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Plant friends this is second in a series of episodes focused on athletes representing PlantBuilt a collective of vegan athletes with the goal to “demonstrate that athletes can be competitive and compassionate at the highest level of sports fuelled solely by plants.” 

The Vegan PlantBuilt Team recently excelled at the Mr. America Competition.

Today I’m chatting with George Matthews, PlantBuilt’s CrossFit team captain. George ranked in the 94th percentile worldwide (96th percentile for age 35-39) in the 2022 CrossFit Open.

He is driven to prove what is possible on a vegan diet and inspire others to think about the impact of their food choices.

In this conversation we cover:

• George’s health transformation and becoming vegan story.
• Adversity and how “daily struggles we go through in the gym, help us through our daily struggles in life.”
• Did anything surprise George about the way he needed to fuel his body as a vegan athlete.
• What has George changed his mind on “macro wise” over 10 years vegan.
• The biggest advantages of being a vegan athlete.
• Masculinity and veganism. What would George say to the young man who is concerned with how his masculinity will be judged.
• Travelling as a vegan athlete provides a few challenges however they can be overcome… especially if your wife is @fitveganchef!

I’m going to let George’s words take out the show today as they are heartfelt and I could not say it better. After the Mr. America Competition earlier this month he posted:

Last week I was part of the @veganstrongteam @plantbuilt team and was inspired by the strongest people I’ve ever known.

I saw vegans lift heavy weights, move fast and display phenomenal muscular physiques… We travelled from all over the world to compete and to win. We lifted other up and supported our team and our opponents. We did it powered by plants because we believe in living compassionately, and we have the courage to stand up for what we believe in. 

We did it because we’ve all been told vegans are weak, and we wanted to show the world how strong vegans can be.

Plant friends, to check out these awesome vegan athletes in action I recommend plantbuilt.com and veganstrong.com.

Of course I’ve got plenty of links to previous plant powered podcast guests excelling in their chosen sport in the show notes below.

I not only realized the harm my diet caused to me, but the harm it caused to animals and the environment. I realized that I never wanted to hurt any living being and that I needed to live a lifestyle that embodied that. George Matthews Share on X

Connect with George across the socials: Instagram

Connect with Natalie Matthews (@fitveganchef) across the socials: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter.

Check out PlantBuilt across the socials: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter.

Also via the website:

Check out Vegan Strong across the socials: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter.

Also via the website: 

That’s it for this week in Healthification. If you’re yet to rate, review and subscribe please do! It counts big time in letting this little show – and the amazing guests I get to chat with achieve some visibility among the millions of podcasts out there.

Big thanks to YOU for sharing this week with me.

The Healthification podcast is proudly bought to you by my FREE ‘Easy Vegan’ plan. It took me 25 years to transition from a meat eater to a happy, healthy Vegan! You can do it in just 3 days with my simplified ‘easy vegan’ plan!  Get the fit, strong, and healthy plant based body you deserve… while avoiding ALL the mistakes I made along the way!

To learn more check out: strongbodygreenplanet.com

Till next time, remember Creating a body and life you love is Freedom. (If this ex-refined-carb queen, non genetically gifted, naturally uncoordinated vegan chick can do it – so can YOU!!!)

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