endurancewannabe Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 (edited) The subject of this thread sounds silly unless you were to actually hear me say this in person. Anyways, my name is Kyle. 20 years old, business student. I realized about 6 months ago that I had better start dedicating some of my time to my personal health. So, where did I start? I got a prescription to Men's Health! That led me to different books, Turbulence Training (the training program I use when I lift weights), and Precision Nutrition. I started learning about better nutritional practices, ECT. ECT. Anyways, to make long story short, someone over on the Precision Nutrition message board inspired me to consider a plant-based diet. I started doing some research and then purchased a couple of books (Vegan Freak and Becoming Vegan). I immediately gave up meat for two weeks but succumbed to hunger/poor food preparation last week. I've been lurking around the boards and caught wind of The China Study. I bought a copy yesterday and let's just say, I'm even more turned off of continuing to eat meat/dairy/eggs. I'm going to attempt the cold-tofu approach and immediately give up all animal-based foods and I feel that joining this message board will be a huge inspiration. Now, I'm pretty knowledgeable as to what I need to eat to live a healthy and happy vegan lifestyle, I just need to stay on track. One of the hardest parts for me is food preparation and my friends, girlfriend, and family who are not vegan and are very pro-meat. You should all see the horribly horrible meals (though out of love) my grandma prepares for my family once a week. In fact, I'm unsure if there are any vegans in Bakersfield (haha). It's been a struggle for me but damn, I'm going to get this. As far as training goals go...I bought my first road bike for my birthday last November but haven't put too many miles on it yet. I would like to ride a metric in the future. Body composition goals: I'm 5'8, 154 lbs, somewhere around 16 percent body fat. I would first like to put on about 10-12 lbs of muscle and then cut and achieve a modest 10 percent body fat. So, this summer I'm going to dedicate exclusively to bulking and weight training. I imagine it would be pretty tough to put on weight if any long distance cycling was thrown into the equation unless I ate a massive amount of calories per day. I'm going to get closer to my body comp goals before I starting any serious cycling training. I also love doing yoga (I practice Iyengar style) and would like to grow as a student. But that's where I'm at in a nutshell. This post was a bit long-winded for me as I'm really a dude of few words. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you as I move towards "becoming vegan." Edited April 23, 2007 by endurancewannabe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaVegan Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Welcome Kyle.I hear ya about the friends and family.My family and friends have been fairly supportive but not interested.You will find much support and help here.Dr. Fuhrman's book "Eat to Live" is a good book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Welcome Don't let the family bug you too much. Pretty much everyone here has dealt with that to some extent. As for the cycling if you want any pointers just ask. There are a few of us on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Welcome to our forum! I'm sure you'll like it here. We have lots of friendly people with great stories and information to share. We're happy to have you here and I hope more and more people from California will join us. I'm beginning to travel there a few times a year and like lots of different parts of the state. All the best and welcome aboard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc7 Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Great intro, welcome to the forums! When you're making the transition cold-tofu, it sometimes helps to eat vegan comfort foods a bit more often. Things like premade burgers and stuff. It might not be 100% healthiest, and they get expensive if that's all you eat, but it sure makes the change go smoother while you're learning about all the other great vegan foods out there. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubby2112 Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Welcome to the boards! I, too, come from an area where there are nearly no other vegans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Welcome, endurancewannabe. Yeah, you are in the right place. Glad to hear you are making the transition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveliberate Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Hello & Welcome Kyle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kailla Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Welcome!My husband loves his meat and dairy, so I have minimal support at home myself. I do most of the cooking, so he's starting to love a lot of vegan dishes.I would recommend Vegan Planet, it's an amazing cookbook...especially if you are in a non vegan area because most of the ingredients are pretty easy to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Welcome, The China Study is a good tipping point for a lot of people. Get your girlfriend to read it. My wife and I went vegan without any real support either (except for each other, which is huge) - but we've managed to convert a few of our family and friends, still working (in vain) on others. Stay strong! You will reap the rewards... I was 5'8", 150 lbs went I turned, now I'm 140 lbs, way better endurance, more and better defined muscle and a lot stronger. It has helped me to no end in martial arts, and the bit of full contact fighting I've done. I started on the cold-tofu plan of attack as well, just replaced meat with alternatives. Eventually I evolved into an almost entirely raw diet with great results and I continue to evolve (some would say devolve I suppose) towards a predominantly fruitarian diet, with the results just getting better and more encouraging. Good luck on your journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CollegeB Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Very good of you to join the forum. I hope you find it as helpful and supportive as I have over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endurancewannabe Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 Thank you to everyone for the warm reception and the helpful advice. I started to quote tidbits from most of your responses but gave up. So, thank you for the book suggestions (I plan on getting Vegan Planet and will definitely read Eat to Live soon enough), cycling pointers, food suggestions to make the transition easier, how to deal with the family advice, ECT. As for the China Study, I do plan on passing on to my girlfriend and close friends. It's a great resource. Tonight I sauteed some tofu and spinach in olive oil and threw some vegan cheese on top. Sprinkled some Ms. Dash on top of the tofu. Not bad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flanders77 Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Welcome and congrats for going to be vegan! You are correct when saying: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Welcome ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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