Gorilla

Wow - so nice. Really cool blog! So happy to have this forum - I'm looking into any way to support the running of the forum, as I know Rob invests a substantial amount of time, work and money to keep everything ticking along! Thanks to everyone, thanks to you, Jim, for your role as a moderator, and for this great blog!

Hi everyone. I came to live and work in China more than 2 years ago. We're planning to travel to the UK next year with our son, who is 7 months old today! It will be the first time I've travelled outside of China since I came here! I'm so used to the culture here now, I think I will experience some culture shock going back to my "home country"! Before I came to China, I read parts of The China Study, by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. I found it fascinating. In this thread, I hope to answer questions about what it's like to live in China. As some of you know, I decided for myself at the age of 7 that I didn't want to eat "meat". I didn't like the idea of harming animals and I didn't like the idea or the taste of meat. When I was 16, I decided that I also didn't want fish to be part of my diet. When I was 21, I decided I didn't want eggs or dairy to be part of my diet. And that's when I joined the Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness forum: in 2005! Well, you've seen my progress in other threads: I did really well on a balanced vegan diet: made some great gains. Then I went down the road of the raw vegan diet, and then the "fruitarian diet". It was an interesting experience, and definitely a part of my journey that I would not change, but I returned to a balanced vegan diet, eating common staple foods such as rice and potatoes, many kinds of vegetables, beans, some tofu, some bread, and still as much fruit as possible of course: plenty of bananas. Living in China and following a vegan diet is no problem in my experience. There's a vast amount of fruit on offer: you can try fresh durian, dragonfruit, mangosteen and any other fruit you can think of. A speciality in the region where I live is fresh bamboo shoots, which are a great source of energy. As well as being eaten after they've been freshly harvested, they can also be dried and used in soups in the winter time! A popular activity is to eat at a "hotpot restaurant" or to eat "hotpot" at home. This involves having a pot of simmering water in the middle of the table and cooking each item that you want to eat as you go along! It's a nice social occasion, and the best part of it is the amount of greens you can consume! What we know as "pak choi" is really cheap over here, and I especially like eating it as part of a hotpot meal! Another hotpot item that my wife and I both like to eat is "winter melon" aka "white gourd". You can also add different kinds of cruciferous vegetables (namely different varieties of broccoli and cauliflower), noodles and tofu. Other specialities include fresh steamed pumpkin and sweet potato (yellow and purple varieties!), served in a kind of "steaming basket" with monkey nuts! That's a really nice dish! There's also a kind of "steamed bun" filled with mushrooms, tofu and chopped greens. The same kind of filling is also used in the "wonton dumplings", which I'd be happy to eat every day! There's much more to say on this topic. I will continue in the next post, and reply to any questions you have! I have a video of one of our hotpot evenings to post on my personal blog soon!

Nice work, James! Gorilla James.

Take care of yourself, James. From Gorilla James (seems we have more than a few things in common!)

I think as part of a varied diet it's a great food! Over here in China, I've tasted super-fresh soy milk, all organic. You can see some of the scenery of my mother-in-law's village here: http://www.youdolife.com/2013/08/bear-grylls-parody-mountain-tranquility.html It's a farming community in the mountains: they have many kinds of organic food there. It's pretty much my dream being there! Orange trees, bayberry trees, peach trees, and loads of other crops, including corn, sweet potatoes and the "big bean", the soya bean. During the summer, there's one lady in the village who collects the beans, washes them in the nearby stream, then dries them in the sun before making a kind of powder. Then she uses the powdered bean to make fresh soymilk which she shares with the other villagers!

Great work: a very effective montage there, and an inspiring message. Thanks for posting.

Yes, she is Chinese Very cool. Although it looks like you two were having more fun than the kids! "German-Indo combo" the word to describe the combination is "bright". A little transcendental perhaps ... our son's Chinese name means "bright light"

Awesome blog! Loved the family photo! I am British and my wife is Chinese. Our son is 7 months old today!! Some great-looking vegan dishes, and quality training. Hugely inspiring. Thanks for posting!!

Haha - yes. He's sleeping quite well. In his first month we tried to let him self-soothe, but then we started to hug him to sleep. He drops off quickly and if he wakes up in the night he goes back quite quickly after feeding. In some ways I think hugging him initially makes it easier if he wakes up because he feels secure in his semi-conscious state. The decision to lull or let him self-soothe has been a difficult one: I was prepared to let him cry and just comfort him with words and lullabies without hugging him, but we're in the habit of hugging him now.

Hi everyone, I'm looking forward to getting back in touch with the progress of old friends from the forum, and meeting new members. I became a dad this year! Here's the latest video: http://www.youdolife.com/2013/11/jamison-october-and-november-2013.html

That's awesome Robert. Amazing life experiences! Following you on Facebook - voted for this site, Vega and Vegan Essentials in the Veggie Awards!

Thanks - always positive people connecting on this forum. I will check out your links. Have a good day.

Hi everyone. Hope you're all enjoying the summer. I know Robert's having an amazing time in Canada. This post is just to emphasise the importance of connections, and to thank Robert for keeping this platform going strong. I think we share similar feelings, as expressed in a post from my blog, which I came back to recently: http://www.youdolife.com/2013/06/3-questions.html Keep up the good work.

Dear all, All's going very well in China. Thanks for your support over the last 7 years. Unfortunately my e-mail account was hacked and a friend lost money from a phishing incident. Please beware of the dangers. Be alert, be safe and take care. Best wishes, James

nice one

Yes. Taking control, making it happen, doing what you need to do. Same here.

She is, yes : ) I used an audio editor for that. Hi Robert! I continue to be inspired by your positive messages. I am sad to hear about the flooding where you are, and wish everyone the best there to pull through it. I am very grateful for my life here, and very pleased to hear from you! I am 10,000 days old today, and I have been in China for 80 days. I am working as an English teacher! It was important for me to establish myself in my job, and the positive feedback I've had has really encouraged me. Now that I'm settled, I can focus on increasing my food intake and increasing my muscle mass again! The center is closed this week for Chinese New Year, so it's a perfect time to evaluate everything and plan ahead to make the next chapter even better! Great to be connected!

Thanks! Have a good one!

Thanks so much Robert. All the best to you! Have a good one

Back in action with some new content for you. Hardcoded credits for the hardcore inspiration of Dead Prez, stic.man - vegan BB&F lifestyle -, Divine, The Game, Mike Elizondo, Dr Dre ... You will go crazy for these lyrics if you haven't heard the tracks already - and if you've already discovered them, hope you like this edit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoBCDXdCUNc

Oui. (L'essai 'Des cannibales' est bien important à mon avis ...)

Hi. Thanks - yeah it's always good reading through this thread. Just maintaining for now (154lb) -that's low enough for me -141lb is the lowest medical recommendation for my height of 6'1'' -any lower than 141lb is clinically "underweight" -as I said I can maintain 154lb on about £3 worth of food a day. -to build up muscle mass would take a bit more food so a bit more money. -------------------------------- 1 pound of MUSCLE added every 6 weeks seems possible. 8 pounds of MUSCLE a year. 56 pounds (4 stone) of MUSCLE in 7 years. Layne (born 1981) seems to have put on that kind of amount (he talks about cycles of bulking for 4 weeks then cutting for 2 weeks, building 1 pound of muscle mass every 6 weeks): Dr Layne Norton, PhD in Nutritional Science, drug-free bodybuilder 5’10’’ 230lb (16st 6lb) off-season 195lb (13st 13lb) in contest condition Ph.D.in nutritional science at the University of Illinois (specialization in skeletal muscle protein metabolism) BS in Biochemistry from Eckerd College “... just a nerd [!!!] that loves training I guess ... I have a PhD in Nutritional Science and a BS in Biochemistry and I lift competitively as a Pro Powerlifter and I am a Pro Natural Bodybuilder as well with the IFPA and NGA. I started lifting to improve my confidence, stop other kids from picking on me when I was young, and gain more attention from girls. Over time it grew into something I did because I became passionate about the actual training itself. I was pretty small at high school (130lbs [9st 4 pounds]) and I got picked on quite a bit ... I decided to take matters into my own hands ... The summer after my freshman year I started lifting with a set of sand weights in my basement and using a routine from a lifting book I borrowed from the library. Ever since that summer I've never looked back ... I also along the way made up my mind that I would stay totally natural. I never have and never will take steroids, prohormones, insulin, or growth hormone ..." --------- And of course we know plenty of strong, muscular VEGAN athletes, I just happened to be looking at some articles on Bodybuilding.com recently ... ---- Yes Jay Cutler won last year's Olympia aged 37 with a weight of 270 pounds (19st 4lb) at a height of 5'9''. Yes he's huge, yes he eats a lot, lifts a lot, sleeps a lot, uses performance-enhancing drugs. Off-season 310lb - yeah about 22 stone so pretty much double my weight and I'm 6'1'' ... I don't need 4 stone extra muscle mass or 8 stone extra muscle mass. A bit more muscle mass, like 1 stone over the next 14 years would be fine (I'm 26 and 9 months old as I write and post this). So I'm really not rushing to put on mass again. If I can be 12 stone (168 pounds) and lean at 40 that's fine. If I stay 11 stone and lean that's fine too. I think I will put on a little muscle mass and stay lean - I'm getting back on track after the debacle of the last 4 years. Yes I did get up to about 190lb bulking and I did get my body fat percentage pretty low - I never got it measured but you can see the pics - pretty standard for someone who did that kind of training, that diet, those supplements ... So yeah I did that, took the pics, got the T-shirt ... but it's back to what I said in the update: what do you want and why? What's sustainable? What's financially sustainable? -------------- I've got a fair amount of writing and images that I've been compiling. I'll add them to the blog. This thread is getting quite long. What I might do is copy the most useful parts, put them onto the blog and then just post on this thread if anyone posts an additional comment/question ...

no gains. not saying that it's not possible - in theory it should be, but so far no gains for me no.

see posts below

see posts below