Note from the editor: This post accompanies the recent episodes of The Tim Ferriss Show and the Tribe of Mentors podcasts featuring Suzy Amis Cameron and James Cameron. It explores James’s daily routine, which he credits for providing him with endurance and stamina during the back to back production of Avatar 2 and 3. As he explains, “I’ve never done a year of production in my life. Titanic took six months to shoot. And we just finished a year because we did Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 back to back. And that was one solid year of production. And I’m feeling great, whereas before, I’d be completely burned out after a six-month shoot and require a month to recover.” As a bonus, you will also find James’s green smoothie recipe. Please enjoy!
James Cameron (@jimcameron) is a filmmaker and deep sea explorer. He is writer, director and producer of The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar. Both Titanic and Avatar (the highest grossing film of all time) won the Golden Globe for Best Director and Best Picture and were nominated for a record number of awards. Cameron was also at the vanguard of the 3D renaissance, developing cutting edge 3D camera systems. As an explorer, in 2012, Cameron set the world’s solo deep diving record of 35,787’ in the Challenger Deep in a vehicle of his own design.
A dedicated environmentalist, Cameron founded the Avatar Alliance Foundation to take action on climate change, energy policy, deforestation, indigenous rights, ocean conservation and sustainable agriculture.
He is currently in production on Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5.
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Here is a typical day of Jim’s regime:
— 05:00 — pre-workout — green smoothie (spinach, apple, orange, banana — heavy on the spinach, and you can see the recipe below)
— 06:00 — 1 hour workout — usually kickboxing, yoga or light weight training with high intensity intervals
— 07:30 — breakfast — sometimes tofu “scrambled eggs” or a quesadilla made with plant-cheese, sometimes red beans and rice — always a protein shake made with fruit, nut butters, pea protein — use this to wash down supplements (hemp oil capsules, MSM for supple joints, vitamin D) — B12 is a sublingual tablet — and a cup of Oolong tea
— 11:00 — mid morning snack of fresh fruit (grapes, watermelon, berries) on set
— 13:30 — lunch — bowl of soup plus any one of the scores of great lunch dishes prepared by Brad and Sandy, our vegan chefs at the studio — mexican fiesta, Indian, thai, Italian (pasta, pizza, lasagna), burgers (Beyond or Hungry Planet) — these are comfort food dishes with a conscience
— 16:30 — mid afternoon — a green salad, on set
— 20:00 — dinner — a very light meal, sometimes a plant-based burger, sometimes just some humus and pita and a handful of olives, sometimes an avocado chopped up with salsa — plus always a glass of wine for stress reduction 🙂
“I don’t think about protein or carbs. Just a broad mix of flavors, and a lot of emphasis on leaf vegetables, produce (some raw, mostly cooked) — fiber fiber fiber — can’t emphasize plant fiber enough.”
JAMES CAMERON’S SMOOTHIE RECIPE:
Fill 12 oz container (Canteen)
Ingredients (Organic fruits and veggies):
- 1 and 1/2 cup of water
- half of an orange
- small piece of orange peel
- half of an apple
- half of a banana
- 1 stick of celery
- handful of spinach
- handful of beet greens
- 5 ice cubes (make sure blender does not get hot)
Instructions:
- pour water in blender
- add celery, beet greens, and spinach
- blend slightly
- add the rest of the ingredients
- Blend until smooth (usually 2 minutes)
For more recipes, ingredients, swaps, resources for what Jim, Suzy and their family eat for peak performance you can find it in Suzy’s book.