Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I’m a 66 year old Masters Level Powerlifter, simi-retired, but hoping to get back on the lifting platform within the next year or two. There is still fire in the belly and I want to fight my way back to the fun of drug free competition I have experienced over 40 some years. Last February I was diagnosis with Fourth State Prostate Cancer. It was a real shock to me and I have to admit I was at first floored and thought my life was over. I really trusted my Urologist and agree to his medical model treatment of eight and half weeks of radiation treatment and to start two years of hormone depletion shots to wipe out my testosterone. The goal was for the radiation to “kill” the cancer and for the hormone depletion treatment to shrink my prostate and stop feeding the cancer. I completed the radiation treatment this past July and I will continue the hormone depletion therapy until this coming November but will it will continue to have an effect on my testosterone levels for at least six more months after that. So realistically I will not be back to “normal” until May 2013.

As I was surfing the web looking for natural ways to fight my cancer, I came across information about Dr. Cambell’s The China Study. It made a lot of sense to me so I decided to become a vegetarian. I read his book and then a lot of other related books on the subject and decided to go all the way and become a vegan. I must admit that I carried a lot of misunderstanding about the vegan diet and I had to open my mind to new ideas and a new way of conceptualizing about nutrition and health. So I have now been a vegan for nine months. I have lost about 60 pounds down to 300. I plan on losing about 80 more. I have always competed as a Super Heavy Weight and was comfortable at that weight but no more. But the most important change is that my PSA level have gone from a 47.2 down to a .2. Anything below a 4.0 is good! And the results of my contrast CT scan is that my prostate and my swollen lymph nodes are back to normal size. Was it the medical treatment or my vegan diet that caused my progress? I don’t know for sure but I do know that the diet was a major factor! And I am going to stay the course.

I have my wife, my grown sons, my daughter-in-laws, my grandchildren and loads of friends to live for and I want to be around a long time for them. I know that my new diet and my exercise program will be the main avenue to achieve that goal. That in remaining positive and celebrating every day to the max!

_________________
Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Yes. Truly amazing. Finally more and more people are starting to realize that food and exorcise are just as important, if not more important that western medicine. Seems like a lot of the medicines these days have more side-effects and less effective cure rates. We need more strong examples like yourself to help lead the fight. A friend of mine is only 27 and she is fighting RA and I have been trying to help her with her diet so that she can get off some of the medications she is on. Some of the medications she is on are actually known to cause cancer. Unbelievable to me that these are doctor prescribed and there isn't better alternatives. Hey how about treat your body better with better food and exorcise?
Glad you found this forum, great to have you join us!

-Dylan

Welcome! Great story and great handle

_________________
Bonebreaker Barbell Crew! - ALIEN BABY!
Twitter @IronCladBen | My Blog

I hope you get back on the platform, and I am sure when you do you will do fantastic. I am also sure that your reduction in your PSA levels & lymph nodes would have been heavily influenced by your nutrition.

I compete with a couple of guys in their 60's, one of them is benching in the 350 range which I find amazing !! Good luck, I'll definately be following your progress. Regards from New Zealand MF.

_________________
1st Place Raw Champs 2011, 2012 (3 raw records)
Training for my first 100 mile running race

WEB: http://jimsty.wix.com/strength-vs-size
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mini-Forklift/161273440616736?ref=hl
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/user/kiwilifter?feature=mhee

Man that is so great to hear! My grandfather died of prostate cancer and my father and I are at high risk so its great to hear such positive results!

This is also one of the reasons I had decided to go vegan.

Welcome to the forum!

David

_________________
High carb, low fat, whole foods. Any questions?

Great to see your post! I also am someone that head about the China study as well as a lot of other significant research in the "Forks over Knives" flick. Great to hear about your amazing weight lose. Continue to be relentless!

_________________
Vegan to me has nothing to do with politics, but everything to with being healthy.

Welcome and kudos in your campaiign to gain control of your health! A la Vie!

My best friend, mentor and advice giver is a 67 year old man that last year had to give up running marathons due to a bad ankle and now walks them in under 6 hrs and trains 2 - 5 hrs /day (plus he has a hot 63 yr old GF and I am sure they hubba hubba a few times a week)....you older men are the bomb diggity...show the young pups how it's really done, by getting out there.

Thanks everyone for your comments and support. I am determined to get my health back! And I know my vegan diet is most of the reason that I'm currently doing so well. I also take several natural supplements like B Complex, D-3, Full Spectrum E w/tocotrienols, Garlic, CoQ-10, Asparagus Extract, Pomegranate Complex, Wild Blueberry Extract, Turmeric, Resveratral, Sulforaphsne, Saw Palmetto Complex, etc. I drink lots of green tea with lemon. While I am strictly vegan in my diet I do admit taking the best quality fish oil I can buy. I only drink filtered water and most of the vegetables and fruit I eat are organic. I eat about 80% raw and 20% cooked most of the time but even on bad day at least 50% raw. I avoid simple sugar as much as possible. I supplement my protein intake with both soy protein power and RAW Protein Power (made from organic raw sprouts). And I try to keep my PH in the alkaline range as close to 7.4 as I can get. I'm trying to drink green smoothies every day but haven't found a recipe that I really enjoy as of yet. So most of the time I just drink it whether I like it or not.

For exercise, it is mostly long walks right now. I'm still fairly weak from my radiation treatment and hormone depletion shots. But I'm am getting stronger every day. I have added riding my stationary bike about three times a week and want to work up to 5-6 times a week to help accelerate my weight loss. With the very low testosterone levels currently I have lost a lot of muscle mass which I know had deceased my metabolism rate. I have to fight the conversion to fat the best I can. That is why I need to get back to weight training ASAP but I have to make haste slowly as my recovery rate is very poor right now. The current weights I use used to be my warm up weight when I was heavy into powerlifting competition. Over the years I have held State and National records in the squat, bench, and deadlift,in NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, and even a Worlds Squat Record in the Amateur IPA Division. Those days may be behind me but then again I dream of coming back and being competitive in the 65-70 year old class. I won't know unless I give it my best shot! But even if I don't, just getting back in the gym to train with and coach my old team mates will do me a lot of good and I can try to pay back the sport that has given so much to me over the years.

_________________
Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Fallbrook, are you in the marines?

_________________
Darth Vader from Sandlot once said, "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." Then he later died.
https://www.facebook.com/BigMeeeeech

Ironsmith, your story is really touching. I have a couple of family members s/p cancer, or currently dealing with it. Admire your ability to remain positive and the changes youve made. subbed your thread

_________________
Darth Vader from Sandlot once said, "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." Then he later died.
https://www.facebook.com/BigMeeeeech

Nope, but I used to work on Camp Pendleton at the Federal Firefighter for a number of years.

_________________
Vegan to me has nothing to do with politics, but everything to with being healthy.

Fallbrook,...you are down the street on the I 15. Poway area, here.

I received a voice mail from my Cancer Doctor and she want to move my appointment up to this coming Tuesday (1/31). I'm happy about the sooner appointment but also a little anxious. I have been doing everything according to my plan but also know there is also always room for improvement, example more RAW food in my diet. We will see soon. Wish me luck!

_________________
Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Well, I had my medical appointment with my cancer Doctor today and I received good news. The physical exam indicates that my prostate is down to normal size. That is the size of a walnut instead of almost the size of a softball about a year ago. I had a blood draw for another PSA reading which I will receive back in 4-7 days. If it comes back about the same level as it was last September, i.e. a .2, my Doctor said she would consider me "disease free"! I couldn't believe it. This is wonderful news.

But this is not the time to get complacent. Being over weight greatly increases the chance of a relapse. So I need to keep losing weight and get down to 210 or maybe even lower. It will depend on how much muscle mass I can retain or even gain back as my weight training program keeps improving over the next several months. I also am still learning this vegan diet thing. I want to be sure I'm eating the freshest, cleanest organic vegetables and fruits as I can as close to the vine I can. Unprocessed and little or no cooking. Trying to have at least 80% raw.

Right now I'm pumped! I'm so excited about the possibilities for the future. I'm 66 but right now I feel like I'm in my 20's. Now I just need to actualize that feeling with health weight loss, intelligent exercise, and celebrating my life every day with my loved ones!

_________________
Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Congrats on the great news!

_________________
Learning how to be compassionate, gain wisdom, and love life.