Kathryn

Congratulations on your progress! You could work on negative push-ups. Do as many as you can on your toes, then do a few more reps by going to your knees at the bottom, pushing up from the knee position, then going to plank at the top and slowly lowering with straight legs. Or do as many as you can on toes, then take a break (maybe a minute), then do more on your toes, another break, etc., until you make your desired total. Try to push yourself to get just one more rep in the early sets each time you do it. I don't know if it might be better not to do them so often, as doing them 2-3 times a day might not give you enough recovery time so the muscles can get stronger.

Ginger is also good for nausea, morning sickness and motion sickness. I like candied ginger (I brush off some of the sugar, because I really don't want much, but it makes the ginger easier to tolerate). I'm pretty sure it's not raw, though. You could maybe grate raw ginger, and add fresh-squeezed lemon and some raw agave nectar, and 'steep' it in warm water (not hotter than around 118%) to make a raw 'tea.' Just a thought.

I was wondering why anyone would prefer soy to hemp. Glad to see you're on the right track, LOL!

#2 plastics aren't non-leaching (see above), which makes it a good idea to avoid water that comes in it.

Thank you all for your kind words, and for sharing a bit of Scooter's life with me. My wish for anyone with an animal companion is that they go the way Scooter did: on their own time, after a well-lived, well-loved life..

I hope you're kidding. One reason I don't have any stronger pro-veg messages on my car (besides my NML LIB1 license plate, which most people can't figure out anyway!) is that I'm afraid some redneck animal hater will key my car or puncture my tires.

I was in a parking lot several weeks ago, and saw the words "vegetarian" on a bumper sticker on a truck. Thought "ah, a person after my own heart. Cool!" As I got closer, I saw it was one of those "Vegetarian: old Native American term for 'lousy hunter" ones. Or how about the "I LOVE ANIMALS...they taste good" stickers?

Yeaaaaa...... yea that comment was quite ridicolous So, she's willing to be eaten by a Mountain lion? Or a shark?

I didn't check the link, but if this is unhulled hemp, be aware that it is irradiated (whole hemp seeds can't come into the US without being rendered sterile, and irradiation is what is used for it). If they are hulled, then never mind!

I think it's good to go easy on caffeine, as it is an artifical stimulant. As for coffee itself, ít contains other ingredients besides caffeine that may be even worse. There is some kind of acid (I'll have to check the info on this) contained in coffee, chocolate, carbonated beverages and alcoholic beverages that adversely affects the intestines, especially the mucus membranes and the areas of the intenstines that are associated with the immune system---a large part of the immune system is tied to cells in the intestines). My acupuncturist/Chinese medicine doctor recommends to all his patients to avoid the above substances when they are in the process of healing. I 'gave up' all of them for a while, but since I didn't consume coffee or alcohol, and only occasionally had a carbonated beverage from the health food store, it wasn't too hard, LOL! Now, chocolate was another story. I was able to give that up for a few months, but I don't avoid it now. There may be more info about this aspect of coffee on sites dedicated to Chinese medicine.

My tap water is horrible, and I refuse to drink it. I used to buy bottled water, but for Christmas this year, I bought myself a distiller system (Waterwise) and have been drinking distilled water since. I've read a bit about water, and home-processed distilled seems the best way to go, IMO. As for water in bottles. Definitely avoid the #2 bottles, as they leach pretty badly (the water in them will actually taste somewhat plasticy). Best, in order of preference, are Polycarbonate (I don't think you can buy water in this type of plastic, but if you have a distiller or filter, it's best to store water in stainless steel, glass, or this type of plastic. You can often polycarbonate containers for sale (near the water section) in grocery stores.) Next best plastic is #1, then #3.

Yesterday, my cat Scooter, a 16-year-old diabetic who was 'knocking on Heaven's door' (a song that I most appropriately heard just last week), for the past 6 months or so, finally got an answer to his knock and passed away yesterday, sometime between 4 and 6 a.m. central time, Tuesday morning. It's bitter-sweet, because though I will miss him, he'd definitely used up his body to the very last, like a loved old shirt that you wear until there's nothing left but rags (and he had a great life he'd gotten down to looking like a skeleton with a very thin, ratty fur coat on), he didn't seem to be suffering, and he died a natural death, at home, in bed with me during the night, and I didn't have to make the decision to euthanize (though after he woke me up with a strange 'preparation to a hairball' cough every 40 seconds or so for an hour, I had decided that it would be his last day, no matter what, and was prepared to go to the vet for one purpose or another--either for euthanasia, or to deliver a body for cremation). The last 6-9 months of his life I think were fueled mostly from sheer willpower and love: that feeble little body couldn't make it on its own without an aweful lot of both. Instead of dwelling on his death, I'd like to share some happy thoughts from his life (which I've mostly posted to my friends on VF as well). How we met: Scooter was a stray kitten--just a few months old--that was visiting the neighbors of a friend of mine (who lived just a block away). The family he was visiting couldn't take care of him (living in a slummy rental house, with numerous kids, the youngest of which was wearing diapers that were way overripe) so she suggested that I take him, so I did (it didn't take too much convincing). Scooter looked like a smaller version of a Main Coon cat (the brown and black ones) and the first time I saw a photo of a Maine Coon, I was amazed at the ressemblances between this 'cat off the streets' and a fancy breed. I have a beautiful picture of him on the front porch, sitting down with his front paws off the edge of the porch, and his full mane (which he had in his prime) fluffed out. His first days: From the beginning, he wanted to be 'just like his big brother Frisco,' who considered him to be a pesky little brat. (He got his name partly because he had to keep 'scooting' out of Frisco's way when F. tried to smack him!) I have a photo of them both at the front door of my old appartment, standing up with their front paws on the wooden bottom of the screen door. Scooter was about half the size of Frisco then (but ended up being almost as big). What he loved: Scooter loved to play "toss" with plastic rings from the top of gallon water bottles. (I call it 'toss' instead of 'fetch' because it seemed like I was doing most of the work at times, because as the game developed, he would bring it back and drop it about 4 feet away from me, so I had to go after it.) He also loved to be brushed. Whenever he heard the word, 'brush,' he would come running. So I started spelling it rather than saying it (and I think he finally figured that out as well.) Luckily, I don't think the friends I talked to on the phone thought I was too crazy when I said things like "I have to pick up a new b-r-u-s-h," and only the cats were around when I would mumble to myself during repainting of my kitchen "now where did I put that b-r-u-s-h?") Scooter was a snuggler. Especially after Frisco's death, he would sleep with me every night, usually all night, and want to be right in my arms. When I turned on my left side, he'd position himself so we were 'spooning.' When I turned over, he'd walk around me, or over me (in later years, sometimes over my head!) to get into the same position on the other side). In the last few months, he often followed me from room to room. Scooter was my loyal workout buddy (until he got older and weaker). I work out at home, and there are many times when he would do 'floor work' with me, trying to get into his 'snuggling' position from bed, which worked alright until I had to change exercises or move my upper body! Or he would try to wash my ears while I was doing crunches. Once, he even jumped onto my chest (pretty flat when I'm lying down) while I was in the middle of a set of chest flyes while doing a workout! When he wasn't joining me in a workout, he would sometimes nap nearby, sometimes using a dumbell as a pillow. I will miss him, but my other kitties are doing their best to make his passing not so hard. Bobsie (who washed his head every morning, and gave him a 'washie' while he was lying in bed that night--that's the one thing that brings tears to my eyes about the whole thing...her washing his head while he was passing on) keeps bringing me her 'fishing' toy (actually, she has 3 of exactly the same toy, so there's always one she can find!) to play with. And Rascal has been sleeping with me more than usual, starting with the night/morning of Scooter's passing. One odd thing is that I'm still so used to giving Scooter his insuliin shots 2x/day that when 8:30 a.m. or p.m. comes around, I feel like there is 'something I have to do.' Even now, I keep lookiing at my computer clock to see if it's 8:30 yet (I also feed all the cats at that time, but I don't need to, because they still have food in their bowls). Thanks for listening, and sharing a bit of his life with me.

I didn't notice that! It's much more important to work chest and back than shoulders and arms (though you should work the entire body). By working chest, you also work front delts and triceps as assisting muscles. Working back also works biceps and rear shoulder. Some advanced weight-training programs focus on big muscles like legs, chest and back and do very few exercises for shoulders and arms.

Some thoughts: Lower abs are sometimes hard to see progress on for women, because that's where most of us store any excess fat. Any extra fat may cause a 'pooch' in this area. (I can't get flat abs without getting to a bodyfat percentage that also gives me a bony chest, so I chose a non-body chest with a bit of a pooch!) Also, the lower abdominal region is wher the transverse abdominals are. These muscles act like a girdle to hold in the internal organs. They are not well worked with traditional ab exercises, but are called into play for stabilization, like when holding the body still while the arms and legs are moving (one exercise that work them, called the 'dead bug' has you lie on your back and hold a neutral ab posture while moving arms and legs. Other exercises that call them into play are planks, and exercises using a stability ball, like pikes). Also, some lower ab 'pooches''can be due to bad posture. When you start training, you can go with longer rotations, because your body won't adapt as quickly, and adding weight will be enough of a change for a while. But as you progress, you may have to switch up your routine every 4-6 weeks (for some people, it can be longer or shorter, YMMV). If you haven't increased weight by now, you most certainly should. When you start training, doing 2-3 full-body workouts a week is a good idea, to help the body adapt to the work. But, again, as you progress, a split routine (first upper body/lower body, then a three-day split, for example) will allow you to lift more for each body part and put more into your workouts, thus leading to better gains. Don't be afraid of gettíng 'huge muscles." That's a combination of workload, genetics (most women don't have the testosterone to get really big, and if they do, they look rather manly even when they don't workout), and, often, supplements like growth hormone or steroids. If you feel you are getting too 'bulky' for your tastes, you can always do more cardio or cut back on the weights. But you may bulk a bit more than you want at first, because you are adding muscle to any fat that is on you, and not reducing fat right away. Strength training is to build strength (how much you can lift). And usually you do fewer reps with heavier weights, longer rests. Body building is training for a certain look. You do more sets, strive for failure on most sets, and do more exercise per body part. (The Encyclopedia of Muscle and Strength by Jim Stoppani explains the different training protocols for both). After a workout, it's best to refuel as quickly as possible with something easily digested that has a 4-to-1 carb to protein ratio. The carbs help the body go from breaking-down to building-up mode. A smoothie is one idea. Then, maybe an hour or two later, have a meal with a higher protein content.

I've seen "cholesterol free" labels on bananas! It is rather ridiculous! (Why not also put "no artificial flavors or colors" on fruit?) Silliness!

Hemp can be imported to the US only in non-viable form, so seeds have to be shelled or irradiated (if you get whole, unhulled seeds, they are always irradiated) so they won't grow. Which is why things like prepared hemp products, hemp fiber, etc. can be imported to the US, but we still can't grow hemp. It's all due to this lumping in hemp with cannabis (which this film does to a certain extent as well), so people immediately associate hemp with getting stoned (and Woody Harrelson, who is a hemp advocate and seems like a stoner as well, doesn't do much to change that image!). I still think that legalized hemp production would do a lot towards helping with many of our economic and environmental problems. And if we could grow hemp for fuel, we could be close to energy independance (and not have a president who feels compelled to invade other countries to control their oil).

Well, women store fat in their lower abs and hips in order to it ready in case they need it during pregnanacy.

Well, it could be just a way of selling their product (seems like most people are more interested in 'losing weight' than 'being healthy'). But perhaps it's because if you have sufficient enzymes, and food is broken down more efficiently, you can absorb micronutrients better, and your body is satisfied with less food (high nutrient value obtained from fewer calories) so you actually end up eating fewer calories overall.

Soaking and rinsing nuts (germinating them) increases nutrition somewhat the way sprouting does. It reduces enzymes inhibitors that are washed away with the soak water, and increases the activity of enzymes to make the fat and protein more digestible.

Yes. I always look for a "100% man-made materials" or "fabric upper, balance man-made materials." I find a lot of vegan shoe stores have some of the ugliest shoes I've ever seen! Often, it's easier to find nicer looking shoes in other stores. I've found non-leather shoes by Reebok, New Balance, Ryka, Avia and others (and I have a soft spot for Avia, because when I was looking for a pair of non-leather workout shoes years ago, the salesman who was helping me was the first one not to make some snide comment like "You mean PLASTIC?" or to actually know what I was looking for and tell me how the non-leather was actually superior to leather in some ways). Sorry, I'm not sure about Converse.

And probably a lot of BS companies will label their products as "X does not conduct animal testing," meaning that their company doesn't do it directly (though they may pay someone else to do it). Why can't people get the picture that animal testing is such a primitive and unnecessary way of testing things? It just doesn't seem like something we should be even considering in the 21st century.

I get organic as much as possible, but I can't say I'm an "organic vegan" because I'm not 100% or mostly. I'd call myself primarily a "whole-foods vegan" (a choice you didn't list) and in summer a "high-raw whole-foods vegan" (at least that's what I'm hoping for, I did it last summer and it worked out quite nicely).

Eat To Live is a vegan program by Dr. Fuhrman that is not just for weight loss, but for health. That might fit the bill. You might also want to check out Ediets. They have a number of programs available (including Weight Watchers, perhaps), and you can choose your dietary preferences. Joining for a month can get you on track, and provide you with recipes and meal plans and motivation to keep you going.

Im not sure, but at her 50th birthday bash, she served veal, lobster and foie gras, about the most cruel animal products you can think of. Oprah is the devil in disguise.