Comment why you went vegan!

Reading someone else’s reason may give someone else a new perspective and inspire them to give it a try!

I’ll go first. I went vegan over 3 years ago. I was already a vegetarian for 25 years. I had already made the conscious connection for what has to happen for a piece of meat to end up on my plate, but I never really thought much about the animal byproducts I was still consuming (just dairy). I genuinely thought “they don’t kill a cow for milk so what’s the big deal?”

Then stumbled across a video about what really goes on in these facilities. I won’t go into detail but essentially I couldn’t let go of the thought that by consuming dairy products, I was essentially paying for these animals to be forcefully impregnated so they will produce milk. Then have their offspring taken away so they can be used for another industry. Then, they were locked in cages to have their juices sucked out of them. And when they’re all dried out and out of juice, they’re sent to slaughter. All of this just so I could enjoy my cereal, have a whey protein shake, or enjoy a slice of cheese with my sandwich.
I believe that once you become aware of something, you own it. You can either continue to be part of the problem or become part of the solution. So I made the decision I would take a personal stance and wouldn’t consume any of those products again.

I didn’t make a big deal or announce it to the world. I just did what I thought was right. Honestly, I wasn’t even aware yet of the health benefits of eliminating dairy and simply using alternatives like plant based powders and nut based milks/cheeses.

It wasn’t until a few months later when I won my first bodybuilding show, when I realized that people needed to know that you didn’t need those products to be an athlete. People were in such disbelief that a vegan could build muscle, let alone win a bodybuilding show.

So I decided to share my journey online to help spread that message, and the rest is history. I’ve since become a pro bodybuilder, inspired thousands of people to try this lifestyle, and helped save countless animal lives....Just from sharing my story.