klutch Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Hello, everyone! I have been vegan for a little over a year and was vegetarian for about a year before that. My diet probably is not even close to what it should be; right now I mainly subsist off of tofurky sandwiches a frozen stuff from Trader Joe's. I am looking forward to reading what other people eat so I can help bring my diet in line. The reason why I am here is because I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu(BJJ) and I am one of the smaller guys at my gym. In BJJ, most techniques do not rely on physical strength, but when skill levels are close strength does give an extra edge. Anyways I was wrestling with a guy whom I had never really talked to before and after we finished, he looked at me and asked if I was vegetarian. The fact that it was so obvious to him made me feel ashamed because it made me feel like a poor representative of vegan-kind. Anyways he told me that he had met some vegan bodybuilder at a store one day and said he was super impressed by the guy's physique. He told me the guy ran a website and I should look it up online. Currently I train BJJ 3-4 times a week but I am looking to supplement that with other exercise to help encourage muscle development. I am 5'10" and I used to weigh around 250 pounds. A few months before I went vegetarian, I started watching the amount of food I ate and then weight started falling off. I am down to 160 pounds, but now my body looks quite ridiculous; I have super scrawny arms and legs and still have a little bit of flab on my stomach that looks pretty bad because of how loose my skin is. Anyways, I am looking to finally have a positive image of my body. I looked around the forums a bit before joining and noticed there are a lot of Portland people here! I have only been in Portland for 10 months and love being in such a vegan friendly city. I guess I will leave you guys with one more personal story. My older brother has been vegan\vegetarian for a long time. When we were both in high school I used to give him a hard time about being a vegetarian. It wasn't until several years later that I actually made an effort to understand his motivations. I asked myself "If I had to kill everything I ate with my own hands, would I still eat meat?" I thought about it a little and decided no, I couldn't do it. I no longer wanted someone spilling blood for my sake, and became vegetarian afterwards. To me it just illustrates how it is much easier to mock people than it is to understand them. A lot times to truly understand another person, you have to examine yourself. Hope I didn't ramble too much.-Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Hey, welcome to our group! Great to see another person from Portland. You're right, there are a bunch of us here from PDX, probably around 40 members. We have other BJJ vegans from Oregon on here as well, including a buddy of mine who used to train at the same gym you train at. Thanks for finding our forum and for joining. We do a lot of regional gatherings here in Portland so keep an eye out for those and come hang out with us! All the best and welcome aboard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Welcome, awesome to hear Robert had a good impression! Look forward to having you here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flanders77 Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Welcome and thank you for the informative and entertaining intro!I suggest to start a training-log and add yourself here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc7 Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Thanks for the intro, welcome! Great job on your weight loss to date, keep up the great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the Asocial Ape Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 great intro. thanks for joining and being vegan. p.s. i love tofurky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CollegeB Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 It is great you were able to get beyond mocking your brother and examine his motivations. Welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Welcome...just keep training and the muscles will come around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdarthveganx Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I used to train at straight blast in beaverton, but as soon as my money arrangement gets sorted out I will be back into at the Portland gym. I am much bigger 6'1" 240 But Im always down to roll esp. with another vegan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Awesome intro Welcome Klutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Welcome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessifly Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Hi Drew!Welcome to the forum!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubby2112 Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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