Personal trainer leads a vegan lifestyle by example
Victor Lee, Vegan Personal Trainer, Tsquared Lab
Contrary to popular perception that fitness trainers are plant-based for health reasons, 32-year-old Victor Lee, is actually vegan for the animals since 2016, a year after he started his career as a personal trainer. Drawing inspiration from elite vegan athletes in the Olympics and in the fitness space, his growth mindset spurred him toward a vegan lifestyle upon exposure to YouTube channels on animal activism.
Victor has completed full marathons long distance and is always game to try new fitness regimes including sprinting, bodybuilding, calisthenics, powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, obstacle course racing, badminton and rock climbing. He currently teaches general strength and conditioning as a power-builder who also does bouldering on the side.
An exercise sciences graduate of Republic Polytechnic, he was awarded a scholarship, module prizes and ten distinctions for his devotion to health studies, nutrition, psychology, strength training, injury rehabilitation and diseases. He genuinely cares about one’s long-term health and overall well-being and puts honesty before his animal advocacy, while strategizing ways to incorporate more plant-based proteins, fruits and vegetables into lifestyles. He also provides easy vegan meal plans.
“One can also be relatively healthy enough on a “clean” omnivorous diet with high vegetable content. Advocating for veganism usually makes more impact from the ethical or environmental perspective.”
As an animal advocate, Victor chooses to lead by example over preachy activism. In his experience, all his friends, colleagues and clients eventually always become vegan-curious. According to him, the time when they are naturally intrigued always comes. His goal is to educate to enable his network of followers to make better decisions for their health, the environment, ethics and the community at large.
He attributes challenges in advocating a vegan diet to apathy and a lack of accessibility and variety to vegan foods. According to him, many cafes and restaurants do not have proper vegan meals and plenty of vegetarian and vegan eateries do not provide adequate protein options.
“Some social conflict is inevitable as we come out to the people around us that we choose to do better, rather than succumb to outdated traditions and culture. Most people are not aware and even misinformed of the health, nutritional, environmental, and ethical aspects of a vegan lifestyle. Change has to come from the ground up as it cannot happen overnight socially. We have to do better as individuals in the hopes of an even better (hopefully vegan) future.”
