Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

[Guest guest]

TEAMWORK: Kenneth Williams, a vegan bodybuilder who works for In Defense of Animals, trains with Jean Scutt at Gold's Gym in Corte Madera. Special to the IJ/Vivian Johnson. Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself. If there were a division. Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one

other guy," says Williams, taking a break from his at workout at Gold's Gym in Larkspur. But the other guy, he says, is "just getting going." Williams could easily call himself the world's pre-eminent vegan body builder, but the job description goes way beyond that. Williams is a charismatic spokesman for Marin-based In Defense of Animals. He hosts IDA's "Undercover TV" show (8:30 p.m. Tuesdays on Comcast Cable channel 26). He has a Web site for his particular wisdom, www.veganmusclepower.com. And he does some modeling. It's a rare combination. Just how rare IDA founder Elliot Katz found out two years ago when he went looking for the man behind the rumor. He'd heard about a vegan bodybuilder and saw it as a chance to break through the "little old ladies in tennis shoes" animal rights stereotype. "I was going from gym to gym trying find him," Katz says, of his quest to find Williams. He recalls

approaching one particularly muscular specimen in a gym parking lot inquiring if he knew anything about this "vegan bodybuilder.He said, 'There is no such thing,'" Katz recalls. But Katz found Williams, and Williams has found himself putting a new face on veganism. "I found my calling," he says, "and I found it in a most unusual way." Williams wasn't always a vegan. He'd played football in high school and college. He remembers a hearty appetite and heaps of meat. "My whole diet consisted of chicken, fish, steak and lots of dairy." As an adult, and as a bodybuilder, he continued what he'd accepted as a muscle-building diet. And then, three years ago, he had what he calls "a moment." Like so many epiphanies, it came late at night. But this one came with rice. He'd woken up at 3 a.m. to eat "as bodybuilders tend to do," he says. And he'd put two chicken breasts and the rice on his plate. His mind wandered off the menu, Williams

contemplating "all the death and destruction around the world. "I happened to look down on my plate and I said 'I'll be damned, death and destruction, right here on my plate,'" he says. "I woke up two hours later and I was a vegan." It wouldn't be a simple step for anybody, but it was especially complicated for Williams. He was a bodybuilder and there's not a lot of information out there on veganism for bodybuilder. There is no "Dummy's Guide to Vegan Bodybuilding." At first, he struggled. "There is a big learning curve to it." And at first, he didn't exactly feel the energy coursing through his triceps and deltoids. "I was losing weight," he recalls. Luckily, and he would say, fatefully, he met his future wife two weeks after his middle-of-the-night menu change. Evelyn Molina-Williams is a nutritionist and she had some ideas. But even Molina-Williams didn't have all the answers. There was no road map. "She didn't know either because no was has

done this before." He certainly didn't get any help from his buddies at the gym. "They started laughing," Williams says. "All of them said 'You'll be skinny and frail.' "I took that as a challenge," he adds. Jean Advertisement Scutt took it as a challenge, too. Scutt, a champion bodybuilder himself, is Williams' trainer. He knew he was entering unexplored territory, but he had no hesitation about helping Williams. Trainers like to see genuine motivation. "He believes in his cause," Scutt

says. "He told me 'You lead. I will follow.'" Scutt was ready to lead. "Some of the workouts I put him through, he's crawling out of here." And he was ready to learn. "He's a genius with his own nutrition," Scutt says of Williams. "He's got it down to a science." The meals and the message seem to be working. Williams discovered that he can get all the protein he needs without meat or dairy. "A cup of amaranth (grain) is 50 grams of protein!" he'll say. And he discovered that people will listen. He converted his whole family. "It didn't take a lot of convincing," says his mother, Jane Williams. And he started giving talks, speaking at animal rights events and preaching the message wherever he could. Williams has an immediate charisma. Two of his uncles are pastors and he speaks the cadence of the pulpit. Katz says that charisma, and the muscles behind it, can get the kind of attention from the kind of people who might not hear the vegan

message. Katz says Williams is "somebody who represents manhood in many people's ideal.People are faced with 'Wait a second, veganism is not some pony-tailed kid or freak,'" Katz says. "The meat industry, the dairy industry, they focus on that feeling that you eat meat and you are a man. That has to be countered." The fact that Williams is African American might bring new demographics to the message, Katz adds. The animal rights movement is too often thought of as "a white, middle-class, woman-oriented support group," Katz says. Williams puts a new face on veganism. Williams approaches the role with ambition and a kind of spirituality. His beliefs are deeply held. He says he wants to spread the message by living the example. Just being healthy and being strong can change the perceptions, he believes. He is the medium and the message. He's taken home trophies in the Oakland Raiders' Silver and Black Muscle Classic and the World

Natural Bodybuilding Championships. Next year, he will take his body and his message to the 2007 Mr. Natural Olympia competition. He'll be competing with everybody else. Meat-eaters. Everybody. But whatever happens, he'll be in his own division. Whether there is one or not. Rick Polito can be reached at polito.Peter H

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Peter

 

> Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself.

> If there were a division.

> Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy,"

 

That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones????

 

BB

Peter

[Guest guest]

Are they from Marin county also? The Valley Vegan...........Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter > Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself. > If there were a division. > Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy," That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones???? BB Peter Peter H

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Peter/Peter

 

You're right - they are always there, and at the Vegan Fair. It's run by the blonde chap and there's about three different ones wandering around with the t-shirts.

 

BBJo

 

-

Peter

Sunday, September 17, 2006 12:04 PM

Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

 

Hi Peter

 

> Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself.

> If there were a division.

> Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy,"

 

That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones????

 

BB

Peter

[Guest guest]

Hi Peter

 

I didn't ask them.

 

Jo

 

-

peter VV

Sunday, September 17, 2006 12:45 PM

Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

 

Are they from Marin county also?

 

The Valley Vegan...........Peter <metalscarab wrote:

 

Hi Peter

 

> Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself.

> If there were a division.

> Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy,"

 

That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones????

 

BB

Peter

Peter H

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Peter

 

Last I checked there was a world outside of Marin County!!!

 

BB

Peter

 

-

peter VV

Sunday, September 17, 2006 12:45 PM

Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

 

Are they from Marin county also?

 

The Valley Vegan...........Peter <metalscarab wrote:

 

Hi Peter

 

> Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself.

> If there were a division.

> Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy,"

 

That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones????

 

BB

Peter

Peter H

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

i have that shirt

heh

wish i looked that good in it

hahahahahahah

peter VV Sep 17, 2006 12:05 AM Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TEAMWORK: Kenneth Williams, a vegan bodybuilder who works for In Defense of Animals, trains with Jean Scutt at Gold's Gym in Corte Madera. Special to the IJ/Vivian Johnson.

 

 

Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself. If there were a division. Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy," says Williams, taking a break from his at workout at Gold's Gym in Larkspur. But the other guy, he says, is "just getting going." Williams could easily call himself the world's pre-eminent vegan body builder, but the job description goes way beyond that. Williams is a charismatic spokesman for Marin-based In Defense of Animals. He hosts IDA's "Undercover TV" show (8:30 p.m. Tuesdays on Comcast Cable channel 26). He has a Web site for his particular wisdom, www.veganmusclepower.com. And he does some modeling. It's a rare combination. Just how rare IDA founder Elliot Katz found out two years ago when he went looking for the man behind the rumor. He'd heard about a vegan bodybuilder and saw it as a chance to break through the "little old ladies in tennis shoes" animal rights stereotype. "I was going from gym to gym trying find him," Katz says, of his quest to find Williams. He recalls approaching one particularly muscular specimen in a gym parking lot inquiring if he knew anything about this "vegan bodybuilder.He said, 'There is no such thing,'" Katz recalls. But Katz found Williams, and Williams has found himself putting a new face on veganism. "I found my calling," he says, "and I found it in a most unusual way." Williams wasn't always a vegan. He'd played football in high school and college. He remembers a hearty appetite and heaps of meat. "My whole diet consisted of chicken, fish, steak and lots of dairy." As an adult, and as a bodybuilder, he continued what he'd accepted as a muscle-building diet. And then, three years ago, he had what he calls "a moment." Like so many epiphanies, it came late at night. But this one came with rice. He'd woken up at 3 a.m. to eat "as bodybuilders tend to do," he says. And he'd put two chicken breasts and the rice on his plate. His mind wandered off the menu, Williams contemplating "all the death and destruction around the world. "I happened to look down on my plate and I said 'I'll be damned, death and destruction, right here on my plate,'" he says. "I woke up two hours later and I was a vegan." It wouldn't be a simple step for anybody, but it was especially complicated for Williams. He was a bodybuilder and there's not a lot of information out there on veganism for bodybuilder. There is no "Dummy's Guide to Vegan Bodybuilding." At first, he struggled. "There is a big learning curve to it." And at first, he didn't exactly feel the energy coursing through his triceps and deltoids. "I was losing weight," he recalls. Luckily, and he would say, fatefully, he met his future wife two weeks after his middle-of-the-night menu change. Evelyn Molina-Williams is a nutritionist and she had some ideas. But even Molina-Williams didn't have all the answers. There was no road map. "She didn't know either because no was has done this before." He certainly didn't get any help from his buddies at the gym. "They started laughing," Williams says. "All of them said 'You'll be skinny and frail.' "I took that as a challenge," he adds. Jean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Scutt took it as a challenge, too. Scutt, a champion bodybuilder himself, is Williams' trainer. He knew he was entering unexplored territory, but he had no hesitation about helping Williams. Trainers like to see genuine motivation. "He believes in his cause," Scutt says. "He told me 'You lead. I will follow.'" Scutt was ready to lead. "Some of the workouts I put him through, he's crawling out of here." And he was ready to learn. "He's a genius with his own nutrition," Scutt says of Williams. "He's got it down to a science." The meals and the message seem to be working. Williams discovered that he can get all the protein he needs without meat or dairy. "A cup of amaranth (grain) is 50 grams of protein!" he'll say. And he discovered that people will listen. He converted his whole family. "It didn't take a lot of convincing," says his mother, Jane Williams. And he started giving talks, speaking at animal rights events and preaching the message wherever he could. Williams has an immediate charisma. Two of his uncles are pastors and he speaks the cadence of the pulpit. Katz says that charisma, and the muscles behind it, can get the kind of attention from the kind of people who might not hear the vegan message. Katz says Williams is "somebody who represents manhood in many people's ideal.People are faced with 'Wait a second, veganism is not some pony-tailed kid or freak,'" Katz says. "The meat industry, the dairy industry, they focus on that feeling that you eat meat and you are a man. That has to be countered." The fact that Williams is African American might bring new demographics to the message, Katz adds. The animal rights movement is too often thought of as "a white, middle-class, woman-oriented support group," Katz says. Williams puts a new face on veganism. Williams approaches the role with ambition and a kind of spirituality. His beliefs are deeply held. He says he wants to spread the message by living the example. Just being healthy and being strong can change the perceptions, he believes. He is the medium and the message. He's taken home trophies in the Oakland Raiders' Silver and Black Muscle Classic and the World Natural Bodybuilding Championships. Next year, he will take his body and his message to the 2007 Mr. Natural Olympia competition. He'll be competing with everybody else. Meat-eaters. Everybody. But whatever happens, he'll be in his own division. Whether there is one or not. Rick Polito can be reached at polito.

Peter H

 

 

 

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As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. William O. Douglas

[Guest guest]

Duh! yer dont say! The Valley Vegan.............Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter Last I checked there was a world outside of Marin County!!! BB Peter - peter VV Sunday, September 17, 2006 12:45 PM Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism Are they from Marin county also? The Valley Vegan...........Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter > Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself. > If there were a division. > Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy," That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones???? BB Peter Peter H To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Security Centre. Peter H

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Peter

 

You seemed a tad confused by the possibility - the article said that he was " the world's only vegan body builder " , with the exception of " one other guy " ... I'm a little lost as to what Marin County has to do with that!?

 

 

BB

Peter

On 18/09/06, peter VV <swpgh01 wrote:

 

 

 

Duh! yer dont say!

 

 

The Valley Vegan.............Peter <metalscarab wrote:

 

Hi Peter

 

Last I checked there was a world outside of Marin County!!!

 

BB

Peter

 

-

peter VV

 

 

Sunday, September 17, 2006 12:45 PM

Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

 

Are they from Marin county also?

 

The Valley Vegan...........Peter <metalscarab wrote:

 

Hi Peter

 

> Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself.

> If there were a division.

> Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. " There's one other guy, "

 

That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled " Vegan Bodybuilders " ... perhaps the rest are all clones????

 

 

BB

Peter

Peter H

 

 

 

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Security Centre.

 

Peter H

 

 

 

 

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Actualy, the article said it stopped short of saying that not him, He said that he knew of one other in the county. Mountains out of molehills my friend. The Valley Vegan............Peter Kebbell <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter You seemed a tad confused by the possibility - the article said that he was "the world's only vegan body builder", with the exception of "one other guy"... I'm a little lost as to what Marin County has to do with that!? BB Peter On 18/09/06, peter VV <swpgh01 wrote: Duh! yer dont say! The Valley Vegan.............Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter Last I checked there was a world outside of Marin County!!! BB Peter - peter VV Sunday, September 17, 2006 12:45 PM Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism Are they from Marin county also? The Valley Vegan...........Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter > Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself. > If there were a division. > Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy," That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones???? BB Peter Peter H To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Security Centre. Peter H All new Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity and ease of use." - PC Magazine Peter H

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Peter

 

Actually, it didn't say that at all. It said:

 

"Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy," says Williams, taking a break from his at workout at Gold's Gym in Larkspur. But the other guy, he says, is "just getting going.

 

 

Later on, it goes on to say:

 

 

"But even Molina-Williams didn't have all the answers. There was no road map. "She didn't know either because no was has done this before.

 

Neither of those places specify Marin County, but they do specify the world.... in fact, Marin county is only mentioned once, in a completely unrelated context:

 

"Williams is a charismatic spokesman for Marin-based In Defense of Animals"

 

 

So while I agree that it's rather a silly argument to be having, I do insist that I'm right in what I'm actually claiming the article says!!! :-)

 

BB

Peter

 

 

 

-

peter VV

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 6:20 PM

Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

 

Actualy, the article said it stopped short of saying that not him, He said that he knew of one other in the county.

Mountains out of molehills my friend.

 

The Valley Vegan............Peter Kebbell <metalscarab wrote:

 

Hi Peter

 

You seemed a tad confused by the possibility - the article said that he was "the world's only vegan body builder", with the exception of "one other guy"... I'm a little lost as to what Marin County has to do with that!?

 

BB

Peter

On 18/09/06, peter VV <swpgh01 wrote:

 

 

Duh! yer dont say!

 

 

The Valley Vegan.............Peter <metalscarab wrote:

 

Hi Peter

 

Last I checked there was a world outside of Marin County!!!

 

BB

Peter

 

-

peter VV

Sunday, September 17, 2006 12:45 PM

Re: Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

 

Are they from Marin county also?

 

The Valley Vegan...........Peter <metalscarab wrote:

 

Hi Peter

 

> Kenneth Williams pretty much has the division to himself.

> If there were a division.

> Williams stops short of calling himself the world's only vegan bodybuilder É but not much short. "There's one other guy,"

 

That's funny, 'cos there's always a whole host of them at the Christmas Without Cruelty fair, with a stall entitled "Vegan Bodybuilders"... perhaps the rest are all clones????

 

BB

Peter

Peter H

 

 

 

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Peter H

 

 

 

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