Kathryn

Often, 'non-smelly' gas is produced by ingesting air: eating with one's mouth open, chewing gum, drinking through a straw, guzzling food down. The smelly stuff is caused by bacteria having a field day with stuff in the digestive tract. Could you maybe be swallowing too much air? I personally found that soy-protein-based smoothies were what was giving me extra gas, and when I changed to rice/pea and the vega, I didn't have the problem. It's normal to pass a certain amount of gas (something around 13 times per day? also measurable in gallons, but I forget how many: 1-2), and John Robbins has said it can help prevent colon cancer (not so sure about that one myself). If it's not smelly, then I assume it's the sound that's the problem? If so, try to relax rather than clench up and work against it. (Oh, my, I'm giving FART ADVICE!)

Cold cereal may be made from whole grains, but they are usually made from the flour of those grains, and are more quickly and easily digested than actual 'whole grain' cereals would be. I could probably go through 1/2 a box of cold cereal (the same a 1/2 a bag of potato chips!) and not feel full.

I think part of it is just what one is used to seeing. If most of what you see are technically overweight or even obese people, then people of a healthy slim build look 'too thin." Back in the 70's (which I know you remember, as I do!) there were a lot of slim people, some heavier people, but not the scores of really overweight people there are today. And slim people didn't get razed for being 'too thin' (of course, the press given to eating disorders and such may make some more apt to see any deviation from the norm as the sign of a disorder). I'll tell you, even on a 'feeling bloaty' day, when I go to my local Walmart, I feel sleek and slim and buff (from the contrast with the average customer).

{{{{{K-oz}}}}} Hugs to you! Believe me, I've had days like that a plenty, especially since, with the exception of a few years here and there, I've never lived in a particularly vegan-friendly location. I think I'm probably one of two vegans in town, and most of the 'vegetarians' I've met in the last few years are the 'chicken/fish-eating' kinds of "vegetarians" (as in, NOT!). I used to get a feeling of not being totally alone by reading Vegetarian Times magazine (back in the 'old days,' when there was a lot more animal rights stuff in it, and it wasn't so much a glorified recipe magazine) and books. Being able to be more in contact with other vegans is wonderful! Especially on a day when you feel like you're the only one in existence.

I also find that some people seem to feel the need to reinforce what they are doing, so they can still see it as 'normal.' We used to have a secretary who always seemed to bring up some meaty, bacony recipe talk at lunchtime (I never imposed my ideas on her, nor do I talk about veganism at lunch--unless I'm with supportive people who bring it up in a non-confrontative way, like a couple of colleagues now do). It's almost like the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' she got from other omni's reinforced both her and their food behaviors, and made mine seem like something abnormal.

I think quite a few non-vegans feel that way. No, it doesn't make sense (more 'extreme' is eating a diet that causes you to have to go through bypass surgery, or eating animals' internal organs, but 'they' don't see it that way).

I was talking to another professor once (we had a tentative date set) and he mentioned going out to eat. I said I was a vegan, and he replied that my then department chair had mentioned that I was a "radical" vegan or something to that effect (it was a few years ago). I didn't ask if the "radical" came from the dept chair's description, or from the faculty member, but I have a feeling that whoever used it would use it to describe anyone who was vegan (as if the concept of 'vegan' itself is a radical idea). (We never went on that date, for reasons other than this!)

Actually, aren't these known as 'decline' crunches (they are in every book I have). "Incline" crunches wouldn't be too useful (unless you're talking about lower abs) because your head would be higher than your legs and crunching wouldn't work against gravity.

Just the plain and a cranberry combo (something like 80-95% kombucha and the rest cranberry juice). I just discovered it last weekend, so maybe there are other flavors available that I didn't notice.

Call me strange if you will, but sometimes when I smell skunk from a distance, it doesn't smell bad, but kind of musky and appealing. Now, that's from a distance: as I get closer, it goes from appealing to appalling. (though still maybe better than some men's aftershave or women's perfume I've smelled!)

That is one Thansgiving food I've always liked. Just something yummy about the spice combo and the veggies in it. In addition to the regular celery and onions and spices, I like to add sunflower seeds and chopped apples to a recipe. As for wheat free, you can find wheat free bread in health food stores (flavors and textures vary), or maybe use cornbread or a grain as a base instead of bread crumbs.

That's a good plan! I often use Thanksgiving week as a detox week and do some kind of cleanse. I also can't stand the idea of a holiday that reaks of the exploitation of native peoples and the massacre of millions (billions?) of turkeys.

Anyone here try raw kombucha (a japanese tea,, fermented). I just bought some of GT's Kombucha the other day for the first time. It's quite interesting. There are threads of living something in the bottom of the bottle , and when I opened the bottle, there was a FFFFT sound, like when you open a bottle of beer, and it had a slightly alcoholic taste (I was worried about drinking it driving home from the store 45 minutes away where I bought it, because I have maybe one alcoholic drink a year ---at most!---and didn't want to be drunk driving and be pulled over for open bottle!...but the label said it had less than .5 percent of alcohol). It actually reminded me of "cidre brut," a mildly alcoholic apple cider that I used to get when I lived in France for a year (and didn't realize until I'd been drinking it for a while that it had some alcohol content). Anybody know if you can make it on your own (yes, I can brew tea, but this is more than that: there is some kind of fermentation process going on). If not, I think I may end up ordering a case of it, as I liked the taste, and it is supposed to have a lot of health benefits (see info at www.gtskombucha.com ).

I agree. How people even think of doing that is beyond me. (And who knows, the next person to use the rest room might be a fellow vegan who's just stopping in like you are because they have to use the facilities and nothing else is available.)

I used to get the "if you're ill, it must be because you're a veg*n" crap once in a while. But I haven't heard it for a while. Strange how eaters of the SAD are quick to blame veg*nism for every little illness, but they often can't see how they are digging their way to a future of cardiovascular problems, cancers and diabetes with their lifestyles.

Eww! One of my students had a drunken roomate (imagine that, drunken students on campus! ) who walked over to their desk and peed on it!

I've always thought they were 'almost cute," like they'd be cute if their noses weren't so bare and, especially, if they had some hair on their tails (in these photos, you can't see the bare, rat-like tail, which is probably the most unattractive feature of the critter).

I used to have them visit my front porch rather frequently (I live in a small town, and there used to be a kind of woodsy area about a block away, and lots of trees---the people who lived there have now hacked down a lot of the trees, so the raccoons and possums and other critters are no longer around that much any more ). I have come out at times to find one snooping around my front porch, then suddenly just freezing, as if s/he's thinking "If I don't move, she won't see me!" One tip on Possums: if you see one hit in the road, stop if you can to check and see if there are any babies in a pouch. Possums (also known as Opossums) are marsupials, and oftentimes mothers can get hit by cars and die, but the babies are still alive in the pouch). Then take them to a wildlife rehab place to be cared for.

Yummy! Miso is sooo good in the winter. The only change I would make to the recipe is not boiling the miso. You should always add miso after the soup stock has finished whatever boiling it has to do, mix the miso with a bit of room temp water to smooth it out, then add to the soup stock (after taking it off the stove). Boiling miso destroys the enzymes in it and the live cultures.

The berry and chocolate big tubs have 15 two-scoop servings in, while the natural flavor has 17 servings.

I don't remember "Our Miss Brooks," but I do remember "Dobbie Gillis" and Maynard G. Krebbs! I'm 49 (going on 50! in February). I can't stop growing older, but I refuse to grow up!

I posted this earlier in the Women's Health section, but no one responded, so I'm trying again here, to see in anyone else has heard of this (to confirm or refute): I was in the health food store the other day, browsing through the book section, and in a book on detoxing, there was info on using wheat grass juice to detox, along with a statement that women shouldn't take the quantity suggested for detoxing because it can cause hormonal imbalances (no references or other info was given). Anybody heard of this before? It's news to me.

You could try more difficult push-up variations to add to your repertoire: Plyo push-ups (like clap push-ups without the clap) 1-arm push-ups (make sure feet are spread wide for balance) Dive-bomber push-ups (start in almost a 'downward dog' yoga position, then pretend that you are scooping under a fence and end up in 'upward dog' then reverse the way you came. Decline push-ups. Triangle push-ups (hands close together, so thumbs of both hands are touching, and the fingers form a triangle shape, with elbows out to the side). Push-ups with one or both hands on a medecine ball or both hands on a stability ball. (And using a stability ball ---a burst resistant one!--for dumbbell presses and flyes makes them more difficult by calling on stabilizing muscles more, especially if you do each side separately).

On another thread, someone mentioned that a reason a lot of bodybuilders scarf down chocolate before a pose down is because it is a good vasodialator. Is this because of the cocoa? the cocoa butter? the combo of those two and a sweetener? And if it's the cocoa (maybe in combo with some form of sugar), then would a chocolate soy or rice milk be a good pre-workout drink, that would help the body transport more nutrients (blood and oxygen) to the working muscles and remove metabolic waste products (like lactic acid) because vasodialation would improve circulation. Or not?

Usually with a DEXA scan (Dexa stands for something), which looks kind of like an MRI machine, but it scans your whole body with a very low level x-ray.