cubby2112

I am in, just need to get someone to snap some pictures.

I have had trouble with that also. Around the jawline I cut myself almost religiously now. If I don't cut myself, I end up with patches of missed hair.

I have heard that lacto-ovos sometimes have a problem with iron deficiency if they intake too much dairy because it inhibits the absorbtion of plant-based iron (non-heme I think), but not animal-based iron.

Sorry to hear about your family. I can relate to you somewhat on this; my family has problems with depression and other disorders and we have had suicide in the past. Good luck with getting things sorted out; you will always have the help of this great group here.

From what I have heard, German beer is best consumed if you actually go to the country and drink the microbrewed beer around the towns, especially in the Bavaria area. I stopped drinking beer due to health issues (I am a weenie and alcohol kicks my ass nowadays) and alcohol dependency issues within both sides of my family. I absolutely love the taste, though. Hefeweizens, stouts and porters are so good. I, unlike most Americans, drink my coffee black, the darker the roast, the better. I opt for decaf mostly, but it is hard to find a good roast in it when you live in BFE Illinois. Every now and then, though, I do enjoy a sweetened chocolate, hazelnut or vanilla brew.

I too have trouble with loose skin. I lost weight really quickly by going off of a horrid diet, then going vegetarian where I more or less leveled off. Now that I am vegan, it is easy to keep off. My loose skin is slowly getting better and I attribute most of it to resistance training. I am hoping to fill all that skin in with muscle, but am thinking I may have to get a tuck in the belly at some point due to how small ab muscles are and how large fatty bellies are =). Filling in that large pouch with high-resistance ab work may not be enough. Time will tell.

Well, if you continue to use those fake soaps, you are just going to live your life a dirty vegan.

I just found a b-12 supplement in drop form from a store. I was looking for it for a friend who went vegan about two weeks ago who cannot choke down pills. I have heard liquid is better anyway. The brand is NOW Ultra b-12 and one serving, a teaspoon, contains 83,330% (5,000 mcg) of b-12. Now, you only need 6 mcg if I remember right. It has a dropper and I am wondering if anyone else uses this if they just use one drop at a time, as that would surely still provide a few thousand percent of the RDA. Could it be mixed into drinks if she can't stand dropping it under her tongue? And at one drop at a time, would once every fews days be a sufficient dosage? Thanks.

That is some impressive eating on everyone's part. How often do you guys consume calories like that?

You put my fridge to shame. By the time you get through that, you certainly should have some new weight!

Thanks for the help. I guess I will start to focus more on my rising time than actual number of hours slept.

I have heard many different answers to the amount of sleep required, just as with almost every other aspect of health. I am twenty years old and am wondering about how much sleep I should get at night as someone trying to put on muscle. I average 6 1/2 to 7 hours; from what I hear that probably isn't enough. Thanks.

Thanks, now I have some more direction in my searching.

Hello, I also recently decided to stop lurking. Welcome.

I was Patrick Bateman from American Psycho for Halloween. I didn't quite want to go naked, so I had some boxers on. http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/cubby2112/DSC01737.jpg http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/cubby2112/DSC01738-1.jpg And here, my friends and I are tearing a multiple X shirt apart. http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/cubby2112/DSC01741.jpg I ran around my neighborhood in my costume chasing one of my friends who was wearing a skirt while we both screamed. It was 34 degrees and I took a shot from an airsoft gun. We recorded it, so I will be able to enjoy it for years.

A vegan banana bread recipe. It is very soft. Healthy substitutions can be added where you wish, it is a very flexible recipe. I usually just make it nice and unhealthy so I can feed it to non-vegans and show them how tasty vegan food can be. One of the best versions I made used 1 cup of vanilla soy ice cream with a light vanilla frosting on top. Another really good one, I used pecans for the nuts. 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (non-hydrogenated or whatever you wish) 1 cup sugar or equivalent 2 egg equivalent of replacer 3 large mashed bananas 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 cup nuts, raisins, dried blueberries, whatever you want OR/AND 1 cup vanilla non-dairty ice cream (or another flavor that sounds tasty). If the ice cream is used, another ½ cup of flour will be needed, as well as a larger pan than the 9x5x3. A few shakes of cinnamon Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Oil a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan or 9x13, or whatever you want, just know that the cooking time and temp is for the former. Using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and sugar. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the bananas and mix well. Add the baking soda, salt, flour, nuts, vanilla and cinnamon and mix thoroughly. Pour the dough into the prepared pan and bake about one hour or until the center is brown and set (a not terribly gooey knife or toothpick comes out).

I have a friend who has just started her attempt at becoming vegan. She was a vegetarian for quite awhile before, so my job is to find vegan friendly junk food (I have to make her some homemade vegan paydays). The PETA website is very helpful for that, but as has been said, is not good for the nutritional aspect of veganism at all. But, it at least helps to get people's lips off of the cow's utter. They should provide some information on nutrition, though, because most people are completely bewildered by vegan nutrition (no milk? Where do I get my calcium?!).

I don't buy anything that isn't whole grain, but the cafeteria here sometimes forces me to eat processed grains. Well, doesn't really force me, but if I want a vegan wrap of some sort instead of the same salad I have had a million times, I need to make the sacrifice.

I am watching my calories closely and seeing how my body reacts to them. Each time I increase my intake, I just build muscle faster and continue to lose fat. Right now I am at 3000 calories or so a day. My BMR is 1900, I had 13.1 percent bodyfat the last time I had it tested and I weigh 168 lbs. Before this, I lost a lot of weight, 105 lbs, and I am now looking to pack some of it back on as muscle instead of fat.

Yeah, you should message me if you come to town. I am an English major, so I don't know many music students.

I am thinking of making becoming as big as I can one of my goals. My frame isn't very big, I am only 5'10", but since I am only twenty and started lifting seriously almost a year ago, I am hoping that I will still be able to get some decent mass. I would just love to be as big as some of the steak and potatoes guys at the gym and be asked about my nutrition progam and be able to shock people by telling them a vegan diet. I definitely want to help to break the stereotype of skinny vegans. I have surprised my friends so far by keeping up with them in gains at the gym.

At first when I was thinking about the move to vegan, I was reluctant for fear of not being able to build muscle. Then I saw pictures of Dargatz on the frontpage of this site and found that it is possible to build muscle as a vegan; this helped immensely in my decision to become vegan. So, yeah, I think seeing the physiques of some vegan builders may be very helpful in converting some people.

That is a really good idea; I never thought to bring flyers along with me for those questions. I may begin to do that now. I have managed to gain muscle and lose weight while being vegan so far; I am quite happy with the diet.

I try to get all the antioxidants I can in my diet affordably. Other than that and moisturizing, I don't do all that much. I should start wearing sunscreen more often, but I just hate to put that stuff on all the time. As for exercises, does making funny faces when I am performing an especially hard lift count?

Thanks for the welcome. Most of the cycling I do is split between using a mountain bike to move about town or a recreational ride along trails.