spthompson

Hi! I'm Steve, and I've been a vegan for about 2 weeks. I came accross this site about a month or so ago and was impressed by how healthy and energetic all the people featured in the profile section were, and how they benefitted from and enjoyed being vegan. I pondered the benefits of becoming vegan myself for a couple of weeks before deciding to go for it. I'm so glad I did! It's been surprisingly easy so far, I haven't missed the meat or milk that I used to consume. My family has been very accomodating, which has been quite a big help. I'm the only vegan in my family so far (I'm married with a son in high school and a daughter in college). The deal I have with my wife is that she will buy my food when she makes her regular runs to the grocery store, but I have to do any cooking that differs from what she would fix for the rest of the family. So far that has worked out, although it means the kitchen is a bit more crowded while we both prepare for meals. I have been into fitness for many years, and regularly work out with weights (usually on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) and do cardio (excercise bike and jumping rope, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and sometimes Sundays). This site is certainly a good motivation for me and I thank you all for the great info and testimonies. It has been an adjustment for me to figure out what foods to eat to get enough protein on a vegan diet vs the beef/tuna/chicken/milk based diet I used to eat. So far it seems that I need to consume more carbohydrates than before (rice and beans vs tuna and chicken or lean beef), which makes it more difficult to cut body fat. I track my body fat percentage using the US Navy formula which uses height, neck, waist measurements. Since I became vegan, my waist has gone up a bit but has been pretty constant. I would like to reduce that, which I think would require less total calories but maintaining protein levels. I am curious what foods the bodybuilders here eat when in the cutting stage before a contest. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!