Middle-aged, vegetarian and natural

Looking crap

The title for this came from my friend Vince Vasilou, who runs Ultrabodies gym in Finedon, Northamptonshire. The photo of this article is of me, and I really had to think hard before putting it on show. I quite like it as a photo, but it is very ‘look at me’. I’m well aware of this. Two years ago (the week before Christmas 2009) I went to see Vince and asked him to put me on a weight-training programme that would build my back, chest, arms and shoulders. Although I’ve trained for 30 years (in martial arts, running and using weights) I’d never built significant size or shape. Vince is a great guy; very opinionated, but very knowledgeable with a terrific sense of humour. His gym is a fantastic place to work out, full of characters and physiques of all shapes and sizes. Vince was the man to ask about building myself up. What troubled me was that I was starting to look decidedly middle-aged. I was 46 years old with a bit of a belly and no upper body development. I looked crap to be honest.

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Running vs Drinking

It’s a lifestyle choice

I’m often asked about my lifestyle choices: why don’t you drink? Don’t you miss meat? Claims then follow of dying for a bacon sandwich. “I couldn’t live without caffeine.” I hear all these things a lot. They are usually followed by how boring my life must be. Well, here’s the thing. My life is neither boring, nor lacking for not eating meat, drinking caffeine, smoking or drinking alcohol. I’ve done all these things and at certain times in my life I’ve made the decision to stop doing them. Equal disbelief is often uttered when I mention some of the challenges I’ve done – especially the long distance running or walking events. I’m sure we all realise that we’re all different – I’m just a little more different than others!

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