DaN

Keep going buddy! I was addicted to weed, and have tried alot of other stuff in the past. Its all shit compared to being sober, it just takes a while to realise.Like others have said on here, really proud of you man! (someone said about doing something if you are getting craving or are bored.That is good advice.Another helpful thing I did was stop seeing any people who were still doing drugs.Hang around with normal sober people, it really helped me.I formed entirely new groups of friends.If you have particularily strong bonds with any of your old friends who still use, when you see them make sure its somewhere out of thier own home, where they cant do drugs.Take them to cinema or whatever, and when they wanna use, just say your goodbyes and leave.) omg biggest load of stuff i've ever written in brackets!

Yeah, it just annoys me that people say religion is rubbish, when they dont seem to grasp the fact that religious people past and present number in the hundreds of millions and many many of them are really good people who contribute alot to society but they get criticised by people who often contribute very little to society. While of course there are some really bad religious people, the same can be said for any group of humans, with good and bad in all.Stereotyping any group and saying "all these people are stupid" or "wrong" etc is just plain ignorant and dumb.When you walk through life without stereotyping you find that the only true way to judge something is on its own individual merits, not by what group it is a part of. If more people did this there would be alot less conflict and hatred in the world.

Cheers, & no worries

Liberacion: Take scientific testing with animals as an example.I believe, any scientific testing with animals is wrong.I base this on my belief that hurting another living thing, is wrong unless that being is directly threatening your life.I think most vegans hold this belief (although not all of course) My point is that branches of science that use animal testing are wrong in my opinion, but I do not believe all science is wrong.JUST THAT PART. The same can be said for religions.Yes, we all know that thousands if not millions of people have died in wars that were caused by christianity (The Crusades, etc) I agree with you! But you cannot hate all religions based on just christianity.The problem with most people like yourself who are anti-religion is that you only ever quote christianity, like your post above.Its like its the only religion you know anything about. But I do not believe all religion is wrong.JUST THAT PART. You cant make sweeping judgements like "science is great and only deals in truth and is amoral" or "religion is stupid and wrong and immoral" because you are making sweeping judgements of institutions that span thousands of years & millions of people.Judging them in one sweep is at best, really dumb.Its like saying all muslims are terrorists and bad people, just because some of them are.Or saying all black people like rap, just because some of them do.Its called stereotyping, and it stems from ignorance. Wake up, and grow up. My advice to you is to recognise the good and bad in things.Dont be only pro-religion or anti-science, or anti-religion and pro-science.Understand that there is merit & harm in most things, you have to be a bit smarter & intuitive to pick out what is what in life. If you cannot grasp this concept, you need to try harder.

bruce, & johan. The converstaion was about puppy mills, I meant if you are going to buy from a breeder, then go to a small respectable one, not a "puppy mill" Obviously dog homes are the best route to take.For me and my partner, the same applies to adopting a child instead of having our own, for many reasons, mainly the amount of children that need adopting & overpopulation in general. I guess I should have specified exactly what I meant.

I wrote: Drew wrote: What do you think I have written that is sarcasm? >It is wrong and cruel to farm puppies. >We do have that kind of thing in the UK but they are not called puppy mills. >People should only buy from small scale respectable breeders. ......? Explain?

Thats just wrong, & cruel. We have them here in the UK too, although they arent called puppy mills. People should only buy from smale scale, respectable breeders!

Veganessentials, thanks for your reply.I kinda thought it was you saying hardgainers are lazy, and as one, I found it a bit mean!

Puppy mills? What is this? Like factory farmed puppies for sale?

I agree with most of the above points.Muscle is gained in gym and kitchen, but I dont think its 50/50. I think its 75/25, in the kitchens favour.In my personal experience, this is fact.Perhaps for others, it is not. PS: Vegan Essentials, your signature was written by someone who has not studied biology.It is proven that some people gain weight easier than others.For some people, gaining weight is too easy, and for others, it can be nearly impossible.This is genetic fact and is heavily proven, based on genetics and yes, you guessed it, metabolism.I think its really unfair of you to brand all hardgainers as basically lazy, although this is not entirely surprising coming from someone who visibly does not have that problem Incase of misinterpretation, I am entering into some friendly banter with you

Blabbate, I think you are right on the thou shalt not kill being 5th or 6th.I didnt actually mean to write first, lol! It was a long post overall and it was hot here.I blame lack of calorific intake also 4X4 I didnt forget about the tibetan commando's, and I never siad Tibet was a peaceful utopia.I think you will find that by the time of the commando's the threat to Tibet was severely underway.It was self defense on the part of the Tibetans, and political reasons on the US's part. Most of the problems with Feudalism in Tibet, and other Feudalist countries in history has come from the political feudal leaders, not the religion or priests.Infact the priests generally, were against military action because of their religious beliefs and their understanding of killing being wrong.In ghandis case he didnt even react violently when his life was threatened.This strength of conviction comes from a strong mature religion like Buddhism. Unfortunately, a large number of wars where christianity has been involved have been started not by politics, and opposed by the priests, like in Tibet.The religious leaders actually instigated the wars, sometimes, even against the political powers wishes - the complete opposite.This actually continues today as it did in the times of the crusades, against the muslim world.That is because christianity on the whole advocates any war against rival religions - as do most other religions.This is why the cycle will never stop, and I'm afraid christianity lowers itself by being involved. Please dont be offended by me, or my points.It is not my intention to criticise you or christianity.I am using christianity as an example of a modern religion.I could just as easily have this conversation by swapping 'christianity' with 'Islam' I would however struggle to replace it with Buddhism, and for that reason, among others I regard it as a clever, humane and superior belief structure.I have read Buddhist scriptures too, and found them personally more useful in my daily activity, than i do some of the things in the bible.Not 'coveting my neighbours ass' has limited uses for me at present As I said, please dont take this as an attack, I am simply ponting out the truth of history, and you know the truth takes no prisoners, it just is, what it is.

Thanks for your reply 4X4 I guess I am biased towards certain religions, but not because of some pre-disposition.I grew up in a christian family, and have read the bible fully (unlike alot of people who still feel qualified to comment on the book, or religion) I just looked at all the religions, from a historical and moral viewpoint, with no bias.Unfortunately, christianity and most other religions of the region fall short of the mark, in my opinion.I base this on the events in history they have been involved in, and the moral guidlines they set out.I find it interesting as a note that the first of the ten commandments, apparently given to Moses by God himself, is 'thou shalt not kill' And yet every christian I know apart from the vege ones kill on a weekly basis to feed their meat eating habits.I find very few religions that mention the rights of animals to life.That is where buddhism steps in, and it is very clear on the subject.Unlike christians, muslims and jews, buddhists have rarely if at all been involed in any war other than as victims, like in Tibet. On a side note it is interesting to note that Indian religions express a deep respect for animals, and a huge number of vegetarians exist in India: The most concentrated population of vegetarians (and vegans) is in India, where many avoid meat of religious reasons. However, because of the nature of statistical information about India, it is not clear how many really avoid meat, and how many do that out of principle (religious or ideological) reasons, as opposed to those who cannot afford meat. Because of the religious nature of vegetarianism, it is also possible that people ?beautify? their answers at polls, and occasional meat-eaters claim to be vegetarians. Most Indian vegetarians are lacto-vegetarians (who drink milk but avoid eggs), and this counts, according to U.S. Dept. of Agriculture data, to 20-30% of the population. Large parts of the remaining 70% are only occasional meat-eaters, and don?t eat animal products regularly The priesthood of most ancient religions including ancient Egypt which was the dominant world power for around 2500 years were encouraged to abstain from meat completely. While I have little faith in modern religions, my opinion changes on religions further back in time, which show a deeper understanding of truth & knowledge.An interesting group of books are the Toltec wisdom books by Don Miguel Ruiz, which show a level of morality and sense far beyond anything in modern religions, or indeed science or popular culture.

Thanks for the reply on isolating muscles.I would say that your reply made sense to me. This whole muscle is built in the gym is wrong, end of. When I first started body building, I did a routine in the gym which I still use today.At the beginning due to an awful diet, I gained nothing.As soon as I sorted out the diet, I started gaining.The workout was exactly the same.As long as you are lifting a weight one week, then a heavier one the following week, that is all there is to working out.It really isnt rocket science.Diet on the other hand, is rocket science, and success depends on a good or bad diet.

You are welcome Arun, I hope you find some hope in this forum like I did, to know that there are lots of other peoples who love animals.

Bear in mind, most religions came out of peoples needs for explanations of things, and at the time, the explanations given were based on as much information as they could get.Science these days does EXACTLY the same.It attempts to explain things based on as much information as it can get.Science has the advantage of technology, and history to get more information to base its explanations on.In this manner, it is generally more accurate an explanation of things.All religion was, in its purest form, is an attempt to explain things.All science is, in its purist form, is an attempt to explain things. My point is that they have the same root. The problem occurs when religion or science attempt to be more than what they are.Science should accept that it does not yet have the tools to answer questions people have about god - so why feel like they have a right to say, "no god isnt real" This is above sciences station I'm afraid.It can however answer questions people have about wind, or gravity, really well.And religions need to accept that they are wrong in alot of their basic teachings too, like how humans were created.I am afraid science has the tools to explain that, at the least explain it better than the whole Adam and Eve nonsense.They cling onto beliefs that made sense at the time, but do not anymore.Science, generally abandons its mistakes, where religion does not.Nearly all religions fall into this trap, and as such, are ultimately doomed to failure.They are a few dynamic religions which are more addept at coping with change, like science does.Buddhism is one of these.It is a terrible thing when people dump Buddhism in the same category as Christianity, which is one of the most idiotic religions around.Dont get me wrong I am not against all Christianity, by no means.Some things are good, like the moral teachings, and lessons of humility & compassion.You will not find these lessons in a science journal.However there is alot of crap in the Christain religion.Their total intolerance of other religions, and also those who do not have a religion is very immature.The fact that they call all other religions and non-believers "sinners" is again, immature, and at worst, a sin (oh the irony) You could almost accept their claim to righteousness over all the rest of us if their track record was perfect, if every act made by the christain movement had been positive and faultless.But this is far from the case.How many wars have occured because of the christian religions beliefs and intolerances? Compare this to Ghandis movement, or Buddhism, and you can see the problem with christians calling buddhism, an evil pagan worship. The problem is, the religions of Christianity & Muslims have taken the main role in what people regard as religions, and the truth is they are bad representatives.As an example, neither of them encourage vegetarianism.Infact they both attempt to justify meat eating with crap stories about how "god" said animals were here for our use.The reality is that the "god" who wrote these passages was actually some hairy man in a cave somewhere who liked a nice lamb roast. I am attracted to religions that align themselves with veganism, like Buddhism, because if they are right about that, it indicates they have intelligence and compassion.They thought about the same things we did when we decided to be vegan.The main tenet of Buddhism is "ahisma" which means harmlessness to others.That is exactly what we all live our lives by.In that sense we are related.The other belief of Buddhism is that a man called Siddharta Gautama reached enlightenment, and that we can all do the same.Siddharta is a verifiable historical character, and his teachings were definately written by him, during his life.These teachings will improve anyones life, and are a real valuable piece of our heritage.You wont find that kind of teaching in a science journal either.But you will find lots of research and test results that were arrived at through the use of animal testing.That is the irony of vegans who so closely follow science, but who would laugh at Buddhism.Of course things that are discovered without the torture of animals, I am totally in respect of. My overall point is, you cant expect any one thing to give you all the answers.The problems of our world are caused by people who are stuck in boxes, stuck in groups that fight eachother, stuck with brains that think within the confines of just science, or christianity, and unable to openly deal with theories that their books do not cover.The Catholics will run to their book and see what it says about condoms, and decide based on that.When confronted by a belief like past lives, the scientist will run to his book and see what it says about that, and decide based on that.Its a shame that such limited thought rules our planet. Outside of the boxes and factions, its possible to freely express thought without boundaries.By doing that, it is possible to be truly free.

You look great, keep up the training!

Whats the problem with isolation? I do bicep curl and tricep curl, as well as deadlifts, benching etc. It works for me?

Hey caho, welcome to the forum.

Hey Brad. I am from High Wycombe in Bucks, age 28. You will find lots of info on here about vegan bodybuilding and other subjects.Hopefully it will help you in your aims. I became vege at the age of 18, and stayed vege until 2 years ago, when I started bodybuilding.I heard about the whole protein thing and so ate tuna everyday, aswell as whey protein powder and milk by the bucket load.After a year I had made progress, but in the back of my mind I knew that cheese and milk were as cruel as meat production, and also knew the damage being inflicted on our seas to farm fish.The guilt overtook me and I decided to give them up.I thought my bodybuilding would have to stop too, so in desperation I googled vegan bodybuilding.I thought.... did it even exist? Then I found this forum.Realising it was possible, I immediately went 100% into it.You know what? 2 weeks after giving up the fish and milk, I was lifting more weight than I ever could before.That progress has continued.It was quite bizarre because we are told meat and whey are the foundations of bodybuilding, but like all things in life, those who hunt knowledge expose unknown truths. I mention going vegan not as a criticism of you, but as advice on how to improve your fitness & health, because genuinely it has been the most beneficial decision I ever made. Good luck with your training dude! See you around the forum maybe.

Yo man!

....and England! If you want to gain weight, do 3 workouts with weights a week and eat CONSTANTLY. Then you will be the winner!

Hi & welcome!

lol marcina! Hi and welcome!

Heya, welcome back!

Welcome buddy.Your story really touched me. I too, thought the change to veganism would be hard, although I had the advantage of being vegeterian for many years before hand. But you know what? It really isnt as hard as you dread.Infact, I found it so easy, that it took me by surprise! There are 2 main obstacles that I faced, and still face a year after going vegan. 1.Peoples questioning veganism - this I find much easier to deal with now, after a year of defending myself.The research of a few guys on here shows that infact veganism is the humans natural diet, and is infact healthier.Aswell as more compassionate.Its also better for the environment.The key to when people question you is to hold firm to what we all know - that there is no justification for killing another living creature, unless that creature is threatening your life (self defense) or in the rare scenario where meat is the only food available to survive (plane crash over the antarctic?) 2.Eating out - as a vegan, whenever I go out to anywhere, whether public, or friends events, or work events, there is 99% of the time no food for a vegan.Vege's have it a little easier, but not much.Also, can be a pain on holidays sometimes.There is however, a ray of light.Nuts & fruit.I carry a bag of 200 grams of nuts everywhere I go, in my pocket.There are 1200 calories in that bag, lots of fats, and proteins.If needs be, I can always fill up on them.Fruit too is great.Now I dont carry fruit around with me (that would be messy in the pockets!) but you can find it almost anywhere.Bananas, apples, pears etc.When I go away on holiday, I live mainly on fruit. You have come to the right place here buddy.Robert, who founded this forum, gave me the strength and belief to be vegan, & you will find that same strength here too.