Meet the OFM Team

Leading the OFM Coaching Team is Peter Defty, the original developer of the OFM Program/Protocol. Peter pioneered the concept of fat adapted performance in 2000 first personally, then using running friends as guinea pigs then professionally when he joined Vespa.

From the onset athletes began to win, podium and set records using Vespa and the OFM protocol, however, these early successes were dismissed as anecdotal. Peter's athletes comprised the majority of the LCD cohort in the ground-breaking FASTER Study (Volek et.al.) A self-described empiricist (but one with a BS in Biology from UC Davis), Peter is constantly looking into and experimenting with how to further OFM to yield real world results.

At 64, Tony is a lifelong athlete. Though he started out playing baseball and soccer, after the school soccer program was canceled, he took up running Cross-Country and Track in High School and College (University of Arizona). At 20 his interests shifted and he moved to Seattle to work in a bike shop and got serious about bike racing and worked up to a Cat 2 status. Though he never gave up running, he spent the next several years racing and working in the cycling industry, racing all over the western US. Eventually migrating to Southern California to work for Univega Bicycles. he continued racing bikes as a Cat 3 cyclist but started to also race Duathlons (Run/bike) and found he was quite good at these competitions which combined both of his athletic pursuits.

Like most of us, ‘Life Happens’ and Tony had a career shift in the late 1989 to aerospace composite manufacturing to support himself and raise a family, something which he continues as his ‘day job’ as a Manufacturing Process Engineer.

Roughly 11 years ago Tony moved his family to rural Kentucky. It was during this time that Tony’s ability to train and compete scaled way back and he found himself weighing 235 pounds. He began to run again, but found the weight loss was limited which set him on his health journey starting with Phil Maffetone’s ‘Two Week Test’ then experimenting with Primal, Paleo and Keto diets. Though a significant amount of weight was lost these dietary approaches could not get all the weight off and there was a significant performance gap.

Tony’s research led him to VESPA, and, in turn, this led him to OFM. After a few years of experimentation, he got down to and has maintained a stable weight of 175 – 180 pounds and, due to the fast recovery (damage prevention) OFM, training more than he has been able to do in a very long time. One of the benefits of OFM is that Tony does not ‘diet’ per se but uses carbohydrates strategically in his diet and fueling to not only perform at his best but build metabolic capacity.

Tony’s experience, combined with his genuine desire to help others (Master of Divinity in Theology), is why he is working with Vespa/OFM to get the OFM message out. It is timely since Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes are running rampant, even in sports, and, yet, many ‘experts’ are pushing people to consume even more carbs for training and racing. Tony sees this will only lead to failure in health and performance. This has motivated Tony to be part of our Team & Mission to change the course of human health and performance toward the robust health and performance bestowed upon us. 

David Grech is an ultrarunner, golfer and cricketeer who "gets it" about OFM.  He has successfully coached several Australian athletes in OFM including OFM Training Coach Tash Fraser, one of Australia's top female ultrarunners.

David fully understands the nuances of OFM and how to walk people through the process in a way that gets them into the "intuitive" mode of thinking which is key to OFM success. David is certified as a Pilates Instructor, Massage Therapist, Golf Instructor and is currently getting his degree in Nutrition.

Naomi "Nomes" Land, is a successful businesswoman, mum, and wife on the north coast of Australia. Like David, Naomi "gets it" about OFM and has the special people skills necessary to yield results. Athletes under Naomi just seem to want to perform for her.

She is an athlete in her own right but also a Race/Event Director/Organizer as well as a Certified IronmanTriathlon Coach, Life coach, and Sports Power Coach/Weight Lifting. Additionally she is certified in Altitude Training and is currently getting her Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification.

Kaayla Daniel PhD, aka "the Naughty Nutritionist", holds her doctorate in Nutritional Sciences and Anti-Aging Therapies but is SO much more. Kaayla has written several books including "Nourishing Broth", The Whole Soy Story", and "Hook, Line and Stinker: The Truth about Fermented Cod Liver Oil".

  She is regarded as one of the top experts in broth having researched and wrote about the benefits of broth and gelatin well over a decade ahead of the current interest in broth. Kaayla's coaching/consulting focus with OFM is geared toward active baby boomers who want to carry their zest for life for decades beyond their 60's & 70's.

  Kaayla's been a guest on the Dr. Oz Show, PBS Healing Quest, NPR's People's Pharmacy, and has spoken at numerous health & wellness summits, podcasts and conferences, including Paleo f(x), Ancestral Health Symposium, and Charles Poliquin's Bio-Signature. 

Charles ‘Tim’ McConnell exemplifies the transformational journey OFM offers to those willing to commit themselves to the process. 

Gracia is a South African based OFM Coach dedicated to optimizing health & performance. With a focus on fueling the body for peak metabolic efficiency, Gracia guides individuals to reach their health and performance potential, all without a restrictive diet or lifestyle. Her background, experience and expertise lies in nutritional coaching as well as sport specific strength and endurance coaching.

  As an active athlete, Coach and Personal Trainer Gracia knows first hand how to enhance energy utilization and recovery which, ultimately, helps clients achieve their health & performance goals.

Koren has worked in the wellness industry for almost 15 years, with 1000’s of hours logged as a yoga teacher, group fitness instructor, personal trainer, stretch therapist, and nutrition/health coach. After dabbling in rock climbing and obstacle course racing, she took the leap straight to ultra running, completing her first race in 2019. At that same time, she embarked on a health journey after first experiencing a thyroidectomy following a questionable tumor discovery later that same year. The loss of most of her thyroid and the need to optimize her health sent her deep into rabbit holes in order to best understand her personal challenges so she could keep on running.

  In 2021, on a whim, she signed up for the inaugural year of the Cocodona 250 - a 250 mile race across Northern Arizona. That year ended with a DNF (Did Not Finish), but she learned a whole lot about what she needed to improve upon. Nutrition was at the top of the list. She knew that her metabolism was not functioning optimally and that needed to change. She also questioned the strong emphasis in the ultra world on calories, calories, calories, principally in the form of carbs and sugars.. Humans evolved from persistence hunting, it simply did not make sense that the current recommendation to accomplish long distances relied so heavily on exogenous calorie consumption.

  Enter: Peter Defty, Vespa and OFM. Since making the switch to optimizing her fat metabolism, Koren has finished many ultras, and lives a life of adventure with her family while guiding others on their own metabolic journey. 

Mike began his athletic career as an adult before joining the Navy. He kept it up throughout his military service. Little did he know at the time where it would take him. 

   Following his military service Mike got into sales eventually becoming a product line manager for SC Johnson managing national chains, but, in spite of climbing the corporate ladder, stayed active.

    It was the Jim Fixx running boom in the late 70's that got  Mike focused on endurance sports. He started by running but quickly discovered this nascent endurance sport called 'Triathlon' and competed in shorter distance local events in the Southern California region.  He also tried his hand at road and mountain bike racing but his love was in the challenge of multisport. This led him back to triathlon and into the longer distances as the sport evolved to being a finisher at the IronMan World Championship in Kona during the early days of IronMan. 

   Since that time Mike continues to train and race, including a stint doing 3 to 5 day Adventure Races because of the multiple disciplinary challenges of the sport. However, just over 16 years ago Mike retired from the corporate life and decided to go 'all in' to his sporting pursuits by also becoming a coach and bike fitter. 

   Mike adds great depth and experience in endurance sports and personal interactions to our Team. He was originally introduced to OFM through a coaching client who was using Vespa and OFM protocols to optimize his metabolic health and performance and, seeing the results, decided to become part of our Team.