Any vegetarians in our midst?

[Bkat]

After the TVP thread, it made me curious. How many vegetarian or vegan velocipedians are out there and how long have you been a non-meat eating cyclist?

[Zandr Martin]

I'm an asshole ovo-lacto-pescetarian so I don't count. But about six months. It's been pretty easy for me.

[xjoex]

I have been veg for 20 years now. I was vegan for four of those years but gave it up as I was too lazy.

-Joe

[rowdyhillrambler]

You may not be able to tell due to the hillbilly meat posts, but i did a 21 year stint. 10 as vegan. No shit, it almost killed me. I still would be but for a vitamin deficiency. I do not eat a lot of meat, but for what we kill and fish for. I am in the gulf of Mexico as we speak. Fishing!!! Snook, pangus, red fish all going back to Tennessee.


Vegetarian vegan from age 11-32. I honestly ate better, or at least a wider variety during that time. I will go back some day. It was most of my first half of the bike racing for me, I notice a difference now. Older, fatter, stronger, harder. Maybe it is just age

[PJN]

8 years lacto-ovo. I like eggs lots and waffle back on forth with dairy.

I do cheat and eat protein powder recovery drink stuff.

Vegetables are yummy.

[Matthew J]

After the TVP thread, it made me curious. How many vegetarian or vegan velocipedians are out there and how long have you been a non-meat eating cyclist?

Gave up animal flesh and pretty much all animal products (frequently put honey on toast, rarely eat rennet free cheese) in 1990. I used to consume a lot of supplements. For the last few years nothing other than Whole Foods Vegetarian Vitamin B Complex.

[deano]

My wife and I joke that we're vegetarians 4-5 days a week. I smell better when I don't eat meat, that's for sure. We don't buy it at the supermarket usually, except some bacon here and there. We eat it more if we're dining out. I don't think either of us would have trouble doing it full time, it's just less convenient if you're invited for supper somewhere. I've never felt like I am lacking for protein but in a veggier stint, I did turn up anemic. There are workarounds, though.

[Octave]

I eat a vegan diet, save for honey (my SO and I get our honey from a local producer, sustainable and native flowers only). I've been a vegetarian on and off for about 10 years (I'm 25 now), spent about 2 of those years as a "flexatarian" making exceptions for special occasion meals. I went full vegan about 9mo ago and feel better than I ever have. No supplements needed, though I am very careful with my diet. I get bloodwork done every 6mo for an unrelated condition (genetically low HDL + LDL) and have never turned up with any deficiencies, iron, B-vit, protein, Ca or otherwise.

A well-educated diet can cover all the necessary bases without any supplements, in my experience.

[Bkat]

Seems there's quite a few of us. I still eat eggs and some dairy. (Cheese and chocolate milk, but not at the same time.) I've had occasional stints where I've given those up too but also seem to revert back. It's gotten easier and easier over the years since there are a lot more options for things to eat beyond the rice-and-beans cliché. I haven't felt my diet adversely affected my riding at any point.

[Octave]

I haven't felt my diet adversely affected my riding at any point.

I've actually found that going vegan has aided my riding quite a bit - I see this as a multi-faceted effect.

First, the foods I choose to eat on the bike require a bit more mindfulness and tend to be much easier on my digestion while I ride. While my riding partners might stop on a hot day and get an energy bar loaded with sugar, always some form of dairy or dairy byproduct (whey, casein..etc.), I have to pack my own on-the-bike snacks since I never know what gas station will have what - this usually means dried fruit, sometimes a peanut-butter and not-tella sandwich, or some nuts (or all three..). When I was eating dairy, those snack-stops or on-the-bike eats tended to weigh me down while I digested, whereas now I can keep pedaling endlessly while I fuel.

Second, mindfulness in general. Eating a vegan diet forces you to look into what you are eating. Of course, this is not exclusive to vegetarian or vegan eating, but it is inherent to it. I don't eat whatever comes my way, and I prepare nearly 100% of my own food (and grow everything I can), from hot sauce to soy-yogurt to nut-butters and milks..etc. It also makes one more mindful of meeting all their nutritional requirements (again, not exclusive to veg), whereas one who eats meat, eggs, dairy..etc. can usually assume they get enough protein, b-vitamins, calcium..etc. I know that I am, because negligence on my part could lead to real problems.

Finally, it forces diversity. Eating sprouted tofu and kale salads every day gets boring as hell. Between a garden and a CSA, I probably average 4 different vegetables and 3-4 different fruits per day, and it changes every week. I also switch up my protein-rich grains and beans all the time, to keep things fresh.

[simple]

Pretty strict vegetarian here. Would go vegan but I travel too much and I hate asking 4 million questions at restaurants. Been eating this way for almost 15 years now.

Took a long trip recently and realized that two things upset my stomach. Beer and Soy. I'm backing off my consumption of one of them but not the other ;) Almond milk now rather than soy milk.

I eat too much processed grain products, wish I was a little better with my diet but I'm a snacker, always have been.

Cheers!

[GonaSovereign]

Yup. About 20 years of veg and asking questions about what I eat. I try to be cool with people who aren't interested in my focus.

This wasn't your question, but I have indeed won & medalled at races as a veg. Life is good.

[pdxharth]

Count me as a veggie, for about 24 years now. I moved to New Orleans for better part of a year in '90 and I ate seafood while there, but other than that, no meat at all. I do eat eggs, cheese, goat yogurt, and ice cream (much less than I used to eat). I still see a fat juicy grilled burger with cheddar and tomato and drool a bit and I've been tempted by the fresh salmon in these parts, but other than those brief moments I foresee no going back. I'm very happy with my diet, I love food and cooking - especially seasonal vegetables, I feel good, and my doc says I'm very healthy. No need or desire to change.

Ok, I could lose five pounds, but that's all beer consumption and that ain't changin'.

[ABiCi]

Lacto-ovo for... 5 years now, I think. Ethically, I know I should be a vegan, but I like mozarella and gelato too much to part with them.

I really got back into cycling around the same time I went veg and my health is so far beyond what it was before it is like light and day. I used to be the quintessential sickly child, but I've only taken sick days in one period of the last three years and that was due to a broken shoulder and head injury from a bicycle crash. Hard to know how much of it has been dietary change and how much the increase in exercise, but I'm confident that both have a lot to do with it.

My transition was fairly slow - I had wanted to change my diet for ethical reasons for a while but just hadn't applied myself. I then started going out with a vegetarian which led to me cutting out meat in shared meals, and from there it was only a matter of months before I dropped meat altogether.

My nonna doesn't and won't ever understand why I won't eat her polpetti anymore, but I'm very happy with the decision I made (though as I said I do feel like I've not really taken it as far as I ought to).

[MisterDangerPants]

I've been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for 22 years.

[j44ke]

I've been a vegetarian on average (what a cop out right?) for about 34 years. I've never liked meat much and my mother stopped serving it at home in 1979. I occasionally eat seafood, simply because that is (still) often the only non-red meat item on the menu. And I like it. Every once in a while I eat turkey or chicken if my body says I need some protein (and it does tell me.) I eat a lot of cheese, but mostly goat and sheep. Eggs. So I am really not a vegetarian as much as I am a gatherer rather than a hunter. I eat mainly what you can find easily on the ground, in the water or on the trees. Anything I'd have to chase and kill first, I'm not so into that. No ethics or morality or PETA or anything of the sort involved.

[Shoogs]

Ovo lacto for the last four yrs or so. Exception: when I or someone I know harvested the deer / pheasant / duck etc...

[Shinomaster]

I've been dating a vegetarian for about 6 years and have almost become one by default. I pretty much eat a homemade bean and cheese burrito with half an avocado every day for lunch. I have stopped ordering meat out for lunch as I like to know where it came from and how it was raised, and the animals name etc..

I occasionally eat steak or a burger but I only buy the good stuff and I have never felt like I "needed" it. I feel way healthier in general and can pig, out drink beer and still weigh 139lbs.

[bcm119]

I've been dating a vegetarian for about 6 years and have almost become one by default. I pretty much eat a homemade bean and cheese burrito with half an avocado every day for lunch. I have stopped ordering meat out for lunch as I like to know where it came from and how it was raised, and the animals name etc..

I occasionally eat steak or a burger but I only buy the good stuff and I have never felt like I "needed" it. I feel way healthier in general and can pig, out drink beer and still weigh 139lbs.

that describes me almost exactly, except I've been "dating" a vegetarian for nearly 15 years now. And I weigh more than 139...

[Shinomaster]

that describes me almost exactly, except I've been "dating" a vegetarian for nearly 15 years now. And I weigh more than 139...

Wow 15 years!? I always weighed 144, but I seem to be shrinking. Today I was a vegan at lunch and dinner, so I think tomorrow I need to eat some foie gras or something horrible.