Kevin Curry

Fit Men Cook

Kevin Curry is the founder of Fit Men Cook, an online community that inspires men and women to eat healthy and stay fit with food that is never boring. With over 2 million followers around the world, he is one of the most sought-after influencers in nutrition, fitness, health and wellness.

THE TASTIEST CHILDHOOD

Born in Philly and raised in Dallas, Kevin grew up eating plenty of hearty, delicious soul food prepared by his Southern-born parents. Because most of his family was still in Philly, he also loved “east coast food” like cheesesteaks and hoagies. Mexican cuisine, so abundant in Texas, was another mainstay of his diet. as well as his Mom’s crock-pot roast beef, which simmered on the stove at home all day on Sundays while the family was at church, where his father was the minister of music.

SETBACKS & SUCCESSES

During a routine visit to his doctor during high school, Kevin had his very first “aha" moment about being overweight and later during his first year of college at the University of Texas, Austin, Kevin fell into the “freshmen fifteen” which contributed to his ongoing weight gain. While in college, Kevin received the Rotary International Ambassador Cultural Scholarship and lived in Quito, Ecuador for half year, becoming fluent in Spanish and falling in love with the country. Kevin taught hip hop in a gym and also worked in a restaurant. He fell in love with Ecuadorian food, and learned from his host family how important it is to sit and enjoy a meal. Every morning they had to eat breakfast together, and Kevin realized the value of being in the moment, being mindful—and that food is truly a unifying thing. This would later inform Kevin’s innovative approach to recipe and information sharing on his blog.

After graduating from college in 2004, life took an unfortunate turn and Kevin had to return home to care for his father while making plans to go to graduate school and in 2006, Kevin got a full scholarship to Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he studied strategic management and political advocacy, with the intention of going into politics. Kevin went into grad school super energized and felt everything was falling into place, but this was actually the start of his descent. While everything at school seemed great—he had good grades, he was well liked and he was very involved at school-- something was wrong that he couldn’t put his finger on. He had a bad breakup and although he had struggled with some depression as a child, a new and much deeper depression set in. Then in 2008, when Kevin graduated, the stock market crashed. His job options disappeared, and he had to go home to Dallas and start all over. Again. He went on welfare to help support his parents and used food stamps to feed himself; it ultimately affected his weight.

THE TRANSFORMATION

Kevin knew he had to make a change in his health and joined a gym. He went at it really hard—3 hours a day. The crazy thing was that none of it helped. He looked exactly the same and after trying another trainer, Kevin paused and realized he was spending a ridiculous amount of money on a trainer with no results. The biggest lesson he had learned from all of his schooling was to figure stuff out. With new resolve and determination, he went to a half-priced bookstore and bought every book he could on dieting and nutrition as well as books he personally found inspirational.