Interview With Chef Tyler Provines
Featured Chef - August 2010
Interviewed by: Angela Courduff Moreno
WP: Hello Tyler! Thank you for taking the time to do another interview for World Physique! We had the pleasure of getting to know a bit about you and your fitness background in July’s Interview; Motivational Interview of the Month. In this interview, I’d really like to delve into how a Le Cordon Bleu chef doubles as a bodybuilding enthusiast! Which came first; your love of cooking or your love of fitness?
TP: I have been into sports and fitness since I was very young. So, athletics came first. But, while I was in high school and learning about weight-training from my football coach, I also began to realize how important eating was and eating the “right” foods vs. just eating a lot. I wanted to add size and knew food was key to size and strength improvements beyond just the workouts.
WP: Wow, you figured that out young! Most people don’t figure out that nutrition is the key element until much later. When did you first decide to pursue your interest in cooking?
TP: Mid-way through college while I was at Kansas University, I was training hard and getting more involved with nutrition. I didn’t know much about cooking; I got a lot of information and help from my mother and grandmother (I still follow many of their recipes to this day). But, I realized I wanted to learn more. I also discovered that some great looking women attended cooking schools. Dual incentive!
WP: Dual incentive, indeed! Tell me about your culinary training. Where did you go to school? What do you consider your specialty?
TP: I applied to the Le Cordon Bleu program at Texas Culinary Academy in Austin, one of the country’s top schools, was accepted and went on to graduate top of my class. This surprised a lot of my athlete friends! I learned all the traditional French cooking styles but, because of my strong interest in fitness and bodybuilding, I began to explore how to make nutritious food “gourmet”. Too often I have found nutritious food tastes like cardboard and it doesn’t have to.
My cooking point of view, as they call it, is simple, nutritious gourmet that’s delicious tasting, beautifully prepared food that is extremely healthy for you. I am not one of those professional chefs who are into crazy recipes with wild, over the top results to impress people. I am into the basics with great flair.
WP: You have been employed at a number of A-list celebrity restaurants and cooked under some big name gourmet chefs. Can you recollect one of your favorite experiences?
TP: As a Chef, the most hated and loved epicures are food critics. The most well known critics can make or break a restaurant. They dine incognito using aliases and disguises. That being said, when my team at The Wilshire landed a well deserved 3 star rating, only one of two restaurants in Los Angeles to receive this, it was truly epic!
WP: You and your team must’ve been elated! Aside from being an extremely busy chef, you are also an elite athlete and fitness model. How do you balance your fitness and culinary careers?
TP: I have always been good at multi-tasking and learned at a young age how to manage the many things I wanted to do, and do well, at the same time. Once you have cooked in a three star restaurant preparing a very extensive menu for 500 rich and famous (and demanding) diners on a Saturday night, most everything else is relatively easy. Also, fitness and bodybuilding are a part of my everyday schedule without fail. I make the time for it because I want to. Although my workouts are intense, I love them as much as I love cooking. I rarely miss a workout.
WP: That is extremely admirable. So, when do you make the time to fit in your training?
TP: Generally, in the early morning five to six days a week. I have a fantastic workout partner who pushes me to constantly improve. Our collective knowledge about fitness and training is quite extensive. I’m fortunate he can adapt to my cooking schedule as necessary. We have learned how to make a workout great even if I only have 30 minutes.
WP: Having a great workout partner is a blessing, and having one that adapts to your schedule is a miracle! How do you handle being in a kitchen with exorbitant amounts of the most incredible foods and still be able to maintain your willpower?
TP: Like lots of athletic kids growing up, I ate everything in sight and not all of it was good or healthy. The good news is that when you are that active all the time you can get away with not eating totally healthy foods. But truly, I never ate as badly as kids do today. I was never a snack junkie or into lots of sweets or soda, fortunately. I also have been fortunate that most of the kitchens I have cooked in tend to be health oriented. In LA, many of the top restaurants are focused on healthier foods and cater to the affluent “got to be fit and look young” LA audience.
Concerning my willpower, I love how I have sculpted my body and am not often swayed to eating fatting foods. I have learned to reward myself with some foods that are not as healthy once or twice a week. It is important to allow yourself to “cheat” a little to live a little. If you don’t allow yourself to have some cheat food, you may find yourself getting anxious and cranky which impacts your workouts and your job. I have also discovered how to cook and prepare good treats that are healthier and satisfy some cravings in a good way.
WP: Yet another benefit to being a chef! You eat very cleanly day in and day out. What is your favorite healthy meal?
TP: I love fresh tuna on top of mixed greens with heirloom tomatoes (when they’re in season), cucumber and red onion and dressed with homemade ponzu. It’s like angels are dancing on your tongue!
WP: Ok, I’m definitely going to try that recipe. What is your favorite cheat meal, or "good treat”, you like to make for yourself?
TP: I’m a big believer in rewarding yourself weekly for all your hard work and dedication. Sunday is my day to enjoy a treat. But on very special occasions, beer, a burger and fries is my choice. Maybe it’s the Kansas in me, but nothing is better then grilling with family and friends and sipping an ice cold brew.
WP: That’s such a good combo! Do you feel your culinary training gives you a leg up in the fitness industry and with your training?
TP: Absolutely! I think that I have created a niche for myself as I have not come across any professional chef who is in as good physical shape as I am and is as good an athlete. I am finding that fitness companies, and especially fitness magazines, are excited about my specialty and that has led to several major editorial assignments. For example, SobeFit Magazine has just made me a regular editorial contributor with my own monthly page melding fitness and food. To my knowledge, no one else is doing what I am doing. Actually, being both a Le Cordon Bleu trained professional chef and a certified trainer is paying off wonderful dividends.
WP: It is truly an amazing niche you’ve created for yourself. You are one in a million! You played quite a number of sports in high school. How has your training changed over the years?
TP: In high school and college, I trained for performance on the field. How I looked was not that important. Today, I train to be healthy, to be very strong yet agile, but especially to look great for fitness modeling. I train specific body parts to improve them for this work. Although I do believe I am as good an athlete today as I was in high school and college, I may be even better because I’m more in tune with my body, especially how best to fuel it. Nutrition is 85% of the game, exercise is 15%. I am actually faster and stronger now in my late 20’s than I was at 18.
WP: Given your expertise, are there any food myths you’d like to dispel?
TP: Myth: Fat free equals calorie free. Fact: The truth is that fat free foods still have just as many calories, if not more, than the regular version. Compare the food labels: To make food taste better, extra sugar, flour or starch is usually added which have a surplus of empty calories. However, I would recommend low-fat or fat-free dairy products.
WP: There you have it readers, the fat free equal’s calorie free myth has been debunked! Tell me about your book you have coming out. Is it a cook book? Diet book? Explain!
TP: My book’s working title is Cook to be Fit (it might change by the time it gets published) and it is the first book to explain how to best pair foods with specific exercises for the body you want long term. Certain foods are better for some types of training than others and understanding that produces better and faster results. It will be full of all kinds of tips to make buying and preparing delicious healthy foods easy. I’m sharing my secrets to building a great physique as well as my philosophy about living a healthy lifestyle everyday without it being a drag or so restrictive as some people assume it has to be. It’s really not a cook book or diet book; it’s a fit lifestyle book. It will have lots of photos as well as a link to a website to see exercises and food preparation on video.
WP: Amazing! I can’t wait to get my copy. On top of that, you also have a TV show in the works! Can you talk about it?
TP: Unfortunately, I cannot give you much detail. But, I can say it would be unlike anything on TV today and would take me all over the world. That would be very exciting!
WP: Well, we’ll all be waiting anxiously for more details. Where else can we look for you in the near future?
TP: I expect to be doing more fitness modeling and some theatrical work (in a TV series). One of the things that I believe works to my advantage is the fact that I have an excellent symmetrical athletic physique (not too bodybuilder-ish) and I do NOT shave my body. The “real” All-American blonde-haired, blue-eyed look is coming back into vogue and I have had many casting agents and photographers tell me how “refreshing” it is to see a masculine unshaven man.
WP: Yet one more niche you’ve created for yourself! What is one thing we haven’t talked about that you want people to know about you?
TP: I’m still a mid-Western boy from Kansas who retains his middle of America values. I’m really just the guy next door type. Hollywood did not change me and I am grateful for that.
WP: It has been a real pleasure interviewing you, Tyler! I look forward to seeing your book out soon! Best of luck in all your future fitness and culinary endeavors!
