Whether it was spinning around the neighborhood as a kid and racing BMX or commuting about San Francisco as a young cook, seeing the world on two wheels and enjoying the freedom they provide has always fueled the chef in some way. But it wasn’t until he was 35 years old, a 310-pound professional chef with two daughters that he shifted his focus to fitness for life.

Here are the five key strategies Chef Flood used to open the door to balance, health and whole-body well-being for good.

1. MAKE FITNESS A CAUSE LARGER THAN YOURSELF

“Growing up in Southern California I have always been on a bike … from getting around town to friend’s houses, riding to work, BMX racing and dirt jumping, being on two wheels always made me happy. My first road bike was a Bianchi and I loved it. I would ride over the Golden Gate Bridge and explore the North Bay, I was able to get farther around the city.

“I’ve always been a bigger guy and working in a kitchen around food doesn’t always help. About 10 years ago I started to take my health more seriously. (Mostly cause I was getting married and I wanted to look good in the photos!) I lost 35 pounds in about three months and felt great, but I was working out in a gym and didn’t care much for the atmosphere. It wasn’t a routine that was going to last.

“Then, just four years ago I went to visit my friend Jeff Mahin. He invited me to do ‘ChefsCycle,’ a 300-mile/three-day charity ride benefiting No Kid Hungry. It helps to ensure food security to American children across the country. As a chef, this was a cause I could get behind 100% — it’s my job to feed my community — but still I said to him. ‘Are you crazy!!?’

“At this time in my life I was pushing 310 pounds and wasn’t financially prepared to purchase an expensive road bike. My business partner knew that the cause was worthy, and that I would benefit from the challenge of the lifestyle and so the restaurant prioritized my participation and helped me to get a bike. Just four months later (after countless early morning rides), I had dropped 50 pounds and completed my first ChefsCycle event, and we raised more than $1 million for children’s hunger. Now, I try and ride 100 miles each week. I need to. I have to. It keeps me sane, grounded and feeling great.”

2. INVITE FAMILY TO JOIN IN. (AND TO SUPPORT.)

“I am the dad of twin girls and trying to fit [a cycling routine] into my life is tough. Thankfully, I don’t go into work until noon (even though I stay until late night), so I take my kids to school in the morning by 8 a.m. and then rush home, throw on some spandex and then head off for a ride. Most of my rides range from 20–30 miles except on my day off when I try and fit in something longer. I get two days off a week and one of those days I designate as ‘DaDa Day,’ and I spend it just with my kids. The other day is a Family Day, and part of one of those days I go for a longer ride. It means that my wife and kids get to spend some time together, and then we make the time to be together when I get home. Most of the time, we go for a bike ride. (The girls are so eager to get their training wheels off, but they aren’t ready to commit.) On those nights, we really try to make a well-rounded meal a key part of the night. I hope that healthy lessons are being passed by example but sometimes the kids are just kids and want mac n cheese. It’s a process but they’re learning, too.”  

3. SAY GOODBYE TO UNHEALTHY TRIGGERS

“This year, I’ll turn 40 years old. And my 30s just flew by … a lot of work and raising kids. Like most restaurant employees, I had some bad habits. Excess drinking, smoking and eating poorly contaminated my life. I am happy to say I’m celebrating over 10 months sober and I love it. I feel great, I manage better, my cooking has become more creative and my cycling performance continues to improve.

“I have made family, health and my career a focal point. I can say to others: Don’t wait until you have a bad health experience to change. … It’s inevitable, start now, challenge yourself. Bad habits are the only thing you have to lose.”

4. KEEP COOKING SIMPLE

“Once I started to become fit, the way I saw food and cooked started to change. If a meal is too heavy, my body is going to feel full and bloated at the end of the night. I won’t sleep well and will feel disappointed because my body isn’t happy. Don’t get me wrong, I still cook with butter and fats, but now I use them sparingly and instead I try and find balance through new ingredients, flavors and techniques. In general, we try to eat simple, balanced meals at home.”

5. DON’T DIET

“I try to eat simply; fruit and protein smoothies for breakfast and bowls of healthy carbs, proteins, veggies with lots of healthy greens are my post-ride staples. Even at home, I cook things in larger batches so the ingredients are ready. I love bowls … they hold a lot, you can layer them accordingly. I happened to ride 106 miles yesterday and when I finished, I punished a poke bowl!

“The “Grub-A-Dub” bowl below is a typical post-ride bowl for me.”

Grub-A-Dub Bowl

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) quinoa, cooked
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) onions or shallots, roasted
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) carrot, grated
• 1 cup (240 ml) cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup (240 ml) spinach, packed
• 15 almonds, toasted or raw, chopped
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) queso fresco
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) cilantro, sliced
• 8 ounces (226 grams) grilled chicken, served cold
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Toss ingredients in a bowl, mix ‘em up! Enjoy! (Usually a bit of hot sauce finds its way on top in my kitchen!)

READ MORE

> Chef, Cyclist and Carnivore Chris Cosentino on Healthy Balance
> NYC Chef Seamus Mullen on Food, RA and Getting Healthy

Serves: 2 | Serving Size: 1/2 recipe

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 446; Total Fat: 29g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 19g; Cholesterol: 50mg; Sodium: 160mg; Carbohydrate: 26g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Sugar: 9g; Protein: 28g

As the city manager, Schoeny had access to a key resource for the effort: the public service department. Those are the folks who snowplow and perform other road maintenance work, which means they keep detailed maps and routes that make their plows more efficient. With their guidance — and a wager with the department — he decided to give it a try, and set a goal of 30 days to bike on all 154 centerline miles of Upper Arlington.

Although he had the public service maps, Schoeny also wanted a way to track his progress, and share it with the community to inspire people to follow along with him — and maybe even start giving it a try on their own.

He downloaded MapMyRide for the effort, and quickly came to appreciate how easily he could use the public service and MapMyRide maps to determine his routes, get directions while riding and share the information on the city’s website.

“If you went to a city map and tried to create a route that way, it’s not so easy,” says Schoeny. “In order to ride on literally every street, it’s a more complex undertaking than I’d thought. But that makes it more fun, because it’s challenging.”

The creation of a deadline and a goal has helped him appreciate his rides more, he adds. Instead of simply riding around without any direction, he likely wouldn’t put in as many miles or explore as many parts of Upper Arlington as he has.

For example, before starting this project, he wouldn’t have considered doing a route that took him over a street called Bridgeview, because he would have assumed it was similar to other parts of town. But the street is well named, since it passes bridge after bridge, offering lovely views.

“Because we’re a suburban community, people tend to think we don’t have much diversity in terms of our landscape and housing,” he says. “But when you’re on the bike, you see so many interesting details and unexpected sights. It’s a great way to explore.”

Also, by sharing his routes and experiences online, Schoeny is picking up more interest and followers. He says it’s one more way for people in the city to feel like they’re together, and part of a community, even when they can’t physically gather.

“We’re all feeling cooped up right now, which makes it even more important to get outside and get some fresh air, while still being mindful of proper distancing,” he says. “MapMyRide is a great tool because it gives you a sense of progress and purpose; you don’t feel like you’re just meandering around. Staying healthy and staying active are really fantastic ways to care for ourselves and our families, and resources like this can help.”

*Please click here for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest updates on COVID-19. If you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms, such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your healthcare provider for medical advice.

Life for Chris Cosentino is pretty simple, but it’s far from easy — and he’s OK with that. Winner of “Top Chef Masters,” cookbook author and chef and owner of restaurants in San Francisco, Napa and Portland, Cosentino is no stranger to hard work. There are things you just “do.” You move forward with each day in a simple way, approaching ingredients with respect and being OK with the idea that sometimes you might suffer a bit, but you always wear a smile anyway.

His experiences as a chef, and as an avid cyclist, taught him to be comfortable in the discomfort. (Case in point: When you’re sweating buckets and covered with dust on the 100th mile of the day, you focus on the berries — not the poop smell. Be comfortable with the less comfortable and wear that smile. Make that work yours.)

Cosentino has become a prominent celebrity chef less for his ability to smell berries and more for his pioneering approach to offal, or nose-to-tail eating. Although his San Francisco restaurant, Cockscomb, reflects his international acclaim for creative and bold use of organ meats and whole animals, the underlying feeling of Cosentino’s food and work is passion, play and pushing boundaries.

In a previous life, he was a 24-hour single-speed mountain bike racer — easily one of the most grueling disciplines in cycling — and his bike taught him how to focus, feel and create his own path. Now, he returns to riding in a big way — for himself, and to show strong support for No Kid Hungry with Chefs Cycle.

Here, he shares how sport, wellness and the intense lifestyle of a restaurant chef come together for him and how he prioritizes his health for the benefit of his food — and all of those who eat it!

Q: At what point in time did cycling and food collide for you?

Cosentino: Cycling and food collided when I started cooking. I was cooking first and then I was riding. I blew out my knee in culinary school and couldn’t move my knee laterally … I started riding so I could walk again. The fishing captain I was working with was also my riding partner. He really pushed me to get healthy. We would work on the boat, do a monster mountain bike ride, and then we’d go back to the house and cook. It was a routine that just made sense for us.

Q:  What was the most recent turning point that brought you back and why are you here to stay?

Cosentino: When I stopped racing I quit riding cold turkey and rarely touched the bike; work became my priority. It took my wife and a few friends prodding me to realize that “all work and no play made Chris a dull boy.” Returning to riding has given me balance again. I have more clarity at work and at home. Finding that balance again allowed me to prioritize work, but in a different light.

Cycling can be a way of life — I can’t run — but riding I can do until I’m 90. It works with who I am, with what I am; it’s a safe, quiet space for me. In the kitchen, we have the propensity to suffer a lot but the suffering we do on our bike is fun. It pushes us to be better people just as we are in the kitchen.

Q: What’s your riding philosophy?

Cosentino: Fun. First. Everyone can get a coach and train, but if I’m not having fun I just don’t want to ride. Recently, my fitness is better working with a coach … I’m more consistent. Being more fit means having more fun. Suffering less. I love to suffer a little bit — getting into that brain place where you’re uncomfortable there yet comfortable. I raced 24-hour solos for so long because I was requiring myself to live in an uncomfortable zone. Riding now is how I practice living in the uncomfortable zone.

Q: What do you love most now about cycling?

Cosentino: Cycling is so freeing and takes you places you take for granted every day. And, a bit of suffering creates clarity by pushing you into another place. You learn how resilient you are and how you can overcome so many things — it’s easier to let the little stuff roll off your back and to take the big stuff in stride.

Q: What about the pursuit of wellness is hardest for you? What’s easiest?

Cosentino: The hardest part about striving for balance (professionally and personally, physically and creatively) is just making the time. There are always lots of things going on in my life, not to mention crazy hours — and there’s lots of recipe development, which means lots of tasting.

The easiest part is reaping the rewards. When I see and feel the results, it’s easy to want to make the space; I feel so much better in the restaurant and amidst the chaos when I get out for a ride, and I love seeing how my fitness progresses when I make the time. It’s a tremendous reward. Making healthier choices — minding the foods I eat, avoiding alcohol, making time to exercise — changes everything, and I feel more focused and naturally creative. It’s a total game changer. After a big ride, I do menu development and my senses are heightened and I’m more focused.

Q: You always seem to have two armfuls of delicious projects spinning at the same time. What are you working on now? How does training and riding fit in?

Cosentino: My favorite projects lately are my new energy bar company called Pavé, and I’m highly involved with Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry — and I have a few more fun surprises up my sleeve. Finding the time to train isn’t easy, but I have a coach who gives me guidelines, and I do the best I can with my time to follow them. Typically, after getting my son ready for school and making his lunch and breakfast, I try to get a hour on the trainer or a ride in the real world. Then, I head to work for the day. My days are pretty long; I usually get home by midnight at the earliest.

Q: What is your pre-, during- and post-ride routine? Any diets you follow?

Cosentino: I like to have oatmeal with almond butter and dried fruit and an Americano. On the bike, I eat my Pavé Bars; they vary from flavor to flavor but they’re easy to digest. They contain fruits, nuts and some chocolate, as well, so they’re delicious, too. After a ride, I drink water, have a banana and a protein, either an egg or some nuts, like cashews.

I don’t follow a strict diet, but I don’t eat processed foods and I haven’t had soda for 20 years, I really don’t have a diet. I just try to eat whole foods and be smart and balanced. The big thing is don’t overindulge. Even if it’s so delicious, teach yourself to know when to stop.

Q: You’re very involved with No Kid Hungry and Chefs Cycle, tell us what this cause means to you.

Cosentino:  As a chef, my job is to feed people in a way that creates comforting taste memories. As Americans, so many of the taste memories that comfort us are formed in our childhood: grandma’s cooking, mom’s baking, dad’s grilling, etc. So, the idea of children not having a meal to start the day just isn’t OK with me. As a society, we have so much access to nutritious food, and as a chef, I have exceptional access to nutritious food … through Chefs Cycle I’m able to use my life as a cyclist to make a positive contribution, to make an impact. I will never cure cancer or solve the world’s problems, but one of these kids will and I like to think that a healthy breakfast gives them a fighting chance to realize their own power.

READ MORE > NYC CHEF SEAMUS MULLEN ON FOOD, RA AND GETTING HEALTHY

Q: In a restaurant kitchen, there isn’t always time to have proper meals. How do you navigate this? Does your cycling impact the way you think of food or cook in this way?

Cosentino: Sitting down to a meal doesn’t happen the same way it does for those who live and work outside of restaurants. I’m tasting all day to make sure dishes are seasoned properly, so I treat eating meals as if I’m on a big ride; having lots of small bites. I sit and eat staff meal with the whole team two times a day. We always have a salad and lots of veggies and protein. It’s about moderation, thinking about what I’m eating and trying to make best choices when I can.