November 30, 2025 • 23 mins
Chef Chuck, a 25-year rare cancer survivor turned chef, wellness expert, and microbiome enthusiast. Through his brands — Thankfully Local Private Chefs, The Resort Chef, and The Chef’s Recovery — he helps clients achieve health and wellness goals through seasonal, gut-friendly food while sharing the healing power of nutrition.Interview Healing Through Food and the MicrobiomeSeasonal Eating for Long-Term HealthThe Journey from Cancer Survivor to Wellness AdvocatePractical Recipes That Nourish the Body and SoulBalancing Family, Life, and Transformational Cooking
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the biggest shows on television is NBC's The Voice.
I've been blessed with the opportunity to share conversations with
those that have participated since twenty sixteen. Where can you
get them? Aro dot net, a r Rie dot net.
Look for the podcast that's titled That Voice. How are
you doing today, chef?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning? How are you? I'm doing well.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Oh my god, listen to your energy. You are my
kind of chef dude.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. That's the hell of
a compliment.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh my god. I mean to have that kind of
energy and then to go into a place where what
you're going to create is going to affect other people's lives.
I've always believed that what we create, if we're not positive,
then those that receive it will not get it.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
One hundred percent. One hundred percent. You know, I'm not
gonna lie. I've been through hell to get here, but
you know, I mean, but I love what I do,
and I do what I love, and every morning I
look in the mirror and I say, you know what,
We're going to affect some people's lives today, and we're
going to cook for some people some healthy food and
the outcome is always positive, knock on wood most of
(01:04):
the time. I mean, yesterday it was a little chaotic
with Thanksgiving and my mother got sick all of a sudden.
Thank you, by the way for making time for me
the day after Thanksgiving. I really appreciate it. I note
you yourself for a big foodie. So I'm sure you
had a busy day yesterday as well. Well.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
My day actually started because I do love food so
much that I actually I took up a job at
a grocery store because I want to catch people as
they're buying it, and dude, I will call them out
in a heartbeat and I'll sit there, Sarah, are you
sure this is what you want to add to your day,
because here's what I did my research on. And they'll
sit there and they'll listen to me.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Absolutely absolutely. I mean, we can influence the consumer in many,
many different ways. I mean, you'd be shocked this holiday
season how many times I've been so far, even just
getting prepared for Thanksgiving, in a line in a grocery
random grocery store, and somebody goes, oh, wow, I've been
meaning to try that. What is that? And I get
(01:57):
into a conversation with them and tell them what I
do for a living and let them know that, hey,
you know, this is a kombucha, this is what it's
you know what it does whatever, you know, like for
gut health and this kind of thing. And you just
kind of start talking to them and uh, oh, you know,
I've got an event coming up. I'll have to give
you a call, and you know, boom, You've made that connection,
you know, you know, through health and wellness. And it's
(02:19):
really remarkable.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And this is not just for the average Joe listener.
This is actually for chefs as well, because come on,
we see a lot of chefs. They're pretty good sized people.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely my I mean myself included. I mean,
inflammation is a huge part of a chef's life because
you know, we work such long hours. We're on our
feet all the time. We are in into and out
of hot and cold environments if you count the walking
coolers and freezers, and you know, and obviously the standard
(02:49):
line in most restaurant environments or even in private chef environments,
you're constantly in and out of refrigerators, in and out
of in and out of ovens, constantly convection ovens, and
that kind of thing. And it's like, you know, that
causes and takes its toll on our bodies, you know,
And so what we have to really do is start
(03:10):
taking a look at ourselves in the mirror and going, Okay,
I know I overworked yesterday. I know I ate some
bad food yesterday. How can I combat that inflammation in
my body and help myself be healthier? And yeah, I
love working with my colleague to try to tell them, hey, listen,
you know we can work on weight loss, we can
(03:30):
work on a journey together and get you to optimal
health as well. Because what would the world be like
if all the chefs started dropping all of a sudden
because of bad health?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So true, so true. Well, it's because because it's the escape,
you know. I mean, you're right outside those four walls
of that kitchen. I mean is the real world. I
don't want to go out there and let me fix
up myself some happiness right here. Oh it's more food.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, exactly, exactly. And that's been you know, that's that's
been the story of the industry for a very long time.
But I do see I do see change coming. I mean,
I've put most of my life has been in this business.
I mean it's you know, I started at fourteen years
of age, but I was cooking way before that with
my grandparents and family and family members and friends and
(04:15):
all this especially this time of the year. And so
I mean professionally, I started at fourteen as a dishwasher,
and I worked my way all the way up through
the system. So I know exactly. You know what those
commercial kitchens life lifestyles are like this time of the year.
If you will see a lot of chaotics.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
A lot of people don't understand that about a restaurant
because I started out as a busboy. Then I went
into washing dishes. That you know, when you start putting
down who am I going to reach by keeping this
plate clean? All of a sudden, it's not a job anymore.
You're on a mission. And that's what I love about
what you're doing here. This is not a job. This
is a mission. This is a calling that you're doing
(04:54):
right now, because if you don't step forward, will anybody else?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I'm not thinking so dude, No, absolutely. I mean, you know,
medical meals, which is this is the trial that I've
been working on for twenty five years now. I am
now coming up in January, I'll be twenty five years
cancer free. Wo. I was diagnosed, Yeah, thank you. I
was diagnosed with a very rare cancer and it was
a stomach cancer and came out on the healing side
(05:23):
by healing through eating seasonally and healing through eating the
food that we eat. I know that doesn't really make
much sense, but what I mean by that is is
that if you eat with the seasons, you can help
diversify your gut microbiome and thus begin the healing process.
So I started out on a liquid diet. As you
(05:43):
may imagine, this was twenty five years ago, and everybody
was pushing, you know, oh, you need to do you
need to do broths, you need to do this, that
and the other. You're never going to eat solid food again.
And so I had to literally learn how to taste
and eat food all over again from the ground up.
I had a this type of tumor had spread quite
throughout my digestive tracts. So it was pretty much like
(06:05):
square peg round whole type of surgery. Thanks Peter, God
never did any chemo and radiation, but nevertheless that potentially
for a chef is career ending, right, I mean, And
there I was in my twenties, at the very beginning
of the renaissance of what would become the farm to
table movement in our country. So it was a perfect
time for me to go, you know what I'm gonna
(06:27):
I'm going to start eating healthy and unfortunately, I hope
and if there are I'm certain there's a fair amount
of chefs that listen to your show. Guys, if you're
out there and you and your your body is inflamed
and you're not feeling well, and you're you're really feeling
like something's wrong, you know, please see a healthcare professional
and know that the food that you take into your body,
you can make little changes that will combat that inflammation
(06:50):
and assist you in having a better life and a
better lifestyle. And I do it every day with clients.
I started out with cancer patients twenty five years ago,
with my fellow cancer patients and their caregivers, and it
has just snowballed into a career of private chef work.
I've helped so many people over the years. And then
I wrote my story called The Chef's Recovery, which was
an Amazon bestseller in twenty fourteen, nice all about my
(07:13):
journey with my rare stomach cancer and everything. And I
remember being laughed out of the room when I mentioned
to a whole bunch of physicians, hey, you know, the
gut microbiome is where it's at. That is where, that
is where healing truly takes place, right, And they laughed
me out of the room, these healthcare professions. And now,
(07:34):
of course, my phone is constantly ringing with consultations on
people that want to know. They want to know more
about gut health. They want to know more about living
healthy lifestyles and how they can eat with the seasons.
And this is essentially how I've been able to heal
myself from liquid diet to vegan diet back up to
solid proteins, solid meat proteins and fish proteins that are
(07:56):
very lean. And that's how I've been living my life
for twenty five years. And I've able to help so
many other people with this over the years.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Man, you are spawning, You are spot on with what
you're talking about, Because about a year and a half,
almost two years ago, my doctor kept telling me, he says,
you need to lose the weight. You need to lose
the weight. You don't need another heart attack, you don't
need to do that. So the day that I started,
when I started putting more attention on my gut health,
I mean I I sauerkraut with olives, artichokes. I was
doing so much healthy food and then the doctor looks
at me during my last health test and he goes, oh,
(08:25):
there must be something wrong with your liver. No, I
listened to you. I lost that weight, dude, and now
you're gonna you're gonna blame it on something else.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
That's right. Now, they're going to try to hit you
with a fatty liver. Yes, right, yes, well we've got
you know, believe it or not, food has a cure
for that as well, as I'm sure you're aware of that.
There are many many options that are there for you
with that too. But the beauty of the weight loss
journey that you've already been through is that when you
(08:53):
start that journey, it's really difficult to take the first steps.
And I could talk to all your listeners on this.
It's very difficult to take that first weight loss journey.
Yes it is, but once you take those steps and
you begin to feel better, you have more energy, your
body changes, you drop the weight. Of course, you know
there are certain diets that really work well for that
(09:14):
if you're looking for rapid weight loss this time of
the year, like keto and paleo and others that are
healthy and should be done under supervision of nutritionist dieticians
that kind of thing. But I'm sure you have those.
But I'm sure you feel a lot better than you
did before you took that journey.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well yeah, yeah, because the thing is is that you
know I was I thought I was doing great until
I went to that fitness test. And the thing about
it is out now every day when I step on
that scale, No, I'm horrified because he did say he
said liver, and it's like, wait a second. I cut
back on the eating. I'm eating much healthier. And that's
why I need this book. This book was given to
me by the universe chef, because I needed this book
(09:51):
to give me the strength that look, yeah, you can
listen to your doctor, but dude, you lost this weight
because you took the chance, you invested the inner and
your book is telling me, good job, good job.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah exactly exactly. I mean, because if you know, if
I could do it at twenty two years of age,
surely you could do it. Surely any of your listeners
can do it, you know, and and it is it's
so easy to do. You know, it's so easy to do.
It's just those first steps to realize that you have
the discipline to be able to get out. You know,
(10:24):
I started out and and I was having a really
really hard time because again I had so much surgery done.
I didn't know what food I could eat, you know,
I didn't know what food I could eat. You start
out on a liquid diet. You started out with bone
broths and misos and miso broths and things like that,
and you work your way up and you kind of
(10:45):
go okay, but in the weight loss journey, I mean,
the weight just drops off big time, big time. Yeah,
yeah yeah. And then you know, exercise wise, a little cardio,
a little you know, definitely some strength training involved. But
you know, the thing is is that you start out
taking those first two steps of walking out the front
(11:06):
door and actually taking a stroll around the neighborhood or
you know, strolling your neighborhood farmer's market, and believe it
or not, you know, you're burning calories by walking around
the city, by walking around the town, by walking around
the trails in your neighborhood parks. All that can really
make a difference in your overall health and wellness. The
connection with nature, you know, and the connection with being
(11:29):
out in your environment and breathing fresh air instead of
sitting in front of the computer desk all day, that
kind of stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
One of the things that I would love to see
more chefs and or people just in general take in
is that, first of all, what you're talking about with
taking those walks, I call those a transition walk. It
is to clear the head because we all go through
so many different mindsets. But I also believe that stretching
is so important to anybody who was in that kitchen,
because how many of our lives are stuck bent over
(11:56):
a hot pot and all of a sudden that affects
our shoulders, our hips, our legs, and then we complain
about it and it's like, well, if you would have
read the book, you would know this already.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Oh absolutely. And And you know the other thing too,
that's that's really huge. That that I stress is meditation
and breathing, keeping your cool and your calm. You know,
we're extremely stressed in this environment that is a line
or a banquet, kitchen or that kind of with with
we're constantly looking at the times of tickets and things
(12:26):
of that, and we start taking a look at it
and we go, my goodness, I mean, this is really
stressing me the heck out. I got to take a second.
And that's what That's where I used to take moments
to go in the walk in cooler and just breathe
for a second and then get back on the line
and start cooking again. You know, one or two tickets
would roll off while I'm out there, but you know, hey,
I got to take my moment to breathe and meditate.
(12:48):
And you know, it's really important to start your day
out with that kind of stuff too. You know, you
take your moments to do your yoga and breathing meditations
or whatever you choose. You and you know, and like
you said, stretching is very very much important because you know,
I can't tell you how many how many cooks and
chefs I've seen that get the Charlie horses and things
like that behind the lobea, you know, because you because
(13:09):
you're not hydrating number one, and hydration is another part
of this aspect. I'm sure you're gonna mention that too.
Very very important to get your adequate water and electrolytes
in during the day when you're working around a hot kitchen.
But but stretch is paramount, absolutely paramount. So I I
like to stress. You know, breathing yoga for older chefs,
(13:30):
tai chi is really good first thing in the morning,
you know, and and and you know, that's that's what
I've been doing for quite a few years, and it's
been very helpful for me. And you know, I got
beyond that yoga class age and I I started doing
the ti thing.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Please do not move. There's more with Chef Chuck coming
up next. Oh, we're talking healthy, but at the same time,
we're still having some fun here. That's what I love
about Chef Chuck. One of the things that that I
haven't heard a lot about and and I would love
to learn even more about this is that as the
weight came down, because I went from two eleven to
one seventy five, and the thing congratulation, oh, thank you
(14:09):
so much. And the thing is is that water intake,
all of that bad food was was what your body
was craving water. So what did I do? I gained
the weight. And now as I'm learning because I've got
my eating under control. Is the water goes into the system,
I'm still drinking water, but the body is saying, ah,
I don't need that much, and you're gonna pee for.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
The rest of the day exactly, Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
But nobody talks about that side of it though.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Oh yeah, I mean, I really love the you know,
I love hearing the point of view of the water somthingly.
I don't know if you follow him, the German Martin,
you know, he's fantastic. He talks about the mineral contents
and water and it's it's importance in mineral waters and
things of that nature that we take in these minerals
through the water that we drink, and that some of
the dangers of the American supply is that it's largely
(14:56):
chlorinated and it's full of different chemicals. And then you
add on top of the at you add they have
pepsi or coke. And I'm not I'm not, you know,
picking on these brands, but you know, there's a lot
of soda consumption and caffeine to consumption in our business,
you know, because we have to constantly keep ourselves on
the go. I can't tell you how many red bulls
and other types of behind the lines in restaurants, and
(15:18):
young people can do that, but as you start getting aged,
you get you get a little and you get a
little older, and it's like your body can't do that anymore, right,
So we you know, you try to have a soda
or you know, something every once in a while, and
it really bothers you because it's like, my goodness, that
sugar consumption. Everything is unnecessary calories. And then there you go.
You get the weight, you know, you put the weight on.
(15:39):
But as as we age, we begin to drink them.
You know, you could. I always recommend people drink mineral
water with a little bit of citrus. You're you're boosting
your immune system. Yeah, no, I mean Sparkling or still
Saratoga is a fantastic brand out of New York. Yes,
there there are other brands, you know. Pellegrino, you know,
(16:00):
is a wide widely found in grocery stores now. But
there's a and I and the name is is kind
of is kind of I'm skipping the name here, but
it's a German brand. It's a white label and it
comes in glass and I think it's Gersteiner or something.
But something that I can't pronounce it, but it's uh,
it's a German It's a German sparkling mineral water. I've
(16:23):
been drinking that really posts stomach cancer all the way
up until this morning. With just a squeeze of lime
or lemon or or fresh citrus, and it's replaced all
of the nastiness, you know, all the energy drinks, all
the bad stuff, you know, just some I'll have in
the morning, some protein of some type, like a boiled
(16:45):
egg or or avocat avocado avocado toast. I just had
some avocado toast, a little bit of egg, you know,
and some some hemp seed on top and some micro
green salad, you know kind of thing, and then my
mineral water with a little lemon, and that gives me
the go for the day, you know. And and it's
not to say that I won't have the sugarish beverages
(17:07):
from time to time in my life. You know. If
everybody loves to cheat and have that cheap day programmed in,
slice the pizza, maybe a soda something like that. Hey,
you know, hey, listen, you program those cheap days into
your health and wellness journey, that's okay, you know, I
tell my cancer patient friends, I say, you know what,
we're going through a journey. If you feel good enough
(17:29):
that you feel like you want to have that slice
that you use pizza and that and that and that
soda pop, Hey, let's do it. But then let's return
to that that wonderful meal that we create for you
that's going to help you with that irregular cell growth
by giving you boosts and boosts and boosts of different
things that contain the wonderful chemicals that we know are
(17:50):
going to help you in your cancer journey to kill
up those bad cancer cells in your body. You know,
things like Brussels sprouse with pure fine and broccoli, you know,
broccoli routes, and you know things like that that we
all know are very you know, anti cancer. Bit fresh
berries and I love being from North Carolina because this
time of the year we have the we have the
(18:10):
winter berry crop. It's the first of the strawberries is
coming from eastern North Carolina. And I love to buy
the local fresh winter berries quote unquote, you know, from
whole foods and stores like that that have the winter
berries that carry the winter berries because they're locally grown
here in North Carolina and tunnel grown they call them.
They pump hete into the tunnels into these tunnel like
(18:32):
environments where the strawberry plants are, and they make it
like an artificial springtime. But they taste as sweet as
April in the middle of January. So it's like, you know, well,
where we are now in November where they've come out.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Now, you gotta let me in on the inside. What
kind of berries are we talking about? I mean, are
we putting focus on strawberries?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Tunnel grown strawberries, if you can ever find them, are
fantastic form of vitamin C and great, you know, before
the Florida crop comes out on the East coast of
wonderful strawberries from Florida. But yeah, I try to eat
with diseases, you know. But that's my one cheat, is
my strawberry.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
What part of Carolina are you in, because I'm sitting
in Charlotte right now.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Oh, I'm in the Rawleig Durham areas from Europe there.
Oh yaactly, I'm in the I'm in the Yeah, I'm
in the boogie capital city. I live in wake Forest,
North Carolina, which is a suburb of Raleigh and nice
little small town environment. Wake forest. I live, uh live
out here, have my little garden and my home homestead
(19:30):
out here by Falls Lake and wake Forth, Carolina.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
So now let me ask you this question about because
we're all guilty of this insight when we're home chefing
or if we're with other people, and that is is that,
first of all, if you're home chefing, you're sampling everything
over and over again. And number two, when you're when
everybody's around the table and they don't want to finish
cleaning their plate, what happens We step in and we
help them clean their plate because it's.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Like, oh, don't waste that.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Wait come, I mean but that that cannot be healthy
to do that because I already had my portion that
was set for what I needed to do and what
what my body could take in. And and I'm taking
in everybody else's stuff they didn't want to finish.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, we call it the leftover madness in our house.
It's crazy. It's particularly those of us who have young children. Yep.
It's particularly difficult when you have young children because young
children will eat and then when they're full, they'll put
their hands up and you'll go, wait a minute, there's
still some of this mac and cheese left, or there's
still some of this chicken nugget left, and there's still
(20:26):
some of this you know, celery and hummus left. I
need to eat this, you know. But eventually you kind
of go, Okay, I got to start listening to my body.
And if my body is saying that it's full, then
I don't need to be eating off the plates of others.
You know. It's like, okay, I hate to waste the food.
(20:47):
But oftentimes my client's in the private chef sector, they
will actually have me package that for lunch the next day,
So I'll get a you know, I'll get a glass
container out and package it for lunch the next day.
But I did go through that sector of life where
I was that. You know, I was in my thirties
and my kids were young, and they were eating all
(21:07):
the great food that young people tend to eat young America.
You know, your mac and cheeses and your and your
you know, nuggets and Chick fil Fast food kind of stuff,
and it's like, oh man, you know, they left a
nugget here, only just jumped that down. We gotta be
you got to be cautious about that. But again, you know,
when you start taking a look at your cheat moments
(21:27):
and you go, you know what, I can cheat. I
can have a few nuggets, or I can have a
little a little bit of the leftover mac and cheese,
that kind of thing. Especially when it comes down to
the holidays. You go, okay, all right, well, I'll get
an extra walk in today, I'll get an extra you know,
extra stretch and yoga in today, or I'll get some
extra tai chie or fitness in of some type today.
(21:48):
Then then you go, okay, all right. If if ever
there's a time to cheat, it's around the holiday season,
and then you can make up for it. You can
make up for it. January February, marching into the spring.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Right where can people go so to find out more
about everything that you're doing, because you're on the right path,
you're taking the right steps, and we need to get
people to become activated. Don't just read the book, don't
go in there and say, oh that's me. No, it's
time to activate what you're sharing.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Well, I would say, you know, contact me directly through
you know, thankfully local Private chef dot com. Again. You
know you'll see you'll see our blogs up there. We
post a lot about the ingredients that we're using with
seasonality and seasonal eating. You know, I welcome that. And
then we have we have some new stuff that I'd
love to come on the show again and talk to
(22:35):
you about. Yeah, that we're going to do, because what
I'm planning on doing in the new year, at some
point in the new year, maybe springtime. By the time
we do this is a national launch. So I will
be able to come to a town near you and
cook a meal for you or your family, or your
friends or that kind of thing, using local ingredients in
your region, local and seasonal ingredients in your region from
(22:57):
farms that are in your region, and cook a little local,
completely local and highly regional meal for you and your family,
and tell you about the ingredients and their characteristics and
what's in them, and you know, and and all the
health aspects involved in that. And I'm so excited to
be doing that. So that's coming soon. But if you
(23:18):
want to contact me this time of the year, please
do so through the website thankfully Local Private chef dot com.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Wow, well, you've got to come back to this show
then in twenty twenty six, Man, the door is always going.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
To be open for you. Thank you so much. I'll
have my people contact you. What a pleasure talking with you,
and look forward to getting to know everyone who's listening
and their loves of food. You got some great shows
and some great interviews you've done. I listen to some
of your past shows. I can't wait to do this again.
I'd love to do it again.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Okay, chef, thank you so much. I appreciate you having
me
One of the biggest shows on television is NBC's The Voice.
I've been blessed with the opportunity to share conversations with
those that have participated since twenty sixteen. Where can you
get them? Aro dot net, a r Rie dot net.
Look for the podcast that's titled That Voice. How are
you doing today, chef?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning? How are you? I'm doing well.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Oh my god, listen to your energy. You are my
kind of chef dude.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. That's the hell of
a compliment.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh my god. I mean to have that kind of
energy and then to go into a place where what
you're going to create is going to affect other people's lives.
I've always believed that what we create, if we're not positive,
then those that receive it will not get it.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
One hundred percent. One hundred percent. You know, I'm not
gonna lie. I've been through hell to get here, but
you know, I mean, but I love what I do,
and I do what I love, and every morning I
look in the mirror and I say, you know what,
We're going to affect some people's lives today, and we're
going to cook for some people some healthy food and
the outcome is always positive, knock on wood most of
(01:04):
the time. I mean, yesterday it was a little chaotic
with Thanksgiving and my mother got sick all of a sudden.
Thank you, by the way for making time for me
the day after Thanksgiving. I really appreciate it. I note
you yourself for a big foodie. So I'm sure you
had a busy day yesterday as well. Well.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
My day actually started because I do love food so
much that I actually I took up a job at
a grocery store because I want to catch people as
they're buying it, and dude, I will call them out
in a heartbeat and I'll sit there, Sarah, are you
sure this is what you want to add to your day,
because here's what I did my research on. And they'll
sit there and they'll listen to me.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Absolutely absolutely. I mean, we can influence the consumer in many,
many different ways. I mean, you'd be shocked this holiday
season how many times I've been so far, even just
getting prepared for Thanksgiving, in a line in a grocery
random grocery store, and somebody goes, oh, wow, I've been
meaning to try that. What is that? And I get
(01:57):
into a conversation with them and tell them what I
do for a living and let them know that, hey,
you know, this is a kombucha, this is what it's
you know what it does whatever, you know, like for
gut health and this kind of thing. And you just
kind of start talking to them and uh, oh, you know,
I've got an event coming up. I'll have to give
you a call, and you know, boom, You've made that connection,
you know, you know, through health and wellness. And it's
(02:19):
really remarkable.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And this is not just for the average Joe listener.
This is actually for chefs as well, because come on,
we see a lot of chefs. They're pretty good sized people.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely my I mean myself included. I mean,
inflammation is a huge part of a chef's life because
you know, we work such long hours. We're on our
feet all the time. We are in into and out
of hot and cold environments if you count the walking
coolers and freezers, and you know, and obviously the standard
(02:49):
line in most restaurant environments or even in private chef environments,
you're constantly in and out of refrigerators, in and out
of in and out of ovens, constantly convection ovens, and
that kind of thing. And it's like, you know, that
causes and takes its toll on our bodies, you know,
And so what we have to really do is start
(03:10):
taking a look at ourselves in the mirror and going, Okay,
I know I overworked yesterday. I know I ate some
bad food yesterday. How can I combat that inflammation in
my body and help myself be healthier? And yeah, I
love working with my colleague to try to tell them, hey, listen,
you know we can work on weight loss, we can
(03:30):
work on a journey together and get you to optimal
health as well. Because what would the world be like
if all the chefs started dropping all of a sudden
because of bad health?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So true, so true. Well, it's because because it's the escape,
you know. I mean, you're right outside those four walls
of that kitchen. I mean is the real world. I
don't want to go out there and let me fix
up myself some happiness right here. Oh it's more food.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, exactly, exactly. And that's been you know, that's that's
been the story of the industry for a very long time.
But I do see I do see change coming. I mean,
I've put most of my life has been in this business.
I mean it's you know, I started at fourteen years
of age, but I was cooking way before that with
my grandparents and family and family members and friends and
(04:15):
all this especially this time of the year. And so
I mean professionally, I started at fourteen as a dishwasher,
and I worked my way all the way up through
the system. So I know exactly. You know what those
commercial kitchens life lifestyles are like this time of the year.
If you will see a lot of chaotics.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
A lot of people don't understand that about a restaurant
because I started out as a busboy. Then I went
into washing dishes. That you know, when you start putting
down who am I going to reach by keeping this
plate clean? All of a sudden, it's not a job anymore.
You're on a mission. And that's what I love about
what you're doing here. This is not a job. This
is a mission. This is a calling that you're doing
(04:54):
right now, because if you don't step forward, will anybody else?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I'm not thinking so dude, No, absolutely. I mean, you know,
medical meals, which is this is the trial that I've
been working on for twenty five years now. I am
now coming up in January, I'll be twenty five years
cancer free. Wo. I was diagnosed, Yeah, thank you. I
was diagnosed with a very rare cancer and it was
a stomach cancer and came out on the healing side
(05:23):
by healing through eating seasonally and healing through eating the
food that we eat. I know that doesn't really make
much sense, but what I mean by that is is
that if you eat with the seasons, you can help
diversify your gut microbiome and thus begin the healing process.
So I started out on a liquid diet. As you
(05:43):
may imagine, this was twenty five years ago, and everybody
was pushing, you know, oh, you need to do you
need to do broths, you need to do this, that
and the other. You're never going to eat solid food again.
And so I had to literally learn how to taste
and eat food all over again from the ground up.
I had a this type of tumor had spread quite
throughout my digestive tracts. So it was pretty much like
(06:05):
square peg round whole type of surgery. Thanks Peter, God
never did any chemo and radiation, but nevertheless that potentially
for a chef is career ending, right, I mean, And
there I was in my twenties, at the very beginning
of the renaissance of what would become the farm to
table movement in our country. So it was a perfect
time for me to go, you know what I'm gonna
(06:27):
I'm going to start eating healthy and unfortunately, I hope
and if there are I'm certain there's a fair amount
of chefs that listen to your show. Guys, if you're
out there and you and your your body is inflamed
and you're not feeling well, and you're you're really feeling
like something's wrong, you know, please see a healthcare professional
and know that the food that you take into your body,
you can make little changes that will combat that inflammation
(06:50):
and assist you in having a better life and a
better lifestyle. And I do it every day with clients.
I started out with cancer patients twenty five years ago,
with my fellow cancer patients and their caregivers, and it
has just snowballed into a career of private chef work.
I've helped so many people over the years. And then
I wrote my story called The Chef's Recovery, which was
an Amazon bestseller in twenty fourteen, nice all about my
(07:13):
journey with my rare stomach cancer and everything. And I
remember being laughed out of the room when I mentioned
to a whole bunch of physicians, hey, you know, the
gut microbiome is where it's at. That is where, that
is where healing truly takes place, right, And they laughed
me out of the room, these healthcare professions. And now,
(07:34):
of course, my phone is constantly ringing with consultations on
people that want to know. They want to know more
about gut health. They want to know more about living
healthy lifestyles and how they can eat with the seasons.
And this is essentially how I've been able to heal
myself from liquid diet to vegan diet back up to
solid proteins, solid meat proteins and fish proteins that are
(07:56):
very lean. And that's how I've been living my life
for twenty five years. And I've able to help so
many other people with this over the years.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Man, you are spawning, You are spot on with what
you're talking about, Because about a year and a half,
almost two years ago, my doctor kept telling me, he says,
you need to lose the weight. You need to lose
the weight. You don't need another heart attack, you don't
need to do that. So the day that I started,
when I started putting more attention on my gut health,
I mean I I sauerkraut with olives, artichokes. I was
doing so much healthy food and then the doctor looks
at me during my last health test and he goes, oh,
(08:25):
there must be something wrong with your liver. No, I
listened to you. I lost that weight, dude, and now
you're gonna you're gonna blame it on something else.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
That's right. Now, they're going to try to hit you
with a fatty liver. Yes, right, yes, well we've got
you know, believe it or not, food has a cure
for that as well, as I'm sure you're aware of that.
There are many many options that are there for you
with that too. But the beauty of the weight loss
journey that you've already been through is that when you
(08:53):
start that journey, it's really difficult to take the first steps.
And I could talk to all your listeners on this.
It's very difficult to take that first weight loss journey.
Yes it is, but once you take those steps and
you begin to feel better, you have more energy, your
body changes, you drop the weight. Of course, you know
there are certain diets that really work well for that
(09:14):
if you're looking for rapid weight loss this time of
the year, like keto and paleo and others that are
healthy and should be done under supervision of nutritionist dieticians
that kind of thing. But I'm sure you have those.
But I'm sure you feel a lot better than you
did before you took that journey.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well yeah, yeah, because the thing is is that you
know I was I thought I was doing great until
I went to that fitness test. And the thing about
it is out now every day when I step on
that scale, No, I'm horrified because he did say he
said liver, and it's like, wait a second. I cut
back on the eating. I'm eating much healthier. And that's
why I need this book. This book was given to
me by the universe chef, because I needed this book
(09:51):
to give me the strength that look, yeah, you can
listen to your doctor, but dude, you lost this weight
because you took the chance, you invested the inner and
your book is telling me, good job, good job.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah exactly exactly. I mean, because if you know, if
I could do it at twenty two years of age,
surely you could do it. Surely any of your listeners
can do it, you know, and and it is it's
so easy to do. You know, it's so easy to do.
It's just those first steps to realize that you have
the discipline to be able to get out. You know,
(10:24):
I started out and and I was having a really
really hard time because again I had so much surgery done.
I didn't know what food I could eat, you know,
I didn't know what food I could eat. You start
out on a liquid diet. You started out with bone
broths and misos and miso broths and things like that,
and you work your way up and you kind of
(10:45):
go okay, but in the weight loss journey, I mean,
the weight just drops off big time, big time. Yeah,
yeah yeah. And then you know, exercise wise, a little cardio,
a little you know, definitely some strength training involved. But
you know, the thing is is that you start out
taking those first two steps of walking out the front
(11:06):
door and actually taking a stroll around the neighborhood or
you know, strolling your neighborhood farmer's market, and believe it
or not, you know, you're burning calories by walking around
the city, by walking around the town, by walking around
the trails in your neighborhood parks. All that can really
make a difference in your overall health and wellness. The
connection with nature, you know, and the connection with being
(11:29):
out in your environment and breathing fresh air instead of
sitting in front of the computer desk all day, that
kind of stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
One of the things that I would love to see
more chefs and or people just in general take in
is that, first of all, what you're talking about with
taking those walks, I call those a transition walk. It
is to clear the head because we all go through
so many different mindsets. But I also believe that stretching
is so important to anybody who was in that kitchen,
because how many of our lives are stuck bent over
(11:56):
a hot pot and all of a sudden that affects
our shoulders, our hips, our legs, and then we complain
about it and it's like, well, if you would have
read the book, you would know this already.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Oh absolutely. And And you know the other thing too,
that's that's really huge. That that I stress is meditation
and breathing, keeping your cool and your calm. You know,
we're extremely stressed in this environment that is a line
or a banquet, kitchen or that kind of with with
we're constantly looking at the times of tickets and things
(12:26):
of that, and we start taking a look at it
and we go, my goodness, I mean, this is really
stressing me the heck out. I got to take a second.
And that's what That's where I used to take moments
to go in the walk in cooler and just breathe
for a second and then get back on the line
and start cooking again. You know, one or two tickets
would roll off while I'm out there, but you know, hey,
I got to take my moment to breathe and meditate.
(12:48):
And you know, it's really important to start your day
out with that kind of stuff too. You know, you
take your moments to do your yoga and breathing meditations
or whatever you choose. You and you know, and like
you said, stretching is very very much important because you know,
I can't tell you how many how many cooks and
chefs I've seen that get the Charlie horses and things
like that behind the lobea, you know, because you because
(13:09):
you're not hydrating number one, and hydration is another part
of this aspect. I'm sure you're gonna mention that too.
Very very important to get your adequate water and electrolytes
in during the day when you're working around a hot kitchen.
But but stretch is paramount, absolutely paramount. So I I
like to stress. You know, breathing yoga for older chefs,
(13:30):
tai chi is really good first thing in the morning,
you know, and and and you know, that's that's what
I've been doing for quite a few years, and it's
been very helpful for me. And you know, I got
beyond that yoga class age and I I started doing
the ti thing.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Please do not move. There's more with Chef Chuck coming
up next. Oh, we're talking healthy, but at the same time,
we're still having some fun here. That's what I love
about Chef Chuck. One of the things that that I
haven't heard a lot about and and I would love
to learn even more about this is that as the
weight came down, because I went from two eleven to
one seventy five, and the thing congratulation, oh, thank you
(14:09):
so much. And the thing is is that water intake,
all of that bad food was was what your body
was craving water. So what did I do? I gained
the weight. And now as I'm learning because I've got
my eating under control. Is the water goes into the system,
I'm still drinking water, but the body is saying, ah,
I don't need that much, and you're gonna pee for.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
The rest of the day exactly, Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
But nobody talks about that side of it though.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Oh yeah, I mean, I really love the you know,
I love hearing the point of view of the water somthingly.
I don't know if you follow him, the German Martin,
you know, he's fantastic. He talks about the mineral contents
and water and it's it's importance in mineral waters and
things of that nature that we take in these minerals
through the water that we drink, and that some of
the dangers of the American supply is that it's largely
(14:56):
chlorinated and it's full of different chemicals. And then you
add on top of the at you add they have
pepsi or coke. And I'm not I'm not, you know,
picking on these brands, but you know, there's a lot
of soda consumption and caffeine to consumption in our business,
you know, because we have to constantly keep ourselves on
the go. I can't tell you how many red bulls
and other types of behind the lines in restaurants, and
(15:18):
young people can do that, but as you start getting aged,
you get you get a little and you get a
little older, and it's like your body can't do that anymore, right,
So we you know, you try to have a soda
or you know, something every once in a while, and
it really bothers you because it's like, my goodness, that
sugar consumption. Everything is unnecessary calories. And then there you go.
You get the weight, you know, you put the weight on.
(15:39):
But as as we age, we begin to drink them.
You know, you could. I always recommend people drink mineral
water with a little bit of citrus. You're you're boosting
your immune system. Yeah, no, I mean Sparkling or still
Saratoga is a fantastic brand out of New York. Yes,
there there are other brands, you know. Pellegrino, you know,
(16:00):
is a wide widely found in grocery stores now. But
there's a and I and the name is is kind
of is kind of I'm skipping the name here, but
it's a German brand. It's a white label and it
comes in glass and I think it's Gersteiner or something.
But something that I can't pronounce it, but it's uh,
it's a German It's a German sparkling mineral water. I've
(16:23):
been drinking that really posts stomach cancer all the way
up until this morning. With just a squeeze of lime
or lemon or or fresh citrus, and it's replaced all
of the nastiness, you know, all the energy drinks, all
the bad stuff, you know, just some I'll have in
the morning, some protein of some type, like a boiled
(16:45):
egg or or avocat avocado avocado toast. I just had
some avocado toast, a little bit of egg, you know,
and some some hemp seed on top and some micro
green salad, you know kind of thing, and then my
mineral water with a little lemon, and that gives me
the go for the day, you know. And and it's
not to say that I won't have the sugarish beverages
(17:07):
from time to time in my life. You know. If
everybody loves to cheat and have that cheap day programmed in,
slice the pizza, maybe a soda something like that. Hey,
you know, hey, listen, you program those cheap days into
your health and wellness journey, that's okay, you know, I
tell my cancer patient friends, I say, you know what,
we're going through a journey. If you feel good enough
(17:29):
that you feel like you want to have that slice
that you use pizza and that and that and that
soda pop, Hey, let's do it. But then let's return
to that that wonderful meal that we create for you
that's going to help you with that irregular cell growth
by giving you boosts and boosts and boosts of different
things that contain the wonderful chemicals that we know are
(17:50):
going to help you in your cancer journey to kill
up those bad cancer cells in your body. You know,
things like Brussels sprouse with pure fine and broccoli, you know,
broccoli routes, and you know things like that that we
all know are very you know, anti cancer. Bit fresh
berries and I love being from North Carolina because this
time of the year we have the we have the
(18:10):
winter berry crop. It's the first of the strawberries is
coming from eastern North Carolina. And I love to buy
the local fresh winter berries quote unquote, you know, from
whole foods and stores like that that have the winter
berries that carry the winter berries because they're locally grown
here in North Carolina and tunnel grown they call them.
They pump hete into the tunnels into these tunnel like
(18:32):
environments where the strawberry plants are, and they make it
like an artificial springtime. But they taste as sweet as
April in the middle of January. So it's like, you know, well,
where we are now in November where they've come out.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Now, you gotta let me in on the inside. What
kind of berries are we talking about? I mean, are
we putting focus on strawberries?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Tunnel grown strawberries, if you can ever find them, are
fantastic form of vitamin C and great, you know, before
the Florida crop comes out on the East coast of
wonderful strawberries from Florida. But yeah, I try to eat
with diseases, you know. But that's my one cheat, is
my strawberry.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
What part of Carolina are you in, because I'm sitting
in Charlotte right now.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Oh, I'm in the Rawleig Durham areas from Europe there.
Oh yaactly, I'm in the I'm in the Yeah, I'm
in the boogie capital city. I live in wake Forest,
North Carolina, which is a suburb of Raleigh and nice
little small town environment. Wake forest. I live, uh live
out here, have my little garden and my home homestead
(19:30):
out here by Falls Lake and wake Forth, Carolina.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
So now let me ask you this question about because
we're all guilty of this insight when we're home chefing
or if we're with other people, and that is is that,
first of all, if you're home chefing, you're sampling everything
over and over again. And number two, when you're when
everybody's around the table and they don't want to finish
cleaning their plate, what happens We step in and we
help them clean their plate because it's.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Like, oh, don't waste that.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Wait come, I mean but that that cannot be healthy
to do that because I already had my portion that
was set for what I needed to do and what
what my body could take in. And and I'm taking
in everybody else's stuff they didn't want to finish.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, we call it the leftover madness in our house.
It's crazy. It's particularly those of us who have young children. Yep.
It's particularly difficult when you have young children because young
children will eat and then when they're full, they'll put
their hands up and you'll go, wait a minute, there's
still some of this mac and cheese left, or there's
still some of this chicken nugget left, and there's still
(20:26):
some of this you know, celery and hummus left. I
need to eat this, you know. But eventually you kind
of go, Okay, I got to start listening to my body.
And if my body is saying that it's full, then
I don't need to be eating off the plates of others.
You know. It's like, okay, I hate to waste the food.
(20:47):
But oftentimes my client's in the private chef sector, they
will actually have me package that for lunch the next day,
So I'll get a you know, I'll get a glass
container out and package it for lunch the next day.
But I did go through that sector of life where
I was that. You know, I was in my thirties
and my kids were young, and they were eating all
(21:07):
the great food that young people tend to eat young America.
You know, your mac and cheeses and your and your
you know, nuggets and Chick fil Fast food kind of stuff,
and it's like, oh man, you know, they left a
nugget here, only just jumped that down. We gotta be
you got to be cautious about that. But again, you know,
when you start taking a look at your cheat moments
(21:27):
and you go, you know what, I can cheat. I
can have a few nuggets, or I can have a
little a little bit of the leftover mac and cheese,
that kind of thing. Especially when it comes down to
the holidays. You go, okay, all right, well, I'll get
an extra walk in today, I'll get an extra you know,
extra stretch and yoga in today, or I'll get some
extra tai chie or fitness in of some type today.
(21:48):
Then then you go, okay, all right. If if ever
there's a time to cheat, it's around the holiday season,
and then you can make up for it. You can
make up for it. January February, marching into the spring.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Right where can people go so to find out more
about everything that you're doing, because you're on the right path,
you're taking the right steps, and we need to get
people to become activated. Don't just read the book, don't
go in there and say, oh that's me. No, it's
time to activate what you're sharing.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Well, I would say, you know, contact me directly through
you know, thankfully local Private chef dot com. Again. You
know you'll see you'll see our blogs up there. We
post a lot about the ingredients that we're using with
seasonality and seasonal eating. You know, I welcome that. And
then we have we have some new stuff that I'd
love to come on the show again and talk to
(22:35):
you about. Yeah, that we're going to do, because what
I'm planning on doing in the new year, at some
point in the new year, maybe springtime. By the time
we do this is a national launch. So I will
be able to come to a town near you and
cook a meal for you or your family, or your
friends or that kind of thing, using local ingredients in
your region, local and seasonal ingredients in your region from
(22:57):
farms that are in your region, and cook a little local,
completely local and highly regional meal for you and your family,
and tell you about the ingredients and their characteristics and
what's in them, and you know, and and all the
health aspects involved in that. And I'm so excited to
be doing that. So that's coming soon. But if you
(23:18):
want to contact me this time of the year, please
do so through the website thankfully Local Private chef dot com.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Wow, well, you've got to come back to this show
then in twenty twenty six, Man, the door is always going.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
To be open for you. Thank you so much. I'll
have my people contact you. What a pleasure talking with you,
and look forward to getting to know everyone who's listening
and their loves of food. You got some great shows
and some great interviews you've done. I listen to some
of your past shows. I can't wait to do this again.
I'd love to do it again.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Okay, chef, thank you so much. I appreciate you having
me
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