My Story

I was raised and have lived in the Tampa Bay, Florida area most of my life. I am a dad to my beautiful 22 year-old daughter, Morgan and I’m also the youngest of three siblings. We lost our dad in 94′ to prostate cancer & mom to multiple chronic illness issues in 13′. Losing them so early in their lives sparked me to think about life in a different perspective. I try to live a healthy lifestyle and learn something new everyday.

• Oct 2013 – Lost my mom. Learned a lot about our healthcare system – bottom line is take control of your own health. Nobody is looking after you inside or outside the medical system. Also watch what you put in your mouth. Started my education about nutrition.
• Late 2013 – Orthopedic Surgeon told me not to run anymore due to consistent pain in my knee when trying to run more than three miles – arthritis, surgery, and inflammation. He told me I will be looking at a knee replacement in 10-15 years.
• Spring 2014 – started cycling per Orthopedic Surgeon advice to take pressure off of my knee – no impact with cycling.
• Dec 2014 – Primary Physician told me I was on my way to a heart attack (crazy high cholesterol – 327, high blood pressure) among other issues that my blood test revealed. Continued to give me literature to help – eat lean meats, low fat dairy (geez…)
• Jan 2015 – Consulted with Orthopedic Surgeon again regarding knee and continuing shoulder issues – three previous shoulder surgeries due to excessive throwing in baseball/softball. Received green light to move forward swimming and running…began training for triathlons really hard but felt absolutely terrible. I reflected back to a couple of runs when I drank milk the prior day so I cut that out, then red meat….then other bad stuff…..started to feel better quickly. Trial by error approach…
• Summer and fall 2015 – Competed in triathlons & was performing well but didn’t feel great still. I was trying to out train a bad diet…
• Dec 2015 – Watched Fork Over Knives and introduced to The Rich Roll Podcast on nutrition and performance – GAME CHANGER!
• By the end of 2015 I was eating pretty healthy (really limited animal products) and limited my animal consumption to meals following a race as a treat. What a terrible treat….
• Jan 17, 2016 – completely cut out the badness (dairy, meat, egg, – animal and fish products) I was putting in my body and now eat a whole food plant-based diet. On this day I was thinking where would I go for my post race treat and I had been choosing a local BBQ joint to consume a brisket, ribs or pulled pork. Then in my head I thought to myself, “I know the way I’m going to feel on Tuesday morning at track if I eat this tonight (Sunday – 2 days apart!!!).” I thought again for a minute or so and said, “That’s it, I’m done!!!. Why do I want to feel like that ever?!?!?”
• Throughout 2016 – Consumed myself with education on nutrition, performance and anything to live healthier. Went from feeling pretty darn good to feeling great! Wasn’t trying to lose weight, it was simply coming off while I was eliminating the crap I was consuming and adding real food.
• I lost 65 pounds during the process and had NEVER felt that good in my life. I stopped taking cholesterol medicine on my own and my diet (not drugs) had cut my cholesterol by more than half. My blood pressure went from high to athletic level. My weekly migraines completely vanished. I cut out taking 12 pills a day  (deficient in a few vitamins and other measures through my blood results). I had more energy than ever and just felt great! And I’m not 20, 30, 40 – and I felt better than at any of those ages (with the exception of a few joints…ha!) I also recover much faster between workouts due to inflammation animal products produce. Carrying four less bowling balls has helped the knee too…no more issues…wow!!! What did that Orthopedic Surgeon say about a knee replacement coming my way? No way Doc, I’ve taken control of this issue myself.
• I’ve gone from performing pretty well to racing very competitively in both run, triathlon and now duathlon races,  winning my first overall triathlon in May, 2017 at the age of 48. I won my first overall duathlon in my first duathlon race in December, 2018 at the age of 50.
• I am now a proud representative of Team USA for USA Triathlon competing in Duathlons finishing 2020 ranked 2nd in the country for age group 50-54 and currently ranked 3rd for 2021.
• Ran my first marathon at the 2021 Space Coast Marathon winning my age group of 61 men and qualifying for the 2023 Boston Marathon.
• It’s not a coincidence why in my mind – how I fuel my body. I have no doubt I have a competitive advantage due to nutrition. Of course there are other factors in racing and I strive to get better in all components. The nutrition part simply makes me able to push my body to limits I wasn’t able to do when consuming animal products.
• Completed Cornell University – T. Colin Campbell’s Center for Nutrition Studies Plant-Based Certificate Program in 2017.
• I completed the USA Triathlon Coaching Certification program in 2019. Love learning about performance and now coaching run, triathlon, and duathlon disciplines.
• I am addicted to learning about living a healthier lifestyle and love to help others by sharing information, resources, recipes, best practices, worst practices (learn from) and ENERGY! Come join a Healthy Giraffe Event. GREAT people, fun, learning and eating!!!