All Vegetarians/Vegans - fitness difficulties

[V-Fitness]

Hello all, I'm new here but I'm a lifelong vegetarian. I was thinking of starting a fitness business targeted towards vegetarians (and possibly vegans) and I was hoping you guys could answer a few questions that would help me.

1) Do you have any fitness goals? Have you ever had a desire to improve your physique? Please state any goals you have or you've thought about in the past. For example; losing weight, putting on muscle, getting stronger, becoming healthier.

2) Regarding those goals, what do you find hard about achieving them? (The more honesty the better my friends)

3) Would you pay someone who could teach you and help you achieve those goals?

4) When you talk to your vegetarian/vegan friends and family about fitness and nutrition, like wanting to get in shape, diet or go gym etc.... what do they say? (The more exact the words the more help it is for me)

I would really appreciate as many users answering these questions as I really want to make a difference in people's lives. Thank you!

 

[Second Summer]

1) I wish I had time to go running / jogging and improve my stamina. I think my weight is more than it should be, but it would probably sort itself out if I could get back to running.

2) The difficult part is finding time for this, especially because I work full time and also want to spend time with my family.

3) I can definitely not afford a personal trainer, no!

4) My wife is supportive of the idea in principle, but like myself she finds it hard to devote time for it. We used to go to a gym nearby, but we haven't been in a while, partly because the creche is closed in the evenings, so we don't have any childcare.

 

[AeryFairy]

1) Do you have any fitness goals? Have you ever had a desire to improve your physique? Please state any goals you have or you've thought about in the past. For example; losing weight, putting on muscle, getting stronger, becoming healthier.

I'm concentrating on strength and stamina, trying to improve my roller derby game.

2) Regarding those goals, what do you find hard about achieving them? (The more honesty the better my friends)

It takes a lot of time and motivation, so I struggle when other areas of my life get busy or when I'm having a bad day/week/month.

3) Would you pay someone who could teach you and help you achieve those goals?

If I could afford to! I guess I sort of do, I pay my subs to my roller derby team and get coaching from the skaters there, and I pay a monthly fee at my crossfit gym where all the sessions are taught. But I'd love a personal trainer.

4) When you talk to your vegetarian/vegan friends and family about fitness and nutrition, like wanting to get in shape, diet or go gym etc.... what do they say? (The more exact the words the more help it is for me)

To be honest, the only people I talk to about it are people who are either veg/vegan themselves, or are into fitness (or both), and they understand that you don't need meat to get strong so they don't say much about my diet. A good chunk of the roller derby crowd are vegan, which is awesome! The worst I've had is a little good-natured joking.


Hope this helps! You could also try checking out the Health and Body section of the forum, there's lots of threads in there that might be useful!

 

[PTree15]

1) Do you have any fitness goals? Have you ever had a desire to improve your physique? Please state any goals you have or you've thought about in the past. For example; losing weight, putting on muscle, getting stronger, becoming healthier.
My current fitness goals are focused on strength and stamina, but I still desire cardiac health as well. This is mostly so that I can enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, cycling and just walking around town.
In the past, I've had weight-loss goals as well. I don't have any real designs on improving my physique outside of maintaining as much muscle mass as possible and maintaining my current weight.

2) Regarding those goals, what do you find hard about achieving them? (The more honesty the better my friends)
Having enough time. Working full time and keeping a house (not to mention social engagements) keep me super busy, so I have to really focus on making enough time to achieve my goals (which admittedly doesn't happen every week due to a rather crazy-at-times work schedule).

3) Would you pay someone who could teach you and help you achieve those goals?
Only if I didn't have access to a gym. I am fortunate to have a gym in my apartment complex and one at work.

4) When you talk to your vegetarian/vegan friends and family about fitness and nutrition, like wanting to get in shape, diet or go gym etc.... what do they say? (The more exact the words the more help it is for me)
I don't really talk to anyone about fitness or nutrition all that much, except maybe to other vegans and vegetarians, so many are well-versed in alternative protein sources that don't include meat. Most people comment on the amount of energy I seem to have, so I always take that opportunity to remind them to eat their fruits and veggies.

 

[V-Fitness]

1) I wish I had time to go running / jogging and improve my stamina. I think my weight is more than it should be, but it would probably sort itself out if I could get back to running.

2) The difficult part is finding time for this, especially because I work full time and also want to spend time with my family.

3) I can definitely not afford a personal trainer, no!

4) My wife is supportive of the idea in principle, but like myself she finds it hard to devote time for it. We used to go to a gym nearby, but we haven't been in a while, partly because the creche is closed in the evenings, so we don't have any childcare.

Running is great! Sounds like you know what you gotta do but just need to find the time for it! With regard to weight, you can easily reduce that with as little as 15 minute workouts that you can do just before you shower.

1) Do you have any fitness goals? Have you ever had a desire to improve your physique? Please state any goals you have or you've thought about in the past. For example; losing weight, putting on muscle, getting stronger, becoming healthier.

I'm concentrating on strength and stamina, trying to improve my roller derby game.

2) Regarding those goals, what do you find hard about achieving them? (The more honesty the better my friends)

It takes a lot of time and motivation, so I struggle when other areas of my life get busy or when I'm having a bad day/week/month.

3) Would you pay someone who could teach you and help you achieve those goals?

If I could afford to! I guess I sort of do, I pay my subs to my roller derby team and get coaching from the skaters there, and I pay a monthly fee at my crossfit gym where all the sessions are taught. But I'd love a personal trainer.

4) When you talk to your vegetarian/vegan friends and family about fitness and nutrition, like wanting to get in shape, diet or go gym etc.... what do they say? (The more exact the words the more help it is for me)

To be honest, the only people I talk to about it are people who are either veg/vegan themselves, or are into fitness (or both), and they understand that you don't need meat to get strong so they don't say much about my diet. A good chunk of the roller derby crowd are vegan, which is awesome! The worst I've had is a little good-natured joking.


Hope this helps! You could also try checking out the Health and Body section of the forum, there's lots of threads in there that might be useful!

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out! I wish you the best of luck with your roller derby!

1) Do you have any fitness goals? Have you ever had a desire to improve your physique? Please state any goals you have or you've thought about in the past. For example; losing weight, putting on muscle, getting stronger, becoming healthier.
My current fitness goals are focused on strength and stamina, but I still desire cardiac health as well. This is mostly so that I can enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, cycling and just walking around town.
In the past, I've had weight-loss goals as well. I don't have any real designs on improving my physique outside of maintaining as much muscle mass as possible and maintaining my current weight.

2) Regarding those goals, what do you find hard about achieving them? (The more honesty the better my friends)
Having enough time. Working full time and keeping a house (not to mention social engagements) keep me super busy, so I have to really focus on making enough time to achieve my goals (which admittedly doesn't happen every week due to a rather crazy-at-times work schedule).

3) Would you pay someone who could teach you and help you achieve those goals?
Only if I didn't have access to a gym. I am fortunate to have a gym in my apartment complex and one at work.

4) When you talk to your vegetarian/vegan friends and family about fitness and nutrition, like wanting to get in shape, diet or go gym etc.... what do they say? (The more exact the words the more help it is for me)
I don't really talk to anyone about fitness or nutrition all that much, except maybe to other vegans and vegetarians, so many are well-versed in alternative protein sources that don't include meat. Most people comment on the amount of energy I seem to have, so I always take that opportunity to remind them to eat their fruits and veggies.

Thank you guys so much for the feedback! It helps!

 

[Poppy]

I'm 56. I want to sleep well, age gracefully, maintain a reasonable weight and have the stamina and strength to play with my grandchildren. I find I can do all of that by eating a well-balanced vegan diet. For exercise I walk and do yoga. I'm pretty satisfied.

 

[Naturebound1]

1) Do you have any fitness goals? Have you ever had a desire to improve your physique? Please state any goals you have or you've thought about in the past. For example; losing weight, putting on muscle, getting stronger, becoming healthier. I am already very active, but I have tons of goals! I want to be a better dancer and take ballet and modern dance classes again. I dance and work on ballet and modern technique on my own currently (many years ago I studied three to four hours a day five days a week and six hours on Saturdays). I also want to be a stronger paddler (for canoeing) and be able to confidently carry our canoe long distances over wilderness portages. I need more strength for that. I have managed to carry the canoe on my shoulders (overhead) on flat land for short distances but I could use more strength. I also cycle a lot in the summer months (April to October). I cycle to work, but also enjoy off road mountain biking. I would like to gain more confidence and skill in this area also. My partner is a much better mountain biker than I am. I have the stamina and energy, but he has more guts and strength in getting the bike over boulders and other obstacles.

2) Regarding those goals, what do you find hard about achieving them? (The more honesty the better my friends). $$ for classes. Also, I have osteoporosis and I am afraid of doing too much jumping for dance classes, or too many wild trails for fear of falling off my bike. I would need a class that accommodates my needs and limitations. As far as the canoeing, I love wilderness adventures and have done seven BWCA canoe camping trips, but I have a terrible fear of wind and big waves/water. So it limits where we enter and travel in the BWCA and elsewhere. Fear is a powerful force to overcome. If it were up to me, I would actually prefer to do an overnight BWCA trip by foot hiking and carrying my load instead of the canoe. But canoeing can be rewarding in calm conditions. Finally, I am afraid of weight gain, and still strictly maintain a low normal weight (an improvement over maintaining very underweight for years, but you can only build so much muscle if trying to carefully keep your weight to a certain point). I dislike the shape of my body also, which makes it hard to motivate myself to take a ballet class.

3) Would you pay someone who could teach you and help you achieve those goals? If I had the money... maybe. I am fiercely independent, self motivated, and self taught in many areas. But for sure for the canoeing. Maybe for the dancing. Not so sure about the strength stuff. I train myself every day 1 to 1.5 hours in the early morning before my full time job (3 to 4x week weights and resistance/calisthetics and 5 days a week cardio and ballet and dance sessions). But I am sure I could train more effectively with someone who is more knowledgeable and could push me in new ways. But as I said, I have my limitations and fears around what I might be asked to do. My teacher would need to understand my physical and mental/emotional limitations and needs. Most common personal trainers have no clue how to help someone safely lift weights or do resistance training who has osteoporosis. I am very careful but even so have had a few injuries that sidelined me. I had a physical therapist get me started years ago in 2008 with weight/strength training. He had a lot of experience and knowledge in working with people with disabilities and problems like mine and he had a masters degree as a physical therapist. I only saw him though because at that time I was enrolled in a pain management program (long story).

4) When you talk to your vegetarian/vegan friends and family about fitness and nutrition, like wanting to get in shape, diet or go gym etc.... what do they say? (The more exact the words the more help it is for me). My vegan friends have been very encouraging about my dancing. They have seen my dancing and enjoy it. They also know about my past struggles with an eating disorder and how far I have come. I think my vegan Meetup friends push me sometimes to eat a little more and not be so careful when we eat out at get togethers. I used to avoid eating out like the plague, and eating in front of others, let alone eating restaurant food which I tend to think is very unhealthy the way it is usually prepared. Eating with them has actually been a healing sort of experience and helped me let go of rules and perfection. My family (the omni ones) are actually impressed by how healthy I eat now, but they still worry about the "protein" issue and think my bad bones are going to get worse as a vegan (I have been vegan just over 5.5 years). Only my partner (who is mostly vegetarian) knows deeply about my struggles with fear of canoeing in wind/waves and with finding the strength to lift and carry the canoe over my head. it is only a 42 lb canoe, but it is 18 feet long and not the easiest contraption to carry. I marvel at how easy he makes it look. Otherwise, I don't really talk to others much about my goals, other than mentioning wanting to take a dance class, and wishing I had a better place to practice as the studio at the gym has a really hard floor with no give and is hard on my knees. No one knows how much I still struggle with body image and the shape of my body. I secretly want to lose six lbs all the time but I try very hard to maintain due to health issues and not wanting them to get worse. I worked way too hard to get where i am and improve my bones to get sucked back down. My love of dancing and cycling keep me from going off the deep end, most of the time. But it's a fine line of loving these things but fearing judgment and criticism and being pushed too far and then not thinking I am ever going to be good enough. I quit dancing altogether for almost twenty years after being pushed to the brink by some pretty strict and awful dance instructors (for example, being told I was too "thick" and needed to lose weight though I didn't reach 100 lbs until I was 16 years old and was 5'5"; and being told I had the wrong body type for a ballet dancer and was too slow). Finally, I usually avoid talking about nutrition with anyone at my local gym as they are all into low carb, loads of protein and sucking down milk and snickers bars after a workout.