Expert Profile: Jason Bonn

Jason “Jay” Bonn is a name that’s well recognized by members in the Precision Nutrition community. He’s been an active member since the inception of the PN forums in 2006, and his passion for continuous learning and living the PN lifestyle made him a perfect fit for the role of a moderator in the Member Zone. More recently, he’s taken on a bigger role at PN: he’s a coach in the Lean Eating Program. In either role, Jay’s expertise with the Precision Nutrition principles means that he’s the guy you can count on to lend support, provide direction, and come up with those seemingly evasive links to relevant threads and resources.

As much as we’re glad and lucky to have Jay on our side, it’s perhaps his contributions outside of Precision Nutrition that are even more significant and far-reaching. As a physical education teacher at a grade school in Chicago, Jay gets to share and instill the value of healthy food and lifestyle to a school full of kids every day. Jay’s teaching directly reflects the PN lifestyle and his beliefs, and he tries not only to help the kids in his classes, but his colleagues as well.

Though it’s hard to complain about a job where you get to wear sneakers, run around with kids all day, and teach what you’re passionate about, Jay admits that he faces plenty of challenges in trying to educate the kids. For one thing, he has to battle the influence of the fast food mascots that are so abundant and easily recognized by children. “Everywhere you turn, there’s a Hamburglar or Ronald McDonald,” says Jason. “The last vegetable or fruit mascot I can remember was for Fruit of the Loom underwear!” (We assume Carrot Top doesn’t count.)

Jay’s other major pet peeve is that many parents and teachers reward kids for good behaviour or academic achievements with candy and similarly unhealthy foods. This reward system is something that Jay has to overcome all the time, but it only strengthens his resolve to keep kids active and eating well. Jay’s style of teaching is also a reflection of his basic philosophy in life: keep things simple and set out to better yourself every day. In his classes, he incorporates fun activities to keep kids interested and improve their level of fitness, without complicating things. For the group of kindergarten-aged kids he teaches, this includes some competitive warm-ups that help build upper body strength: scooter pulls, hand stands, bear crawls, and wheelbarrow races.

Outside of school, Jay stays true to the philosophies that define him. He believes that there are always ways to improve what he’s doing, whether that means health and exercise or the cognitive and social aspects of his life. In the gym, Jay trains with a purpose. His goals change and evolve as he passes milestones. Whatever he’s going after, it always seems that his primitive, simple side prevails: he craves strength. Jay loves the simplicity of the deadlift; the idea of “Here’s a big weight, now pick it up”; and the way his chalked-up hands still form the shape of the bar after a good set. At 5’8” and 170-175 lbs, Jay’s personal best in the deadlift and squat are over 400 lbs. His current goal is to get both up to 500 lbs.

A peek inside Jay's fridge

In order to fulfill the goals he has for himself as well as for his students and those he coaches, Jay makes a PN lifestyle a priority. Training and eating well himself is just as important as teaching others to do the same. And the best way to ensure this happens is to start the day early. Whether it’s a weekday or weekend, Jay’s favourite time to train is first thing in the morning, when there’s nothing scheduled and no excuses not to get a workout in. When he’s had to train later in the day due to travel or holidays, his workouts just don’t have the same feel.

As for food, during the busy school year, Jay is a “prep ahead” guy –- he has to be. On weekdays, it’s all about stuff that he can make and eat quickly with minimal fuss. Having a fully stocked fridge is the first step; it’s always loaded with fresh vegetables and precooked meals in Tupperware containers.

Jay generally constructs his meals by starting with a heaping plate of vegetables, and then complements this with other foods high in protein and healthy fats. When in a real crunch for time, SuperShakes and homemade bars from Gourmet Nutrition V1 and V2 help to fill the gaps. Between teaching, coaching, and his own training, Jay has found a routine that allows him to fit it all in.

A day in Jay’s life

4:00 am: Jay wakes up, gets dressed and groomed, and eats some oatmeal with whey and frozen fruit, plus celery on the side or a Supershake — something quick and easy.
Then it’s a dark walk to the gym. Chicago mornings can be pretty cold, but Jay finds the walk down the empty Chicago streets to be calming. The gym Jay trains at is open 24/7. This means he has no excuse not to go. Jay also loves how empty the gym is in the morning. There are no distractions; he can easily set up multiple stations at once; and it kind of feels to him like he owns it.
6:20 am: Back home after the gym, Jay jumps in the shower and then eats a meal of roasted vegetables, some chickpeas and a few Apple-Cinnamon Quinoa Cakes. 7:10 am: Off to school. Jay fits in some work on the computer for PN coaching and preps for his day’s classes. 9:00 am: Before his first class, Jay has a homemade bar, along with some Greens+. 12:15 pm: At lunch, Jay has a spinach salad with some carrots, celery, peppers, chickpeas and walnuts, topped with a dressing made of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
4:30 pm: Back home from school and eating again. Now it’s some sautéed collards, onions, red cabbage and peppers, with some nuts and seeds thrown in. After that, Jay’s back on the computer, tackling questions in the PN community.
7:00 pm: Jay’s hungry – again. His last meal of the day is a mix of protein powder, hemp and chia seeds in a bit of almond milk, topped off with some coconut and some veggies on the side.

By 9:00 pm, Jay’s asleep. On the weekends, his day starts the same: wake and train. As for the rest of the day, since Jay is not teaching, he has more free time to himself and is able to get a little more creative with his meals.

Shortly after college, Jay spent some time in culinary school to learn the basics of cooking, so that he could move away from relying on processed and packaged foods. He found the knife skills class to be most useful – he’s pretty quick at chopping broccoli (shades of Dana Carvey!), and can prep food in no time at all. Since he’s switched over to vegan meals, Jay’s been having some fun in the kitchen, coming up with some inventive ways to eat vegetables!

This includes:

• Stuffed Acorn Squash/Veggies and Latke/Sweet Potato Patties
• Falafels
• Eggplant Rollatini
• Chiles Relleno

Just as he’s done in the past, Jay will have fun experimenting with his meals and is excited to see how it will work with his strength goals. Once he’s got that figured out, he’ll be on to developing some new strategies, and setting different goals. There’s no room for complacency for Jay, just as there’s no end to living a healthy lifestyle and making good decisions. This is something that keeps Jay moving forward every day, and is the stuff of which great teachers are made.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
–William A. Ward