I f youve picked up this book, congratulations! You might be battling with your weight, or perhaps you dont feel your best and want to eat more healthfully. Maybe you are interested in good, wholesome recipes for your family. Whatever the motivation, youre taking the first step! Thats greatand I know from experience that the first one is the toughest. I hope my story and what I have learned will inspire you to take charge of your life. You will be able to drop pounds, regain your health, and learn to love the time spent in the kitchen preparing one great-tasting and good-for-you dish after another.
Before I go any further, I want to be clear: this is not a diet book in the classic sense. I make no claims that the recipes on these pages will help you lose any specific number of pounds. Instead, they are full of healthful, whole foods and great flavors that work with a healthy lifestyle. The advice in this book is my own, too, and by following it, I have turned my life around. Perhaps you can, too!
In the past several years, I have lost 120 pounds, wrestled type 2 diabetes into submission (or at least remission!), and become reacquainted with all sorts of foods in their most natural, whole state. I cook in my beautiful home kitchen far more often than I used to because I realize how important it is to know exactly what I put in my body.
But, Sweetie, let me tell you: it wasnt easy! And still isnt.
Back in the day, before my life changed for the better, food tasted the most delicious when I felt the worst inside. Sound familiar? To the world, I am outgoing, fun loving, and flirty. Since my school days in North Florida I have loved an audience, and when I grew up I found a way to direct my skill as a chef into celebrity status so that I could perform as much as I pleased.
Yet below the surface of this jolly faade was a lot of self-hatred and doubt. Like so many people, I ate to combat the negativity and to fill a void. I was around food all day long, so this wasnt too hard, and no one seemed to notice when I packed on the pounds. I was a fat, jovial chef who cooked good-ole-boy southern food that the world loved.
Where It Began
I didnt realize how depressed I was when I tipped the scales at 325 pounds, but my health coach, Aaron (Az) Ferguson, recognized it from day one, as I describe in chapter 2, How I Took the Plunge. His solution wasnt to send me to a psychiatrist but to get me walking, biking, and eating right. Thats his job, and he knows what hes doing. He made me sweat, made me curb my out-of-control appetite, and taught me the value of a healthful lifestyle. He also assured me that everyone, fit or not, has issues to confront.
Issues? Did I say issues? You bet I had issues!
Where to begin? Childhood is as good a place as any, and mine was both idyllic and distressing. Living in a small southern town and knowing I was different was rough. I was gay and never quite fit in. When I was little, I found refuge in my mothers and grandmothers kitchens, hanging out with them and my wonderful aunts and cousins, all of whom were spectacular cooks. Some of my fondest memories are of family gatherings along the Suwannee River, where the deep springs created swimming holes that kept us kids enthralled for hours on end. If we were lucky, we might spot a gentle manatee swimming upstream from the Gulf of Mexico. After working up an appetite in the river, wed gather along its banks to eat potato salad, deviled eggs, sweet potato pie, fried chicken, and coconut cake.
As I entered my teens, I decided I was adopted. My red hair stood out. I was completely different from my brother, who wanted to farm like our father did, while I wanted nothing to do with it. Instead I grabbed every opportunity to play the piano or perform on stage. Not surprisingly, I was bullied at school, although the misery it created was somewhat assuaged by the food my mother cooked. Later, as a young chef, I got a job at the Greenbrier, a large and prestigious resort in West Virginia. The older chefs bullied me mercilessly, so I escaped to the pastry kitchen, where the kindly pastry chef, Mark Gray, who taught me to make chocolate, which helped to ease the pain. To this day, I think of chocolate when I am upset.
Moving Forward
It might have been my determination to live life in a bigger world or it might have been the wretchedness that came with being so out of step with everyone around me that propelled me into the life I now have. Whatever it was, I have been blessed. Early on, I landed a job as the chef for Florida governor Bob Graham and later moved to Chicago, where I became a personal chef and caterer. I met a guy named Andre Walker, a hairdresser by trade who liked my cooking so much he mentioned me to his most famous client, Oprah Winfrey. I cooked for Ms. Winfrey (as I always called her, being a southern gentleman) for ten years. These days, I am on call for the many special events she hosts across the country. I learned so much from her about love, acceptance, and fellowship that I wouldnt know where to start if asked to define her most indispensable lesson.
Life was good. I wrote Back to the Table, which was a bestseller, and I also won a James Beard Award. I appeared frequently on Oprahs television show and discovered how much I liked being in front of the camera. I landed guest shots on food shows such as Iron Chef; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition; and later Top Chef and Top Chef Masters. I became a sought-after speaker and chef at all sorts of events across the nation. With Jesus Salgueiro, I founded Common Threads in 2003, a not-for-profit with a mission to teach low-income children about healthful eating and cooking.