Lifestyle

Sammy Moniz to Release Feeding the Frasers Cookbook

February 17, 2022 by
Photo Credit: Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press
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Ever wondered what it’d be like to eat like Mat Fraser for a day? Soon, you’ll be able to test out the diet of the five-time Fittest Man on Earth–and many other recipes–thanks to a cookbook by Sammy Moniz. As Fraser’s partner she is also the brains behind the well-known Instagram blog Feeding the Frasers

FEEDING THE FRASERS: Family Favorite Recipes Made to Feed the Five-Time CrossFit Games Champion, Mat Fraser features 100 recipes created, tested and even photographed by Moniz, all that promote “balance, togetherness, indulgence, and athletic recovery.”

Feeding the Frasers: Moniz started Feeding the Frasers, which now has almost 400,000 followers on Instagram, so she could replicate recipes for Fraser.

  • “There would be days when I would ask what [Mat] wanted for dinner, and he’d say, ‘Oh, would you make me that meatloaf you made a couple of weeks ago?’ And I’d go into the kitchen and be like, ‘What did I do?’” Moniz says. “I knew how to cook, but I didn’t know how to repeat anything.” 

So, she started writing things down.  

Feeding the Frasers, The Cookbook: The recipe book centers on what Moniz calls their “food philosophy.” In addition to using the kitchen as a tool to bring family and friends together, the Frasers are focused on eating “whole foods without sacrificing the world.” 

  • “Mat was a competitor, and the way that he – and we – approached food was a little bit laxer,” Moniz explains. “A doctor told him… ‘You should be eating 9800 calories a day.’ It allowed us a little bit more flexibility… we were working with far more calories than the average American, so it didn’t really matter if we were using butter or oil or if there was sugar. We didn’t have to use alternatives.”
  • “I was lucky to be able to learn how to cook through feeding somebody who was not shy of calories,” she added.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press

This helped them forge a mindset of moderation. She and Fraser didn’t “go off the rails” without diet restrictions, they transformed that thinking into self-control. She explains this using the example of a cookie: 

  • “I’m not a fan of doing healthy cookie options. Just because something is sugar-free doesn’t mean you should be eating a healthy cookie with every meal. Now you’re getting yourself into the habit of eating cookies with every meal.”
  • “We always put all the butter and all the sugar and all the chocolate chips in whatever treat it is that we wanted. I’d think, ‘Ok, I’m craving cookies, I’m just going to have the real thing. I’m just going to have less of them, and it’s not going to be something I have with every meal because I’m going to approach this with a sense of moderation. It’s not now something that’s part of my diet; it’s an occasional thing.”
  • “There’s no such thing–at least in our world–as good and bad food, it’s just more… is this food going to make me feel good or is this food going to make me feel bad.”
  • “Sometimes a cookie just makes you feel really good, but six cookies will make you feel bad,” she continues.

Worth noting: Moniz is clear that this cookbook isn’t a meal plan. While her breakfast section is filled with delicious, sweeter options, she says those are “occasion” things. 

  • “From some of my conversations with other athletes… this doesn’t work for some. If you look at all the things you can control as an athlete, food is one of them. I think Mat would probably have a little more of a… sense of control if I wasn’t around and I wasn’t putting the food out in front of him,” Moniz explains. 
  • “Mat and I are very different human beings and we have very different lifestyles in terms of activities… I’m a bit more of a relatable person to the average reader,” Moniz says. 
  • “Yes, it’s going to be great if [the food] gets you through the week and you meal prepped and it’s super important for people who are on that lifestyle path, but I also love just making dinner to make dinner for your friends and bring everyone together.”

Details: FEEDING THE FRASERS: Family Favorite Recipes Made to Feed the Five-Time CrossFit Games Champion, Mat Fraser is currently available for preorder and will be released February 22. 

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