After several days of intense entomophagy research, meetings, and planning, my buddy and I got up on our free day and made our way to Lumphini Park, a huge green area in the middle of the city where people go to run, bike, and do all manner of exercise.

Our target was the famous free-weight gym, with rusty dumbells and barbells with huge tires attached to them, and the plan was to get some weightlifting in before we made any other plans for the day.

Now, one thing that I must admit is that weightlifting hasn’t been a big part of my life in recent years. I exercise and workout daily, but following in the TB12 Sports (Tom Brady’s company) model, I haven’t been lifting weights. Bodyweight exercises, resistance bands, core strength, those are all part of my routine. But lifting heavy? Not for a long time.

My buddy though, he’s into bodybuilding and getting those gains! So weightlifting is a big part of his routine.

The gym is outdoors, with a gravel “floor” and lovely green trees overhead. It was hot and guys were shirtless, banging out reps with the rusty steel. But after these type of gyms dominated the first 2/3 of my life, being back in one after a several year hiatus brought up some nostalgia and was also quite inspiring!

Our target was to hit a few big areas – chest, legs, back, core, etc. And of course, with such a picturesque setting – punctuated by slamming reps on the tire barbell – there was a bit of extra motivation to go as hard as possible.

HAS GOING ENTOVEGAN MADE ME WEAK?

The question every athlete asks me now – and the skeptical question I asked when I was getting into this – is “Don’t you feel like you’re losing strength? I don’t want to get all scrawny and lose muscle.”

But the reality is that eating a plant-based diet alone can get you plenty of protein, as much as you need to maintain your physique and strength. Supplement that plant-based vegan diet with entomophagy, though, and the added protein and nutrients from eating insects is going to boost your gains to a whole different level, and best of all you’re eating extremely clean and sustainably!

I have been routinely surprised the past few months at how much BETTER I feel, in every way, from eating an entovegan diet. Cutting meat from my life completely didn’t make me shrivel up and turn into a gollum-like figure. It’s helped me get a bit more trim – I have lost some bodyfat % but I haven’t lost any muscle.

And as I’ve mentioned before and will keep saying (because I’m honestly so surprised!), I feel better than I ever have, both physically and mentally. And that’s coming from a guy who has eaten as organic and healthy as possible for the past decade plus. The ONLY major change I’ve made is to cut meat and animal products out of my diet entirely, eating a vegan diet plus insects.

WEIGHTLIFTING STRENGTH

So how did things go with moving around some iron? Amazing! I’m obviously not as strong as my buddy who lifts as part of his routine, and I’m not as strong as I was years ago when I was lifting.

But I felt great banging out the reps I could do, and I got a great pump. As I mentioned, I still do a lot of daily bodyweight exercise including pullups and pushups and squats, so it’s not like the movements themselves were foreign.

It’s just that I hadn’t used weights in a couple years at least. My muscles responded like champs though, with no apparent drop-off throughout our hourlong session.

Again, this kind of surprised me, considering I’d always held the condescending view that vegans and vegetarians were weak, scrawny people with no muscle. I’m finding out that’s simply not the case.

I’M GOING TO BE SORE TOMORROW…

After our workout and a good swim in the hotel’s saltwater pool, I felt pretty great still – no exhaustion like I’d experienced after intense lifting sessions in years past. I just felt good.

But the slightly-joking-mostly-serious concern was that “I’m going to be really sore tomorrow and the next day…”

The reality proved to be quite different!

Sure, I was a little bit sore, I mean I hadn’t lifted for a long time. But it wasn’t the brutal, can’t-even-move soreness like every athlete and bodybuilder has experienced after taking a break and then getting back after it hard.

I felt that I’d had a great workout, I felt a little sore, but all it took was getting some blood flowing to those muscles and I felt great again. Very little soreness.

Again, I’m really surprised by all this, and I’m starting to lose my doubts about the vegan – and for me entovegan – lifestyle, because it’s far exceeding the best case scenario that I had for it!

I was honestly expecting that maybe I’d clean my system out, but I’d eventually reach a point where I’d start losing muscle and getting weak, and then I’d get back to eating meat.

The reality is that I feel so great in every way, that I’ve completely adopted this whole entovegan lifestyle and dietary method, and I’m going to stick with it!

WEIGHTLIFTING WILL BECOME THE NEW NORMAL

I’m also going to get back to weightlifting at least a few times per week, for functional strength but also because I’m vain and I miss the muscular gains that seem to only come from a bit of weight. And why not bring back the 33% better beach body from my 20’s? 🙂

There’s a part of me though that is still skeptical, and keeps waiting to hit a wall and suddenly be exhausted and start regressing and losing weight. So I kind of want to push this as far as I can go.

Worst case scenario, my fears are well-founded and after a few months this entovegan idea becomes a relic, an experiment that didn’t work that others can read about with curiosity.

Best case scenario, I feel better than I have in my life, with more energy, mental focus, and inspired drive, and I can keep advancing and improving myself! In that case, I’ll be a vocal proponent of the entovegan way, because I’ve tried pretty much everything under the sun except veganism, and so far it’s blowing my expectations away.

But a little credit to the insect protein as well! I really believe that has something to do with the physical strength part.

More to come!

 

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