Sebastian Perez made the decision to become vegan a long time ago. He did it as a lifestyle choice, regarding his diet, and also as something conceptual related to a philosophy about living beings. Together with his wife Manuela Restrepo, they adopted veganism while the Boca player was recovering from ligament injury in one of his knees that affected him in April 2017.

After a slow recovery, he completed his last preseason. But before that, he informed the coaching staff led by the Barros Schelotto brothers and also the club's Medical Department about his decision. No one objected to his choice, but they did have concerns about how to keep him with the same energy in high performance. Prior to preseason, Perez had lost five kilos in muscle mass and fat.

"I eat a lot of lentil stew, salads with mushrooms, and sometimes pasta," admitted Perez, whose diet is usually supervised by nutrition specialists who work at Boca. "Carbohydrates are the main fuel for exercise," they explained to Clarín from the club.

The meals that Sebastian Perez must have include rice, potatoes, salads, and pasta. He also includes walnuts and almonds to add protein. The key, in the sports aspect, lies in the seeds, cereals, and iron that he consumes daily.

The team's barbecues were left behind, but he admitted that "since preseason till now I have been gaining muscle mass. I gained a little over two kilos and I feel much better, stronger." This last issue was the one questioned the most when evaluating his physical condition.

Although he was left out, his decision to be vegan was not taken into account. But the Mellizos did notice that he lost some speed and explosiveness and corrected it as the weeks went by. "I'm trying to recover my level and my best physical and football form to fight for a place in the team. It's not easy because the club has very good players and I have to catch up because I come from a long period of inactivity," said the Colombian, who was champion with Atlético Nacional, from Medellin, in the 2016 Copa Libertadores.

Sebastian Perez's low level and injury kept him away from the Colombian national team led by José Pekerman. He also informed the nutritionists of the national team about his decision to change his eating habits.

"I was never a player with a big physique or a lot of muscle mass. In this case, my decision didn't change much in that sense. Before getting injured, I ate meat, everything... And I still got injured... It doesn't change that," said the midfielder.

What did they tell him at Boca? "The club has supported me; they have prepared a very good menu for me in the professional aspect with a nutritionist (Karina Gavini) to meet my needs," said Perez.

He has played 21 games in the club (14 were official matches), but he started as a starter in only 8 of them. Just when the team was going to need him to replace Fernando Gago in 2017, he suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. And his return to the field took longer than expected: he only started adding minutes in Reserve matches seven months later.