Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

So Hello, Nice to see there is a whole community for vegan bodybuilders!

Some history: I`m 38, a professional musician, personal trainer, former model, competitive bodybuilder, father, and soon to be husband (march 2013!). I`ve pursued health and fitness all of my life. From powerlifting when I was in highschool to later finding an interest in natural bodybuilding. At my absolute best I was 5`10" 208lbs with a bodyfat of 5% (NOT a vegan at the time. Not even close). I`m rarely taken for even being 30, let alone coming up on 40 LOL.

I learned how to eat healthy when I first got into physique transformation. I knew that 85% of my results would come from diet, so I learned everything I could about eating clean and healthy as a natural bodybuilder. Of course I ate a TON of chicken!! I`ve stayed in pretty good shape over the years, and have gotten my fiance` to embrace healthy eating....what a drag race that has become!!!!!!She is why I`m here, on this site. I taught her to eat and cook clean and healthy, she took us to organic foods. I showed her proper portioning and meal frequency, she embraced vegetarianism. I decided to try cutting out red meat, she took to veganism. Now we are both on the path to a vegan commitment. We still drink cow milk, but will replace it with Almond or coconut milk as soon as we finish the 1/2 gallon we have left. We still eat organic free range eggs, but again, will find a replacement once we run out.

We are also planning to move to Costa Rica next summer. My goal is to be on a 100% vegan diet, and have the physique at 39 that most at 22 will envy...not for the sake of getting the ladies to notice me (my fiance is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, I don`t need women to notice me ), but rather to have people ask when they learn of my age how I have managed to stay so youthful. It will open the door for me to expose them and educate them about the lifelong benefits of better eating and lifestyle choices, and give me an "instant in" of sorts. I`d like to carry that same effect into my 60`s

One active goal is to chronicle my progress from now through the next six months, and write a book about my conversion and the ways it will improve my life, from basically the very first day I committed to Vegan living. If I can inspire someone else to change their perspective and embrace a more natural, organic way of living and enhance their life...I have done my job.

Here is me, just before my 38th birthday:

Great to have you on here, welcome to the forum.

Feel free to have a look around the different sections of the forum, generally the more you post the more feedback you get and you'll really quickly start to feel like part of this pretty cool community. Congrats with everything you have achieved so far, also nice to have another 'older' guy on here haha. I'm coming up 36 now but feel better than I did when I was in my early 20's. That's what diet can do for you I guess MF.

Hey there! Welcome to the forum, as mini said the community here is great and everyone is friendly chatty and helpful!
Costa rica eh? That's pretty awesome
Also just saw your post in the "best lifts of the day" thread that's some heavy lifting man! I look forward to seeing more of your posts. Take care
Ross

Good to see another guy that likes to deadlift woohoo.

Thanks guys, nice to receive a warm welcome

As far as the lifts go, I haven`t lifted super heavy in a long time. The last time I benched over 300 was about 5 years ago. I went for 335 last summer and missed it, but I wasn`t too bummed. I only squat heavy about once a year (usually the absolute heaviest I`ll ever go is 405, but right about this time of year I`ll unrack 455 just to see how it feels LOL).

And MiniForklift: I do deadlift sometimes, but it`s a hard lift for me. My upper, middle, and lower back are very stable (lats are pitifully small), my hips have the drive, and my legs have the "oomph", but biomechanically I`m not designed for a stellar DL. Even at my strength peaks my DL was 100lbs lower than my squat.

But again, I don`t lift for big numbers much these days. I like to train for functional strength and let`s be honest...aesthetics are important, too!! (but honestly only for my own sake, and to give my beloved fiance a reason to stick around LOL)

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the great intro. I'm in Texas and I've been to Costa Rica a couple of times. Both are great places!

Looking forward to seeing you as an active member of our community. Looks like you're in awesome shape!

All the best and welcome aboard!

-Robert

Thanks Robert, your abs aren`t lookin` too shabby in your avatar pic, either LOL!

How did you like Costa Rica? I have yet to meet someone that wasn`t just in love with the place. We`re really intending to go there and pursue citizenship. We`ve got a few ideas on how to do it in the most efficient, painless manner, just a matter of getting there and doing it.

Hey Voodoo welcome. Have you been chronicling your progress? Did you start a journal here on the forum?

-Dylan

HOnestly, no, I haven`t started a journal. I`ve got so many irons in the fire right now it`s all I can do to stay on top of keeping myself fed and bathed LOL. Planning a wedding from scratch and trying to figure out how to pay for everything out of your own pocket is a huge task....so I`m coming to find out

Good luck with the wedding planning, I remember those days

Welcome! Very nice story, and I look forward to reading about your progress. Converting to a vegan diet is a lot easier than you might think. Once your body cleanses itself of the hormones and fat in dairy, the cravings disappear! For me at least! Good luck on your journey!