michaelhobson

Wish we had papa johns in Toronto. I luv pizza. Had Papa John's last weekend! Yummy!

All hail Richard, the "awesome" vegan from England. Welcome to the board mate!

No worries Ronnie! You're not being pushy, I asked for your thoughts and appreciate your opinion. Unfortunately, most places have their fair share of the kind of people you mention. It's especially bad on college campuses! Maybe worse in Texas? Are you on a campus? Or, just surrounded by idiots? I'm sure Jonathan and I aren't the only two moderate drinkers in the world. Sounds like you need some new friends. I'm sure we would get along fine with you. I certainly wouldn't harass anyone to drink who doesn't want to and I'd rather hang out with straightedge kids than drunken rednecks anyday. I don't really see it as any hardship to go without beer. I didn't drink a drop for the first 30 years of my life. Even now I don't drink if I'm training the next day, which eliminates 4 days out of the week already. It's really not much different than going without soy ice cream or some such thing. I may not have it for a couple of weeks and then I'll remember it and think "hmm, that would be nice tonight." In both cases, it's even better if you have a friend to share it with.

Well, I meant the drive there. Maybe you live in the city and don't need to drive? I hope so, that is what I am working toward. It was just an example really, driving anywhere on a summer evening means taking hundreds of lives, but I don't see many vegans complaining about it.

You really have to be careful of "vegetarian" sections, especially in Chinese restaurants. I remember one in the window of a shop in England recently that had what looked to be a nice vegetarian selection. Unfortunately, the first item in the list was Mixed Vegetables in Oyster Sauce!!!!!!! WTF! I have also seen the same on many US Chinese menus!

I couldnt disagree more. It is better to remove support for these environment destroying, human rights abusing, animal murdering multinationals ALTOGETHER. And its not hard to do so either, in my opinion. C'mon people if you can go vegan you can do almost anything in my opinion!!! I'm curious! Where is it that you are buying your food that isn't supporting the same types of companies? Personally I would like to see more and more vegan food available at the places most people eat. I would like for it to be easy for people to choose vegan food. That simply will not happen if restaurants offer vegan options and nobody buys them. You can burn down all the McDonald's if you want. People will get their burgers elsewhere. Much more effective to offer them tasty vegan options and show them how easy it really is to be vegan. I would say if you want your vegan Big Mac for dinner, go get it. Maybe next time you go there will be a vegan burger because enough people were requesting vegan food. It sounds crazy, but it did happen at Burger King. In fact it's happening at restaurants all over the country and has resulted in more people choosing vegetarian meals than all of the boycots worldwide from 20 hardcore vegans.

I have had the pleasure of sharing a couple of pints of beer with Jonathan. I remember the good times quite clearly and have never been drunk. On one occassion we even had a couple of our straightedge friends along to the pub and they enjoyed themselves as well. I have to agree too with Jonathan's take on moderation. I rarely have more than two drinks in a day and usually no more than 2-4 drinks in a week. It's not unusual at all to go weeks at a time with no alcohol. It's unfortunate that so many of you seem to only associate with a bunch of drunken morons. I hope your social circles will expand in a positive way. As far as beer tasting like piss? Since you are in the U.S., I will assume you have had things like Budweiser, Coors, Miller etc. Am I right? I haven't had the misfortune to consume any of these brands, but would guess from the smell that they are indeed piss in a can! They could no more be compared to real beer than you could compare Foldger's Coffee to a Starbuck's Cappuccino or compare mashed potato flakes from a box to good homemade mashed potatos.

I haven't had a problem with the burritos at Taco Bell. I have in the past had a problem asking for other items with "no beef", which every single time they promptly said "no beans". They still looked at me indisbelief when I clarified for them. Of course, that is when I lived in West Virginia. What did I expect. As far as not supporting Taco Bell? I really don't see the point. One, it's not going to make a difference to them or change anything. Supporting the vegan options has to be at least as effective as boycotting. Two, the food you buy anywhere else is supporting meat selling businesses as well.

Hey, you look just like this guy I met in England. Thanks for the intro Felix! I had no idea you are working on your Masters Thesis and are so involved in activism. Very impressive! So many brilliant vegans I have met this summer, I shall have to try and keep up.

First, I think our viewpoints are about the same about other species. However, we all draw our line in the sand every day. Have you ever been out to a movie on a summer evening? I would guess at a minimum several hundred bugs ended their life on the front of your car. Was it worth taking all those lives to see a movie? Maybe we shouldn't see movies? Maybe we shouldn't go hiking, no chance then to have to kill a tick. Maybe we shouldn't help needy animals, no chance to ever have to kill fleas then? As humans we have a conscience and decisions to make. As vegans we make the best choices we can every day. Nat, I don't think moving out of an infested house and running away from the situation solves the problem. If you stayed and allowed all the rest of the creatures to stay with you, that would make more sense. Moving out means just as certain death, via the next tenant, as it would by calling the exterminator. And if you own a home, just moving out really isn't an option. If you are poor, just moving out isn't an option. Just for the record, I hate exterminators and would only use them as a last resort for any creature.

I have to agree with all of the above Brendan. I do consume alcohol, but don't understand the binge drinking culture. Drinking until you puke or end up in the hospital is just plain stupid! I don't think it compares at all to having a pint of ale with friends or a nice wine with dinner. I don't "get the thrill in drinking" either. However, I do enjoy exploring the hundreds of different ales and wines out there. I'm curious why most of you in this thread think that is such a bad idea. Or, do you just think it's a bad idea for yourselves? Just curious about your motivations everyone. I never drank for the first 30 years of my life, then one day I couldn't remember why that was important to me. So, I decided to give it a try. I have never smoked or used drugs of any kind.

I'm thinking about getting a vegan bodybuilding and fitness table going for the Charlottesville vegetarian festival in September. http://www.cvillevegfest.org/ Maybe you could make it down for that? Or, are you still going to do the weekend personal trainer school?

ET is good, I'm in there 2-3 times per week. I buy Builder's Bars, Nutribiotic Rice Protein, Vegan Chicken Salad sandwiches, bagels, soy coffee creamer, and of course vegan cakes of all varieties. My girlfriend only lives about 8 blocks away, sometimes we walk there in the evening for a treat. My favorite cake is chocolate with white frosting and chocolate chips on top. Yum.

Great to see you over here Felix!

I disagree with your take on humans. We have just as much right to exist and live here as any other creature. I think the problem is lumping them all in together rather than seeing humans as individuals. I bet the same would happen if you lumped all bugs together. If 1 cockroach showed up in your kitchen, you might like me, just take it outside and let it go. Now if 1,000 showed up? I'd be on the phone with the exterminator in no time and you probably would too. I don't think there is anything more wrong with humans than other creatures. There are just too many of us in too little space.

Nice pic Daywalker. You've got more muscles in your back than I have in my entire body!

Yeah!!! Another weight lifting vegan working on being huge! Welcome!

Welcome to the board Bighead. Love the name.

Um, gotta go a little farther back than that. Straightedge grew out of the DC hardcore scene in the early 80's. Ever heard of Minor Threat? Ian Mackaye? They even coined the term with their song "I've got straightedge".

You may want to try adding a fruit and protein smoothie or a couple of Builder's Bars to your daily diet. Both are easy ways to pack in come calories and protein. The lack of energy seems like a clear case of lack of calories and/or protein. Good news is it's easy to fix. Of course, don't forget healthy carbs. Last summer when I was doing the level of cardio you are, I made sure to get about 500 grams of carbs per day just to maintain my weight and energy levels. Pump up the calories and let us know how it works out.

Hello, welcome to the board. I completed a couple of sprint triathlons last summer, great fun really. Notice I said "compLeted", not "competed" as I'm pretty slow. Good luck with your pursuits and let us know how it works out. Rob (founder of this site) will be featured in an upcoming documentary with Brendan Brazier(pro vegan triathlete) coming out later this year. I have moved on to powerlifting and bodybuilding and gained 30 pounds since last summer's triathlons. Onward and Upward as I want to put on another 15-20 pounds this year. Let us know how your training is progressing.

It was cool meeting you at the festival Renee! It's always fun when online personalities come to life. I bought Erik's book too, but haven't started reading it yet. He gave a nice talk and I agreed with everything he had to say, looking forward to the book.

Panda Veg, vegan chinese and japanese here in Richmond. All you can eat buffet every Friday, Saturday and Sunday!!! Soups, white rice, fried rice, spring rolls, chick'n nuggets, mock general tsos chicken, braised tofu, mock beef and broccoli, mock chicken and mixed veg, donuts!, sushi and watermelon!!! That is the typical offering, sometimes the chef gets inspired and starts sending out tempura, mock duck and more exotic dishes. Love that place!!!!! You just about have to roll my stuffed self out the door!

Jonathan! Should have known you would find this thread and trample all our times. You dirty b!@##$%!

Did a little better last night at the park 1:09. That's 14 seconds better than my first attempt and 14 more seconds of agony!