Let me preface by saying that I'm glad I found resources connected with becoming strong while sticking with your ethics. I am sure many people here were tired at one point of hearing "Where do you get your protein", followed by "You'll turn into a twig". This isn't a problem for me because I was already pretty skinny ("Scrawny" if you're an asshole) before I went vegan close to a year ago. I joined this forum for help with getting into weight training and making progress in looking and becoming physically stronger. I'm not really interested in bulking up like Arnold or anything, just to get in very fit shape. The only questions I have so far are: 1) when's the best time to take a protein supplement? and 2) Is there a big advantage between choosing free weights over weight machines? There's a gym at my school and I've mostly been using the machines so far, because there's less of a risk of me performing the exercise wrong and hurting myself.