In an email to my sister I mentioned (bragged) about some of my weight training exploits. She replied:

“…I know several vegetarians and vegans. None of them can even approach
being able to do the things you listed, and they are younger than you.”


I answered:

I know… On the beach I kick sand in their eyes.

Naugh. I’ve been lifting weights off and on since I was in college. The important thing is to keep active—“They can’t bury you while you’re still moving.”

If you’re considering a vegetarian diet, approach it gradually, not with all four feet at once. And do it because it is fun, don’t do it like Rye Crisps, to punish yourself. Nobody is getting out of here alive, so have fun while you’re on this rock.
Vegetaram/vegan is fun, it’s healthy, and it’s less expensive than the All American Diet.

Start by making your own bread. Home-crafted bread is better than the wall paper paste on the supermarket shelves, and is easy to make. Check the internet for good bread recopies. Bread is a convenience food, your hands-on time is only about 20 minutes, and you can eat your mistakes.

Learn how meat is handled and processes. This is a downer, and I don’t like to think about it myself. Before you munch another drumstick, Google “fecal soup.” And consider, this is only the tip of the iceberg… There are things you don’t want to know…but you should…

Don’t make your meals “meat-centered,”

(Bear in mind I am vegetarian, not yet vegan, but I'm working toward vegan.)

Remember, breakfast is your main meal for the day…it should be easy, fun for you and those you live with, and should be good for you.
Breakfast can be waffles or home made granola, or French toast, or scrambled eggs and toast. or tofu-involved, or (gawd love the British) baked beans and tomatoes… All are good, and none of these are a sacrifice.
While these are cooking, make fruit smoothies in the blender, using a random assortment of frozen or fresh fruit. Add wheat bran and flax seed and a banana. If you are heading toward a vegan life style mix these with Rice Milk (I prefer Almond Milk).

Lunch could be homemade soup and toasted cheese sandwiches, or a hundred other things. Maybe home made pizza using your bread dough recipe?

In the evening think about tapering off gradually. A smaller dinner meal might involve a casserole that utilizes the left-over noon vegetables, or a Shepard’s Pie, or “Mock Fu Young,” with tofu in an oriental stance.

Before bedtime treat yourself to a piece of dark chocolate. This is particularly good for women, and is an appropriate reward for the men who appreciate them.

That's a funny comment. I know several meat eaters & they can't even approach my rather unimpressive lifting exploits let alone win powerlifting world records in 3 weight classes (like Pat Reeves finally accomplished this year), close a #3 CoC like Martin Whittred did when he competed in the British grip championships a few years ago or the dozens of other athletes we've got competing in all strength fields. If you actually look at the numbers of successful athletes out there that are vegan, then look at the number of actual vegans in the world, we're actually starting to get a higher % of successful competitors than we should for our numbers. We are still a tiny minority, but we have had successes in virtually every sporting field, it's quite surprising we're doing as well as we are.