cafenervosa

I would say the safest bet would be hemp protein. Ultimately though it's not so much protein that is need for muscle growth, but the amino acids from them. I would recommend taking a complete BCAA supplament along with 500 mg of l-glutamine after your workouts to ensure proper muscle repair.

LOL it's actually just the spices used to make apple pie with. I add it to everything: coffee while it's brewing, oatmeal, smoothies....basically anything you want to make taste like apple pie. YUMMY!

Just finished up at the gym while on my dinner break and have 4 more hours at work before my day is done. Post gym meal: Falafal (spicy smashed chickpeas) stuffed into a whole wheat pita with spinach, sprouts, tomato, mushrooms, avacado, banana peppers, olives, & vinegrette dressing along with a small (10oz) soy protein shake mixed with strawberrie, bananas & wheat germ.

Wow that sounds awesome! You're very lucky to be able to grow your own stuff. I'd love to start a container garden, but my porch gets no sun whatsoever. So about the only thing I can grow so far is moss. We have a pretty good organic natural foods store (Ada's Natural Foods) that just opened up a few months ago. It's not cheap, but I can easily find pretty much anything organic, but paying for it is sometimes a different matter.

Cherries and almonds are great anti inflamatory foods. I have arthritis and systemis lupus in my family and I can tell a big difference in my weightlifting recovery when I eat at least of cup of each throughout the day (as opposed to not eating them). Cherries have amazing anti-inflamatory properties and almonds are a great source of Vit. E with also helps battle inflamation.

I would add some sort of grain like quinoa, brown rice or millet mixed with black beans for dinner in addition to that evening salad. I would also a one or two high protein green smoothies as well as much on raw nuts and seeds mixed with dried fruit throughout the day. You definitly need more calories if your doing that much training as a 16 year old growing teen. I do endurance events too (triathlon and long distance open water swimming) in addition to wightlifting. I need to loose about 30lbs. and even I would need to eat more than what your eating to keep up my energy for endurance training.

Why don't you try adding Hemp protein to your cereal in the morning. It's great low calorie/high protein. I mix mine in what a packet of Stevia on oateal. I also add it to my soy based protien shakes along with flax seed to an extra protein boost. I also like rice & pea protein mixes. They're another great high protein/low calories option. Another good idea would be to add handful of raw nuts and seeds to your daily snacks...great for healthy fats and protein....especially raw pumpkin seeds. I also like making green smoothies for a hugh nutritional kick: An example of one of my favorites: several kale leaves, cup of frozen strawberries, 1 scoop each of hemp, rice & pea protein, 2 tblsp each of ground flax seed & ground chia seeds and about 3-4 packet of Stevia and either water or organic almond milk depending on the amount of calories I want at that meal.

I took the liquid form of it for about 6 months in addition to taking CLA and changing up my workout and adding high intensity cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I lost over 20lbs in that time. Don't know if I would have lost less by not taking it or if it helped with my already improved workout regemine. I stopped taking (couldn't afford the supplements and needed to cut costs) and havn't lost much weight since, but I also scaled back my workouts due to a foot injury that will require surgery. I think it did aide in my weightloss, that is the most weight I have ever lost since I gained weight 8 yrs ago after breaking my back and pretty much becoming sedentary for over a year while healing. I plan on starting taking it again with the CLA and adding in a fat burner and keeping close track of my calories, nutrients and workouts once I get my foot taken care of and I can start running again.

Where do you get your organic producer from? A grocery store, health foods store, local producer stand/market? I wish Costco carried more (or any) organic producer, so I can afford to buy more than just the few items I can afford at the grocery store.

With the ridiculous price of producer these days, I was wondering how many here go the extra effort to buy organics. I usually try to buy organic fresh producer of anything that doesn't have a peel (like oranges, bananas, things like that). I also always buy organic soy producer to assure that I'm not eating any GMO soy. (I'll never be convinced that GMO is safe...ever). But how many here buy organic and if you do, what all do you get that's organic?

Ok, it's now VERY early (4am) Sunday morning and I'm at work (again) I had oatmeal with apple pie spices and vanilla soy protein powder, a rather tart Fuji apple and a small cup of peach soy yogurt. I just finished my big travel mug of black coffee and will working on my gallon water jug the rest of the morning.

O wow, it's good to hear that others have non-vegan signifcant others who have supported and gone along with your being vegan. It's nice to hear that your b/f, emma goes so far as to eat vegan meals with you and opts for vegan "meats" at BBQs.

If you are eating something right now or recently (like within the next or last hour)....what is it? Just curious. I always love to hear about what people are eating, if they like it and why they are eating it. Me, I'm currently eating my dinner at work (9pm Eastern time in Florida). I'm having a bowl of brown rice with sauteed with black eyed peas, broccoli, carrots & mushrooms, and I'm having a big side dish of brussel sprouts. My dessert will be a small cup of strawberry soy yogurt. My "junk" food today was a peanut butter Lara bar and a bit of vegan chocolate. Ok, what are you eating have eating within the hour or will be eating soon...

Yea, I know what you're saying Ted. It makes me sad to think about what the long term affects of his diet will eventually have on him. That's why I'm really hoping to lead by example and show him that it's totally possible to eat awesome tasting vegan meals, stay healthy and be active and strong.

Yea, I know...but I will give him credit: He does really respect my vegan lifestyle and would never try to presuade me away from it. We've been together for nearly a year now and he's never once said or acted negatively toward my decisions.

Sort of new here. I've been here before and have been a bit of lurker for awhile and figured I'd introduce myself. I've been a vegan off and on for several years now and have finally made the full on decision to stick with being 100% vegan with the future goal of going raw vegan. On the plus side, I'm in a wonderful new (just under a year) relationship with a wonderfully supportive man that would never in a million years ever critisize my vegan lifestyle. On the negative side, he is full on "meat and potatoes" hardcore SAD eater. He loves junk "diet" food and is a McDonalds regular . He's in pretty good shape and health and is active and we share many interests and activities together including working out together. But I can't help feeling kind of bad that while he supports my choices he doesn't have any interest in changing the way he eats. I'm hoping to change his mind slowly by setting the very best example for him that I possibly can. A bit about me: I have been a long time weight lifter and have been involved in long distance open water swimming, triathlong and running. A serious injury sidelined me for a long time (broken back & neck) but I am slowly getting back into lifting and working out again. I'm fully recovered and am able to train and workout without limitation. However I have a long road ahead of me to get back into the shape I once was in. I'm hoping to be a regular here as I start back onto the road to health and fitness. Cheers all

Wow thanks for the info. That helped a lot.

It's times like this that I really miss the States!! I can't get CLIF or LUNA bars or anything like that down here in Cayman. Oh and I do miss them!!! I can order them online, but it takes about 2 months to get anything sent down here and then I have to pay duty on them on top of it!! Plus they give you a really hard time if you try to bring "outside food" into the country!!

I've been told that soy is not good to eat if you have endometriosis--which I have been diagnosed with-- Does anyone here have any sources or info about this? No regular medical doctor seems capable of giving me any sound advice about the affects of soy on this health problem. Here's another question: If in fact soy is detrimental to endometriosis and I won't be able to eat it in large quantities (2-3 servings a day or more to supplament my lifting), what is the next best source of vegetable protein. I know there's rice and pea protein, however, I've not seen a powdered form of either here in Cayman (I may have to look a bit harder). Other than beans and nuts...which I can only eat so much of during the day...what else can I supplament with?

I've been doing this pretty regularly since Jan. and I've made a little bit of progress in strength and cardio gains. But I can't help feeling like I hit the wall too quickly during my workouts. That's the reason I go to the gym twice a day....so I can finish what I intended on starting. I don't go twice a day every day I go to the gym, just when I can't accomplish what I planned for that workout. I need the second session to finish. I just can't help think back a few years ago when I could literally work out all day (between running and biking outside and then hitting the gym for 2 hours at a stretch) and feel fantastic by the end of the day. I was an omnivour back then and ate a lot more calories. So, now I can't help feeling that I just don't have the same energy level at all. I have no intention on going back to being and omni, but I just need to figure out how to eat properly so I can have energy to lift and still loose the weight.

Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention that I'm female... I am trying to aim for 4-5 small meals throughout the day, but that doen't always happen. Right now, I usually have a piece of fruit and some v-8 juice in the morning before I cycle to the gym and then have about a 2 hr workout of 30min. jogging, and an hour & a half of weights (concentrating on a specific area). Then I head to work, have a bean burrito or bean soup and some sort of vegies. I also do another lighter workout at 12:30 for an hour--more weights and stretching and then have my lunch at 2pm. The only other time I have to eat is something small and quick around 4pm and then it's nothin until I get home at 7:30. By that time I can't stomach anything more than some vegies and some vegan burgers or tofu, as I have to go to bed by 9pm so I can get back up by 5am. What kind of total calories should I am for at each meal and total throughout the day? Should I stick with the 1700-2000? Less/More to loose the weight? I just hate that I don't feel like I have no strength or nearly as much energy as I used to have when I worked out regularly a few years ago. I just don't remember ever hitting the wall so quickly BTW, good idea Formica. I'm going to have to try getting something together on the weekends for the rest of the week. However, that's not going to work too well when I start to work my way to totally raw foods, which is my 6 month goal.

I'm sure this type of question has been asked before, but it's something on which I need some insight. First a bit of background: I'm 5ft. 7in. and currently weigh 180lbs--obviously in need of some significant weight loss. Right now, and since I've moved to Cayman, I've been allowed to use the station vehicle, but starting this week, I'm going to be biking to and from work and all around town to run errends. This is about a 7 mile bike ride one way just to work and the gym. I'm also starting to get back in running again by jogging for 30-40min. 4 days a week on the treadmill, plus I swim and dive on the weekends. So cardio-wise, I'm getting pretty active. I lift 4 days a week as well and have recently starting working w/ a gym partner so I'm really pushing myself to increase my weight. Now, my problem is, I work all day from 10-7 and am not allow to eat more than once, maybe twice during the day if I have a chance, usually rice & beans and some carrot stick and celery. Plus, once I get home I'm usually very tired (I go to the gym in the early mornings) so I don't have a lot of time to cook or fix big meals. I usually only eat tofu or vegie burgers & stir fry frozen vegies for dinner. Right now I'm eating about 1700-2000cal. (I'm guessing) Now, I need to loose about 30lbs of fat, but I feel like I'm not eating enough and I'm concerned that this is affecting my energy to lift. So should I increase my calories to have more energy to lift more or concentrate on loosing the fat first and then increase the calories once I get in better shape to lift more. (Does that make sense?) I'm starting to make small incrimental gains in my lifting, but feel that I can't push myself as hard as I want to because I burn out of strength and energy too quickly. Sorry if this was long winded...

Thanks for the support guys! I finally got my lights and air fixed this morning...still don't have any tv yet, but yes I guess reading is better for me! At least now I have regular lights to read by. And Robert, you quite welcome and feel free to swing by my little island anytime!

YAY, I'm finally back online! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but the cable system for the island has been "down" for a while. It seems that whenever it's windy (and it get v. windy here when "cold" fronts come thru in Jan/Feb.) it knocks out the antenea for the cable modems. Sometimes they fix it, sometimes they don't. Everyone here is on "island time". Which mean whenever we feel like it. This is definitely not America. And if you want to hear something even sadder (more sad?): I haven't had any working light fixtures in any of the rooms of my apartment since I've moved in, in the middle of Jan. I have electricity, just no light fixtures in the ceiling. So I have to carry this lamp with me from room to room and plug it into the outlets. I carry it from the bedroom, to the bathroom, to the kitchen and the living room. Pretty sad, eh? It's just me and my lamp. I don't even have a television yet! I must say, though, I've gotten a lot of reading done and listened to a lot of music. But I'm happy to report that I got my computer cable back up today, and my light fixtures will be fixed on Sat. and hopefully I'll be getting a tv with working cable tomorrow. I'm guessing my lamp will start to get lonely once everything starts to work properly. We've gotten rather attached....

I don't really crave meat anymore, but living in Cayman, there are tons of outdoor restraunts around here that smell incredible. Jerk chicken is THE food down here. However, there a lot of wild chickens that run around here. I feed seeds and bread to several of them that live in my backyard. Now everytime I even look at a piece of chicken in the grocery store or on someones plate I get so repulsed. And don't even get me started on the the beef! It's like, every time I even look at an animal product now I just think of dead bodies lying there in the freezer case or on someone's plate. Everytime I look at an egg, I think of baby chicks being ground up alive as a byproduct of the industry. Well, you get the idea....