Thanks to all of you for your warm welcome. I didn't know you were a friend of Brendan Brazier, that's pretty awesome. The advice in his book really helped me reach a higher level of fitness (I even seriously considered going back to vegetarianism for a while). I'll be the first in line to buy his new book (is that the recipe book he mentions in Thrive?). Let me know next time you come to Sac, and we'll go eat some place. Quick bio. When I was 18, I got a heart accident. No doctor could diagnose what it was (I got several totally different answers from 3 different specialists after a week spent at the hospital doing weird tests). That was until one of them told me You should try to eat more vegetables, which I did. After which I decided since vegetables and fruits made me feel so much better I would cut down on meat/fish, then gradually cut down on dairy until I realized I was vegan and feeling good. However, I really had no endurance whatsoever, totally unable to do the least amount of effort. Until 2 1/2 years ago, same thing: another heart accident (I've always been skinny, at the time I weighed 105 lbs for 5'6"). Since doctors seemed unable to find anything wrong with me, telling me that I was healthy, I decided to take my destiny into my own hands. I started reading a lot of material on how to make your cardiovascular endurance better (all that fun stuff about METS) , how to exercise for strength rather than looks (plyometrics...), and realized that the people who train for overall body strength and power are gymnasts, yogi, martial artists... My ultimate goal really being to have a strong foundation, being able to perform with my body (no, I still can't do handstand pushups without lying against a wall, but I'm getting there), which I found out not too long ago is the basic idea behind parkour. Hence my growing interest in that sport. My compassionate vegan side has also been growing (I try to live as vegan as my budget allows), but I know that the only way to convince people is the health aspect of being veggie. Hope it helped you better understand my motivations and where I come from, Rom
