Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I measure myself in the nude on an empty stomach in the morning.

before vegan: 140lbs

after vegan, last picture taken: 160lbs

my current weight: 165lbs

everytime I gain a significant amount of weight, I will post it in here.

my goal is to get to 175lbs by the end of the summer.

my ultimate goal is to eventually get to 195lbs, and then shred down til I am ultra defined for comps/

You are really already defined. Good luck on your goal topher.

thanks. I know im defined now. but when i bulk up more, i am bound to gain fat with it. cause i know i just gained a lil bit.

Do you take creatine?

no way. never have and never will.

I get all my energy from food sources.

Creatine is from animal sources correct? Are there any vegan creatine?

im pretty sure there are vegan creatines. I never checked into it. cause either way I dont believe in supplementation like that (for my body). I dont knock those who do supplement.

I sometimes take a multivitamin with B-12. thats it. cause i dont need a mono relapse if I get a b-12 defficiency.

A few years ago I was under the impression that most creatine was NOT vegan. I called a company that had vegetarian listed on their product that contained creatine (but it also had another by-product that made it non-vegan but vegetarian). So I talked to someone within the company over the phone and they told me it was a vegan form of creatine. The representative even explained how they make it, (sythetically in a lab).

Then I was over in England and found some creatine that says VEGAN on it. I got a bunch of the stuff, but then decided that I didn't want to take creatine anymore (just personal reasons) and I sold it to Big Ben (www.veganbodybuilding.com).

I've only used a tiny bit of creatine in my life, a bit back in 2001 and then a few months ago when Big Ben convinced me to give it one more try.

I don't see much difference when I use it but I've never used it for a long period and never used it consistently.

In the past I've used a bunch of supplements (all natural, mostly vitamins, protein, etc.) but in the last 6 months I've been a lot like Hero (Topher) and I try to base my diet around whole foods and don't like to take many supplements. They strart to get expensive and I don't believe that we NEED to be filling our bodies with a plethera of pills and powders.

I still use a few, but mostly multi-vitamin and L-Glutamine. I'm not even taking a protein power, and haven't in months.

Not that I have anything against supplements, in fact, I kinda want to start taking more again (mostly liquid vitamins and things like that).

I'm just on a supplement break now and obviously it is working just fine (for those who have seen my recent photos). Some of my BEST photos I have period, are not on the site yet. They were taken around the same time as my recent contest. When I get the time and patience, I'll get those up soon.

So back on topic, YES there is vegan creatine, in fact, I think Micheal Hobson or someone else posted some info about it already and that most of it is VEGAN, contrary to what we thought....or what once was.

I still vote for a wide variety of foods to keep you going strong.

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

Creatine can be found in animal flesh, particularly in the flesh of cows. However, all of the commercial creatine powders that I have come across have been synthetic, and have no animal parts.

Also, in a study from Biological Sciences, Oct 22, 2003 v270 done on 45 vegetarian men, it was found that,

"increasing creatine intake by oral supplementation (5g/day for 6 wks) resulted in improved brain function, similar to effects shown previously in muscle and heart."

I understand the reasons why some people don't take it, and I respect that. But I personally recommend that vegans supplement with a small amount of creatine for the brain and heart benefits.

Will,

Thanks for the info. As I said, I've kinda jumped back and forth on when I take a bit of creatine and when I don't.

Yeah, I figured that all the commercial products sold in supplement stores these days have vegan forms of creatine.

I still have some at home and might pick up some more.

Being low on money keeps supplements out of kitchen, but I end up focusing on lots of fruits, veggies, and nuts that are all really cheap, and I love to eat them.

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

True man, I love eating peanuts, almonds, pecans, all kinds of nuts too. A lot of times I soak them or mash them so they're all nice and chewy.

current weight 167lbs.

its time to shed some fat % so I can really get the abs popping out.

I reduced my calories to around 1500, keeping the protein 200g+ and hoping to start doing some cardio/aerobics to burn off this lil bit of love handles i have growing

Expensive urine if you ask me as the body can only absorb around 2%. If you want to take creatine make sure you take it with some grapefruit juice-increases absorption buy up to 50%.

In college one of my teammates started taking creatine and she swore by the stuff but honestly she never looked any different to me. I think it was all psychological. I take a B-Complex (just because they are good for you and help with mood) and Vitamin K (so I don't bruise) but I'm not consistant with taking vitamins.. I figure as long as I am eating right then I don't need supplements.