Ellie

Thanks so much. She didn't actually tell me any symptoms except getting a metallic taste when eating sugar and chocolate - not really a reason to start eating meat and fish again. Is candida real then? I heard today it was just a fad diet and had been debunked.

Hey guys, I'm trying to find some nutritional advice for a friend of mine who is convinced she has candida. She wanted to be vegan for a while but now she thinks she has candida so is going to reduce her fruit, veg, nuts and pulse intake and start eating more meat and fish! She's asked me for advice but as I'd never even heard of candida until she told me the other day I am no help at all :/ Thank you!

Sweet

Just been comparing the first two photos from each posting - I think my biceps are a little bigger and my neck muscles seem to be too although my arms are slightly lower in the Jan photo so not sure.

Ok sorry I hadn't got round to posting these earlier, they were taken in Jan 2011: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/Nogri/S1054344a.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/Nogri/S1054351a.jpg

Okay that's it, I am going to stop faffing about now and really start working. I have decided that I am going to eat more healthily and work out more! I am also going to only go up to 10 reps and then go up a weight instead of 15 reps so last time I was at the gym I did 10 reps on everything so tomorrow I'll be going up weight ans really getting somewhere (I hope). Yeah Buddy!

Heye, a quick update... Thankyou so so much to everyone who has helped, it really does make a difference and thankfully things are now starting to look a bit brighter Hi MartinVegartin, unfortunately round here there just isn't much grass at all, also, being only just spring, councils aren't cutting it yet. There's also the risk of toxic plants being in the verge cutting too Thankfully, now spring is here there is a bit more grass in the animal's fields so that'll help. Another good idea in theory Again unfortunately it wouldn't be possible as it is illegal to give waste food like that to the animals. Also the risk of plant-based food being contaminated with meat is too high, the recent outbreaks of mad cow disease a few years back were reported to have been caused by feeding meat to herbivores (which is why it is now illegal). And although I'm sure kids would be very enthusiastic, it'd be a messy, smelly job so parents might not be! We used to feed the cafe waste food to pigs at an animal attraction I used to work at and every time I'd have to go through the food really carefully by hand and pick out the unsuitable foods and the bits of plastic, napkins, bottle tops, drinking straws etc It took ages and that was just one small bucket load - the quantity of food needed for Hillside would be enormous and it just wouldn't be possible to check it all. Another point is that because the vast majority of the animals at Hillside are rescues, many are elderly, ill or on special diets for some reason, they need a correctly balanced and tailored feed. They may become really ill if given human food waste. Hillside are a farm animal rescue, they can't take in cats so most of the animals are primarily grazers or browsers so human food waste wouldn't be suitable anyway Aaaagh it really is such a shame as the amount of food our society throws away is staggeringly wasteful Bet they would love it too but again, sadly this wouldn't be possibly either Hillside don't grow their own hay as all the land is used for the animal enclosures and grazing, plus hay making round here is done by combine harvester by the farms themselves. Thankyou so much for your suggestions though It's not that there is a shortage of feed, hay, medicine etc, it's that Hillside have been so hard hit by the recession, the rise in feed prices and the large number of animals that have recently come in their care, that they are running low on funds to buy the supplies. So the best way for anyone who wants to help is to donate a little money, that way Hillside can buy the correct feeds, hay, medicines etc that the animals need They have lots of lovely gifts, animal sponsorships etc too http://www.hillside.org.uk/acatalog/index.html so I've been buying stuff from Hillside for birthdays, Christmas etc, it's a great way to help. But.....on the plus side things are looking a bit brighter, now the tourist season is starting the sanctuaries are opening up to visitors again so that's a little bit of income Also some very cute news - a rescued muntjack deer that was brought to the sanctuary after being hit by a car has not only made a full recovery, but gave birth to a very healthy and bouncy fawn the other night! It is so cute! I saw it bouncing about like a rabbit, it's not much bigger than a rabbit actually either! And we have the first piglets born at the sanctuary since it was founded 16 years ago. Most pigs that come in are farm rescues of pets, not breeding sows but lucky Annabel was saved along with her partner Tom from slaughter. She has had nine of the cutest little piglets ever! This is Hillside's Youtube channel where they have lots of videos of the animals around the sanctuary, recent rescued and undercover investigations into the cruelties of farming etc if anyone is interested in fining out more about them http://www.youtube.com/user/HillsideAdoptAnimals Thank you all so much again! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Hillside-Animal-Sanctuary/135561519840094

http://www.hillside.org.uk/images/Hillside-Crisis_000.jpg Hillside in Crisis http://www.hillside.org.uk/HillsideinCrisis.htm Hi, for those of you who don't know - this is where Richard and I work. Rich works with the animals at their main sanctuary in Frettenham. And I work seasonally in their vegan cafe at their more visitor-orientated site in West Runton. Hillside is amazing, they not only offer a safe, caring home for hundreds of rescued critters, but they also actively campaign against animal cruelty, especially factory farming and puppy mills, and they promote a cruelty-free lifestyle. The founder, Wendy Valentine is vegan too. I've known so many of the animals that they care for, both at the Frettenham and West Runton site, for many years, since they were born or even just bumps in their mother's tummy's - I'm scared to think what will happen to them if Hillside doesn't make it. There are so many lives at stake here so please, please give them a little support so they can get through this hard time. http://www.hillside.org.uk/help.htm Thank you so so much, ~ Ellie x

Sort of along the same lines...Kellogg's have reveled that they are going to be supplementing their cereals with vitamin D3 soon, making them unsuitable for vegans I did write to them to ask a bit more about it and they said they are using vitamin D3 sourced from lanolin. I also asked if they had considered using D2 instead but they didn't answer :/

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been going to the gym...honest! I was a little bit of a lazy bum over Christmas and New Year, didn't go to the gym once but we were looking after a friend's very boisterous and energetic nine month old Labrador cross Golden Retriever - he made sure I got some exercise! Three walks a day, man I was knackered! Anyhoo, now it's the new year and I'm back at the gym so here are my latest workouts... Saturday 8th December: Was very tired today, had a busy day at work but forced myself to go to the gym and felt much better afterwards - very knackered though! Didn't do too well, had to go down on some exercises but at least I did something. Compound Exercises: Dumbbell Bench Press: 9kg - 8 reps Lat Pulldown Machine: 25kg - 12 reps Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 8kg - 8 reps Upright Cable Row: 12.5kg - 15 reps Cable Crossover Press: 5kg - 12 reps Seated Cable Row: 27.5kg - 10 reps Chest Press Machine: n/a Leg Press: 50kg - 12 reps Press Ups: n/a Isolation Exercises: Tricep Cable Machine: n/a Bicep Cable Curl: 6.75kg - 12 reps Lateral Shoulder Raise: 4kg - 10 reps Ab Crunches: n/a Saturday 14th December: Feeling much more energetic today so I'm building up my weights again... Compound Exercises: Dumbbell Bench Press: 9kg - 12 reps Lat Pulldown Machine: 25kg - 15 reps Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 8kg - 10 reps Upright Cable Row: 15kg - 8 reps Cable Crossover Press: 5kg - 12 reps Seated Cable Row: 27.5kg - 12 reps Chest Press Machine: n/a Leg Press: 50kg - 12 reps Press Ups: n/a Isolation Exercises: Tricep Cable Machine: 7.5kg - 10 Bicep Cable Curl: 6.75kg - 15 reps Lateral Shoulder Raise: n/a Ab Crunches: n/a Saturday 8th December: Hah pretty good day today, I went up a weight on a few things Yeah! Bring on the noise! Compound Exercises: Dumbbell Bench Press: 9kg - 9 reps Lat Pulldown Machine: 30kg - 5 reps - ok this one stumped me, should have gone back and tried again but it got busy and I forgot Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 8kg - 10 reps Upright Cable Row: 15kg - 12 reps Cable Crossover Press: 5kg - 15 reps Seated Cable Row: 27.5kg - 15 reps Chest Press Machine: n/a Leg Press: 50kg - 15 reps Press Ups: n/a Isolation Exercises: Tricep Cable Machine: 7.5kg - 12 reps Bicep Cable Curl: n/a Lateral Shoulder Raise: 4kg - 9 reps - my arms were sooooo tired by this point! Ab Crunches: n/a

Yup, my mum too, she is overweight even though she does eat pretty healthily - she grows her own veg on her allotment. But she doesn't exercise properly or try to lose the excess weight she has. What bothers me the most is that she seems to think that I'm not healthy - she said I was scrawny! Which is another reason why I want to bulk up some more. As hsorlando and ICanDoThis both said I'm trying to lead by example, to not force her as she is very stubborn but to show her that getting fit is fun and definitely worth taking the time to do. I wish she would see this, I get stressed easily and I find that a good workout really does help. My mum has a hell of a lot to get stressed about so not only would some exercise help with her weight-loss but it should de-stress her a bit too, help her chill out and be able to think more calmly - she should then be able to actually sort more things out if she's not so worked up about them. This is what I'm worried about if I try to suggest anything to her though, she gets very defensive but I have a free seven day pass for the gym - not sure what will persuade her to come and try it out but I'm working on it...

That's fantastic I'm not sure how you donate overseas but you could ask he sanctuary if they accept Paypal.

Hey, just found out about this place http://www.towerhillstables.com/, it was set up in 1993 by a lady called Fiona Oaks who is a vegan athlete and a retained fire-fighter! She runs the sanctuary pretty much single-handedly and has around 400 rescued animals! Many of them are ex-farm animals rescued from slaughter but there are also lots of equines, dogs, cats etc - all with a story to tell. The cost of running Tower Hill Stables (not including vets bills or maintenance) is over £5200 per month - that is scary! But to help with the astronomical costs there are various ways of supporting it - you can take out a direct debit, buy feed directly from the supplier, sponsor a rescued animal (there are lots to choose from), buy mechadise and clothing, give a one-off donation, donate tools or supplies, or buy the Fit Vegans Calendar that she was featured in! http://www.towerhillstables.com/donations.html I'm hoping to sponsor Big Bird the turkey as turkey's get such a raw deal. I love turkeys, they make the sweetest little chirrups http://www.towerhillstables.com/files/tabetha_bigbirdsmall.jpg I also bought the CD 'Journey of the Yak' that is sold to raise funds for the sanctuary. YAK are a progressive rock band and their music is really beautiful and inspiring. This is their YouTube channel where they also have lots of videos of the sanctuary: http://www.youtube.com/user/yaksongs#p/u/0/PxXJ5ngQfzY From working from dawn till the evening everyday, huge bills, hundreds of hungry mouths to feed, the never-ending mucking-out, and training for marathons she doesn't have much time for anything else and people may ask why does she do it? Well this is why: Man this lady is awesome! Not only does she help animals in the UK but, when in Moscow for a marathon, she was so upset at seeing the poor pensioners trying to care for the street cats and dogs that she now sends them funds to help with the cost of feeding the animals and themselves! And this in on top of all the costs she has to pay for the sanctuary! Fiona and her partner are amazing! So if you have a moment, please check out the site, and give a donation - they really could do with the support! Tower Hill Stable Animal Sanctuary - January 2010:

When I get back from the gym I make pancakes and add a scoop of protein powder to the flour. I can't taste it in there, maybe coz I add mixed spice to the recipe and smother the pancakes in agave syrup and lemon juice, but it gets me my protein The recipe I use is: 1 cup flour 1 cup soya milk 1 table spoon sugar 2 table spoons veg oil 2 table spoons baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt Plus 1 teaspoon mixed spice 1 scoop protein powder (I put this in the cup, then top the cup up with the flour) Yum

Wow that sounds good! For Christmas Day I made a 'not-sausage-sausage-plait' with roasted veggies and steamed broccoli and asparagus, and gravy of course, and we had Swedish Glace Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream and mince pies for dessert Then for Boxing Day I went over to my parents for Crimbo 2 and mum made me a good ol' Tofukey with all the trimmings - cranberry and bread sauces, roasties, veg, gravy, stuffing...and a mini Christmas pud for after. Yummmmmmy, I'm getting hungry again!