Vegan bodybuilder says eating meat doesn’t make you ‘manly’

A vegan bodybuilder has claimed meat doesn’t make you ‘manly’ and you can get ‘big and strong’ by eating a plant based diet instead.

Fitness fanatic Paul Kerton, 49, has hit back at a study from the Australian National University (ANU) which argued men are less likely to go vegan and they find eating meat ‘manly’.

Paul, a personal trainer and nutritionist from Norwich, Norfolk, said he used to eat 500g of animal protein a day to fuel his muscles – the equivalent of four chicken breasts.

However, ten years ago he ditched meat and went vegan after his partner Gemma, 38, did and he immediately saw the benefits.

‘People say meat makes you “manly”. I don’t think it does. We did have to eat animals to survive. Now we don’t.

‘I feel amazing now. I got into the best shape of my life. You can be big and strong and “manly” and be healthy and fit and we don’t have to eat animals.’

He also said he now has less pain in his joints.

‘I thought if I want to be big and strong that’s what I need to do. I thought I needed to eat steak and salmon.

‘I was going through 500g of animal protein a day. It was crazy amounts.’

Paul said Gemma, who he works alongside on his social media, tried veganism to help her autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

‘She looked into the nutrition and saw how eating meat can succumb you to health problems. It scared me.’

After switching to a plant based diet in the summer of 2012, he said he hasn’t looked back since.

‘I didn’t want to be the cause of my own death. It’s a cheat code for fat loss. I quickly lost the taste for it [meat].’

Paul now eats 200g of protein a day from legumes, wholegrain, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

He lifts weights for an hour a day and says he feels better than he did in his 30s.

He said: ‘I feel so energised. My eyesight is twice as strong. I have a new lease of life. It was the best decision of my life.

‘I was eating tuna and egg – I didn’t even like them. In the first year of being vegan I ate 500 new foods.

‘I’ve really expanded my palette like crazy.’

Paul says losing body fat as a vegan is ‘a doddle’ and wants to ‘lead by example’ for other men.

He said: ‘There is a stereotype of the “angry vegan”. I have compassion for people but once you see what animals go through to end on your plates it hurts.

‘I can’t believe I was complicit.’

With Paul’s former diet a typical day of eating would consist of egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast.

Afterwards, he would have up to eight meals of chicken breasts, white pasta and broccoli.

Now, the personal trainer typically eats porridge, berries, flaxmeal and dates for breakfast.

For lunch he has a chickpea curry with rice and nuts and seeds on the side.

Then for dinner he would have a creamy vegan tempeh bacon pasta with roasted mediterranean vegetables and kalamata olives.

 

Original Article > by Milo Pope, Daily Mail