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Finally Introducing Myself


blockkick
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Greetings Everybody.

 

My name is Michelle. I was a frequent visitor and finally registered to the site about a week ago. Due to my work and non-work schedule, I have not had time to properly introduce myself. I have a few moments, so I thought I would take a second to say hi.

 

Robert introduced me to the site and I got hooked on it thanks to the great forums you guys and gals conduct. I have been on various other sites and visited forums that really turned me off because the people were, to put it politely, a bit immature and rather close minded. Your forums show a diverse and open group of people, so I registered to the site and am posting my first forum topic.

 

A bit about me: My hobbies range from martial arts to movies. I am currently in the private security career field, but working on getting into a law enforcement career. I am a meat eater, but enjoy listening to alternate diet ideas and I have been known to try out some of the ideas.

 

That's about it for now. I look forward to reading more of your forum posts and chating with a really cool group people.

 

Have a great day everybody.

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Hey Block,

 

Ya I like martial arts too. Jet Li -- awesome moves in movies that guy has. I love martial arts movies.

 

Glad to hear you appreciate open-mindedness, and that you consider yourself open-minded. On that note, here is why I am vegan:

 

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=meet_your_meat

 

Looking forward to getting to know you on these boards, and thanks for joining. Hope you find posts that make you laugh, make you think, make you drool (lots of good recipes), and inspire you.

 

P.S. How about updating your profile so we can see where you are from.

 

Compash

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Hey Michelle,

 

Thanks for joining our group and introducing yourself I didn't know you visited the forum so much. By now you must know more about me than I thought

 

Also, thank you for recognizing that we have a very friendly open-minded group. We take pride in that, and people tend to have fun here. And as Michael Hobson warns, people tend to eat more and more vegan foods after hanging out here

 

I'm sure you'll find some people to chat with about martial arts. Richard has some of the greatest photos I've seen.

 

And as Compassionategirl says, you will laugh, you will be inspired on some level and you'll enjoy learning lots of new stuff about what we eat. Check out all of VeganMadre's photo recipes and cooking tips in the recipe section.

 

Have a great day and welcome!

 

-Robert

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Hi CollegeB. You posted a question about bone training. I'm not 100% sure that the information I will give are the answers you seek, or that my information will be absolutely correct, but here goes with what I have heard, read and learned.

 

You probably already know that bone density actually increases as the muscles are used/developed. Weight training is great for increasing bone strength/density as the use of the muscles with increasing weight causes the bone to build-up in order to support the changes in the muscle. Of course, the effectiveness of the bone development depends on diet quite a bit. I lift weights at least twice a week and I also have about three days a week where I do body weight exercises to strengthen and condition my muscles (push-ups, squats, martial arts). All that in the effort to not only get more physically fit, but to also decrease chances of osteoporsis in later life by building/maintaining good bone density. Don't know if you consider that bone training, I thought it kind of was so I included it.

 

In addition to the benefits of weight training, I've been told that bones will also build-up if they are exposed to very careful bruising which is a kind of bone conditioning. By "very careful bruising," I do not mean that a person should start throwing full-bore punches at a metal plate to jump into bone conditioning. That is a great way to completly ruin the joints. If a person wants to try to condition their bones in their knuckles, or any body-part used for striking, then he/she should find a hard surface and start lightly hitting it. The trainee should not hit so hard that he/she feels pain, and shouldn't hit thinking they have to have the bruising color to prove the bone is bruised. It is like any fitness training, discomfort is expected at the beginning, but it should not be pain and it should not be so bad that the trainee has to stop for long periods of recovery. It might sound weird, but a thick piece of a stripped log is great for this because it is round (no sharp edges or corners to risk painful injury) and it is very thick wood so it will take the punishment pretty well without punishing the trainee.

 

I buy the bone conditioning theory because I've been pegged (lightly punched) by my karate instructor who conditions his knuckles on a makiwara (hard striking target/surface) and this guy's knuckles are armor plated. He used a stripped log as a makiwara that he had cut to fit around the corner edge of one of his walls. That thing was probably orignally about 12 to 24 inches in diameter and most likely some kind of hardwood (poplar, hickory) as pine splinters very easily when struck. He would lightly hit it many times in a row to build up that bone armor, but never hard enough to harm the joints. I was feeling that bruise for about a month and that was just an accidental hit.

 

Those are the two methods I know best for bone training, weight training and very careful bruising. I hope this provided some of what you were looking for.

 

blockkick

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Hi everybody. Just wanted to pop in and say hello and thanks for the welcome messages. I'm looking forward to having some more free time soon to visit more regularly.

 

Hey Compash, thanks for the tips in your welcome message. I updated my profile to include location, missed that one when I registered. Also, thanks for the link to the video you included in the message. I started watching it and then had to go to work, so I haven't had time to watch the whole thing, but I will soon. I've read some info on the meat factories before too. Never ceases to amaze me how far people can go to decrease production costs while increasing profit and production numbers. I've noticed humans have an amazing ability to desensitize themselves from the bad things people do. The meat factory approach to meat production/supply is very different from the experiences I had as a youngster growing up in ranching communities. My own personal experiences combined with what I learn as I grow and mature always make me wonder what kind of thought goes into the decisions people make in the name of profit and higher production. Clearly, it is not the type of thought that cares about humane treatment of animals nor about all the possible and actual effects that such production methods have on humans. Ugh, human thought can be a frustrating thing.

 

Well, I will get to the rest of the video soon.

 

Thanks again everybody. Looking forward to reading more of your forums.

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I grew on a farm too. You aren't always shown the bad stuff, but sometimes you are shown the things you don't want to see. We all had different childhoods and situations we were brought up in. I doubt many of us have been vegan since we were born. So we've just learned some things over time and adjusted our lifestyle based on what we learned to be true.

 

So with experiences and time comes change. Not always, but often it is the case.

 

Blockkick,

 

I'm glad you are interested in some of the lifestyle changes that impact many. Feel free to ask questions anytime.

 

And again.....welcome! Our Oregon community grows larger....still ahead of Texas I might add

 

-Thin Thin Welcome Oregonian Him

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I grew on a farm too. You aren't always shown the bad stuff, but sometimes you are shown the things you don't want to see. We all had different childhoods and situations we were brought up in. I doubt many of us have been vegan since we were born.

 

So with experiences and time comes change. Not always, but often it is the case.

 

 

 

So true, Robert, so true. Personal experience is the best catalsyt for change.

 

Regarding farms, sometimes you are shown some good stuff, too.

 

I grew up (mostly) on a farm (from 7 years old on). My step-father (a good man) raised cattle. Every year we would have these baby calves whose mother's would not recognize them as their calf & therefore would not let them suckle. The local vet, another good man, made a suggestion that my mother & I followed through with & had remarkable success with!

 

First, we would separate the cow from her calf. (Cow stayed in the 'general population' pen, calf in the barn.) Then we would splash Mennen's Aqua Velva on both the mother & the calf. A few hours later we would rejoin mother & child & ya know, 95% of the time, this little trick worked! She would walk right up to the calf she wouldn't have anything to do with 4 hours earlier & let the little guy/gal suckle. Amazing!!

 

Our second option depended on having another nursing mother cow. We would bring the disinfranchised calf in with the nursing mother cow & her suckling calf & 99% of the time, she would let the 2nd calf suckle! Her motherhood instincts were not limited to just her own calf! Ahhh! Motherhood is an amazingly comprehensive, all-encompasing, love thing.

 

And the third option was a bucket with a nipple at the bottom & we would mix a formula the vet gave us & three times a day we would go to the barn & feed the little guy/gal. This was certainly the saddest option, in more ways than one. Although it worked - they did not starve - it was also the option where the little guy/gal would bond most closely with us. Later, I found this was a mixed blessing. When those transport trucks pulled up to take all our 'live stock' away, I knew they were going to auction & that they could end up on my plate.

 

This was a driving memory when I went veg, years later.

 

===

 

Farms of the past are places where there was certainly animal explotation, but generally, it was not done to the degree it is today, & rarely done to a degree that harmed the animal, but more importantly, if harm was done, it was done to the animal by an individual on a personal level.

 

I ask myself why that personal involvement makes a difference, but it does. I honestly believe that the majority of our population would be veg if they had to slaughter an animal themself. I suspect many would be veg if they had experienced a personal encounter with an animal that they are generally told is "just an animal" -- like a cow, or a chicken, or a rabbit. (not what our culture considers a pet, like a dog or cat.)

 

At one point, years later, I made the connection between those calves & the chickens & pigs I was eating. It took awhile, but I finally did it. And then when I had pet rabbits, EVERYTHING changed, EVERYTHING! Such mild, unassuming creatures & I discovered that 'such creatures' each had their own personalities. ~~smile, love, hugs to them.

 

 

It may seem silly, but rabbits were a key catalyst to my veg committment. The memories of Buckaroo Bunzai & Unit Bunny live in me & inspire me moment to moment.

 

 

Forgive my sappiness.

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