I didn’t learn about nutrition from a textbook. I learned it by watching people.
I was born in Cuba and raised on the East Coast of New York. From a very young age, I noticed something — some people just seemed healthier than others. More energy. More life. More vitality. I didn’t know why at first. So I watched closely. And slowly, it became clear.
“Before I could cook or exercise myself, I already understood that the way people lived determined the quality of their lives. I just didn’t have the words for it yet.”
My father was the cook in our family. Everything from scratch. Quality ingredients. Real food — the way food was meant to be made. That’s where my passion for culinary arts was born, long before I ever set foot in a kitchen professionally.
My mother was always active. Always conscious of what she ate. Always moving. In an era when dangerous diet medications were being handed out freely — some of which have since been banned — she tried a few. Then she made a decision that would define the rest of her life: a complete lifestyle change over any quick fix.
She is 81 years old. She still belongs to her local gym. She still walks regularly. She is living proof — my living proof — that what you put in your body and how you move it determines the quality of every single year you get.
❤️
The number one killer of men in America — and almost entirely preventable through lifestyle, nutrition, and early intervention.
⚖️
Not a character flaw. A systemic, hormonal, nutritional challenge — one that requires real education, real support, and a real plan.
🩸
Type 2 diabetes affects millions — and in the vast majority of cases, it is reversible or entirely preventable with the right approach.
Not everyone in my family made the same choices my mother did. I watched family members suffer and die from three of the most common — and most preventable — diseases in America. Heart disease. Obesity. Diabetes. Diseases that don’t care how hard you’ve worked or how much you love your family.
“Going against the grain means refusing to accept decline as inevitable. It means choosing differently — for yourself, for your family, for the people who need you around.”
That conviction became my career. In 2008, I began training clients — and I haven’t stopped since. Nearly 17 years of hands-on coaching, hundreds of transformations, and one unwavering belief: that your health is the most important investment you will ever make.
I trained through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, earned my board certification through AADP, and built my practice on the science of holistic health — while never losing sight of what this work is really about. Real people. Real lives. Real stakes.
Today, Against the Grain STL serves clients from all walks of life — men, women, all ages and backgrounds — both in-person in St. Louis and virtually. And with the launch of APEX MAN in partnership with Dr. Delene Musielak at ALEA Health & Wellness, that mission has expanded into one of the most comprehensive men’s health programs in the region.