stcalico

I love the soy milk. But I don't buy it anymore. I figure I get enough soy in other products and I subscribe to moderation. So I buy Almond milk (even tho it has a little less protein).

Wow. Your life sounds like a bit of a rollercoaster ride... not bad, but does sound like a rollercoaster compared to my somewhat 'uneventful' life. Welcome. I'm out in Langley BC. I love Squamish... if I had an opportunity I would move there in a heartbeat.

I'm more into health and being strong/fit than 'building' so I don't worry about protein as much as many here. I might supplement once a week with VegaOne (meal replacement) or a power bar here and there for breakfast just cuz they are fast and easy, but that's about it. I get less than 50g of protein per day and still make strength gains. I'm not unhappy with my progress. Not sure what you mean by that, but proteins are broken down by digestion into amino acids. Protein=amino acids. You will need to eat a variety of foods to make sure you are getting all essential amino acids.

Nuts are good because you do want to have some healthy fats in your diet.. there is such a thing as not getting enough fat. But there is always oils, avacodos, olives, seeds, milks, and tofu that have fat in them. You will just have to make sure to include some of them in your diet daily. As for protein, nuts are one source, but there are many other plant based sources too. You need to eat a variety. Here is a chartthat shows protein content of plant foods (and an egg - bleh). It sounds like your trainer is not terribly well versed in nutrition, so I would not count on him for that type of advice. In fact I would probably not stick with a trainer like that myself... I would want someone a bit more knowledgeable on plant foods and how best to incorporate them to meet my goals.

You look fabulous. (you do in your before too). And I love the new hair colour. Good to hear you are getting such great results. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

The article made sense to me. Many studies have been done that show no difference in weight loss based on composition of a diet. (including the ones mentioned in the article). If your compare a group of people on a soda and fast food diet to a group on a plant based diet who are given same number of calories per day, their weight loss would be the same (not saying anything about their health). But of course in real life, intake is not controlled like in a study - people on a fast food plan will likely end up taking in a lot more calories. So from a scientific perspective.. a calorie is a calorie (that's simple physics!). From a real world perspective.. your food choices WILL have an impact on your total calorie intake - whether or not you choose to count those calories. I'm thinking tho, if someone really wants to lose weight.. the olive oil diet would probably be far more effective than Atkins. Bleh. --------------------------------- Ego is the number one enemy of compassion. ~ Buddha

There is a better way.. Google Chrome will translate the whole website for you at once. I just downloaded and installed it. Backbutton seems to not work so well with this feature, so I suggest using 'open in a new tab' for each page you want to look at.

I was looking at the pizza recipe (Tris di Pizze) ... looks yummy. Plugged into Google Translate.. yup, I can read the ingredients perfect. The preparation doesn't translate quite as well, but I'm sure it will suffice.

Not trying to be antagonistic as I suspect this was a 'knee jerk' response. But I do feel this advice could only make sense in a more idealistic/altruistic society. The reality is we are human - we evolved as social beings so most of us at a very deep level have a need/desire for social belonging. As much as many of us would prefer to be surrounded by people who understand our viewpoints and are in agreement with our moral views, the sad truth is at this time vegans (tho growing in number) make up an impressive minority (2% - and not all are 'ethical' vegans). I don't know anyone in real life that has any vegan inclinations. Most of my good friends tell me they could never give up meat.. they like the taste too much. I can only cringe inwardly/block out horrible visions and carry on. I'm not looking to make enemies.. I only want the world to be kinder.. don't know how to do that other than just focusing on myself. (ie. "be the change you want to see in the world").

Apparently number of vegans and vegetarians in US has doubled in last 5 years (mostly in college aged people.. yeah kids!). I suspect the internet allows them to be a little less brain-washed by government and corporations than previous generations. So there is hope. And in this documentary there is a scene (@ 29:30) of a cow who escapes a New York slaughterhouse.. there is overwhelming support by the public to let her live - people were compassionate to her plight. I think people can empathize with the individual, but for some reasons the blinders are on when it comes to the masses... still, the story of Queenie gives me hope that people can open their eyes. But it is sad... I know what you mean. A few thousand more vegetarians compared to the 19000 lives taken per minute in the US hardly seems like cause to rejoice. But you never know.. momentum could build. In the meantime.. I'll just try to stay healthy and set a good example.

Here is an article that specifically talks to your question.

They want to close their eyes and to that end I don't think you can change them. Sadly they are not ready for reality and if you try to push them before they are ready, you will more likely make them dig in their heals in rejection .. it will have opposite effect of what you expect. They will find ways to defend their own position more vehemently. I'm not making that up.. it is some weird psychology phenomenon - moral convictions are always very strong and everyone needs to believe they are 'good people' and will not hear opposing views on that. You may be morally right.. but you will have no friends left and no one to care about how right you are. But I hear you. Animal agriculture is the most significant source of animal suffering in the world today - 60 Billion land animals a year and increasing every year. Dog fighting for thrill of watching/money is one type of pleasure. And tasting good is another sort of pleasure. "Despite what people say about the moral significance of animal interests, most are willing to ignore those interests whenever they benefit from doing so." ~Animal Rights Advocate website. The above not withstanding, I think that the fact that these people care about animal suffering at all offers you a good 'foot in the door' so to speak. And if you are agreeable, and don't push too hard, it is very possible you may over time open their eyes and convert a few (not all) of them to your way of thinking. Sorry you are having a tough time. Change comes slower than we'd all like no doubt.

Nice to meet you Cris. Apparently in the last 5 years the number of Vegans has increased exponentially. The internet is a great tool for educating people. But unfortunately not everyone is ready to change. Welcome. Good luck in reaching your goals.

Calisthen-x looks like fun. I have a wrecked collarbone so can't do dips without pain so I won't be trying it but I wish I could - it looks like it builds some awesome strength. Nice website. I love Google translate. haha. Welcome.

I do plank holds, leg lifts and sit ups maybe 2 times per week. I don't do a complete ab workout, just throw those into my routine now and then. I figure if your abs are sore, leave the situps etc for another day, and if they are not, then go for it.. that's just my opinion tho. Your major lifts will be (should be) working your core - so focus on making sure your abs are tight throughout your lifts.

I would suggest focusing on major muscle lifts before going to isolation exercises like curls and tricep extensions. Go for pulls (deadlifts, pull-ups), squats, and presses (bench, overhead, pushups). You'll get the most bang for your buck there. Wasting your time on isolation exercises at the beginning will give you very little progress or the body changes you are after. Don't worry - the major lifts will work out your arms, so you will see improvements. And if you want, you can throw in isolation exercises at the end of your workout if you still have energy. Some people have had some good success with p90x or other videos like that - you won't need too much equipment. I tried it, but I'm not motivated to work out at home, but if you are content doing your workouts at home, it may work for you and could be a good intro into working out. Good luck.

Try a protein shake now and then. They are calorie dense ... and you can throw in nut butter or avocado and/or flax for additional healthy fats. Not sure that will work (since they are extremely filling imo), but may be worth a shot. 1200-1500 is definitely not enough calories unless you are on a weight loss diet. You are working out too so you should probably be aiming for 1800-2000.

Hello fellow Canadian. The only way to gain is to eat more. And if you don't want that gain to be all fat, then you'll need to lift weights. Go for heavier weights - ie. If you can lift more than 10x, in a set then probably your weights are too light. I like to keep my sets between 6-9 reps and then will switch that up here and there (less or more) just so my body doesn't get too accustomed. Course I'm not a hard core body builder or anything either.. just like to stay strong.

I go by the rules everything in moderation or that too much of anything is bad for you. I think variety is better/safer to make sure you are getting all micronutrients and not getting too much of anything toxic (like in avocados). I do have my staples and favorites tho which I eat fairly regularly (several times a week or a few times a month), but nothing that I really eat every day. I worked with someone once who ate an apple, orange and banana for lunch every day; I seriously doubt I would enjoy that myself, but he felt it kept him healthy. I imagine you would need to make do with less variety if you were impoverished.. but thankfully I'm not at this time.

Tofu is a complete protein (and unlike eggs, it is vegan).. so you could have a tofu scramble. These are the best answers I've found on protein requirements online. I think you need a bit more protein when you first start working out and are building quite fast, but as your gains slow down you will need less protein.. ie. not whole lot more than the average person.

I think it is. I submitted a request for an invite and it took about 24 hours to get 'invited'. That was a bit annoying. Oh and it links into facebook too.. so you have to make sure to set you options so you are not posting all your pins to facebook. Other than those 2 things, it is working for me.

Personally, I'm finding Pinterest an awesome way to 'collect' recipes I find on the internet. I know Pinterest is primarily female based followers, but really it work awesome for collections of things - links with pictures are way better (imo) than just text based bookmarks. To give you an idea, my collection of recipes is here: http://pinterest.com/stcalico/yummy-vegan-recipes/ . Each recipe links to the blog where I got it from. I've been adding comments to the ones I've tried and liked (and deleting the ones I tried and didn't like - hahah) HTH.

I don't work as a lifeguard myself; so during my work day at the office with the ice-cold airconditioning blowing and wearing my business clothes with extra layers, I really don't think I can achieve or care about looking sculpted. Pretty sure I would be sent home to change if I wore something to show off my midriff. So generally, I eat what I want. Those foods you listed and others may cause a bit of bloat, but they are very nutritious... so eat them! just maybe not the day before your gonna go out and pose or get half naked for everyone. And if you really are self-conscious my guess (based on my knowledge of digestion process) is that smaller, more frequent meals would work best to minimize any bloated appearance.

I started at 1 pullup too and I can do 10 (kipping) in a row now. It does get easier. I highly recommend you record your progress. I record my maxes once per month and it is kinda cool looking back to see how far you've actually come. Good luck.

Welcome Russ. Congrats on your successes so far. Only one month!.. well then, looking forward to see what you can accomplish in one year. I'm not too far away from you up in Vancouver B.C. Been wanting to go to Seattle some day for shopping and heading out to the Centennial Trail there for inline skating - 35 miles!.. whoohoo sounds like fun.