about
Hi, I’m Branden Byers. He/they.
I live with two amazing humans (wife and child) and way too many adorable animals (parrots, dogs, goats, and ducks).
I am an autistic, vegan endurance athlete, software engineer, and ferociously curious human. I live in Portland, Oregon, USA.
my food journey
My food journey started as an extremely picky eater in my youth. It wasn’t until my twenties when I read The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved by Sandor Katz that an interest in food began. Not just what, but why, and how. It scratched my itch of always questioning the status quo. That led to more Sandor Katz reading on fermentation which bubbled into a full-on fascination with foods and microbes. The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan further nudged the direction my boat was sailing.
Vegetarianism led to veganism in 2017. And veganism, finally, eventually, led to me trying to cause less harm - not just to the environment and others, but to me and my own body. I wasn’t eating horribly, and had experimented with cutting out all sugars, flours, etc. for years. I did intermittent fasting. But once I finally started to learn what limited knowledge we have about nutrition, my perspective on life, along with running, has forever changed.
running and stats
I am 42 years old. 175 cm (5'9"). I track my calorie intake and expenditure and maintain a weight of roughly 63 kg (138 lbs).
I started my running journey about 5 months ago…
books
I published the (non-vegan) cookbook, The Everyday Fermentation Handbook: A Real-Life Guide to Fermenting Food–Without Losing Your Mind or Your Microbes, in 2014 (I went vegan in 2017), detailing my adventures in fermented foods exploration.
It was also translated into German in 2015 under the title: Fermentierung für Einsteiger: Sauerkraut, Kefir & Co. - Einlegen und Konservieren für jedermann.
The book is out-of-print, but I managed to get the rights to the text back from the publisher and have long since thought about releasing a vegan redux version. But at this point, I might as well write a new book since there is so much that I would change.
podcasts
I edited and hosted a podcast called FermUp from 2012 to 2015. Over the duration, I had the opportunity to co-host with Tara Whitsitt, Allison Wells, and Danijela Byers and talk with many inspiring guests. Together, we reached 101 episodes!
At times, the show was rambling and rough (thanks to me and my lack of editing; our co-hosts and guests were great!). But I learned a lot about how to share my enthusiasm and excitement with the world that resonated with at least a few people.
organizations
We didn’t survive the pandemic given our in-person events and workshops orientation, but co-founding the all-volunteer run cKeys with other mechanical keyboard enthusiasts was an exhaustingly beautiful experience. I love bringing people together over shared interests, and cKeys was a great outlet for bringing together hundreds of people for talks, meetups, and electronics workshops.
We aspired to continue to grow and do so much more, but ultimately, the board made the decision to dissolve the non-profit organization in 2024.
my running journey
I never liked running. Now I love it. I have been adapting my body in hopes to thrive at running for performance and longevity. My journey has only just begun, but the transformation from before and after running has shifted many of my perspectives on life.
Me, on a cheap walking treadmill, attempting to record my running form at the very beginning and again 4 months later and 30lbs lighter; much improvement but much work still needed and much still I have to learn…
When I first started running at the age of 42, I felt clumbsy and confused when attempting to run in any fashion other than a full out sprint. My hunch is that part of the reason I got minorly injured a couple of times was due to a lifetime of not running. I’m not sure I ever learned how to run. Despite being semi-active much of my life, the last time I had sustained cardiovascular efforts was when road racing as a 16-year-old cyclist.
When I first started running, I was scared. Scared that it was going to be too hard. My perception of hard and enduring hardness psychologically has shifted since then. That shift in perspective is a large part of my inspiration to write more on this site.