Yet another newbie

[Raynak]

Hi all,

I've been lurking on this site ever since I found it Reading a lot of topics, logs and articles on the site and forum, it's a great site! I especially loved the profiles on the bodybuilders, strength athletes and figure competitors, very inspirational.

I've been vegetarian for a little more than 14 years now, ever since my sixteenth birthday, and I have been 'transitioning' towards becoming vegan for about a year now. I'm at about 85 % vegan, 15 % vegetarian with my food now I guess. I avoid processed and packaged foods as much as possible, and I cook all my meals myself. I love cooking, and I've already found a lot of great new sites with recipes and tips via this site.

I've been training for many years, a combination of bodybuilding and strength-focussed training, with quite a bit of olympic weightlifting added in. Unfortunately I'm still recovering from a shoulder injury, so I've been focussing on running more lately, which I also love, but working with weights is my absolute favorite, so I can't wait till I'll be able to train again like I used to.

I'm more of a reader than a poster in general, but I thought I'd introduce myself and maybe when my shoulder is back to normal I'll start a journal here as well.

Oh btw, I'm from the Netherlands

Bye!

[robert]

Welcome to our community!

Thanks for joining the group. I'm glad the site and community have already been a helpful resource for you.

All the very best and welcome aboard!

-Robert

[Raynak]

Thanks for the welcome!
Maybe a fun thing for you to know, it was actually watching your film/documentary Vegan Fitness Built Naturally a few years ago that planted the first seed in my mind to eventually become vegan

[stcalico]

Hello. Thanks for the intro. I'm newish here too, but I like giving advice... hahah, so I've been posting a little.

I'm recovering from a shoulder injury too. Taking waaay longer than I thought it would (a few months already), but I've still been doing lower body workouts. I guess that is why you should not work through the pain.

p.s. You can always add someone to your 'foe' list and you will not longer see their posts.

Welcome.

[robert]

Thanks for the welcome!
Maybe a fun thing for you to know, it was actually watching your film/documentary Vegan Fitness Built Naturally a few years ago that planted the first seed in my mind to eventually become vegan

Oh cool

Thanks for sharing. That is great to know.

Again, welcome to the community and enjoy getting to know our team.

All the best!

Robert

[Raynak]

Hello Raynak, you will meat some nice people on here, but none as smart and helpful as myself. Nice to meat you and hope you stick around and be a good friend.

I'll just assume the 'meat' was not a lame-ass joke/intentional
Thanks, I definitely plan on sticking around.

Hello. Thanks for the intro. I'm newish here too, but I like giving advice... hahah, so I've been posting a little.

I'm recovering from a shoulder injury too. Taking waaay longer than I thought it would (a few months already), but I've still been doing lower body workouts. I guess that is why you should not work through the pain.

p.s. You can always add someone to your 'foe' list and you will not longer see their posts.

Welcome.

I know the feeling, my injury is also taking waaaay to long
I've also been a bit too impatient several times, messing up the recovery proces by starting training my upper body too soon. So I've learned my lesson by now (after many, many months) and am taking it very slow and not forcing anything and definitely not training throught the pain. Which is killing me of course the taking it slow, I mean.
But I shouldn't be complaining, in the beginning it was so bad that I couldn't even load the plates on the bb, or do squats or deadlifts.
Good luck with your injury, I hope you can soon train again the way you want too.

Oh cool

Thanks for sharing. That is great to know.

Again, welcome to the community and enjoy getting to know our team.

All the best!

Robert

Yeah, thought that might be cool to know
I'm now reading through all the '12 Days of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness' topics, great info and inspiration. Too bad I just missed that.

[robert]

Cool!

We may do another 12 Days of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Program next year. We'll see what kind of time, money and resources we have. This one was very time-consuming and expensive to facilitate, but it did help a lot of people and we'll try to bring it back.

Have a great weekend!

-Robert

[Raynak]

Can't wait!
Yeah, i can imagine that it must have taken a lot of time, energy and resources to realise such a contest/program.

[Raynak]

Just wanted to let you all know that since I opened this topic, I haven't eaten any animal (by)products and it's been going great. I'm loving my new diet and I'm really feeling confident that I'll be able to keep it up.

Only things I'll really 'have' to look for are vegan versions of my favorite snack-type foods, like pizza, cheese and chocolate. Where I live there are basically no vegan options available but I'll just keep searching.

I also started reading 'Vegan for Life' (great info). And in 1-2 days my 'Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness' book will be delivered. Can't wait to start reading that as well!

[stcalico]

I've been using avocado on things that I used to have cheese on (like sandwiches and wraps). It has a nice consistency imo, and although it is not cheese, it is a pretty good (and healthy) substitute. I used cashew cream in place of cheese in cauliflower soup recently and it was awesome. Look at some of the recipe sites suggested here.. some of those recipes will make your mouth water and you will soon find new favorite foods.. . I know I have already. I've kinda given up on pizza (it was one of my favs too), but if you find something that works, let me know.

[darcy]

I've kinda given up on pizza (it was one of my favs too), but if you find something that works, let me know.

I saw in another post that you're in BC. If you're ever down in Seattle, check out Pizza Pi Vegan Pizzeria... it's absolutely amazing. If pizza was one of your favourites, it's worth the drive.

[Raynak]

I've been using avocado on things that I used to have cheese on (like sandwiches and wraps). It has a nice consistency imo, and although it is not cheese, it is a pretty good (and healthy) substitute. I used cashew cream in place of cheese in cauliflower soup recently and it was awesome. Look at some of the recipe sites suggested here.. some of those recipes will make your mouth water and you will soon find new favorite foods.. . I know I have already. I've kinda given up on pizza (it was one of my favs too), but if you find something that works, let me know.

Thanks for all the suggestions!
I absolutely love avocado also, but I don't think my tastebuds will 'accept' it as a worthy substitute for cheese on something like a pizza
Yeah, i already have loads and loads of new recipes I want to try out. And if i find anything that works for the pizza, I'll let you know.

[stcalico]

If you're ever down in Seattle, check out Pizza Pi Vegan Pizzeria... it's absolutely amazing. If pizza was one of your favourites, it's worth the drive.

Seattle is definitely on my list of places I want to visit sometime soon, so I will check out that place.. hopefully this summer. Thanks!

[darcy]

Seattle is definitely on my list of places I want to visit sometime soon, so I will check out that place.. hopefully this summer. Thanks!

No problem! While you're down there, might as well swing over to Mighty-O donuts, too... all vegan and really really good.

[C.O.]

How have you been? How is the shoulder? Still at 85% vegan?

-Dylan