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Where does veganbodybuilding.com stand?


Zack
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I'd like to add an opinion here. I don't believe there has been a problem with raw food on this forum. Rather, I think that the raw food section has attracted some naive questions and some questionable advice. I don't think that any one particular person has given bad advice but that some of the topics are not what the rest of us want this forum to be associated with.

 

I don't think that anyone here is against raw foods - we all eat them. However, the raw foods section of this forum has attracted a lot of unorthodox posts and that doesn't sit well with most people, vegan or not. People are vegan for a variety of reasons, including compassion, health and the environment. Most are not vegan because they just want to be different or alternative. Being vegan does not mean that we are any more open to alternative ideas than omnis - most vegans were omnis at one point.

 

If the raw section has caused this much of a divide in the forum then I believe it's probably a good idea to remove it. This is a vegan forum first and that's something we can all agree upon. If there is a section that is causing division then it doesn't help this forum or veganism - even if there are some who do gain from that section. Just my opinion.

 

This is my point exactly, you gotta realise that this is a belief system for people that live the raw lifestyle not a vegan lifestyle, it's not their fault that it goes against the norm even for vegan standards, infact a lot of vegans go through similar treatment from meat eaters.

 

You don't see me posting my opinions in the vegan recipe section, I don't even go in there because I know that it's not for me and I don't share the same views, yeah I could have a field day and start "questioning" and debating, posting articles to back up my own opinion, etc, but why would I look for trouble like that, why would I be so disrespectful to people that live the vegan lifestyle and eat vegan food, if I know that I don't agree with cooked foods then why the heck am I going to go in that section and find fault???....what's the point, as I said earlier the raw lifestyle often goes against every thing we've been taght to believe so what may seem like questionable advice is actually relevant to us and that's why it's called the raw food section...and for the record it wasn't the raw section that caused the division here, it was the opinions of a small group of individuals that just got the bit between their teeth and decided to take it upon themselves to trash myselself and the raw section, you can try to be as diplomatic as you want but that's what happened, it's been brewing up for a while and you know it, I've not yet seen any raw vegan here be disrespectful....or attack someones integrity!

 

Anyway I've made my point already and I'm sick of repeating myself so I'm laying it to rest!

Edited by Bigbwii
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I think just tossing out the raw folks is a bad move. This is as much their forum as it is that of the cooked food folks. If the big problem is that they question conventional wisdom, then just get over it. Its good people question. Besides we as a group are a alternative lifestyle, so lets support an alternative within the alternative!

I think the division is something we have created and we can certainly ignore it and move on to bigger problems...we are vegans after all, and we know there are bigger problems than the heat of our food.

Vegan bodybuilding used to be just about that. Eating vegan and bodybuilding. Didn't have to be any specific type of eating.

I guess the good news is that we still are the friendliest forum I know of, there has been a lot of clarification and thanking and apologizing. Its cool. But we sure as shit should not go excluding people from the forum for any reason unless they are hecklers, but we've only had one or two of them over the years.

I'm here to support all of our members as best I can.

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As long as both sides of the opinion are allowed in the raw forum, I'm fine with it. I don't think it's a good idea to toss them out either, but we don't have a "cooked food forum" so is there a need for the raw?

 

Who knows...

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As long as both sides of the opinion are allowed in the raw forum, I'm fine with it. I don't think it's a good idea to toss them out either, but we don't have a "cooked food forum" so is there a need for the raw?

 

Who knows...

 

You don't need a cooked food section here because it's a given that vegan cooked food and the nutritional advice that goes with it is the norm, infact that goes for the real world too, where as raw vegans are the minority and a seperate lifestyle, having said that the vegan recipe section is the closest you'll get to a cooked food section.

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However, vegan diet doesn't exclude raw foodism! it's a part of it. All vegans may not be raw foodists, but raw vegans are definately VEGANS!!! So, they definately have a place in here in the same extend as other vegans.

 

I agree.

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Just a quick update..........I still haven't read this thread, but I've started some new ones for people to tell me exactly how they'd like to see some change in the structure of our forum. Check this same section for new topics to help guide the future of this forum. You're all respected and all welcome. That is what we've always been about...you. I appreciate you all being here and for stepping up to create change when it is something that is needed for us to progress as a community that has become like family.

 

Thanks!

 

Keep on keepin on. Life's a garden. Dig it. Yeah...it's a mullet.

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Let's not turn this into another "who's mullet is better" thread

 

hahaha.

 

No really, I will address some things soon. Please see other threads to give specific advice and I may create structural changes as soon as this weekend when I'm in Denver.

 

Thanks.

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I can't believe I just spent an hour reading through this thread. I've haven't seen such a display of ignorance, narrow-mindedness and disrespect on a forum since I used to hang around on various car forums. Despite the spitting back and forth, there were some good, level-headed opinions shared. Robert invited Suz and I to check out his forum 1 year ago this weekend at the Taste of Health here in Vancouver. I've enjoyed the forum, with it's ups and downs, and made lots of new friends here, some of whom I've met and hosted at my house. I'm feeling a bit gutted that it's come to this. I don't think the whole forum needs to be restructured, as a few people have suggested. If we dispense with the raw forum, what's next? Entertainment, personals, martial arts, animal rights? As a largely-raw food eating, bodyweight type martial artist, that wouldn't leave me much reason to stay. How many others would feel this way? I used to think this was the best forum around, and the only one that wasn't a waste of my limited time. I want to keep thinking that way.

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"I used to think this was the best forum around, and the only one that wasn't a waste of my limited time. I want to keep thinking that way."

 

-----

 

I hope you keep thinking that way too. I haven't read through this thread at all, and now I'm afraid too.

 

For a long time I've wanted to condense it a bit and I think that can be done. I don't wan to do away with certain aspects, but I do think it could be condensed a bit to make it easier to read and not so spread out.

 

We've had our ups and downs like other forums, but I always try to keep this place positive. I was away for 4 days and in general, I'm busier than I've been in a while and I wasn't able to keep up with everything.

 

I trust that whatever was bothering people will subside and and can move forward as a community.

 

I've also met many people in person and have hosted others and I want to continue that trend all over the world.

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As a largely-raw food eating, bodyweight type martial artist, that wouldn't leave me much reason to stay. How many others would feel this way?

 

Although i'm not a pro athlete or something, neither a 100% raw vegan, i feel this way too. I love the forum for what it is. all the diversity and different sections that cater for different interests of likeminded vegans

 

to take off the raw section, would be a major loss for me...

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Trev, Why do you believe getting rid of the entertainment section would get rid of ALL entertainment related threads?.. or getting rid of martial arts section would get rid of ALL martial arts threads?.. because that claim is bogus.

In my opinion, you'd end up with stronger threads after such restructuring, because then you wouldn't likely have as much fluff. And if you like fluff, whos to say that isn't allowed?.. you'll still be able to post it, only itll likely recieve more views because the traffic is channeled tighter between sections..

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I don't think we should combine things too much and I do think we should keep the entertainment thread. Sure it doesn't have much to do with bodybuilding but a lot of people like using it. I'm not saying it needs its own bullet on the main page...it can be put together with something but I say we need to keep that around. As for martial arts I think that should stay too but maybe it can be consolidated with things like cycling, running etc...maybe call it other sports.

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One of the reasons I suggested dispensing with the raw food section was because a number of people on the restructuring thread pulled it into the general nutrition section - where it used to be. I unfortunately assumed that anyone reading this thread was probably reading that one so I didn't make myself very clear. I probably should have posted my previous post in the other thread. In no way did I suggest that we get rid of raw food vegans or ban them from this forum, I just suggested deleting a section that has been a magnet for many things not really related to raw food but definitely of questionable nutritional/health validity.

 

This thread started out, I believe, with the intention of discovering just where this forum is headed. It has certainly deviated from the forum it was 2 years ago, but the general site and the name of the forum hasn't changed. If the forum has become so diverse and the focus has strayed so far from bodybuilding then perhaps the title of the forum is all that needs to be changed. If this is to be more of a general vegan forum that's fine as it's a great community. If someone is looking for a vegan bodybuilding forum then there are other forums that are more focused on bodybuilding than this one.

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Since there are sections of bodybuilding and sections for fitness i don't think that the forum is far from this. What i so much love about this forum is also the fact that members here care a lot for their body and health. This is something you don't see in common vegan forums as more attention is given to the A/R-ethical issues rather than healthy eating as well.

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Some of you have been in here a really long time and are comfortable with the way things are.

 

I put up a suggested condensing format in the Structured Format thread, because as a person whose only been here a couple of months, I have spent 20 minutes just looking for a thread that I saw before and have no idea where it is. I want to post to it but I sit there going, "Wait, was it in General discussion?... maybe Vegan Lifestyle... News and articles.....No, it's not their either" If it annoys me, then it probably annoys other newcomers. And don't you always see topics that don't belong in certain categories? Because people don't know where they should post things. So valuable information gets lost because someone has questions about Protein intake, but they've posted it in Vegan Lifestyle.

 

Condensing would be a positive thing for many reasons:

 

1) Less searching around for threads and more actual posting and interaction

2) Maybe I would never click on the Animal Rights thread but if it were in General Discussion where many topics are blended together I may learn about something that interests me that I wouldn't have known about

3) It is more consise and easier to follow.

4) It would keep things more lively and current. Some threads haven't been posted to in two weeks.

 

No one wants to spend alot of time looking for a thread. Having about 9 or 10 areas would keep things concise, easy to find and allow for more interations.

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I have one more thought to add:

Concerning alternative lifestyles/diets/ways to train etc.: In many kinds of sports the top athletes are those you do not fit into the norm and maybe have a technique which cannot be found in the text books. But by trying something new (Brendon Braziers diet experiements...) and not ordinary these athletes are able to outpersorm the rest (for example monica seles (tennis) who had a double handed fore- and backhand).

For a website (the main website of vbb&f also) it maybe wise to put some articles on that represent the state-of-the-art. But for a forum which is all about sharing personal experiences this does not work because it somehow is a contradiction to the idea of a forum. It is an essential part of a forum to share new and uncommon ideas and methods. Hindering members to do that by only allowing the normal way to be shown will kill the forum IMO.

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Some of you have been in here a really long time and are comfortable with the way things are.

 

I put up a suggested condensing format in the Structured Format thread, because as a person whose only been here a couple of months, I have spent 20 minutes just looking for a thread that I saw before and have no idea where it is. I want to post to it but I sit there going, "Wait, was it in General discussion?... maybe Vegan Lifestyle... News and articles.....No, it's not their either" If it annoys me, then it probably annoys other newcomers. And don't you always see topics that don't belong in certain categories? Because people don't know where they should post things. So valuable information gets lost because someone has questions about Protein intake, but they've posted it in Vegan Lifestyle.

 

Condensing would be a positive thing for many reasons:

 

1) Less searching around for threads and more actual posting and interaction

2) Maybe I would never click on the Animal Rights thread but if it were in General Discussion where many topics are blended together I may learn about something that interests me that I wouldn't have known about

3) It is more consise and easier to follow.

4) It would keep things more lively and current. Some threads haven't been posted to in two weeks.

 

No one wants to spend alot of time looking for a thread. Having about 9 or 10 areas would keep things concise, easy to find and allow for more interations.

 

I think, if a program can be done for this, threads should be constantly organized and reorganized according to subject matter instead of simply by chronological order. For instance, the protein question gets asked over and over again, yet threads regarding it are all over the place, at different times etc. It would be a lot easier to search for past topics if they could be found easily grouped together by key words perhaps. Would this be possibble?

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I think the forum has a search feature which would do what you are suggesting.

There could be a pinned thread which the mods could manage which could list links to important or usefull threads/sites/resources/etc.

these would obviously stand out from the rest and be reliable & useful.

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I enjoy the interchange of ideas and opinions, even if they are differing. I am pretty good at filtering out things that I think are rubbish

 

Having met many of you....I also see this forum as a more general Vegan Community forum...and appreciate that expanded scope. Events like Vegan Vacation are outstanding and really come to appreciate this community aspect....something that I cared little about when I first joined the forum.

 

That said, I do miss that lack of focus and posting in the BB/Fitness sections...I use to learn a TON reading posts there...and sometimes go back into the archives to dig out some insights I might have missed. I wonder what it would take to attract more serious athletes to contribute to the forum?

 

Answering that question with some creative solutions seems like a more worthwhile effort than squashing unwanted chatter (raw-food related or otherwise) in other parts.

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I wonder what it would take to attract more serious athletes to contribute to the forum?

 

Answering that question with some creative solutions seems like a more worthwhile effort than squashing unwanted chatter (raw-food related or otherwise) in other parts.

 

What about adding a "Donate/Sponsorship" link on this website for that purpose. If Robert were able to offer to pay some experts to post regularly to the forum or contribute, that would be a good incentive for them. Money talks

 

With all the members here, if we each contributed to the Donation link (optional of course), then Robert may be able to compensate some experts for their time.

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I'm thinking about this. I have no money at the moment. All of my money goes towards event organizing.

 

In the future I may put up a link like that for that purpose. So everyone would benefit from the experts who would stop in. I already know a bunch of these people in person so I can work on negotiating deals with them.

 

Money talks........that is exactly right!

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What about adding a "Donate/Sponsorship" link on this website for that purpose. If Robert were able to offer to pay some experts to post regularly to the forum or contribute, that would be a good incentive for them. Money talks

 

With all the members here, if we each contributed to the Donation link (optional of course), then Robert may be able to compensate some experts for their time.

 

Great idea! Perhaps some experts would do it for free...perhaps in exchange for having their services or name exposed to a very large community of fitness minded vegans! Just for the exposure...I would think people would bite....regardless, I think donations would be a good thing...Rob has spent god-knows-how-much-time providing this free resource for us....a little tip now and then would be well deserved.

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What about adding a "Donate/Sponsorship" link on this website for that purpose. If Robert were able to offer to pay some experts to post regularly to the forum or contribute, that would be a good incentive for them. Money talks

 

With all the members here, if we each contributed to the Donation link (optional of course), then Robert may be able to compensate some experts for their time.

 

Great idea! Perhaps some experts would do it for free...in exchange for having their services and name exposed to a very large community of fitness minded vegans! Just for the exposure...I would think people would bite....regardless, I think donations would be a good thing...Rob has spent god-knows-how-much-time providing this free resource for us....a little tip now and then would be well deserved.

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