Its that time of the month that you all love so much. Today I bring you a man that is just full of energy and spirit. A Talented musician, a motivated personal trainer and more than anything… an dedicated family man. If you have ever had the pleasure of being in the presence of this guy you will instantly be impacted for life due o his positive energy. I honestly had the honor of meeting this guy in person while at the Australian Veg Fest and let me tell you, there are few people on this planet that personify greatness like him. Help me welcome @johnmcaleer to the BAV family.
Name: John McAleer
Where do you live and where are you from? Originally I’m from Sydney, Australia and now I live about 90 minutes north with two even sexier vegans on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Age? 26
What do you do for a living/profession? Personal Trainer
What do you like to do for fun? I like doing anything with my daughter, besides that you can find me doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Running, Yoga or Touring with my band.
.How long have you been vegan? 8 years
What made you become vegan? I lost a debate with a friend haha, im not kidding. He gave me an argument against eating animals that I couldn’t come back to and then my plate never looked the same with animals on it. I stopped eating meat straight after that. My reasons for staying vegan changed over the years though, my biggest motivators today would be Sustainability, physical performance and simply the fact that animals suffering is completely unnecessary for human beings to thrive.
How was your transition to the vegan lifestyle? I transitioned a few months before I left home when I was 18, my parents always fed me when I lived under their roof (much appreciated!) so I have only ever prepared my own food without animal products, to be honest I don’t really know anything else, id have no idea how to prepare meat. I actually gained a fair bit of weight at first, I was young and out of home for the first time and my diet consisted of mostly mock meats, toasted sandwiches and fried potato. I got into endurance sports and wanted to be lean like the top athletes so I had a look around at what the top vegan athletes were eating and it was all a mixture of whole food, plant based, 80/10/10 style eating, I gave it a go and combined with my training I lost about 20kgs and I’ve maintained this weight/body fat all year round for about 4 years now.
What is the funniest misconception(s) that you have heard about vegans? When people say fruit will make you fat it makes me want to slam my head in a door….
What is your Favorite thing(s) about being a vegan? Drastically reducing my personal contribution to the suffering of sentient beings and destruction of the earth…. That got dark quickly right?
What do you think makes a Bad Ass Vegan? Critical thinking and gallows humor is what gets me going haha.
What is the best vegan dish you make in your kitchen?
1 litre of water
20 really ripe bananas
Blend
Destroy
What is the best Vegan Restaurant you have ever had the pleasure of eating at? Im actually really boring with food, my preference is always fruit, veg, legumes and rice over pretty much anything but Real food daily in Santa Monica gets me pretty hot and heavy.
What advice do you have for those that are thinking of transitioning to a vegan lifestyle? Make sure you pay attention to your caloric intake, ive noticed a lot of people don’t take into account the lower caloric density of plant foods. Your portion sizes are most likely going to be very different. Whenever I hear “the vegan diet didn’t work for me” I get people to journal out what they would eat in a day and they were in a huge caloric deficit. I recommend using a food diary app on you phone for the first little while, weigh your foods and log everything you eat just so you can start to get an idea of how much of what things you should be eating, after a little while you will be able to just guestimate your foods but at first track everything.
Do you have a website to share with the BAV nation?
Instagram: @johnmcaleer
besides that check out cowspiracy and learn up:
