Meet 1st Vegan Bodybuilder to Compete in Mr. Olympia Contest!

[Speaker 2]

Live from the Unchained TV headquarters in Los Angeles, California, this is Truth Files with Jane Velez Mitchell.

 

[Speaker 1]

And make sure you don’t miss any of Unchained TV’s award-winning programs by downloading the app for your phone, tablet, or smart TV. I coach, I train, I’ve been vegan since 1998, and I’m here for the planet, the animals, and the betterment of humanity.

 

[Speaker 2]

Fasten your seatbelts, people, because you are going to meet this extraordinary man, the first vegan bodybuilder to qualify for Mr. Olympia. It’s happening this September. The entire vegan community, we’re hoping, will rally behind him because imagine how much work went into creating that body.

 

And it turns out that he is leaving the gym right now. What a shock, right? He can’t miss a workout.

 

The future of veganism depends on him winning this thing. Erin Tice, you are a fan, a super fan of Tori Washington, who’s going to be joining us. But you’re also getting trained by him.

 

Tell us how important winning or even qualifying to be a part of Mr. Olympia, what the heck is it? And how important is it that Tori Washington is the first vegan ever to qualify?

 

[Speaker 1]

So Mr. Olympia, it’s the highest achievement in professional bodybuilding. It is, you know, think World Cup, which is going on right now. Think Olympics.

 

This is the upper echelon. It is a Super Bowl of bodybuilding. And Tori didn’t just enter it.

 

He qualified for it. He had to earn his spot. He had to prove that he was one of the best in the world to get onto that stage.

 

And now it’s happening in September.

 

[Speaker 2]

It’s absolutely extraordinary. And, of course, so many people say, oh, you’re a vegan. You know, vegans are weak.

 

And he is the living embodiment that that is not the case. So we’re going to show you some of his workout routines. It’s absolutely extraordinary.

 

But listen to this first.

 

[Speaker 1]

They said vegans can’t go to the Olympia, baby. We did it. Come on, man.

 

We made history.

 

[Speaker 2]

Now, in order to get to Mr. Olympia, you have to win other contests. He’s won a lot of them. But tell me about this last contest that he won that was so historic, the Ben Weeder Naturals Pro-Am.

 

Why is that, like, such a huge deal?

 

[Speaker 1]

It’s, for me, and I’m not the expert, so we would need to wait for Tori to kind of explain that. But it is like that pre-Olympics. It’s the qualifying rounds to get into that next stage.

 

And so for him to have achieved that is already monumental in and of itself. And the fact that that propelled him to get to the Olympics of bodybuilding, Mr. Olympia, is just proof that you don’t need to have animal products. That compassion and excellence are not mutually exclusive terms.

 

[Speaker 2]

Now, there is a T-shirt that you can buy to help him get there. I bought it last night. I think, I’m hoping that if I wear it, suddenly I’ll have a ripped body.

 

But that’s neither here nor there. I understand that you have that on right now. I do.

 

Show us. All right, all right. T-shirt?

 

There it is. Here’s the T-shirt. Here it is.

 

Whoa.

 

[Speaker 1]

Be natural. And I think that’s the other thing that we need to talk about, is the fact that he is doing this entirely without any steroids, no drugs whatsoever. That body was built on discipline and consistency.

 

[Speaker 2]

I ordered one. I can’t wait to get mine. Very, very exciting.

 

[Speaker 1]

Paint the picture of hundreds of people coming to Vegas to support him, to attend the Olympics of bodybuilding, and all of us wearing these shirts to show our support. It would be a beautiful thing.

 

[Speaker 2]

And as people are saying, vegans are strong. Yes, we are. Si se puede.

 

Yes, we can. We can do this. So what I’d like to do is talk a little bit about what Tori Washington eats.

 

And here’s a clip explaining what he has on a typical day.

 

[Speaker 1]

What we need to focus on is making sure that our nutrition comes from many different sources because with this, we’re getting the vitamins and minerals that our body needs. Protein is going to come, especially if the calories that you’re getting in are enough to suit your day-to-day activity. I look to eat mostly carbohydrates and food points.

 

Japanese sweet potatoes. Japanese sweet potato would be on there definitely. I love my nut butters, my almond, my peanut butters.

 

And then my other source of carbohydrates plus protein would be beans. And that can be beans converted into tofu or tempeh, or it can just be beans in general. Also greens, all types of greens.

 

Doing asparagus, broccoli, bok choy. You name it, I’m eating it.

 

[Speaker 2]

Wow. So it’s not like he’s just drinking smoothies and eating like protein pills. He’s still enjoying his meals.

 

Now, you’re training with him. I want to show, first of all, I think you look great before and after. Oh, he’s coming to the stage right now.

 

Whoa! We’re going to get to the before and after in a second. Tori Washington, he’s here, people.

 

It was a dramatic entrance and I love it that way. First of all, congrats. Congrats.

 

You know, the entire vegan community is looking toward you for the win. The win that will prove once and for all that vegans are not weak. Talk to me.

 

Talk to me and tell me how big this is, what you’re doing.

 

[Speaker 1]

First and foremost, Jane, thank you so much for the opportunity to share such an amazing, historic, monumental event, not only in my life, but in the journey or the history of vegan as we know it. Because this is something that a lot of times you get the comment, you’ve never seen a vegan at an Olympia or on the Olympia stage. And for the first time, we’re going to have a vegan male bodybuilder on stage at the Mr. Olympia, which is such a huge Guinness World Record, Book of World Records type of moment. But I think because bodybuilding is such a niche and such a, like a cult thing, but it’s bigger because of social media. It hasn’t really hit people as it should, but it’s such a big monumental feat that hopefully this is not the end of it. That there’ll be more to follow after I do this for the first time, trailblazing, setting the path for the next to come.

 

[Speaker 2]

It’s extraordinary. And I’ve been looking at videos of you working out and I wanted to just hit the couch and relax because I just couldn’t even believe it. Look at this, look at this.

 

It’s extraordinary. So anybody who says, Oh, vegans are weak. This man is a vegan.

 

We just ran a clip showing some of the things you eat on a typical day. Healthy fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes. Okay.

 

I want to say a couple of things. I’m a little confused about Mr. Olympia. I know where Las Vegas is.

 

Okay. I know where the Las Vegas convention center is, but tell us exactly what’s happening because I think one of the problems is people are like, okay, it’s this huge competition, but where do I go? How do I sign up?

 

How do I support Tory break it down for us so we can support you. We want to go to Vegas. And this is one case where what happens in Vegas is not going to stay in Vegas.

 

[Speaker 1]

Right. I love it. I love it.

 

So the Mr. Olympia is typically held in Las Vegas. It has been for probably more than a decade. It moved to Orlando one time during 2020, but it’s typically been in Las Vegas prior to that.

 

It used to move around. So Mr. Olympia is the world cup Superbowl of bodybuilding. So what that means is 1% of the bodybuilders in the world, make it to Mr. Olympia every year. And some do it once in a lifetime. Some never make it. Some make it multiple times because, you know, they just are that phenomenon when it comes to their physique.

 

So you haven’t, it’s, it’s, it’s hosted at three different hotels. And I say that because the convention center in Las Vegas is where the expo is held. So Mr. Olympia has a big expo where you have vegan strong team. I’ve seen them there before. You have a lot of vendors who supply supplements and different things when it comes to bodybuilding from weight training, belts to dumbbells to different lifting machines and, you know, massage machines. You have different events going on and they’re going to have cheerleading going on this team this time around.

 

They’re going to have, you know, they have wrestling. They have all of that in the expo and also in the expo, which happens on Friday, Saturday, the expo, they also have the bodybuilding competition, which is at the back of the convention center. There’s going to be a place where you can sit and then they’re going to be a surrounding gate where you can stand and watch it as well.

 

Now the expo is just an entry fee. You pay to go into the expo and you can come watch the show. Or if you want to pay more, you can come and sit down and watch the show.

 

And so there’s just different ways in which you can view the show. Now, mind you, with the amount of vegans we’re going to have and my family and friends that are coming, you know, we’re just going to be loud and you can be as loud as obnoxious as you want to be because, you know, you want to support who you know on that stage and plus being the first vegan to break that myth, you know, it’s going to be. It’s that vegans can’t go to the Olympia.

 

Go ahead. Sorry. And then they also have the finals, which shows at the hotel is typically at the new Orleans, but they also going to have a host hotel, which is the palms hotel.

 

So that is still to be determined whether or not to be at the new Orleans. It’s going to be at the Palm. And on Thursday, Aaron knows about this Thursday.

 

They call it meet the Olympian. They used to call it meet the Olympian, but it’s now called the superstar kickoff event where you get to come personally, sit down, talk to the fellow Olympian. You’re the Olympian that you are a fan of, or you want to support.

 

They don’t have a table. You can bring your camera. We’re going to have a party, man.

 

We’re going to bring music. We’re going to my table and probably the most lit table in the event. And you’re just there to come support and show love for a couple hours.

 

And yeah, and we’re going to also do a meet and greet twice. We’re going to do one on Friday at Tarantino’s and we’re going to do one on Sunday at Tarantino’s. This is just a way for people to come and meet me, talk to me, talk to other vegans who also going to be there.

 

Veg nutrition is going to be there, you know, Jane Velez and the whole crew is going to be there. So it’s going to be an amazing, amazing time. We’re going to have a party.

 

It’s just, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us all to come together to celebrate a historic moment.

 

[Speaker 2]

So this is Thursday. We, you have a table. People can come up to you at, I’m not sure the convention center or, or some locale there.

 

[Speaker 1]

It’ll probably be at the Palms. That’s what I’m thinking.

 

[Speaker 2]

Friday, my very favorite restaurant on the planet, practically. I mean, Tarantino’s. Oh my God.

 

It’s a mom and pop owned Italian restaurant. She saw a video, went vegan, convinced her husband to go vegan. They were already making great Italian food.

 

They veganized everything. Honestly, if you’re carbo loading, this is the place to go. Tarantino’s.

 

So you’re going to be there Friday. So I’m definitely going to be there. I’m going to be there Thursday, Friday, then Saturday.

 

It’s like the competition gets started, right? That’s where you stand or sit and watch you at some venue.

 

[Speaker 1]

And then Sunday, the convention center on Saturday, you can see me on stage and the show starts at 9.

 

[Speaker 2]

Oh my God. All right. So this is the date I wrote down was September 26th.

 

I believe that’s the Saturday. So September 25th, September 24th we should plan on being there.

 

[Speaker 1]

Yes.

 

[Speaker 2]

Yes. Thursday, September 24th. Mark it in your calendars, people.

 

I just, I am so blown away by everything you’re doing. We’ve been talking to Aaron who works with you. And I said, it was kind of funny because we’re doing the before and after Aaron look good before let’s be real.

 

It’s not like, I would like to look as good as she looked in her before picture. Let’s just put it that way, but let’s just take a look at the before and after. Tell us, Aaron, you’ve been working because Tori also trains people.

 

So tell us about your training, Tori and, and tell us about what you’ve gotten out of this.

 

[Speaker 1]

Sure. Tori, do you want to start? All right.

 

Well, I know I’ve, I’ve turned 40 this past year and this is one of the first times I’m admitting that in a public space, but watching Tori over the years, I’m like, wow, this is impressive. Tori is 51 years old and he puts that out proudly and he does not look in any way like he is 51. Doesn’t, it doesn’t seem like he ages at all.

 

And I realized I’m like, there’s, there’s something to that. And there’s something to the fact that, you know, that progressive overload that that push for your fitness and to choose and just make a decision that you can do more and that you can do hard things and that you can be consistent. And so, you know, over this time, it’s less about the look that I care about, but the fact that I feel strong and that I know when I’m 80 years old, I’m going to be walking upstairs and lifting things like no problem.

 

[Speaker 2]

And that I’m just, I mean, I’m looking at these photos. Like I say, you look great in the before, but I could see that you’re tighter. That that’s, if you know, it’s like muscle, I guess is what you got, right?

 

I feel like I’ve got muscle now. Yes.

 

[Speaker 1]

Yeah. I feel so much stronger than I did before. I truly do.

 

And more importantly, I proved to myself that I can do hard things and that I can wake up early. I can get my workout in and that that focus and determination carries through into other aspects of my life on a more consistent basis now. And it’s only prompted me to be more motivated and to want to be more hard things.

 

So.

 

[Speaker 2]

Wow. So I’m so excited by all of this. Let’s face it.

 

Veganism is under attack right now. The meat and dairy industry has declared war. It started in 2019 when Beyond Meat was the most successful initial public offering in years.

 

And just the word Beyond Meat scared the wits out of them. They have co-opted not only the government, but the media. Media is writing nasty articles.

 

It’s okay. You know, first they ignore you. Then they laugh at you.

 

Then they get angry at you, which is where we are now. Then they join you. Right.

 

What you’re doing, Tori, is so important right now, particularly because of this war on veganism. We even started, a dear friend of mine started an organization called Veg Media Watch to call out veganism. You can go to vegmediawatch.org and join the rapid response team. When they write articles that don’t talk about the fact that processed meat is cancer causing and promoting cancer causing foods like they’re completely healthy. We have to call them out. And there’s no better way to call them out by show and tell.

 

I mean, when I look at these videos that you, it’s just, let’s take a look at the training video again. It’s just amazing. Tell us about your workout and, and how this busts the myth that vegans are weak.

 

[Speaker 1]

Well, you know, it’s, you know, what’s, what’s interesting is, you know, when I talk to people who think about what a vegan is, the first, their first comment is they’re not used to seeing vegans look like how I look. And so by just my physique alone, it’s changing that stereotype, right? And so when it comes to training, I make sure my training is very intense.

 

You know, we go from heavy to moderate to lightweight at times, but it’s all about building muscle and building quality muscle because by putting the muscle under such tensions, under such stress, you force it into a place where it has to grow and get bigger and stronger in order to manage that weight and more for the next time around. So right now, as we’re getting ready for the Miss Olympia, we’re continuously doing a lot of basic movements where you see like the lap pull down, the barbell curl, you know, all of these exercises help to really, really draw a good foundation where you then carve it. Like, for example, when you look at Aaron’s physique, Aaron’s physique, coming from someone that for me, for example, seeing the change, I knew she needed that tightness because a lot of times people are skinny with fat on them, but it doesn’t look like that because of how they fit in their clothes.

 

But when you put them into a situation where they have to showcase more skin, you can see how much fat their body has and how much muscle they don’t have. So what I did is designed a program that really worked on her weak areas, which is building up her shoulders, building up her back, tightening up her glutes, tightening up her legs. So therefore now she looks phenomenal.

 

I mean, when, when you, sometimes pictures can’t even do a justice to when you see them in person, you know? So when I see her in person, it’s like, wow, you know, we really made a difference in her physique because yes, you’re right, Jane. For the average individual, she looks good from before, but when we’re in a world of where aesthetics and we’re looking at ourselves from a different eye, she now has reached that point of, okay, she’s athletic.

 

And now we can take athletic and make it even more so to elite because for example, being on the Olympic stage is elite. It’s an elite athlete. You can’t get there without being elite.

 

And if you’re, you can be athletic and do phenomenal things, but when you’re elite, you do extraordinary things.

 

[Speaker 2]

Now in order to get, and I agree with you, by the way, she looks phenomenal. I always, when I look at her, I say I’ll have what she’s having, but to get to Mr. Olympia and we’re going to double back on how everybody can support the t-shirts that both of you are wearing. And I ordered mine.

 

I ordered mine. I can’t wait to get it. I can’t wait to get it.

 

But you didn’t just saunter into that. You had to win many, many contests. And the most recent was this one.

 

Tell us about this extraordinary. I hope I pronounce it right. Ben Weider Naturals Pro-Am and what you had to do to get to this next phase.

 

Tell us about this contest.

 

[Speaker 1]

So the Ben Weiders has started, it started in 2019. It was a show put on by the IFBB, which is the International Federation of Bodybuilding. And the IFBB is world known, world renowned for such talents as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, and pretty much all your top bodybuilders.

 

And so they decided to create a natural division, which is what Ben Weiders is. It’s for the bodybuilders that do not want to take any type of, any form of, you know, PEDs, which are Performing Enhancing Drugs or steroids. And so they test you for it.

 

They test you by urine and they test you with a polygraph. So I’ve been competing in the Ben Weiders since 2019 when it started. And so, you know, placing 6th, 3rd, 4th, you know, and those type of placements.

 

And so last year in 2025, I had a death in the family. My mom passed away in April and I was truly inspired by the fact that my mother, you know, she had done so much to get me to this place. And I said, you know what?

 

This is my time to shine for her because my mother could never make a competition due to her religious belief, which is Seven Day Adventist. And so I was more inspired to go win. And I had to win two shows.

 

So after her funeral on May 5th, I then competed on May 10th and I was just strictly focused on winning. And like, I just saw myself grabbing the trophy. So I won that show.

 

And then I qualified for Ben Weiders, which was in November. And in November, I went in with that same drive, you know, win this for my mom, win this for myself, win this for the vegan community. And I went there and I had no other, there was no other decision.

 

There was no failure. Second place wasn’t even in my, in my, my mind’s view or my eyesight, you know, it was, I had blinders on to first place and, you know, so much so, Jane, that I, before going to that competition in November, I painted my big toe gold because I knew I was going to pick up the gold trophy and the gold medal. And, you know, that was just my, my desire and my drive.

 

And so you have to win two shows now in order to qualify for the Olympia. So that was me winning two shows in 2025 to qualify for the 2026 Mr. Olympia. And typically I compete four to eight times out of the year because I just enjoy competing.

 

It’s a, it’s continuous improvement for myself, but it’s also showcasing my form of activism to the world that just because I eat plants and fruits doesn’t mean I can’t build quality elite muscle and compete with the upper echelon of elite athletes, because I used to compete in all the little smaller natural organizations, but I said, let’s take it to the next level. Let’s compete against the Ferraris and the Indy Indy race cars that do 250 miles per hour. We’re not, we’re not, we’re out of the stock cars.

 

We’re out of that box cars. It’s time to go elite level. And so that’s where I’m headed to now, Mr. Olympia.

 

[Speaker 2]

I want to talk about the t-shirt. I ordered it last night. I can’t wait to wear it.

 

I’m going to be like people would be stop, stop. There it is. There it is.

 

So how is that going to help fund? And here it is. You go to vegan to Olympia.com, vegan to Olympia.com.

 

Get it. It’s very reasonably priced. You’re part of the team.

 

You just, it gives you a little muscle just trying it on. You feel like, but how does that help you get there? How is it going to help support you in your quest to win Mr. Olympia?

 

[Speaker 1]

You know, I, I typically I’m, I’m a competitor at heart. I love to compete. I love to continue to improve.

 

And you know, it was really more of a, someone made a suggestion. I said, man, you should make t-shirts because I know people want to support you in going to the Olympia. And I was like, you know, that’s not a bad idea.

 

You know? So I created this t-shirt and part of my mindset was to like, how can I use this to also, you know, give back to the community, you know, because a lot of times people can’t make it to an event, but they want to show support, you know, and it wasn’t really, it really was just came out of nowhere. It wasn’t like I just created this and said, you know, let’s do this.

 

But now I’m thinking, okay, moving forward, I made a, I’m going to do it as a limited supply because you know, who knows what happens for next year? You know, we just continuously change it up, do something different, but it’s a way to, and I’m looking at possibly taking, let’s say the proceeds go very big, helping out a farm sanctuary or an animal sanctuary, you know, just doing things like that because it’s not really about the money. It’s more so the support, because I think, just imagine a hundred people at the Olympia all gathered around together in this shirt.

 

People are going to be like, who is that for? And then when I get on stage, I mean, I can already feel the tears probably coming by the time I just walk on stage just to make that moment. That’s such a monumental space in my lifetime and my journey, because if you think about it coming from just as an engineer, I decided to leave corporate America and follow my dream of, you know, competing and just being in the fitness world.

 

And I didn’t really even think I would get to this, to get this far because this is, I started competing in 2009. Most people give up and don’t think they’re going to make it. And this is years, this is almost 20 years later.

 

I’m now getting on the stage for the Mr. Olympia. And most people stop competing at around 45. I mean, I know guys that I’ve competed with that stopped competing.

 

And they said to me, man, you inspired me to get back on stage. And these are not vegan people. These are guys that are just, they got older, but because of how they ate and live, they figured they were done.

 

But seeing me compete and still be very competitive in my lifestyle, it has inspired people to want to get back on stage and keep going because, you know, the body was meant to move. We should never stop improving upon ourselves. So the T-shirt is really a support mechanism for everything, you know, because it’s going to help so much more than just me.

 

You know, of course it’s expensive to go out there, get an Airbnb, food and things like that. But, you know, I make sure that I prioritize how I want to do things so that way I can do what I want because, you know, life is short, you know, and you’ve got to live every moment like it’s your last. And so I’m just going to continue to live and live and live until the wheels fall off.

 

[Speaker 2]

I like that, until the wheels fall off. Now, what impact have you had on men? Let’s face it, it seems like, I don’t know the statistics, but most vegans are women and we need men in our corner too.

 

Men are getting heart disease. I just have a dear friend who told me he’s diagnosed with colorectal cancer and I’ve tried to get him to watch some of the content on Unchained TV like How Not To Die, like Dr. Michael Greger, various other things. Men are getting misinformation out there that to be manly, to be macho, to have protein, they have to eat meat.

 

You are the living embodiment of the opposite of that. What kind of impact are you having on guys?

 

[Speaker 1]

You know, it’s interesting what you said about your friend. And I’ll tell you one thing, you’re too close to your friend. And that typically happens when you’re very close to a friend and you tell them they don’t listen to you.

 

Because I have close high school friends who didn’t listen to me before, but they’re vegan now because they saw something else. And then they cycle back to, dang, Tori’s vegan too. Let me talk to him.

 

And now they’ve been vegan for all their life. Well, not all their life, for the rest of their life talking to someone else. And then they have me as an example.

 

But I have had a lot of guys that you never realize who you inspire. Because I remember, I think it was two weeks ago, just the other day I was on the Stairmaster doing a little warm up cardio. And there was a gentleman next to me.

 

And unbeknownst to me, as I’m getting off of the Stairmaster, he stalks me and says, man, I’m in this gym because of you. You inspire me. And when I found out you started competing at 35 and that you’re vegan, he said it really inspired me to look more into my health, as well as get back in the gym.

 

Because here you are at 51 years old, started at 35. You didn’t start way back in the day competing. You started later on in life.

 

And he said, I’m inspired by you to keep going. So thank you. And I was like, wow.

 

You know, somebody I see in the gym constantly standing next to me. Now, you know, he has been inspired. So a lot of men have lately come up to me.

 

And the Olympia has really given people a lot more inspiration because they’re like, wait, this guy’s going to the Olympia? That’s really big because not everybody makes it to the Olympia. You know, people coming up to me in the gym who never really said much to me.

 

Like, I just need to shake your hand because you’re vegan and you’re 51. You’re going to Olympia. That’s a one percenter.

 

You know, I just want to shake the hand of a one percenter. At that point, I didn’t look at it like that until he said that. And my cousin called me two days ago.

 

She knew about it, but she didn’t know how big it was until her boyfriend, she was talking to him about it. And he was like, he’s going to the Olympia? He said, honey, that’s huge.

 

She called me and said, I need to know information about Vegas because we’re going, you know, I want to make sure everything’s going. So there are people in the fitness world, you know, vegan or not. They look at the Olympia as it’s the biggest deal when it comes to bodybuilding.

 

Just like all across the world is flocking to the US, Canada and Mexico for the World Cup. This is how big the Olympia is.

 

[Speaker 2]

And it’s fun.

 

[Speaker 1]

Yeah.

 

[Speaker 2]

I know I’m going to have a great time.

 

[Speaker 1]

Oh, yeah.

 

[Speaker 2]

I’ll probably be eating like ravioli at Mr. Tarantino’s, rooting you on.

 

[Speaker 1]

I’m going to make sure I grab me a whole bunch of donuts for all the donuts. The first three levels are vegan.

 

[Speaker 2]

Yeah. And, you know, there’s so many great vegan restaurants in Las Vegas.

 

[Speaker 1]

I didn’t realize there’s so many of them out there.

 

[Speaker 2]

Oh, my God. It’s a vegan Mecca. So for those who want to just have a good time, we have a show on Unchained TV.

 

We went for Designer Con. Somebody gave us a free booth. Designer Con is one of the biggest art conventions in the world.

 

A friend of ours who’s vegan said, we got you a free booth. It would normally cost thousands of dollars. So we went there.

 

We set up an Unchained TV booth. And, of course, we went out to dinner. We couldn’t even go to all the restaurants.

 

It’s called OMG Vegas. It’s on Unchained TV if you want to watch it. But there’s Mr. Kenny’s. I think it’s called Incredible Asian Restaurant. There’s Tarantino’s. There’s the hotel that is, like, very vegan.

 

There’s a lot of vegan fast food places. I mean, I’m not doing it justice. You’ve got to go, and it’s the bomb.

 

[Speaker 1]

I just saw one that had the Korean barbecue, but it’s vegan. It’s all vegan. And vegan hack just did one on it.

 

And I was like, I’ve never seen that before. And so I’m excited. I’m excited for when it’s over to be able to really partake.

 

[Speaker 2]

I mean, this is big. Let me ask you a question. How do you handle the pressure psychologically?

 

[Speaker 1]

You know, it didn’t really hit me. I think it’s starting to come now because it was so long away. I did it in November.

 

I qualified. I was like, all right, so what do I do now? It’s almost a year away.

 

So now here we are, less than three months, and it’s like, okay, now the pressure is on. It’s on to look the best I ever have. And before this, I was doing things that I shouldn’t have been doing.

 

What I’m saying is when I went to do the retreat in Costa Rica, I went onto the rocks and the water and attempted to do this magnificent photo shot. Almost got drawn back into current, thrown on the rocks. Luckily, I caught myself.

 

And I was like, yeah, I need to sit my butt down and get ready for the Olympia.

 

[Speaker 2]

Well, it’s inspiring. It’s inspiring to me personally. It just inspires me.

 

And I would love to be able to show the world through your example as a media company. Imagine if we could say, he won. Well, it’s a victory just to be there.

 

Yes. But imagine what we could say to all those people with the protein myth. And it’s the media piling on right now.

 

I was in the media for many years. We’re pack animals. One person does a story, then everybody copies it.

 

And they’re talking about protein and they’re equating it with meat. And it’s so wrong. And people are dying because of it.

 

So I’d say anytime you feel the pressure, just think you’re saving lives. You’re saving animal lives, but you’re also saving human lives. Because we are being given advertiser-based media where most of the commercials are meat and dairy.

 

Or the drugs that you have to take because you’ve been eating meat and dairy. They’re not talking about it. They do not talk about this subject.

 

Plant-based protein being healthier for you. Zero cholesterol. No cholesterol in any vegan products.

 

Cholesterol leads to plaque, which leads to heart disease, America’s leading killer. So you have increased chance of colorectal cancer eating meat. You have increased chance of heart attacks.

 

They’re making a connection now, which is a film, How Not to Die, on Unchained TV, between dementia. There’s a skyrocketing incidence of early onset dementia and dementia. And eating meat, which clogs the arteries.

 

And as one doctor explained, it’s systemic. It’s not just the artery to the heart. It’s every vessel in your body is getting clogged.

 

So I would say you are helping to save lives, human lives, animal lives, and save the planet. So thank you, Torrey Washington.

 

[Speaker 1]

No, thank you very, very much. I appreciate the time and effort. Thank you for your patience.

 

Thank you for waiting for me. I’m just excited to make this happen.

 

[Speaker 2]

Well, final thoughts. Erin, you are, I guess, Torrey’s number one fan. So what would you say to people out there to encourage them?

 

We want a large group of people. You don’t have to be vegan. You could be vegan-friendly, a wannabe vegan, or a vegan, or a vegan.

 

[Speaker 1]

If you’re a fan of bodybuilding or a fan of seeing what you can do and how you can improve yourself and take yourself to the next level, everyone should be there. You can get there the 24th through the 27th of September in Vegas to support Torrey. And more importantly, get one of these shirts in the meantime, so that way we can paint the crowd with these shirts.

 

They’re really comfortable, by the way.

 

[Speaker 2]

Madly awesome.

 

[Speaker 1]

So highly recommend. I love this. It’s my new favorite shirt.

 

Watching what Torrey does and the inspiration, what he has shown me, is truly amazing. You can build, and it takes time and effort and consistency. And he’s now at the upper echelon stage, like the Olympics of bodybuilding.

 

So we absolutely have to be there to support him.

 

[Speaker 2]

All right, people, we have to be there. We already have gotten some people texting that they’re going to be there. We’re going to have a party.

 

We’re going to do this. I want to thank you, Torrey. Thank you, Aaron.

 

And you’re both inspirations to me. So we’ll see you next time here on Unchained TV. And see you in Vegas, September 24th through the 27th.

 

Mark your calendars now, people. So it’s a vegan Netflix. Okay, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.

 

I love Unchained TV.

 

[Speaker 1]

Unchained. Unchained TV. Your life will change.

 

It’s just that easy. Unchained TV has all sorts of content for everybody. Unchained TV changed my life.

 

[Speaker 2]

Unchained TV is crushing it. I love Unchained TV. Unchained TV is my go-to.

 

Unchained TV. Who knew? Unchained, baby!

 

[Speaker 1]

Yay!