Amanda Riester

bodybuilder  fighter 

Amanda’s two grandfathers and her father boxed professionally and Amanda learned a lot from them when growing up. At 16 she entered the Chicago Golden Gloves, an annual amateur competition,  at 17 she boxed at national level. Aged 18, she was rated at number two in the United States.  After ten years of boxing she retired with an amazing total of four Chicago Golden Gloves titles, and started coaching and bodybuilding.

    • Four time Chicago Golden Gloves winner
    • Successful competitive bodybuilder
    • Stopped eating meat aged 5

In 2011 she won the Natural North America Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. Late in 2013 she took category first place at the OCB Midwest States Bodybuilding and Figure Contest (read more here).

Amanda is a passionate vegan. She works as a pet-loss grief counsellor and professional animal communicator, and has been volunteering in pit bull rescue since 2000. She describes herself as a proud Mom to four rescued pitbulls.

Turning vegan

I decided to become a vegan because it was the right thing to do. I don’t believe God put these precious creatures here for us to exploit and murder.

Amanda stopped eating meat at age 5 when she discovered that it came from animals, and from then on ate very little dairy until she became a full vegan in 2009 aged 29.

“I decided to become a vegan because it was the right thing to do. I don’t believe God put these precious creatures here for us to exploit and murder. As a cancer survivor, I appreciate that a plant-based diet is proven to be the best way to prevent cancer cells from growing.. and the fact that I’m lean, strong and healthier then ever – well those are just very exciting perks!”

“A lot of people are very surprised that I can be as strong as I am on a mostly raw vegan diet. At this point, anyone that knows me knows I’m a vegan because I make a point to wear a VEGAN item everyday. A tank, shorts, my purse… even my license plate reads VEGAN. I am very proud to be so strong and so healthy on a vegan diet. I pride myself on being an ambassador for the vegan lifestyle!”

Check out our other vegan bodybuilders

Check out our other vegan fighters 

If you’re looking to build some muscle like Amanda and want to do it the vegan way, we’ve got some info on vegan protein powder in our new FAQ section

Interview with Amanda

Video – winning a show and talking veganism

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