Fun Size Snickers & Beef Tendon: A Grand Master’s Diet

I hate to break it to you, but I’m a pretty boring eater. 

Typically, my day starts with half a cup of coffee. See? Boring already. 

With that, I will eat a banana and two slices of buttered toast. That’s most of my mornings. Other mornings I will have oatmeal with brown sugar and a little cream. 

When I am able to, I will make some eggs to have with my toast. Again, buttered. And I know what you’re thinking but, contrary to popular belief, high-quality butter is actually pretty good for you. And I love my toast. 

For lunch, I will almost always have Korean food. Unlike Chinese food with heavy, syrupy sauces, Korean food is very lightly sauced, but spiced nicely. 

Kimchi is a staple of my diet. Kimchi is cabbage and Korean radish that has been salted and seasoned, then left to ferment for a day or two. Fermented foods have so many health benefits, in addition to just being absolutely delicious. 

Rice and kimchi with some Korean radishes is a common lunch for me. I also love Bibimbap, a mixture of rice and vegetables. Sometimes there is also meat in bibimbap, but I will usually have them use two eggs instead. 

Other Korean dishes that I like are tteokbokki, and Ojingeo bokkeum. Tteokbokki is a Korean street food which is a rice cake with a spicy sauce called gochujang (also used in kimchi), and eggs, Ojingeo bokkeum is a stir-fried squid dish. I also really enjoy dried cuttlefish, which is very similar to squid. 

If for some reason I find myself needing something fast, I like Pita Gourmet. I can usually get some kind of open dish with chicken, rice, and vegetables for lunch from there in a pinch.

I try not to eat too heavily at night because it’s not really good for you. So, whatever I end up having, it tends to be a smaller portion. But dinner runs the gamut. Some nights, I will just eat cold cuts with no bread. Other nights I will try to have soup. Rarely, we will cook steak or burgers for dinner.

If I go out to eat for a special meal, I usually try to stick with steak, fish or chicken. And I will usually ask for extra vegetables in place of starches like potatoes.

As disciplined as I am, I am certainly not without my food weaknesses. Veggie straws are a go-to snack for me. I love the Wegmans brand. But my ultimate weakness is candy. I will eat one or two fun size Snickers bars every day.

In earlier posts, I have written about my experience traveling with Grand Master Park. During those times, I can honestly say I had absolutely no idea at all what I was eating.

And I wouldn’t dare to ask.

Grand Master Park was a very healthy man, so whatever he put in front of me, I would eat. 

As a result, I have eaten cow intestine. I have eaten soup made with cow ligaments. I have had abalone porridge, which are like huge snails. And I have had many, many kinds of seaweed, prepared many, many different ways. 

If you had a hamstring injury, Grand Master Park would tell you to eat tendon soup, or something else with tendons in it. When I was in Korea, and I came down with a cold, he had me eat abalone porridge, which was admittedly a little rough. 

But everything he gave me was good and kept me healthy. And now, even though I am a boring eater, I am not a picky eater. 

Pil-Sung means “certain victory through indomitable spirit and courage.” If I’m not going to let an opponent dominate me, I am certainly not going to let cow ligaments.

Fun size Snickers, though… that’s another story.