Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Soccer and dodgeball have got to be my two favorite sports ever.

Football's close.

Lifting too if that counts.

Hell anything with a ball or some weights and a team

dodgeball rules!

i like soccer, dodgeball, volleyball

I went to a soccer game this weekend to watch a friend play....I was impressed!!! I had much more fun than I thought I would. I think soccer could grow on me. It's more aggressive than I realized, and I love that Plus the guys were HOT

Now I'm kind of mad that it's a sport I can't play - I can't make sudden changes of directions on my knee at ALL, and very limited amounts of running.

So - I'm not a convert yet - I'm not sure I can love a sport I can't play - but I admire it more now It's still not ok to ditch me for it though!

Hey guys, some of you may already know that the next world cup will be hosted by Germany in June/July.
I will do all I can to go there and support Italy and I'm planning on going for the first 2 group matches. Then I'll try going again if they qualify for the next stages.
I think this could be a great opportunity for me to meet some of our vegan friends over there, the draw will be made on 9th December and I will then know where Italy will be playing.
So bear this in mind if you'd like to join me in a vegan-football(soccer) trip!

Are you Italian Cristian?

If you are, that must be very interesting since I kow Italians love their meats and cheeses and cream dishes. How is your Italian family responding to your veg*ism? Do you have any discussions with them about the abuse that animals endure and all that stuff?

I am curious to know.

I think you are the only Italian vegan I know!!

Hey CG, I'm indeed Italian but have been living in London for 7 years. I haven't seen my family since I became vegan (feb), we just talked over the phone but didn't go into too much details. And you're right in saying that Italians like meats etc., but in the Italian cusine there's plenty use of vegetables, legumes and obviously pasta and rice which are all very flexible. It's just a matter of educating people! I'll do my best with my family and friends over there but I don't think I'll get far, they'll just think I'm a weirdo!
I don't know much regarding the Italian vegan "scene", I do know that Turin hosted the 3rd edition of Vegfestival in June and that Peta is pretty active over there especially with regards to fur.

Anyway, I'm probably the only Italian on this forum!

yes I think you are the only Italian vegan on this board! I cannot tell you how awesome I think it is that the compassionate seed within you has overpowered how you were "raised", all the Italian customs and traditions and meat eating lifestyle, what you saw growing up (i.e. everybody eating mostly animal dishes and still believing 100% that that is okay), etc etc.

You remind me of a friend I once had a long time ago. She was from Pamplona, Spain, and her father was a professional matador (bull killer/fighter for those that dont know what that word means). Anyway, she grew up her entire life not only in a country and culture that conditioned her to believe that bull fighting was okay, that it was tradition, that it was "Truth", but even her own father, whom she adores, was a matador.

She told me that one day when she was at her father's bull fighting matches, she was looking around at the crowd and was suddendly struck by the fact that each time her dad stuck that spear into the bull and drew blood, the crowd went wild. They were "turned on" by, and exhilirated by, the animals injuries, by the animals blood, by the animals suffering and staggering. The more the animal was speared, the wilder the crowd got and the louder they cheered.

She said that at that moment -- something happened inside of her, something changed, and all the 21 years of societal and familial conditioning were washed away -- only Truth and compassion remained standing. She was saddened that her people and her country took such a perverse pleasure in the torturing of an innocent animal, and that her country continued to justify this practice on the frail ground of "custom and tradition."

That was the last bull fight she ever attended and became a zealous anti-bull fighting activist and advocate, and has spent the years since that fateful bullfight trying to make this despicable form of human entertainment in Spain history once and for all, even though that will mean also the end of her father's professional matador career. She says, "my father should find a living that doesnt have blood money on his hands."

Truly an amazing story, and goes to show you that no matter how we were raised by our parents and brainwashed by society, sometimes people just one day have that light bulb moment where the wrongness of something becomes crystal clear and can no longer be ignored. I believe that most people know that it is wrong to kill innocent animals for food, for example. It is just a matter of do they have the courage to go against the grain, to throw out all that society has taught them, and stand up for a class of beings that are deemed by society at large to have only commercial worth, without any intrinsic value.

Great story CG, bullfighting is truly ing. As far as I know it's slowly getting better and bullfights are hosted in only few places now.
Thanks for your kind words, people like you and all the others on this community really helped me realise how wonderful it is to be a vegan and trying to make an impact on our society.