as a chef in restaurants mostly up until that point, but being the owner/executive chef of that food service operation was downright bonkers. Not only are you cooking everything, but also planning next menu, making blog posts on the website, sending out weekly emails, shopping for ingredients, organizing delivery drivers and employees. I was also studying for my Bachelor's degree the entire time. Bonkers, I tell ya.

We blazed some trails, built a strong and loyal customer base, got write ups in papers, 5 star reviews on Yelp, but something was amiss. Not only was it a LOT of work for next to no profit, it was too expensive for most of my personal friends to afford. Due to the high food and labor cost (we never cut corners), HealthSavor was essentially a service for middle-upper class people. While they need healthy food, too, I certainly wasn't going to make any impacts in disease rates like this. Besides, we were killing ourselves running this business and knew there was a better way. We shut down weekly deliveries in January of 2017, and I went underground.

One year later, I get an email from the personal assistant of an actor my daughter grew up having a crush on (that's all I can contractually say). They found me by looking for a healthy chef in Cincinnati, where they were going to be filming a movie about Ted Bundy. My old website had such good SEO (props to WeGo Unlimited) that I was one of the only ones that popped up on google search.

Needless to say I took the job of feeding him breakfast, lunch, and dinner 7 days a week for 2-3 months. It went very well and the Cincinnati Film Commission found out about what I do, so now they refer their A-listers to me when they request healthy food.

I've invented some great sauces and recipes based on their specific tastes or allergies. My Cashew Alfredo, which is part of my Temptology class, was invented for an actor who loved creamy things but wanted to avoid dairy for moral reasons. No problem.

These are people who are used to the highest quality...everything! So, to be receiving compliments and continued referrals from them has been a much needed boost in confidence after shutting down HealthSavor. But, it's still not making that impact.

The bottom line is, I'm much too expensive to hire for most people, and if I'm the one cooking food, I can only serve so many at a time. Besides, if I'm handing it to you and you have absolutely no part in the creation of the recipe or cooking process, you may walk away nourished, but what about that next meal when you are on your own? You've learned NOTHING by being served.

I've boiled down my experience and my hero goals into the idea that YOU can learn to nourish yourself and your family at the exact same level of quality and tastiness I do for my V.I.P clients. It's more affordable, more sustainable (once you learn, you'll always know!), and I can reach exponentially more people every class.

When I taught future doctors at the University of Cincinnati some of the information in my Temptology class, they agreed that my course should be required curriculum for everyone, ESPECIALLY doctors.

My friend and colleague, Dr. Tiffiny Diers has said that my style of bringing nutrition science, physiology, and cooking together into one topic is " . . . the missing link in healthcare". Thank you, Tiffiny!

Temptology is the name of a revolutionary meal prep program I am coding myself. It's a monster of a project that is taking years, but it is up and running in Beta mode, so I can use it to offer my students recipes that are calculated perfectly to their caloric needs.

I decided to combine the classes I taught at U.C. with my recipes from HealthSavor, my Chef-To-The-Stars gig, as well as my meal prep program into the ultimate course on how to live a long life, free of disease, simply by eating the healthiest versions of familiar dishes. I do salads, of course, but mostly hearty dishes like pasta alfredo, pizzas, tacos, pancakes, Indian food, soups, stir-fry, and other popular flavors.

You think these things can't be healthy and Tempting? Step into my classroom and find out for yourself.Then, enjoy using and spreading the knowledge to family and friends for the rest of your life. YOU just might be someone's hero, too.

Be empowered, be self-reliant.

Go on, be healthy, I've got your back.