A Philadelphia native who now lives in Dallas, Kevin Curry grew up with good food. His mother enjoyed cooking comforting family recipes and his childhood included plenty of soul food and Mexican cuisine. But he struggled with extra pounds in high school and college and was truly jolted one day when he saw a photograph of himself on social media.
He realized he needed to make changes, but he forged ahead with the misconception that exercise—not diet and nutrition alterations—would take off undesirable weight. “I was wrong,” he shared. “There was not enough cardio or weights in the world that could get this fat off my back. I realized that if I was going to accomplish my fitness goals, it would have to be through a steady, healthy diet, complemented by hard work in the gym.”
Gradual education, trial and error, and tenacity opened Curry’s eyes to the realization that many men have no idea how to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. Thus, he founded FitMenCook, an online community that inspires men (and women) to eat healthily and stay fit with food that he insists is “never boring.” Currently, FitMenCook has amassed a social media following of 2 million globally on a myriad of platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, proving to Curry that his personal journey of healthier shopping, cooking, and eating has been helpful to others.
Eventually, he said he began to “look at foods that I really like, some Mexican cuisine and soul food, for example, and break them down. I would look at the ingredients and make swaps that were lower in calories and better for me nutritionally. I didn’t think I needed to stay away from those foods. My parents are Southern and I grew up in the Philadelphia culture of trying East Coast foods like cheese steaks and hoagies. I just kept thinking that it didn’t make a lot of sense that God put us on the earth to not eat so much that is available. It’s OK if we incorporate our own history of food, if we do it in a way that’s healthier.
“Now, more than ever, I firmly believe that healthier food options do not have to be boring,” he said.
One factor Curry makes clear is that his journey to discover healthy living was not without struggles. He admits he battled bouts of depression primarily due to poor health choices, and he acknowledges that diet, nutrition, and exercise greatly affect his mood and outlook. Just determining his purpose, to establish FitMenCook, took a few years of ups and downs. He helped care for his ill father, suffered a relationship heartache, failed to launch a career in his originally chosen field of communications management, and more. But a job in marketing and social media honed skills in those areas and ultimately benefited the launch of his Tumblr blog. A successful Instagram and YouTube channel followed the blog, and then Curry established the FitMenCook app and published in 2018, a cookbook, “Fit Men Cook: 100+ Meal Prep Recipes for Men and Women.”
“Mental wellness definitely contributed to my journey,” said Curry, “but it’s an ongoing journey, and people who struggle need to realize that. We all have different challenges happening in life. We all set a goal for ourselves. Sometimes it might be harder to lose weight, or it might take too long and a person reverts back to old ways. But we always have to consider age, circumstances, body type, and food access, and we need to give ourselves grace.”
He shared further, “Whenever I was trying to lose weight, I tried to change my entire diet overnight. I got burned out and went back to my old ways. Pace yourself; be patient. Focus on one thing that could become a habit. For example, if you drink five sodas a day, for the next three weeks, start gradually cutting down on sodas. Then, finally replace the soda with a fruit-infused water. Get excited about that. Then add something else to change. All of a sudden you realize you’ve transformed your diet … your lifestyle.”
Curry has stated clearly that people interested in achieving a healthy lifestyle need to approach all aspects gradually. “The more that I cooked for myself and put my wellness first, the more I felt better … empowered, energized. The focus on a healthier lifestyle gradually helped me dig out of depression. And while I’m not fully delivered from depression, because it’s a condition, proper diet, rest, exercise, and perhaps medication, when needed, are key.”
Even though Curry uses the internet and social media to communicate his message, share recipes, encourage, and more, he warns people about losing perspective. “What are you looking at online? If you only look at the perfectly chiseled bodies, you look at yourself as less and then get frustrated and impatient.
“Comparison robs us of the joy … of progress. You might have lost dozens or a hundred pounds, but you’re still frustrated because you don’t look like the magazine cover.”
Curry plans for his second book, which he is currently developing, to dive deep into his mental wellness journey and to demonstrate how food and cooking was the most positive catalyst in his life.
One distinction of FitMenCook is that Curry makes it easy for Spanish-speaking communities to benefit from his offerings. While in college, Kevin received the Rotary International Ambassador Cultural Scholarship and lived in Quito, Ecuador, for half of a year. While there, he became fluent in Spanish due to living with a host family. Thus, he often presents information in Spanish when speaking through teaching videos and more. Curry also fell in love with Ecuadorian food, and that experience has spilled over into the innovative recipe and information he shares on his site.
“The language of health should be as wide and accessible as possible,” he said. “Heart disease and diabetes are prevalent in the black and brown communities. So I took time to learn to speak Spanish and I practice it on a daily basis. It’s so important to communicate healthy lifestyle to a wider community … to let communities know they are included … to inspire them.”
Curry’s motto for FitMenCook is simple: “Our bodies are built in the kitchen, sculpted in the gym.” And, because the kitchen is central, he starts with how to adequately equip a kitchen. In a 20-minute online video, he shares a plethora of tips such as use airtight containers to preserve fruits and vegetables; invest in a nonstick skillet to lower oil intake; and, set up a snack station with plenty of healthy, gradually accumulated nutritional items such as sunflower seeds, nuts, dried fruits, root-plant chips, and more.
He insists non-cooks need not be intimidated. “Just start cooking, even if you don’t consider yourself a cook,” he said. “Start with your favorite meal, research it, get the ingredients, and begin to put it together. It’s the equivalent of, ‘I don’t know how to swim but I can get in the kiddie pool today.' Do it little by little.”
As the founder of FitMenCook, Curry indicated that his greatest personal benefit is learning about people positively affected. He relayed one story of a mother who approached him in Miami at a book signing. “She told me her daughter followed my site and she suffered from an eating disorder. The mother couldn’t get her daughter to eat anything, but the daughter was inspired to begin preparing and eating the recipes I shared. She learned to see food in a healthful way. And the mother came to the book signing that day to tell me that.
“I’ve gotten a lot of email messages from people who are morbidly obese. And reading the enthusiasm in their messages—those are the things that motivate me. I try to read all those comments because they are the ‘why’ … the reason I’m doing this.”
