Fit, sporty vegans

[hullabaloo]

I was having a conversation with my non-veggie OH last night. To cut a long story short he said he could never follow a vegan diet as he struggles to keep weight on as it is and also, that he had no idea how he would get the 3500 calories he needs a day if he were vegan (and basically implied it was impossible). I told him that was nonsense but I was stumped as to logical things to say. I for one am lucky in that I don't have to think about my weight. I eat what I eat and my weight only slightly fluctautes. I don't bother reading about calories and to be honest have no idea about them at all!! I just make sure I eat a healthy, varied diet.

I told him there were many vegan althetes but struggled to name any. Us vegans are not a bunch of skinny, under-muscled, unfit folks and I refuse to let him think that!! So I plan to educate him next time this comes up but I am clueless. Any help?

[cookey]

If he ate a tub of Pure margarine that would be 2665kcal - so that's a start.
How come he needs so many calories? Is he both very tall and very active?
As you can get all the nutrients you need - any dietician worth her salt would tell you that there's no reason why you can't be a successful athelete on a vegan diet.
Here's an example:
http://www.brendanbrazier.com/

[hullabaloo]

Thanks. He is very tall and active, goes to the gym a lot and also does a mixed martial arts class twice a week. I don't know if he was over-exaggerating calorie intake or perhaps it is what he has been told he needs to aim for from an instructor at his gym. Having trawled the internet I have found a MMA fighter who is vegan and will be pointing that out :)

[burl]

I can certainly attest that not being able to get enough calories is a total myth. That's just silly. Nuts, grains, non-dairy ice cream, chocolate are all full of calories be them healthy or not. I myself am very active, work out daily and am in a very physical profession. I have been vegan for six years and have never had any trouble putting on or even taking off weight. There are plenty of vegan athletes and bodybuilders. As for my job I was probably the most overall fit person of all my co-workers which I always thought was funny when they would comment on how I wasn't healthy because I didn't eat meat. It had to smirk, in a sadistic sort of way, to see them struggling when I was having an easy time with our workouts or on the job.
Tell your friend that vegans not being able to get enough calories and unable to be elite athletes is a myth and quite silly.

[beanstew]

Get Carl Lewis to explain.

bOTETXwfIaY

Or Scott Jurek (http://www.seattlepi.com/othersports/233630_jurek22.html)

Lots more vegan athletes here (http://www.organicathlete.org/?page=vegan_athletes).


:)

[Hemlock]

I don't see what the problem is, I'm, a 13 stone vegan woman and I eat a wholefood organic vegan diet (just too much of it) no junk but way too many potatoes and pasta etc.
I had a blood test recently and am perfectly healthy, no deficiencies just too fat!!

[twinkle]

Or Scott Jurek (http://www.seattlepi.com/othersports/233630_jurek22.html)



:)

Wow, that's so inspiring! :)

[beanstew]

There's a thread about Scott Jurek here (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4048).

[xrodolfox]

go to veganfitness.net

There's a lot of fit, strong, muscled vegans that are also regular folk. A few strong-person competitors, runners, MMA practicioners, triathletes, runners, body builders, etc.

[fooldramaqueen]

http://blog.rbigwood.com/

This chap is a vegan arm wrestler o_O


Also, sadly it seems I get plenty of calories... When I became vegan I weighed about 17st5lb (243lb) and am currently 13st (182lb) but that was a huuuuge struggle, and I'm still struggling to lose another 28lb or so!

So I think body type, metabolism, etc does come into it. But of course it's possible to get the calories, good & bad :)

[hullabaloo]

Thanks everyone :)

[Eat Y'self Fitter]

Holy hell at Scott Jurek, I've yet to even do a century (100 miles) cycling.

Calories are easy, I often eat 1200 plus calorie breakfast or lunches before cycling. I guess the only difficult part about that for me am I'm cheap so I don't like to eat out and sometimes I don't have all the time in the world for cooking. So I use a lot of cliff bars and fruit to fill in the blocks.

[BJJNick]

He does mma huh? Well, I'm vegan, and do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (one of the major martial arts in mma).

I have no problems keeping up with all the omnis. As a matter of fact, many of them comment on how I'm never injured like they always are.


Mac Danzig = Vegan UFC fighter.
Jake Sheilds = Vegetarian MMA fighter.

There's more I'm sure...

[Daffodil]

Well I've been vegan for the last 2 yrs and I have been going to the gym 3 times a week for the last year running at least 5K on treadmill andl lifting weights; have a Resting Heart Rate of 53 (and dropping).
I've read a lot about vegan bodybuilders - as long as you get enough protein (which is quite easy to do).

[Jiffy]

Bugger, I was just about to talk about myself and I realised the thread title wasn't ' Fat Spotty Vegans'.

IGMC.

[BJJNick]

bugger, i was just about to talk about myself and i realised the thread title wasn't ' fat spotty vegans'.

Igmc.


lol

[VeganLu]

Being fit and vegan go together very well. By keeping fit, as vegans, we are advertising to the world that we care enough about ourselves, as well as caring for all of the animals in the world. What a great feeling!