DesmondMajestic

Thanks all for your comments. I'm still learning and trying to figure out how to proceed, but I'll be here often.

I am coming into this with an open mind. I know too many healthy vegans to think that animal protein is required for healthy living. I only asked about the steroids because every vegan person I've ever seen is incredibly fit and cut, but doesn't have huge bulk across the chest. There are a few people in the gallery that cross that mental line for me. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt though. I agonized on how to ask it so as not to insult anyone. I will tell you that "Common Knowledge" is very strong and persistant in this regard. "Protein or Death" combines with "Soy will give you boobs because of the estrogen and shrink your brain" to provide a very high hill to climb. I'm a born skeptic, and believe nothing until I verify it myself, so I don't believe either of those two statements. But neither did I initially believe the "Soy as panacaea" and "Vegan or death" statements that I've heard from other places. Combine that with the fact that for whatever reason, I always incorrectly associated veganism with caloric restriction, and every CR person I've seen is thin as a rail, you can understand some doubt. I'm still learning, and may not be fully vegan for a few weeks, but I'll be converting a meal at a time. Thanks everyone. Oh, and for the record, that's not bismarck, it's Major General Sir Joseph Phillips in 1906, the result of a random search for "Admiral Desmond" on images.google, which I have used as my avatar for a long time. Trust me, he's alot better looking than me.

The trainer I'm about to start working with recommends "The Zone" for his clients as an easy program. I went and bought "The Soy Zone" thinking I might go vegan as well, which is something I've been pondering for a while. Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this?

Hi, all. Newbie here and long time carnivore and fat guy. So I'm coming at this question from a standpoint of ignorance. I have a carnivorous bodybuilding friend who has gotten great results. Of course, he's an opinionated jerk as well. I showed him some of the images from the gallery and he said two things. First, which I think he's full of crap, is that nobody could get that large without animal protein. Again, I know that's not true. Second, and more delicately, is that a few of the people could never have gotten that large without the help of a steroid. One guy in particular, who I won't name because I don't want to call someone out. I make no value judgements on steroids, make no accusations, and realize that being animal based, steroids aren't likely vegan. But, can you give me some ammo I can go back to this guy and say "Yes you can"?

Greetings all, long term carnivorous fat guy looking to make a major change in the new year here. In 1987 I was 6 foot tall and 135lbs. Yes, really. No muscle mass at all. Today I'm 6 foot tall and 300lbs. Yes, really. 36 year old husband and father of three in Cincinnati Ohio, still in a blue funk after my bengals, and my quarterback, got eliminated sunday. I've got a personal trainer I'm going to be working with shortly with the goal of building muscle mass, endurance and especially core strength and flexibility. I'm pondering going whole tofu hog and going full vegan as well. For the record, I am a carnivore. I am contemplating a vegan diet purely for health reasons. My personal belief system have no ethical problems with the consumption of meat and animal products. I understand that people do, and I don't have a problem with that. I cling to the middle ground in conversations. I love that people have differing opinions. I won't be standing on a soap box shouting my views, and from what I've gathered while lurking here, I don't see anyone else shouting the ethical side of it. That said, I do have several questions, but I'll post them separately, as they don't belong in Introductions.