Episode #5 with Rudy Leger. Personal fitness coach and vegan bodybuilder

Intro: Forked podcast welcomes Rudy Leger. Rudy is a personal trainer, athletic therapist, and vegan bodybuilder.

00:02:30 We acknowledge that the goal of this podcast is not in any way to propose that a vegan diet is for everyone. There are many ways to practice healthy eating but we simply want to talk about some key issues around a vegan diet. I briefly mention that I have more recently switched to a primarily vegetarian diet and I’ve found it to have significant health benefits. 

00:04:00 We discuss Rudys bodybuilding debut as a practitioner of the vegan diet. His observations were that he found there to be more variety in this approach as opposed to a standard bodybuilders diet. He placed 2nd in his category and qualified for Toronto nationals next year. 

00:07:00 We take a detour in the conversation to discuss the early passing of his mother. Sadly, two years ago, Rudy lost his mother to breast cancer. He found this period changed his outlook on human health. His mothers passing was instrumental in him taking his own health more seriously. Rudys father was not present in his family’s life and he had no brothers or sisters. When he lost his mother he found himself very much alone. This was a very dark period for him. At only 25 years old he was having to navigate his life with literally no family at all. 

00:11:33 Rudy talks about refocussing on helping others. Part of his turnaround was his realization that no matter what we go through, someone else has gone through it as well. 

00:17:30 We return to the discussion of nutrition. It really is a myth that being on a good nutrition plan is limiting. Once we commit to our health and start to eat more wholesome foods, we must inevitably cook more and explore new types of food. To rely on a standard American diet that is generally composed of animal proteins and processed food is in itself quite limiting. Rudy mentions that simply starting a diet plan that cuts out processed foods is already a great step in the right direction. 

00:23:30 Sustainability of a good dietary practice. Most healthy diets are very sustainable. Eating  a plant based diet is highly sustainable and ecologically friendly. 

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010

00:25:00 We get into practical advice, such as: the right amount of protein in our diets, omega 3’s on a vegan diet, and do vegans get adequate vitamin B-12? 

When constructing a nutrition plan for someone we need to always consider the 2 main components which are the macro nutrients ( proteins, fats, and carbohydrates), and the micro nutrients ( vitamins, minerals, and water). 

I ask his opinion on how many times it is best to eat in a day? Eg. Eating 3 times per day, or multiple times per day? Rudys feelings are that focusing on quality of meals is more important than the quantity. The decision to eat fewer or more times in the day however, is more dependant on the individual and their particular needs and goals.

I talk about the importance of people investing a bit of their money into hiring a personal trainer who can help them to better understand their individual needs. This is money well spent and will affect, save people money in the long run. 

The question of how can a vegan get adequate omega 3 fatty acids in their diet. To keep it simple just think of omega 3’s as “healthy fats”. Best sources of omega 3’s in a vegan diet are Flax seeds, chia, hemp, walnuts, and most other nuts and seeds. 

As far as B-12 is concerned, this is simply resolved by consuming a B-12 supplement. 

Here is an absolutely excellent Peer Reviewed article that coincides with the question and Rudys response. It’s a bit technical and a deep dive but if you wish to scroll to the conclusion in the article, please do so. You will get the gist of the content. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK396513/

We discuss the consumption of soy protein. I myself, consume significant amounts of soy protein and joke with Rudy to go easy and not burst my bubble. It is very easy today to cherry pic the science on this macro nutrient. The division in opinions and studies should be clear evidence as to the fact that it is more a matter of opinion than it is of science. It is very safe to say that soy has neither curative properties nor harmful. It can simply be seen as a plant based alternative for protein. Very low in calories and carbohydrates, while very high in fibre. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480510/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3074428/

Final questions:

00:38:00 I ask Rudy where he sees himself in the future. What is his blissful state of being? He replies by saying that he prefers to take each day as it presents itself. Always trying to help people and enjoying the process as he goes. Dealing with the loss of his mother has taught him to try and live in the moment. 

Contact Rudy @ https://www.instagram.com/rude_boi_91/

Special shout out to  Prestige gym https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/241789229/prestige-fitness/