Michelle

Thanks for the suggestion. This place is super-deluxe yummy, I tried it for the first time tonight. The buffet is just at lunch and on the weekends, so I actually had to choose something from the menu. That was difficult, since everything looked SOOOOO good!

The women's magazines found in the checkout at the grocery store, with the conflicting headlines. "Have flat stomach and beach ready body by summer!" on the very same magazine cover as... "Seven delicious fifteen-layer chocolate cake recipes, enjoy the richest chocolatey goodness every day of the week, and some for breakfast too!" And why aren't any of these recipes in the men's magazines, anyway? Lots of men like to cook.

AIM: AstraeaUNIX (Yes, I'm a bit of a geek...) ICQ: 722721 (but rarely logged on)

Great pictures! I especially like the black and whites.

Oh, I hope it's not me. I'm not the right kind of "big" right now.

Lifetime Fitness Pros: Lots and lots of equipment Open 24hrs Lap pool is also open 24hrs Family-oriented (I didn't like the "singles mixer" atmosphere at some of the other gyms I've been to.) Not far from my house Cons: The place is huge, I'm surprised I haven't gotten lost yet. My favorite gym ever was the one I went to when I lived in Vermont. It just had a few basic machines, a bunch of free weights, and a couple of really good aerobics instructors. It was small, so most everyone knew each other. If I didn't show up for a few days, people would start calling me. I miss that place.

Awesome link, thanks Topher Hey, I drove through Denton this afternoon...

From the Houston Chronicle's website: San Leon shelter desperate to place 80 animals

Hello Mike

Can newbies like me come, too? I love vacations!

Excellent speech. I liked your approach. It's next to impossible to convince someone who has been brainwashed to think they need meat with every meal to give up meat completely. If you can get ten people to forego the meat just one day of the week and take smaller portions on the other days, you've actually done a lot more to protect the animals and the environment than if you convinced one person to give up meat entirely. I'm taking public speaking this semester, too... and I've yet to do the persuasive speech... hmmm...

I didn't think my city was particularly friendly compared to other places I've lived (Oregon, Vermont, and Atlanta, GA) and other places I've visited a lot (San Diego, Austin) but now that I've actually been looking for vegan groceries and restaurants, I found out it's not too bad. I'm way out in the SUV-BBQ-and-steakhouse hell of the Houston suburbs, so the majority of the vegetarian-type restaurants and all of the Whole Foods markets are at least a half hour drive away from me. I've found a limited selection of organic produce and health food store stuff at a couple of the local grocery stores and some very yummy vegan food at my favorite asian restaurant, so far. I'll keep searching, and keep begging Whole Foods to open a store in the suburbs.

You should be able to find coconut oil in most health food stores, like Whole Foods Market. Since the book about the Coconut Oil Diet was published, I've started seeing it more in mainstream grocery stores, usually in their "health food" sections. You may have to hunt for it, though - I've found it with the cooking oils, with hair care products, and sometimes in other weird places.

Instead of lotion, try coconut oil. Put it on right when you get out of the shower and your skin is still damp, so it seals in the moisture. It'll take a little longer to "soak in" than lotion (you might even have to towel off the excess) but for me, it works so much better. You can even use it as hair conditioner. Rub a tiny bit between your hands, then run fingers through wet hair. (Just don't get too much... ) The long lists of ingredients on some lotion bottles is just too creepy for me. Especially the ones that list "alcohol" - why put that in something that is supposed to moisturize? Coconut oil is cheaper than lotion, too. A bottle lasts me a really long time.

I had a really hard time with bench press, too. It didn't hurt me at all, but it was extremely difficult to keep the bar straight and level, even without weight on it. At first, I thought maybe it was because one side was stronger than the other, but then I had no problem with dumbbells when I switched to those. Years later, a thoracic x-ray showed that I have slight scoliosis, which was probably the cause of it.

No sports for me! In school, I was always that one weird small kid who would try to catch or kick the ball, but somehow get hit in the face with it instead. That's how much I suck at sports. Non-sport things like dancing and hiking are more fun for me.

Thanks, everyone, for the welcome and encouragement. When I hit the gym yesterday, I found out that I have indeed lost lots and lots of strength, but not quite as much as I thought. Maybe all those massages I've been giving have built a tiny bit of muscle? Even better news, I'm not the only person in my family who's decided to try vegan. Guess I'll have some support at home this time around.

If I don't get the full eight hours of sleep, I have a hard time waking up. A friend, who was staying with me a few years ago, threatened to use the "bucket of cold water" technique to wake me up if I didn't find an alarm clock that would wake me up instead of waking everyone in the house BUT me. Apparently, that beeping gets really annoying after the first 25 minutes. They make alarm clocks for the hearing impaired that might work. Here's one at sharper image Right now, I'm using my cell phone as an alarm clock. I have a marble coaster on my nightstand, I put some spare change in that, then put the phone (it vibrates!) on top of that. The phone by itself isn't loud enough, but with the coins against the marble, it really makes quite a racket and usually wakes me up.

I bought my very first block of tofu today! (I've never bought it before because I was completely clueless about what to do with it) This stuff looks really weird, fresh out of the package. Using suggestions from this thread and from vegweb.com, I have concocted a most delicious teriyaki stir-fry. YUM! Is tofu ever made of any substance besides soy?

I know exactly where you're coming from. I left behind a career as a "professional geek" (networks, system administration, tech support) a few years ago, mostly for those reasons. I loved my job, but the hours and the stress took up entirely too much of my life. Now I'm a massage therapist, which is possibly the most stress-free job in the history of the universe. I'm self-employed, so I don't work long hours unless I choose to. At the end of the day, I feel like I've accomplished something positive, and I still have time and energy for the rest of my life. There are plenty of jobs out there that don't fit that stifling "career" mold - just keep your ears and eyes open and you'll find it.

Hi! I'm not vegan and not a bodybuilder. In fact, I'm not even vegetarian - yet. But, that's the direction I'm headed in my health and fitness journey, and this seems like a really supportive bunch of people, so that's why I'm here. (Thanks to a couple of very cool guys who recruited me from myspace!) I've attempted several times to become vegetarian or vegan, but it's so difficult to do when everyone around me is not. Especially since I've moved to TX, where the general mindset is far from vegan. My best attempts were when I was just coming off of a fast (I've done the Master Cleanser for 10 to 14 days a few times now) but after a few weeks, it gets difficult. A little more education, and I think I'll be ready to try again. About 10 years ago, I was very much into weightlifting. I was at the gym two hours a day, five days a week. I weighed about 115, and felt the best I'd felt in my life. My best ever bench press was about 90 lbs and my best ever on the leg press machine was 430. A few years in a sedentary job turned into a few more years in a mostly sedentary lifestyle, then some metabolism issues (thyroid, hypoglycemia, etc) add a bunch of stress to that, and... well, lets just say it might be a long road to get back to where I was at. I've gained 55 lbs and definitely lost most of that strength. I want my body & health back! Tomorrow, I'll be back in the gym, easing back into it. Wish me luck!