Growing Muscles on a Vegan Diet: Malin’s Fitness Success Story

Malin is a 35-year-old mother of three who resides in the rural countryside of Sweden. Malin has been a vegetarian since she was 11 years old, a decision that was inspired by a friend at school. Although her choice was not well-received by her family, Malin persevered and became very creative with cooking to make it work.

She later made the transition to veganism and has been vegan for the last 6 years. Currently, Malin is a frequent gym goer who is training and eating for a photoshoot in July. Her interest in cooking started during her early days as a vegetarian and she continues to enjoy exploring different vegan alternatives and dishes.

Please tell us more about yourself

I hope I inspire you as much as you inspire me! ❤️💚🌱
Malin🌱

Hi there everyone! 👋🏽 My name is Malin, I’m 35 years old and a mother of three. The last 1,5 years I’m a frequent gym goer, that currently train and eat for a photoshoot in July.

I turned vegetarian the first time when I was 11, a friend at school inspired me to go vegetarian. We were the only ones, and where I grew up (rural country side of Sweden) hardly anyone had ever heard of not eating meat.

I then had a very long transition to veganism. I thought that vegans were extreme, because the cows needed to be milked and the chickens had to lay eggs… but I tried a lot of different vegan alternatives and dishes. It wasn’t until many years later I really understood what was going on in the dairy and egg industry that I turned vegan, but it took me many years to realise.

Whatever it is that you want to achieve, make sure you plan for it. You have to want to want it.
Malin🌱

I’ve been vegan the last 6 years. And as for many vegans my only regret is I didn’t convert sooner.

In the beginning of my vegetarian days I struggled a lot, I grew up in a family that didn’t respect my choice of lifestyle and told me I had to cook my own food (which was hard being 11 without a weekly allowance to buy my own groceries). I had to be very creative, and I think that is where my interest in cooking started.

I keep telling myself that I am the master of my mind and that I can take control.
Malin🌱

Now I don’t struggle at all, vegan food isn’t hard at all anymore. One can find vegan alternatives anywhere. What I do struggle with is narrow minded people not wanting to even try vegan food, and can’t even have a proper conversation about it. I still meet these people, even if their number is decreasing.

I know my self-worth doesn’t lie in how I look
Malin🌱

I love being a vegan! I actually do feel better as a person now as a vegan. I don’t look down on people not being vegan, but I feel better about myself knowing I don’t consciously harm animals for the sake of personal interest.

I love to be able to show the rest of the world that you can thrive on a plant based diet, as an example: the muscles I’ve grown I have grown being vegan. I can’t compare my lifestyle now with when I wasn’t vegan because back then I didn’t go this much to the gym as I do now. But I can tell you, to achieve what I have achieved thus far is thanks to my coach, motivation, determination and protein – all of which are vegan!

Being a vegan isn’t hard. It might be tricky in the beginning, just as with anything that’s new. Be open minded and ask for help if you need/want to. The vegan community is a great one filled with a lot of compassionate and inspiring people. Reach out if you want to talk about training and veganism 🙂

Love, Malin