Food & Nutrition

Last Updated: March 14, 2026

Health  |  Pillars  |  Food  |  Supplements  |  Training  |  Biomarkers

My food lifestyle is built on a simple principle: single-ingredient foods. If it has one ingredient, it’s probably fine. If it has a label with twenty ingredients, it’s probably not.

I consider this a lifestyle, not a diet. A friend once asked me how I think about diets. This was my response.

I follow a mostly paleo/ancestral approach. The foundation is high-quality animal protein, natural fats, seasonal vegetables, and targeted carbohydrates around training. I care deeply about sourcing: all my meat comes from farms I know (Northstar Bison, Shirttail Creek, Left Bank Butcher, Little Way Farm). I buy a metric ton of elk from Northstar and eat 1-2 pounds a day.

What I don’t eat is more important than what I do eat. I have a well-tested list of things I avoid: processed sugar, seed oils, soy, corn, nightshades, onions, legumes, dairy (Greek yogurt excepted), sparkling things, acidic vinegars. Each item has a specific reason for being on the list, either clinical evidence or personal experimentation.

I no longer work with a nutritionist. I manage my own macros informed by years of working with M2 Performance Nutrition and by what I’ve learned about fueling for hybrid training at my volume. I eat a lot. My food lifestyle is so clean that the challenge is eating enough, not eating less.

The non-negotiable: I never let my rules make me annoying. I’d rather break a rule than be the friend who can’t eat anything at a restaurant.

What I Don’t Eat

All I want to know is where I’m going to die so I never go there. — Charlie Munger

What I don’t eat is derived from my operating principle, borrowed from Munger, that it’s better to avoid problems than to be great at fixing them. I’ve developed a set of food filters that help me avoid feeling bad or doing things that are well-known to lead to long-term health problems.

Each of the items on my “don’t eat” list has a unique reason for being there. I didn’t seek out an off-the-shelf diet or take the word of an internet expert but rather took time to learn from primary sources (multiple large clinical studies) or experimented myself.

The Rules

On Grains and Gluten

I generally avoid grains, and I avoid gluten specifically. Gluten makes me feel bad. Through experimentation I discovered that eliminating it helped alleviate some symptoms of depression. But my position has evolved from a blanket “no grains” to something more nuanced.

I seek out heritage grains for their nutritional profile and how they make me feel compared to modern commodity grains. I eat oatmeal and sourdough as part of endurance fueling. The real rule is: no processed grains, no grain-as-filler, and no gluten. Heritage grains and whole-grain fueling for training are context-dependent exceptions, not lifestyle eating.

For example, I do not necessarily believe that corn is bad. In fact, tacos are one of my greatest loves. But the modern Western diet uses corn as an artificial filler to such a degree that we overload our bodies with it, which taxes our system in a way evolution didn’t plan for.

I’ve resisted publishing my detailed reasons for each filter because I don’t want to get into arguments about science with the internet. But I do seek out disconfirming evidence like I used to seek out cheese. So please email me to talk.

General Directions

The single most critical rule of my food lifestyle is to never let my rules get in the way of enjoying an amazing food experience. Even when eating out I try to adhere to the general guidelines above, often without anyone I’m with noticing. If that’s not possible, I shut up and make do. I would rather violate a rule than be the annoying friend who can’t eat anything at a restaurant.

I’m similarly weird about salad dressings. Most of them are garbage. I like Noble Made’s paleo dressings when I need one, but mostly I think good cooking creates great-tasting food and if you need to toss a bunch of sauce on it, you failed somewhere else.

What I Eat

I use rules in various parts of my life to short-circuit my brain’s tendency to implode when choice is infinite. Some people wear the same thing every day so they don’t have to think about what to wear…I eat the same thing.

I train roughly 2 hours a day, seven days a week, in a hybrid style: heavy lifting, running, mobility. I eat a lot. The challenge is eating enough to keep up with my training volume, mainly because my food lifestyle is so clean. I manage my own macros now, informed by years of working with a performance nutritionist. Fueling for both strength and aerobic work at this volume took a long time to learn.

Sourcing

I care deeply about where my food comes from. All of my meat comes from farms.

I’m Not a Robot

A typical “sides” prep for me is a lot of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, green beans, and whatever seasonal vegetable is in rotation. Just basically lots of healthy vegetables. Most days I eat, depending on training load, regular-sized meals 4-6 times. A typical meal may look something like:

For post-workout breakfast I usually eat eggs with sweet potatoes or some other load of carbs. Maybe some fruit.

Dinners often include a simple salad and veggies, often with beef or fish as the center of the plate. Or my boho greek salad.

I sometimes eat out, most often with friends. Eating out is a treat. But since I eat out so infrequently I refuse to eat at bad restaurants (good is not the same as expensive).

I don’t need cheat days. This isn’t a diet and I don’t feel restrained. So far, years later, I still love what I eat. Every sweet potato is like the first.

All of this is what I’ll do when I’m on autopilot and cooking for myself. I eat out. I love Chipotle. And I have no problem breaking my rules for a great meal with friends.

How Food Connects to Everything Else

My food lifestyle isn’t a standalone thing. It’s integrated with my health pillars, my supplement strategy, and how I train.

The ancestral, single-ingredient approach directly serves my longevity goals: low inflammation (CRP 0.29), tight glucose control (HbA1c 5.0-5.2%, fasting glucose 75), and a metabolic profile that supports both performance and healthspan. What I don’t eat (processed sugar, seed oils, industrial food) isn’t about purity for its own sake. It’s about removing the things that are well-documented to drive inflammation, insulin resistance, and chronic disease.

The training connection is critical. I eat a lot because I train a lot. Fueling for 7-day-a-week hybrid training while eating this clean requires intentionality: pre-workout carbs (sweet potatoes, heritage grains, fruit), post-workout protein (ground elk, whey with Greek yogurt), and enough total volume to recover. Energy management is a daily practice, not an afterthought.

My supplement stack is downstream of this food lifestyle. I supplement where food alone can’t cover the gap: things like CoQ10 (statin offset), targeted B vitamins (methylation support), and high-dose Vitamin D (hard to get from food alone at sufficient levels). The food comes first. Always.