Hey kind lifers! Kind lifer Tobias is sharing his story today about his journey to veganism and his mission in the fitness world. Thank you Tobias!! 
My name’s Tobias and I run Athlegan.com – a website helping people become strong and powerful vegan athletes.
I wasn’t always an outspoken vegan though. In fact, six years ago I’d probably have a ham sandwich for breakfast, some sausages for lunch, and a big steak for dinner. Maybe together with some pasta or potato if I felt adventurous but very rarely with anything resembling a vegetable.
I shudder, thinking back at how damaged, and starved for nutrition, my body must have been.
Eating meat
Contrary to common belief, eating animals doesn’t come natural to humans. As Gary Yourofsky put it – place a toddler in his crib together with a bunny and an apple and see which one he plays with and which one he eats. Despite all the talk about being top-of-the-food-chain alpha predators, I have yet to see anyone chase down a rabbit and eat its flesh with their bare hands.
No, most of us are disgusted by the thought of slaughter and we have to be taught to disconnect the animal from the meat we consume. It’s even considered normal practice to withhold from children where their food comes from, or they might not want to eat it!
Eating meat is a big part of our culture but just like other cultural cruelties we can chose to stop supporting it.
My journey
For me, this journey, from die-hard meat eater to vegan athlete, has been a gradual one.
I began by cutting out meat from factory farmed animals and a few months later I excluded all meat, followed by gelatine products. It was so easy to avoid and I found the alternatives were actually really good, so I could no longer justify having someone killed just so I could eat them.
At this time I got heavily into strength training and wanted to take control of my diet. As I was planning my meals – counting macros and tracking calories – I thought I might as well try to do so completely plant based when eating at home. It was surprisingly easy! With the thousands of vegan recipe sites out there, you could try a new dish every day and still never run out of options.
Finally, after watching Earthlings (I dare you!), I decided I didn’t want to continue supporting the egg and dairy industry anymore – so I became vegan. At the same time I was training hard and found myself making just as good, if not better, progress than the people I trained with. I didn’t die from protein deficiency after all – I was actually becoming stronger!
Be a strong vegan
I’ve always felt there’s something wrong with eating other sentient beings. It took me quite a while though to realize that I don’t actually have to, that there are so many other delicious things I can eat. Unfortunately it took another while for me to learn that you can even thrive and just how strong, fit, and powerful you can become as a vegan.
I don’t want anyone else to have to spend all this time figuring it out and jumping through these hoops. That’s why I started Athlegan, to show that you can become strong, fit and powerful with a vegan diet, and how to do it.
We need more strong men and women standing up for what’s right!

More about Tobias:
I’m a CrossFit Level 1 trainer, BJJ practitioner, strength aficionado and vegan. Sharing on https://www.athlegan.com/  how to build muscles without eating them! Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.