The Long Game - What I Learned About Food After 100 Conversations With Top Athletes

What Actually Fuels The World's Best Athletes
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[00:00:00] Happy New Year. It's 2026. I want to start this episode somewhere very specific. I was in Delhi, in India, the place I was born, and I was here over the holidays. Over the last couple of weeks, I ate a lot of very good food, home cooked meals, foods. I grew up with street food. Desserts, of course, yes. And they were sugar in those desserts.

And I'm saying that openly without guilt because I actually believe the human body can handle indulgence. It can handle celebration, it can handle eating differently once in a while. What it doesn't handle well. Is chaos every single day. And that's really what this episode is about. Before we go any further, this is not a full on Nutrition podcast.

We are not doing a deep dive into macros or blood markers. [00:01:00] We are not here counting calories, this is not a, here's exactly what you should eat episode. This is something lighter, something more human. We are mostly talking about breakfast and what breakfast. Quietly reveals about how people live, train, and age.

Well, somebody said it correctly that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I don't know if it is the one that is the most important nutritionally, but I do know that it kind of sets the stage, it sets the tone for the day that's gonna follow. Also, I'm not a scientist. I'm not a huberman style explainer.

What I am is someone who has experimented with his own diet over the last couple of decades, and also someone who has had lots and lots of conversations with world class athletes, many of [00:02:00] whom are still training. Competing and performing decades into their lives. And after all these conversations, I started noticing a pattern I genuinely did not expect.

That pattern starts with breakfast. Before I get into the pattern, let me clarify what I mean when I say athletes. I'm not talking about people who were. Good ones and then retired. I'm talking about people who reached the absolute top of this board. They lived through injuries, through setbacks, through burnout, through aging, and still figured how to keep going.

These are rock climbers, endurance athletes, mountain athletes. Ocean athletes, people who have tested themselves for decades, and you know, that really matters because when people like that talk casually about food, not in a lecture, not in a plan. Not in a program. They're [00:03:00] usually speaking from experience.

They have already stripped away what doesn't matter. If you have listened to the show, you know, I start every episode the same way. It started as a simple icebreaker, but it became a thing. I ask, where are you right now and what did you have for breakfast? And yes, I do ask that, every time I meet a new guest.

So. This simple grounding question, but after asking it again and again and again, I realized it reveals a lot, not just about food, but about routine, about discipline, about how much mental energy someone is spending on daily decisions. And over time a very clear pattern emerged a surprising number of world-class athletes eat basically the same breakfast every day.[00:04:00] 

Not optimized, not exciting, not constantly changing, just. The same thing. Let me give you a few examples, and as you listen, notice how they relate to food, not just what they eat. Let's start with Lionel Cher. Lionel didn't even start surfing until his fifties, and he then went on to serve massive. Waves like the Mavericks.

In fact, he served Mavericks at the age of 59, becoming the oldest person to serve those giant waves for the first time. When I asked him about his breakfast, what stood out wasn't the food. It was how religious. He was about consistency. He eats essentially the same breakfast every single morning when he's home.

When he travels anyway, he goes, he, he doesn't improvise. He [00:05:00] literally brings one of his staple foods with him. He talked about packing brand buds. Brand Buds is a type of cereal and I don't think brand buds are magical. But he doesn't want breakfast to become a decision. He wants to eat this one meal, and that details stayed with me because that's not discipline as punishment.

You know that discipline almost. Provides relief because one is not thinking about what to eat every morning. Next we have Jerry Moffitt, one of the most influential climbers in history. Someone who's taught deeply about performance over decades. Jerry told me his breakfast is simple. Two eggs on toast.

That's it. But then he adds his own flair. Marmite ketchup, sometimes harissa same [00:06:00] base, same structure, a little personal flavor. And then he said something that. Really landed on me. He said, if I'm not performing, it's not the food because I eat the same food every day. That client reframed a lot because what he's really saying is, well, don't blame breakfast for problems that live elsewhere.

Next we have Lynn Hill. One of the most iconic climbers of all time. The first to free climb the nose on a Capitan. She is indeed the goat. So Lynn's breakfast, when she talked about it, was steady and repeatable and really very approachable. Also, it was just moly with maple yogurt. Nothing dramatic, nothing performative, just something she can return to day after day.

And yes, I love muley [00:07:00] and yogurt and I feel these days you can find that in almost. Yeah, any country I have visited to climb, it's, yeah, it's very available. Steve McClure is the next person. Steve is another climber whose stayed relevant across generations. Steve talked about eating dry cereal, no milk as his regular breakfast.

He also casually mentioned adding a little bit of chocolate. So yes, Steve's breakfast without milk is a little unusual. But you know, hey, who says one needs milk with breakfast? And Steve evidently likes it and it at least allows him, or at least doesn't stop him from continuing to climb some of the world's hottest route in his mid fifties.

Harvey Lewis is one of the most accomplished ultra runners alive. I talked to [00:08:00] Harvey fairly recently and Harvey talked about a repeatable morning built around cereal, specifically three wishes with oat milk and cheer seeds. It wasn't a special gra day breakfast, it was not a one-off. It was just what he eats.

That simplicity matters when you are logging massive training volume over decades Okay. Then we have somebody from the world of surfing. We have Gary Linden. Gary Linden founded the world's first big wave world and has been surfing for six decades and he's in his seventies, still surfing the graves he described. A repeatable breakfast built around cereal, milk and fruit, and some protein powder, something he could eat every day without thinking.

No drama, no constant tweaking food wasn't where he was spending his [00:09:00] emotional energy. Finally, we have Kitty Calhoun. Kitty is a legendary alpinist. Still climbing and moving strongly in her sixties. What stood out to me? With Kitty was how intentional yet simple her diet was. She eats the same foods every day.

When we chatted, we did not get into a breakfast extensively, but she had a simple protein bar, a build bar as she. Went to climb for that day. The idea is to not over complicate. Think about food as something which is part of your life, not something your life should revolve around. What's the takeaway from all of this?

It's not to copy anyone's breakfast. The point is this, the best athletes tend to build a default, a baseline. [00:10:00] They don't outsource energy to daily decisions about food. They solve breakfast and then they move on with their day. And once I. Noticed that pattern in them? Well, I could not unsee it in myself.

Let me talk about my own pattern for a moment. Many of you know I've been living in a van, and you would think that living in a van would make. Eating worse, smaller fridge, less storage, less flexibility perhaps, but honestly, the opposite happened over the last year. I think my diet actually has gotten better because I have everything I need and really nothing.

I don't, my vegetables are right there. My spices, I write there. My dry goods, oil supplements, all within arm's reach, and I cook more now than I ever did when I lived in a house. This [00:11:00] lines up perfectly with something James Clear talks about. You don't need more discipline, you need a better environment. I didn't suddenly become more motivated.

I love my junk foods. I like eating at all hours, but you know, I just removed friction or really that friction was removed for me. So now I am not saying you need to go live in a van. You do not. But you can design your environment so that your default breakfast is easy. So the good stuff is visible. So the what should I eat?

Question is already answered. Most people don't. Fail nutrition because of knowledge, they fail because the environment makes the wrong choice, the easy choice. But I never shared what I eat for breakfast. So actually my breakfast in most days is [00:12:00] quite simple. I've been eating oatmeal for the last. I think 25 odd years.

Really, that's been the staple. I switched to steel cut oats about a decade ago. I think that they are more nutritious. I do know that they taste a bit better to me. So yes, I put the extra effort into preparing steel cut oats instead of regular oats. And to those oats, I typically. Add cheer seeds. And remember, chi seeds need to be soaked for some time before they become, or at least before their nutrition is optimized.

I also add some hemp seeds and then I mix in some vegan yogurt. I think vegan yogurts these days are often just as good as other yogurts, and you can certainly get the high protein kind in vegan yogurts as well. I like Guy till [00:13:00] vegan yogurt. I absolutely have no sponsorship from them, but yes, the Kite Hill yogurt has this high protein one, which when I can, I love to get my hands on, Okay. Then I add in honestly, whichever fruit I have in hand. Bananas are great, easily available, and they do so well in a bowl of cereal, but then I'll often add other fruits if I have them. I'll add. You know, oranges with their delicious citrusy. Dang. I'll add, uh, sliced apples. I'll add, uh, grapes. Yes, I love adding grapes because they bring so much sweetness and juiciness.

And then finally, I will share my secret ingredients. I will add a very generous scoop of. Some nut butter. It is often peanut butter, but then I also add in almond butter, sometimes hazelnut butter, cashew nut butter. I mean that's, yeah, that, that is the variety I [00:14:00] indulge in. I just pick up whatever jar of nut butter I have in front of me, and I just go ahead and add a heaping tablespoon.

I mix it all up and it is so tasty. It is so satisfying. Every once in a while I will also do something different. I'll make eggs. Yes, I like change once in a while, so I will make eggs. I will also make, uh, some version of, a pancake. That I make with, uh, bananas and oats and, and eggs or, yeah, just maybe chi seeds.

And I like that as a change. But honestly, 25 out of 30 days a month, I'm just eating that bowl of steel cut oats. I love it. Oh, of course I do love my coffee. Yes. I also have this habit or this ritual that I am yeah, I'm obsessed with, which is I love to make my coffee in this, uh, slow old fashioned [00:15:00] way, Pouring the coffee over and uh, yeah, that ritual and the breakfast, it's just so important to me. And yes, there is, consistency there, which I think is a performance tool, but I also enjoy not having to make a decision about what I eat in the morning. So I also wanna add in one more thing. something that I think really gets said clearly.

Not all processed foods are bad. I use high quality energy bars, I use protein drinks. They are incredibly helpful when I'm climbing all day, when I am bicycling, when I'm traveling. Or just when hunger hits and cooking isn't realistic. Maybe I am in the middle of a day, so I will typically eat, I would say, one energy bar every couple of days.

And then I'll usually drink some kind of a pea [00:16:00] protein drink, I think almost every day. Yes. Having that bit of, processed, addition to my diet that I don't think that's failing. That's making a decent choice in real life. And this isn't about purity, it's about intention. It's about being or really doing the best I can.

All right. I want to zoom out for a few minutes. I know this episode is mostly about breakfast, and I want to keep it human and grounded, but once you start paying attention to breakfast, especially among athletes who have lasted, you inevitably bump into a bigger question underneath it. What actually supports performance over time.

And before I say anything else, I want to be clear about where I'm coming from. I am not a scientist, I'm not a researcher. I am not a human style explainer. What I am is a [00:17:00] very curious learner. And someone who's become increasingly invested in looking after myself. As I get older, I like to experiment. I take notes.

I talk to people who know more than I do, and I try to keep what works. This is the important part. And yes, that's it. honestly, my relationship with food has changed a lot over the years. jogging back a bit. In my twenties, I was a bit of a gym head. I lifted heavy, I bugged up. I was about 25 pounds heavier than I am today.

I, yes, eat a lot of meat. I did protein shakes. I lived squarely in that gym culture world. And then about 15 years ago, king shifted as I got deeper into climbing and surfing. Lifting iron mattered less. And my sports performance movement and well, [00:18:00] feeling good all day. Started turing more. And then moving on, about eight or nine years ago, I stopped eating meat And became vegetarian. So I have lived a few different nutrition identities, Okay, so that brings me to protein. Four years. I assumed I was getting enough. I cook, I eat well. I'm active, so I never really questioned it. Then a couple of years ago, while dealing with some health questions, I worked with a dietician.

We did something very simple. We actually calculated how much protein I was eating in an average day, and I remember looking at the number and thinking that cannot be right. I was getting about 50 grams of protein a day. For my body weight about 1 45 pounds. That's not enough to support recovery, strength, or muscle retention as I age.

When we did the math [00:19:00] properly, a more appropriate target for me was closer to a hundred grams of protein every day. So I wasn't slightly off. I was at about half of what I needed, and that gap explained a lot slower recovery, lingering soreness, and maybe less resilience. So I adjusted, not obsessively, definitely not perfectly, maybe a little bit intentionally.

Now here's when things get confusing for a lot of people. Because when you start talking about protein, you immediately hear a very loud number in popular fitness culture, one gram of protein per pound of body weight. That number is everywhere, gyms, social media, supplements. And for a long time I assumed that was the gold standard, but what I learned is that this number isn't really coming from mainstream nutrition science.

It comes mostly from [00:20:00] body building, culture, and marketing. It is simple. It is easy to remember, and it says protein. Now, contrast that with government guidelines. If you look at something like the recommended dietary allowance, the RDA, the number is much lower, roughly 0.8 grams per kilogram or about.

Point three six grams per pound. But here's the key thing most people miss. That number is not an optimal target. It is a minimum designed to prevent deficiency in the general population. It's basically the don't fall apart number. So it is too low for active people, and one gram per pound is often More than most everyday athletes actually need. So where does the science land? This is where my conversation with EC Kowski help bring clarity. What I appreciated about ECS approach is [00:21:00] that it cuts through both extremes. Her recommendation lands about 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight for active people.

For me, that's right around a hundred grams per day, and that number isn't random across a lot of training. Research benefits for strength recovery and muscle retention tend to plateau around that range, meaning getting up to that level matters going far beyond it often doesn't add much. that felt same to me. It seemed enough without chasing excess. But here's the other piece that gets lost When protein becomes a headline, protein matters, but it's not the whole story. When protein dominates the conversation, micronutrients quietly disappear. vitamins, minerals, and all the plant compounds that don't get marketed, but do real work.

This stuff supports energy, immunity, bone health, connective tissue, all the things that [00:22:00] actually keep aging athletes moving. You can hit a protein target every day and still feel flat if the rest of your diet is thin. Protein doesn't replace micronutrients. That's why I like framework that emphasize real food volume, especially fruits and vegetables.

Not because it's 20, but because that's where micronutrients live. So this is how it shows up for me now. I plan meals, protein forward and veggie forward, and I don't stress about carbs. They take care of themselves. I still use protein, drinks and bars, but I see them as tools, not the foundation. The foundation is still real food.

And again, my goal is imp perfection. The goal is eating in a way that supports the life I want to keep living year after year and being able to rock, climb and surf and my bike, and generally, yeah, live my best life. So honestly, that brings us right back to [00:23:00] breakfast because when breakfast is simple, repeatable, and nourishing.

Everything else gets easier, not perfect, just easier. 

So the. Framework is simple. Eat enough protein to support muscle, eat a lot of vegetable, and that's it. And you know, the carbs, I mean, I eat some kind of carb in every meal, so I'm never worried about not getting the right carbs. The important thing for me is to have some protein and some vegetables with each meal.

So that now means planning meals, protein forward and veggie forward, and letting yes, like I said, letting those carbs fill themselves in naturally. So Yes, I know that this episode was going to be about breakfast, but uh, I just wanted to be a little more transparent about how I eat through the day. And [00:24:00] if you want the deeper explanation, including the research behind ECS Nutrition framework.

I think yes, that episode is worth revisiting. I want to or I want to add actually a little bit more detail about my own diet, and this is personal. 

Like I mentioned before. 



I eat vegetarian, in fact, mostly vegan except for eggs and sometimes fish. I stopped eating meat about eight or nine years ago, and to be honest, that transition wasn't.

Easy. I missed the taste. I missed the convenience. I honestly really missed the ability to go off with my friends and eat all the same meat dishes they were eating. But on a personal level, I don't feel deprived. I get protein from tofu, Satan, lentils, dolls, pea soups, all [00:25:00] loaded. With vegetables I found, like I said, great.

Dairy substitutes. I'm not a big cheese person, but I do like, having some kind of, nut milk when I make an Indian chi style chi. And that happens every once in a while. I find actually for my Indian Chi, . I used to use almond milk, but I have recently switched to soy milk because I learned that soy milk actually has.

A lot of protein. So soy milk is a good way to get protein in your diet if you are already needing to consume some kind of milk in your, uh, in your day. I also mentioned, yes, there are great vegan yogurts, including Greek style yogurts that are genuinely rich and satisfying. I also believe that it is okay to embrace technology, and the instant pot and air fryer in my [00:26:00] kitchen honestly changed my life.

In fact, it is one thing I miss in my van, in my van's tiny kitchen. It is not having an air fryer. I have this. Great two burner induction stove that I love, and I also actually have an Instapot, but that air fryer would really uplevel my. Cooking game anyway, so since getting the Insta Pot and the air fryer, when I first got it, I was still living in a house.

I rediscovered dolls and soups and learned how to make them healthier by adding just but just adding gobs of vegetables and. It is true getting enough protein as a vegan does egg intention. I still miss the mark some days. But I am often close, and that has made a real difference in recovery and consistency.[00:27:00] 

I can feel it. So let me land this back where we started over the holidays. You might have eaten differently. That's okay. The body can handle celebration. What it struggles with is drifting for years without a default. And if there is one thing I learned from asking world class athletes about breakfast, it is this, the nutrition that last isn't exciting.

It is not even that complicated, but it is repeatable. So here's the question I will leave you with. What's your default breakfast? What's the meal that makes your life easier, not harder? I would actually really love to know. You can email me at Kush at AngelList athlete dot go. You can message me on Instagram.

Or you can just send me a note with [00:28:00] the contact link on my website at dub dub dot ageless athlete.co. Yes. Uh, I would love to know what your default breakfast is,

I'll leave you with this in closing. Think about the meal that makes your life easier, not harder, and then build that. You would have already done something. Very few people ever do.

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