Reading Time: 2 minutes
Olympic vegan boxer Cheavon Clarke recently caught up with Plant Based News and spoke about how his plant-based diet helps his athletic performance, and why he doesnât try to push his lifestyle on to others.
Cheavon Clarke
Thirty-year-old Clarke began boxing when he was 18. Heâs now the top boxer in the UK, and the fifth-best in the world.
The Jamaican-born British boxer snagged a silver medal in the 2017 European Championships. The following year, he secured bronze medals at the 2018 EU Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019, Clarke achieved a bronze medal at the European Games.
This year, Clarke stepped it up again when he competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in the Menâs Heavy (81-91kg).
Plant-based diet
His growing list of achievements has attracted a deserving amount of attention. As well as talking all things boxing, Clarke has promoted the plant-based movement in mainstream media, something he says comes easily to him.
âItâs been quite natural because itâs something that I did anyway. Itâs been received well I think, I havenât tried to push it down peopleâs throats so people are willing to listen,â he said to Plant Based News.
Clarke adopted an animal product-free diet in October 2018. âOne day I was eating meat, and the next day I said Iâm done with meat, dairy, and all of that. And then just went on a journey from there,â he said.
The move raised eyebrows for some, he said. But Clarke assures that the diet works well for him â improving his digestion and recovery times.
âThereâs not a lot of time between training, resting, eating, training again. So being able to eat something, digest it, have a quick little rest, and go again. Itâs great. Before when I was eating meat, that took a lot longer,â he said.
Leading by example
Some people hold on to the narrative that âreal men eat meatâ. To that, Clarke says: âCome and do three rounds with me in the ring.â
âNah Iâm joking,â he assured. âEverybodyâs entitled to their opinion and itâs not for me to try and correct them. I just do what I do and theyâll see the results. And then they have to check themselves.
âYou can go back and forth with people, youâll be at a standstill argument. If somebody believes something, theyâll believe it. As I said, itâs just for you to show and prove rather than being there talking all day.â
He believes this approach can encourage people to try it for themselves. âI think when you try and push things in peopleâs faces you get the opposite reaction,â he said.
âWhereas if you lead by example and just do your own thing, people are more likely to ask âoh, why are you doing that?â and actually try it. And thatâs the opportunity to show them why itâs good.â
âYou canât judge everybody on the same thing. All of our bodies are different, and all our palettes are different ⊠I know it works for me. And thereâs other people that say it works for them and thatâs all that matters.â
âIâm sure if other people try it, it will work for them as well,â he later said.
Eating meat- and dairy-free has âgotten easier over timeâ, Clarke said. âAt first there werenât as many meat-free variants, but now thereâs plenty.â
âJust go and try it for yourself man ⊠Just try it, if you donât like it, thatâs fine. If you do like it, youâre on a new adventure. You know, happy days.â
Source: Plantbasednews.org