Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hello

I'm 50 years old, meat and chocolate lover and feel like it's time to change.

I've noticed, as I've gotten older that exercise is becoming harder and harder, firstly to get motivated to do it, then recovering afterwards. Stamina has gone downhill very quickly and i want to start getting back some of my old fitness and enthusiasm and i feel that a good, healthy diet will help me

A bit about me

I'm originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Everything I ate was fried, meat, fish, eggs, even our baked beans would get fired. Then of course there was the "Fish and chips for which we are famous for, great tasting but 'deadly' for the arteries. When i took my wife back to Belfast last September, she also fell in love with fish n' chips and we had it 3 nights in a row, NEVER AGAIN, i blame her!! Breakfast was cereal, full cream milk and of course sugar

I'm a compulsive snacker, especially chocolate, I love Cadbury's. I do try to avoid fizzy soda's.

Thankfully, growing up i was very active or I might be either dead or at the very least, obese.

I played competitive badminton, soccer and squash and would play 7 days a week

I skied non stop for 7 years in France and New Zealand

Now, both my wife and I are into climbing, cardio and some weights. She is also in the process of trying to become a Pilate’s teacher.

We climb mostly indoors, 3-4 days a week with the occasional road trip. Our climbing sessions last for about 2-3 hours and can be quite brutal I need food before I start and I need food soon after we finish. This is my main concern, what can I snack on after my gym sessions instead of chocolate brownies. i used to be able to climb and then do 20 - 30 minutes of cardio afterwards, now i have difficulty finding the energy, enthusiasm to do anything afterwards

My supplementation is as follows

Multi vitamin (AOR ortho core)

ZMK (millennium sports)

Fish Oil
Selenium
COQ10 (All from life extension)

Drink while training - ICE from XF sports
Protein Powder XF sports

Methyl B12 from Jarrow

Vitamin D from Now sports

It's going to be a major life change to give up meat and dairy and not easy, we both love meat but i try to avoid red meat when possible and my wife love Pork, (she is Filipina). But this is something I really want to try and do

What books, videos are there out there that are worth buying, looking at that will help explain the changeover and also give lots of advice on recipes. I'm especially concerned about Breakfast as I always go to the gym around 9am

I do currently have a drink which i 'juice' 3 times a week. It contains the following (all organic when possible)

Kale
celery
spinach
lemons
apples
broccoli

And then blend this three times a week (fruit is mostly organic and frozen from trader Joes)

Pomegranate juice
Strawberries
Raspberries
Mangoes
blueberries
1 scoop of Vanilla protein

Looking for (Lots) help and advice on how best to get started on this new way of life, books, online reading materials. i have just got hold of forks over knives (DVD) which i will be watching tonight.

Thanking you in advance

Martin

As a footnote, I should add that gaining weight is not a priority, I am 5' 9" and weight 162lbs and if anything would like to lose maybe 5lbs and some bodyfat but gain some muscle

Wow, awesome intro!

You've got some great interests too. I've also enjoyed badminton and climbing throughout the years too.

Thanks for being here on the forum. Great to have you and I look forward to your updates.

All the very best!

-Robert

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Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1

Hi Martin! Welcome to the VBB community, and to the vegan lifestyle! I sincerely hope you will give it a sincere try.

Reading through your into, I was going to suggest you watch "Forks Over Knives", but it looks like you've already done that! What did you think of it? There is also a companion book to the film, which has lots of healthy recipes. I also recommend the book Engine 2 Diet, which is written by Rip Esselstyn (also featured in "Forks Over Knives"). Those will be great resources for you. I haven't read it myself, to be fair, but I've heard over and over and over again great things about the book Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life by Brendan Brazier, professional Ironman triathlete.

Hope that helps you some, and I wish you the very best with this new lifestyle! It's the way to go, for sure!

Truly,
Karen

Thanks for the reply.

I'm trying to find out as much information as possible before i start trying the diet. I don't want to do it half-hearted with the wrong information

I thought the movie was great, very informative and easy to understand and it made a lot of sense

Thrive diet by Brendan Brazier

I was in the same boat a year or so ago. My advice, for what it's worth, is to go slow and start by giving up the main meat items. I have given up chicken, turkey, pork, beef, lamb, etc. I am still eating dairy products and very, very occasionally eat fish. But this year will see the end of that, too.

Hey. I'm not vegan & never will be. I'm for the ethical treatments of animals but I grew up on meat & do eat it occasionally. About 10x a month in small portions. If you're going to continue to eat meat, choose to purchase from a local farmer who is certified organic & feeds there animals the appropriate diet.
You don't have to go vegan all at once. Nothing should be a struggle, you should willingly want to give up the carnivorous lifestyle without craving meat.
I read a lot, and I think you should read the book "Healthy at 100" by John Robbins. It talks about the five oldest tribes in the world, even citing centenarians. In goes in depth about their lifestyles and eating habits. You'll notice low consumption of meat & usually they choose fish over red meat but they don't eliminate it entirely. Just moderate changes in your diet & you'll be less stressed about quitting everything cold turkey. Hope this helped.

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C.D.[RHN]

@ Incinerate and space tycoon

Excellent advice. That was my main concern, going "Cold turkey"

I have pretty much given up red meat and eat a lot of chicken and fish. I now want to try and limit that to maybe once a week and then once a month and take it from there.

I really want to get a better knowledge of plants and other essential foods that I can swap them with. I've never had tofu before apart from Korean restuarants and want to learn how to cook these new foodstuffs. My main concern is food to "snack" on, after my workout, at work etc etc. anything so I can stop eating chocolate

Thanks again for all the helpful ideas and encouragement

check out this doc. in this thread viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27694

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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr

Well, it has been 4 weeks now since I started

I went all the way right from the start. No meat, fish, milk, eggs, chocolate and anything else I should avoid.

After 50 years of being a meat eater, everything from steaks, chicken, pork, lamb, sausages all types of fish etc etc I stopped overnight.

And believe it or not, I don't miss it at all.

Now, what I do miss is chocolate, anything sweet I crave.

I had watched the following movies before I started all this

Forks over knives

Food inc

Fat sick and nearly dead.

I had read

Engine 2 diet

And all of Brendan Brazier's books

I wanted to find out new recipes and new ingredients so I would be prepared for the big change

I was not doing this to lose weight. I had been feeling lethargic and lazy over the past 8 months, mostly due to a move to a more stressful job. I was snacking on rubbish and fast foods, my weight had gone up to 162lbs, not a lot but I always use to weigh around 154lbs but I could feel the difference when i was training or climbing or just getting up in the morning.

Now, 4 weeks later I am down to 150lbs. I still eat a lot but just make it the right stuff My time for running the mile on a machine has gone from 9.10 and getting slower, to 7.35 and getting faster. Both Rip's and Brendans recipes have been great, especially the energy stuff in Brendan's book. My strength hhas not gone down but if anything my climbing has gotten better.

So, hopefully the craving for chocolate will soon vanish and everything will be good

Thanks for all the help in this thread

Martin

eat sweet fruit to help with your chocolate cravings, check out www.30bananasaday.com and Frelee (author of 3o bananas a day book) youtube channel, she sheds light on a lot.

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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr

So, here we are 4 months down the line

Still going strong, chocolate cravings are not as strong as they used to be

Weight has leveled out at 148lbs from 160lbs+

Still eat till i am full but i am eating clean all the time

Had a blood check done after 3 months and cholesterol went from

220 to 144

B12 went from 862 to 1712

Running under a 7 minute mile for the first time in 15 years

Climbing has gotten better, due to increase in strength and recovery (and lighter weight).

No complaints here, life is good

That's great to hear. Nice to get a positive update. I'm 5 weeks in myself and loving it. Won't be going back.

I have a protein bar (clifs) and that works as my chocolate fix - it is sweet and feels pretty unhealthy to me, but apparently it has vitamins (just like pop-tarts lol) and protein.

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If it's important to you, you'll find a way. If it isn't, you'll find an excuse.

Great that it's going so well with the cravings, your weights, your health ánd your sports.

I've gone vegan very recently, and chocolate was one of my 'concerns' too
I usually had 1 cheat/junk meal a week, and for the last year it was almost always some chocolate bar. So I just went to 6 different stores, read aaaaall the labels and found a few nice vegan options. I bought 2 different kinds (one with marzipan and one with hazelnuts ) a few weeks ago, to have something vegan ready in case I would get a huge snack-craving , but they're still in my cupboard, waiting...

When I get a craving I make some of these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4fOzsOs1_w