What did your family say when you went vegan?
I can't say that my family was initially supportive of me going vegan. In fact they wanted me to revert back to eating meat. I was a sophomore in high school at the time I became vegan so I needed my family to buy specific foods for me, which they did. Although my parents weren't exactly ecstatic about my new animal-free diet, they were always supportive when it came to buying my unique food requests.
My older sister Tanya, who inspired me to adopt the vegan lifestyle was always very supportive of me. She introduced me to great new goods I was previously afraid to try. She also introduced me to a whole new environmentally friendly lifestyle which made me a better person. I started to recycle everything, sometimes even pulling things out of the garbage to put them in their proper place. I volunteered to clean up garbage from the streets in my city and around my school. I volunteered my time every week to create vegan meals to serve to the public on weekends, a program called Food Not Bombs.
Some of my friends were very supportive of me being vegan from the very beginning, but others teased me and playfully harassed me about my new diet. Within six months to a year, pretty much all of my family and friends were accustomed to my new lifestyle. They often prepared vegan foods for me or opted to go to a vegan-friendly restaurant when I was along for the ride.
Now, nearly ten years after I became vegan, many of my firends have also implemented aspects of a vegan lifestyle into their own life, or have become vegan themselves. Everyone now knows me as an environmentally friendly vegan bodybuilder and accepts my life choices to make the world a better place for all of us.
Who was the most surprosed by your physical transformation?
I think people were surprised by my bodybuilding progress and physique changes for different reasons. Some were surprised because growing up (even through most of high school), I was always small and skinny. Others were surprised simply because many popular forms of media tell us on a daily basis that we all must eat meat and drink milk or we will wither away and never become muscular (obviously that is a huge lie and many vegans, including myself, have show people rock hard, meat-free muscle).
There were also planty of people who were not surprised at all by my physical transformation of adding tremendous amounts of muscle over a short period of time, because I told them I would become a competitive bodybuilder. It seemed funny back then to think that a skinny long-distance runner who grew up near Track Town, USA would, 24 months later, appear in FLEX Magazine and continue to be featured in the World's leading muscle magazine three years in a row. I said I would do it, and those who know me expected my success, therefore not surprising them a bit.
There are many people , including professional bodybuilders, who are surprised with my success in the fitenss industry, but even more importantly, impressed with my physique change from sports that couldn't be further from each other: cross-country running and competitive heavyweight bodybuilding.
Although I am proud of some of the goals I have been able to accomplish I am not satisfied with where I am physique-wise. I plan on having another strong, aggressive breakthrough and adding more muscle to balance out my physique. Look for grat things to come in the near fruture. I like the shock effect, so I'll do my best to surprise the bodybuilding community as well as my own family with new accomplishments, conquering goals never thought possible for a non-flesh-eating athlete to attain.
Have you ever met Bill Peartl? If not, what would you ask him or say to him?
I've never met Bill Pearl. I've just seen photos of him in various bodybuilding books and magazines. I think he is a great influential person in the sport, someone I respect very much and look up to.
There are a lot of things I'd like to ask Bill. I would ask him to describe for the me the feeling of beating Arnold Schwarzenegger (one of the most dominant bodybuilders in history) up on stage. I would ask him who his heroes were growing up and who or what inspired him to be such a successful bodybuilder. I would praise him for being an incredible role model and for having the guts to be a non-flesh-eating bodybuilder (and achieve high levels of success), during a time when nearly every bodybuilder consumed large amounts of meat and other animal products.
I would share with Bill my success and thank him for paving the raod for a vegan bodybuilding lifestyle. I would also listen to him. I'd listen for hours or days if I could. I would hear stories of his life and find even greater inspiration from them. I would learn new training and fitness principles and hear tales of the good ol' days of bodybuilding. I would no doubt treasure every moment, learning from one of the all-time greats, who happened to a vegetarian.
What advice would you offer to a veg teen just starting out in bodybuilding?
To anyone just starting out in bodybuilding, I recommend that you ease into it and be patient. Don't expect to see serious physique changes overnight. In certain areas of our society, it can be difficult to be a vegetarian or vegan teenager and accepted as a bodybuilder or strength athlete. Make it a goal to prove people wrong who question your ability to succeed. Follow the advice of those who have already accomplished the goals you strive for as a vegan athlete. Allow them to guide you with some nutritional counseling and training tips.
Bodybuilding is a sport that takes a long time to see results. You can't practice more one day to increase "skill" like you can in soccer, and be better the next day. It often takes weeks, months, or years to achieve desired results in bodybuilding or fitness. Stay consistent and be open to learning new tools every day to help you improve. Keep changing exercises to engage different muscles and muscle fibers, and to make training more interesting and fun.
There may be people who try to discourage you along your bodybuilding journey, but don't lose heart or give up hope. Work harder and be determined to succeed in spite of their ill attempts to bring you down.
Feel free to ask me questions (robert@vegan bodybuilder.com). I was a teenage vegan five-sport athlete in high school, achieved success, and went on to be a vegan bodybuilder by age 20. Stick to your priciples, stay focused, work hard, don't lose sight of your ultimate goal, and have fun on the road to success.
Do you meet many veg bodybuilding teens? If so, what questions do they ask you?
Presently (February 2004), I am working on a cruise ship sailing in the Mexican Riviera, so I don't meet any bodybuilders. I do meet some veg teens that are on vacation cruising with us on Celebrity Mercury, but of the ones I've met, bodybuilding has not been their main interest.
When I am home in the beautiful state of Oregon, I do meet a few veg bodybuilding teens. I also attend competitions, fitness conventions, and seminars so I have those opportunities to meet lots of different people, including fellow vegan bodybuilders.
The main questions I get asked are about protein consumption and the ability to get muscular on a non-animal product diet. I don't think I can think of any questions I've heard as often in any realm of my life than "Where do you get your protein?" Based on our government's influence, media influence, and today's society and uninformed parents, this question is understandable. Based on knowledge of foods and common sense, this question seems quite silly. Some people are just curious as to which foods I specifically consume, while others know little or nothing about nutrient contents of common foods and just don't know any better.
I usually respond by asking the individual what they know about protein, protein requirements, protein content and bioavailability of nutrients in foods, as well as absorption rates of different proteins to see what their response is. The majority of the time, practically all they know is that meat is high in protein. I take a few minutes to explain a little bit about protein and answer the very questions that I asked them. I share with them which protein-rich foods that I eat and some of the benefits of eating foods without animal fats, cholesterol, insane levels of calories, and toxicity of common fast foods and restaurant foods.
In a pleasant manner I share some of the reasons why I became vegan and why I eat the foods I choose to eat based on animal rights reasons as well as health and environmental factors.
Rather than meeting veg teens in person, I receive a lot of e-mails. I take the time to respond to every single letter (hundreds a year) that comes to me. I answer questions to the best of my ability, and I inspire and motivate those who dare to dream and create goals for thier own future success. I share my personal stories os struggle for acceptace in certian communities, previous financial limitations that hindered progress, and motivating stories of triumph in the face of naysayers.
I look forward to more encounters with teens and more e-mails, as each one is an opportunity to teach and inspire success, and to to promote vegan fitness on a worldwide level.
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