My 1st Post.

[MikeRomano]

A little bit about me:

Im Mike and I live in Montreal as an artist and an amateur athlete. I have been active my whole life lifting weights and playing sports but it has only been the last 3 months that I have made the complete transition to being the healthiest person I can be. Since tearing my ACL playing rugby I have been competing internationally in grappling competitions focusing on submission wrestling and jiu jitsu. It has been 3 years and I am a blue belt in 10th Planet JJ under Louis Ho. After watching Forks Over Knives I ran into Mac Danzig at a competition in Toronto, Ontario. I kind of took it as a sign and decided it was time to be vegan. My brother (who I live and train with) is also in transition and is currently a vegetarian. I have several goals in mind that I want to accomplish for athletic, career and personal reasons. Being 5'9", fighting at 160lbs and under was a pretty good weight for me and my lifting was geared toward strength and endurance. I am in no way unhealthy looking, I know that I am very fit especially compared to most people but it has never felt like enough (not just purely aesthetic). So my goal is to reach 185lbs and fight down at 180 and under. It has been 3 months and I have reached 170lbs, an approximate 8 pound increase from when I started. Along with the muscle growth, I want to improve my all around athleticism i.e mobility, flexibility, explosiveness etc. My weekly schedule looks something like this. Sat-Tue I work 10+ hours a day, with constant access to a gym. Wed-Fri I train every night from 7-10 or 6-8 grappling. Thursday mornings I meet with my personal trainer at a fully equipped facility where he assess my needs based on competition proximity and injuries (which are frequent due to the nature of my sport). I try to eat as much as possible but what I lack is an exact calculation of how much of every thing I need to be eating on a daily basis to meet my caloric quota. I supplement with Vega products and multi-vitamins.

 

I found this site the other day just browsing the internet for information. The main reason for me joining is that I need a place to learn and stay motivated in achieving my goals. I know this stuff isn't rocket science and when all is said and done the basics are the building blocks of any successful program, but besides my brother and my mother (who are also embracing the change but to a lesser degree) I feel alone in my pursuits. In such a small amount of time I have managed to inspire plenty of people to re-evaluate their lifestyles and seek healthier choices but I could use some inspiration as well. I will be a frequent poster and I am very excited to be part of this great forum of like minded people.

 

If there are any Montrealers on this forum give me a shout.

Thanks for reading:D

[robert]

Welcome, Mike!

 

Great to have you here. I met Mac a time or two as well. Good guy.

 

Sounds like you have some awesome fitness and competition goals. I too use Vega and eat a whole variety of food and hope it covers everything I need to keep moving forward with my own athletic endeavors.

 

All the very best to you!

 

Feel free to keep an online training journal here.

 

Would love to see how you continue to progress!

 

-Robert

[kareno]

Hi Mike! What a great story you have! Thanks for joining the site, and welcome to the VB&F community! There are so many people here with so many different experiences, goals, stories, etc. I'm sure you'll find lots of helpful information. And I hope you'll feel free to leave helpful information for others, too! We're all here to build one another up!