Aaron Elliott is a badass. The in-demand private chef can fire up an amazing meal, he practices jiu-jitsu religiously and isn't afraid to start his day by plunging in ice-cold water. But the former punk drummer, with loads of famous friends and clients, is also an incredibly chill guy, devoted husband and a longtime vegan. He tells me he got into cooking “basically from survival mode by being in a band on tour”—it wasn't always easy being a vegetarian in the mid 2000s. “We lived on a $5/day per diem for months at a time, so instead of eating fast food like everyone else, I bought a rice cooker and used it to make brown rice, lentils, split peas, etc.”

After interning at prestigious culinary spots (Noma in Copenhagen and D.O.M. in Brazil), Elliott moved to Los Angeles to cook privately for celebrities like drummer Travis Barker, A-list directors and UFC fighters like Nate Diaz. “It had always been my dream to open a restaurant with my brother,” he confides. “It seems almost impossible to do this in Los Angeles at the moment because landlords want every restaurant to be a Chipotle or Sweet Green, so I decided to start a meal delivery service out of my kitchen about a year and a half ago.” For Elliott, the Meal Ticket service is “definitely scratching the itch” in the meantime and for customers, it's like having an in-demand private chef prep your meals for you. The clean, coastal-California cuisine offers plant-based dishes that are made from ingredients sourced from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. We had to know how a guy like Elliott starts his day.

I’m a big morning person. Seriously.

I can't wait to get out of bed. I wish I could skip the whole wind down and sleep part and just get the morning going. I'm up at 7 a.m., hopefully after a good seven hours of sleep—that's my favorite.

I set an alarm, but 99% of the time I’m up before it goes off.

My day off is Friday. I always push the alarm time back an hour or so and I usually can't sleep past 6 a.m. I guess I'm really excited to get it going. I never hit the snooze.

My nightstand is ... cluttered.

It's got way too much on it at the moment and it drives my wife nuts. Dr Bronners magic balm, magnesium gel packets, cash for farmers market, three gold chains, a drum key, a flashlight, a knife, a cup full of pens and sharpies for notes in the middle of night and a pair of eye glasses. Not my car keys though. I never know where those are.

I wish I made my bed as soon as I got up.

But sadly, I rarely ever do. Maybe that's a goal I'll work on.

First thing I do when I
get out of bed ...

Check my text messages, hoping one of my chefs isn't calling off. Then I get the kettle on the stove brew for some green tea. Then I drink lots of water.

I journal everyday.

It's helpful to get those thoughts out and down on paper. Especially in the morning. Then, I'll meditate for 20 minutes—it's great first thing in the morning. I don't let myself drink tea or put on music until these are complete, so it's an easy way for me to not procrastinate.

The medication is so important. If I find myself getting easily annoyed or if I ever honk my horn in the car, it's usually a sign that I haven't meditated in a couple of days and I'll make adjustments.