Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hello!

42yo man, divorced but engaged, ethical vegetarian for 14 years. Currently lacto-veg, but was vegan for the first 7 or 8 years.

Just started weight training about 2 1/2 months ago as a means to lose weight. I need to lower my BFI another 3- 4%, and I'll be happy in that regard. I have no idea how far I want to go with bodybuilding, other than that I have no interest in reaching a competitive level. I just want to be fit and to look good. I'm making progress in that area.

I work out in my apartment with free weights. I don't like gyms. I took creatine for a little while, but stopped. I'll probably start up again, if only to finish the bottle I already have. I don't take any other supplements other than a multi-vitamin, but after reading a few threads here I am considering protein shakes.

The only drawback to the exercise, that I can think of, is that I'm afraid to get any new tattoos for fear of them becoming distorted by muscle growth!

Dan

I am all over this one! Trust me 3-4% is not that hard to drop with enough work but you have to stay on it!!!! Congrats on the 14 year veggie kick, that is impressive and keep it up.

As far as free weights go, they are the best for building muscle but are they are one of the ways most people get injured. Make sure you are not doing more than your joints/tendans and ligaments can support!

I was worried about the tattoo thing too at first but none of mine have stretched so bad that they look distorted. Actually I think they look better! But even if they do get a little stretched out you can always get color filled back in.

Thanks. I've already lost about 6% bodyfat, so I know another 3% isn't gonna be that hard.

Well, one tat I have in mind is a tribal design on my butt, so I'm not too worried about distorting that one, but the one I want to do the most would be a half-sleeve (shoulder to elbow) of (cartoonish) people, which I think would get badly distorted since I definitely want to add (at least) a couple of inches there. The impetus for that one is 50% design and 50% cover up of my first two (crappy) tats, so I may cover it up with something less likely to show distortion and save the design for the other arm to be done sometime in the future.

Welcome and congrats on the 14 years. Enjoy yuour stay.

Ah well, that part is easy. My conversion to vegetarianism was very similar to a religious conversion. There's no going back. The fourteen years just means that I've been doing it longer than some, and that's probably a reflection of my age.

The sad thing is, when I joined PETA in 1991 I told them that I hoped that they'd have to shut down, due to having become unnecessary, within my lifetime. I have plenty of lifetime left, but I don't see that happening.

What do you mean you told PETA that you hoped that they would shut down? How are they unnecessary? They have liberated many animals and brought proof out to the public? Or I am misunderstanding?

You're misunderstanding. I WANT them to become unnecessary, but society isn't cooperating.

I've met Ingrid Newkirk, in fact spent several hours escorting her around Portland, OR, about 10 years ago. Very neat lady. I'm gonna go see her again next week at a book signing.

Ah I see thaks for the clarification. The net has some really bad stuff on Ingrid Newkirk, which I don't see anything wrong with what she says or does. I too hope that they will become unneceesary.

You're probably thinking of the 'a rat is a pig is a boy' quote. That's only part of what she said, the entire quote is "When it comes to pain, a rat is a pig is a boy." In other words: pain is pain, the species it's being inflicted on is irrelevant.

Noo not just that, theres more. However even if it was "a rat is a pig is a boy" by itself, I would still agree because a "life is a life". Plus theres the case of how they fund "terrorists" as some like to call them, but I dont see them that way. One they dont kill people and try to minimize physical damage as much as possible (even though those bastards at those labs deserve pain and torment), and second they are freeing animals. Either way, I support PETA.

Hey Dan,

Thanks for joining the group. It is great to have you here. I post on this forum quite a bit, although I work most of the day away from a computer so most of my posts come at night it bunches.

That's cool that you are seeing Ingrid again next week. I know that Peta knows about www.veganbodybuilding.com because they send people here and I did a TV commercial for them, but you might want to mention it to Ingrid

Cool that you took her around Portland, I live in Corvallis, just a bit South of Portland and I go there a couple times a month to see my family, friends, and perform stand-up comedy.

Take care,

Hey Robert,

I lived on the coast, near Seaside, for 3 1/2 years in the early 90's, and spent a lot of time in Portland. I love and miss that part of the state, but I may be moving back in a couple of years after my fiancé graduates from college. She hates the heat here in Houston. I don't mind the heat, and I enjoy Houston for the most part, but I'm much more politically attuned to OR. Well, the Willamette Valley, anyway.

I'll have to come see you perform, I love standup comedy. Are you funny?

Where in TX will she be?

Here in Houston.

hey Snkdpr,

Wow, 14 years and going strong. You and your ethics rock.

ya, I know what you mean about the day that PETA becomes unnecessary. Sadly, it does not look like that day will be coming in any of our lifetimes any time soon. IN fact, it seems that in some ways, PETA is more necessary now than it was before. For example, fur sales died down in the 1980s but unfortunately have skyrocketed again over the last several years. Isn't that just the saddest and most frustraring thing? Talk about society taking a step backwards. Instead of progressing, in many ways we are regressing to a more neanderthal and barbaric state.


Wow, you met Ingrid that is so cool. never met her, put she is one of the people in this world that deserves to be knighted, sainted, given a nobel peace prize, and otherwise recognized.

And anti-animal rights people, especially vivisectionists, love to misquote PETA statements and do it all the time. Like you said. saying a "rat is a pig is a boy" is VERY DIFFERENT IN MEANING than saying "When it comes to pain, a rat is a pig is a boy." of course, the vivisectors like to leave out that first part so as to make animal rights people sound like freaks and alienate people from the cause even further. They appeal to people's speciesm in other words. BUt I am with Kollision on that one, in that I believe that a life is a life, cruelty is cruelty, whether done to a pig, chicken, dog, cat child, or elderly human, and that all life is precious and that animals have just as much of a right to living free of human molestation as do humans.

Anyway, welcome and post frequently here. Also, about your goal to drop body fat, here is my two cents worth:

Make sure that you do cardio, and make sure that you do cardio AFTER weights (if you do both on the same day). Also, when doing cardio make sure you keep your heart rate in the target range (65-75 % of your max heart rate). In my opinion, interval training is the best fat burning cardio method. Say 20 minutes, with one minute of high intensity (where your heart rate is at about 80% of your max, followed by two minutes of lighter intensity, where your heart rate is given two minutes to fall back within the target range. Then back up for one minute, back down again for two minutes, etc. You get the drift.

Don't know how knowledgebale you are about fitness, but if you already knew all of the above - sorry to insult your intelligence