stcalico

I'd not heard of him till I read your post. Watched a few of the videos on his website ... (he has free lectures on the left hand column) and I am in agreement with what he talks about. Personally I love my carbs - I've never tried to change that and I've never had a real problem with my weight. I do try to eat them with lots of veggies tho and as of late I've been forcing myself to try more whole grains instead of the mmm... white stuff (for protein content).

Found a great site with lots of free documentaries. (tho unfortunately, some are just links to buy them) But here is a fairly thorough documentary on Monsanto (almost two hours). Some scary stuff actually.

Meats and beer have high level of purine. However, soy, spinach, kale, broccoli, asparagus, lentils, kidney beans, and mushrooms also contain moderately high levels of purine. Green smoothies usually have spinach or kale included in them (to make them green). I suspect high uric acid in and of itself is not a huge issue... ie just your body's way of taking care of high purine foods. Problems arise if your body can't look after it . Are you having issues like kidney stones or gout? A quick google search and I found this on Livestrong: Normal Lab Values Uric acid levels range from 250 to 750 mg after a 24-hour collection, according to MedlinePlus. Uric acid levels also vary from day to day and may also vary seasonally. Uric acid normal ranges may vary from laboratory to laboratory.

so it is basically the Microsoft of the food world...

Yup, that interviewer was funny.

sometimes?

I love my dog. If a fellow human was hungry and tried to hurt her, I would be capable of killing them. So I'm not a complete humanist. But I do see actions on a sliding scale of morality and perhaps because of how I was raised/culture/ whatever, eating humans seems significantly more repulsive to me than eating animals. Tho I'd still place both those actions on the evil side of the scale. I understand that desperate times can force people into doing things that are less than moral. But the Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs Western societies are hardly in a desperate situation. So, in order for a vegan to be able accept family and friends and remain at peace with society, I think it might (in these times) be necessary to accept and maintain some level of speciesm.. ie. some level of acceptance. There is something called ' social identity theory ' in psychology which is one theory explaining how prejudice comes about: All people tend to elevate and show favoritism to the members of groups they are part of. This tendency appears at an early age. So will we ever live in a society that is devoid of prejudice?.. I personally doubt that very much.

ummm.. holy carp. This is a sure a lot of products and many of these names have subsidiaries (like Kraft and Proctor and Gamble). Coke AND Pepsi! No way. haha. Actually I don't know much about Monsanto, just that it is a giant monopolizing company that is into GMOs I think. Is there more to it than that that - ie the grim reaper? I grew up with and use many of these 'brands'. How would I know that whatever I switched to wasn't bad too?

Hi and welcome. I think when you lose weight you can generally expect to lose some strength.. ie. you lose fat and some muscle. It makes sense that lighter people have less overall muscle mass that heavier people - a likely reason for weight classes in Olympic lifting. I've been eating vegan for 3 months and have only lost 3 pounds - my lifts have not decreased. (I only lift heavy for deadlift and squats since I have a shouler injury). Since you are losing weight, it would seem you are not eating enough for all of your activities. If you want to gain some mass (and strength) then you will need to eat a lot more. Adding healthy fats and proteins to your meals will help with that. It is really easy to add tons of calories to a protein shake by throwing in , nut or soy milk, chia seeds, flax seeds and nut butters. Do that and you can ignore your trainer's suggestions completely ..and you won't have to quit the gym. There is a post here by 'no meat athlete' where he says he managed to gain 17 pounds in 6 weeks. He started at like 132 pounds, so gaining 17 pounds sounds like an accomplishment to me. He did really have to work to eat enough tho.

Here is some info about high reps for you. I've been following this guys posts for years and I trust him the most out of all of the blogs, opinions, etc that I've seen He goes through lots of research and gives a pretty fair evaluation and opinion on stuff and has also tried a lot of the things he posts about.

Have you been tested for zinc levels already? I was reading about zinc recently... it sounds related. I'm no doctor so this is just a suggestion.

Keep in mind that fruit juice in general has far less antioxidants than the whole fruit. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/best-fruit-juice/

Tofu does not make you fat. It will just make you gay. I'm always amazed by some of the things I find on the internet. In all seriousness tho, tofu will not make you fat. I do not know if you are male or female... but here is an article in a women's 'muscle mag' suggesting foods that potentially helps with fat burning - tofu included in the list. Japanese eat tofu/soy as one of their staples, and they tend to be slimmer than North Americans. They've been eating tofu for many generations so I think they would know if it had any real ill effects. I think different people are just predisposed to carry weight in certain areas, and will unfortunately lose it there last. If you are not a beginner in working out then it will be difficult to lose weight and gain strength at the same time... so pick your goal (priority) and work towards that. You can switch gears and revamp your goals anytime. It is probably a good idea to incorporate weight lifting even if you are trying to lose weights so that you don't 'lose' muscle tho.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/28751-superseed-bar http://ohsheglows.com/2008/12/08/homemade-banana-bread-larabars/ http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/01/vegan-peanut-butter-choc-chip-protein.html I've bookmarked those but haven't actually made any of them yet. Most of them are more 'energy' bars than protein but I suppose if you want greater protein content you can always throw in some protein powder of your choice and a bit more 'wet' ingredients so the powder doesn't make them too dry.

Not sure if you consider protein powders sh*t or not, but sunwarrior is suppose to be organic raw vegan. You can add nut butters, chia and flax to your shakes (all high calorie foods) and apparently tofu can make a smoothy quite creamy (I haven't tried tofu yet). The calories in a shake can add up big time - which is why I only have one or 2 a week myself.

I know what you are saying. I had that dilemma about throwing out cottage cheese when I decided to go vegan. I decided it was better to eat it than add insult to injury by wasting it .. what's done is done and the proceeds of crime had already been reaped. You can't fix the past.. you can only affect the future. I would keep your car. Next time you get a car I'm sure you will make different choices. If it were me I'd probably have to get some seat covers tho. A leather or suede coat I would definitely not support continuing to wear since you're out in public with it and it would be more like advertising and promoting it. A belt is much more discreet tho, so would probably not generate any interest unless the person wearing it is super hot. (lol). Those are my opinions and I would just encourage you to do whatever feels comfortable and 'right' for you. I think you have to give yourself a bit of flexibility or you will go crazy. The world we live in is inherently cruel (aka circle of life) and no one can be here without having an impact. If you enjoy philosophy at all, Ayn Rand has an interesting take on how moral and practical live on opposite sides of a spectrum. ie. No one can ever be completely moral. http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/moral-practical_dichotomy.html You are right about judging others... it is best not to. Judging them will not change anyone and in fact will only result in making them cling harder to whatever beliefs & justifications they are clinging to. Judgement makes people more resistant to your thoughts and ideas. So, it is best to just lead by example. ie. Be the good you would like to see in the world. I grew up with alcoholism (in my family) so I'm fully aware that it is impossible to change others... gotta just go with the serenity prayer and realize that you are the only one you have control of in the whole scheme of things. If someone makes an attempt at being a kinder person, I wouldn't shoot that down or you will kill the attempt entirely. Instead encourage it .. build on it.. just don't push. And you may be surprised when someone actually takes the next step like you did. I'm not sure the 'discomfort' with people food choices ever goes away. But I try not to focus on that and instead focus on what I enjoy about whatever person I'm with. And sometimes I practice patience and forgiveness when I start to feel discouraged. (Forgive them father they know not what they do... sigh). I like this TED talk (3 minute talk) about the 'lone nut'. It kinda gives me hope that the world will one day change. http://blog.ted.com/2010/04/01/how_to_start_a/ .

I found the best pin board... ie. all pictures, all vegan recipes. I've started my own pin collection for recipes and I pulled a ton off of here: http://foodgawker.com/post/category/vegan/ I'm keeping all the junk food off my own board... too tempting.

I only wish my parents would listen to me and eat their vegetables... lol. Welcome.

Keeping a log may help you. When you see that you've made some progress then you will be motivated to keep going and make even more progress - particularly if there is a goal you've set out to reach.

Hi Dave, Sorry to hear of your past hardships. I have a dog too and she is my baby so I know how sad your loss must have been for you. Good to hear you are ready to set yourself down a better path and hopefully with the new healthier, fitter you comes a new awesome job. I'm a few weeks ahead of you (going vegan from veg) and am loving it too. I can't believe all the new foods I've tried in past 8 weeks! I'm finding that the more I focus on making sure I have all the right healthy food, the less I even think about junk food. Well, except beer. mmm. lol. A few protein suggestions:VegaOne meal replacement tastes pretty good - I was able to buy serving size pack to try before getting a tub. Mexican dishes or soups with beans, rice or quinoa are good sources of protein. Also fake burger or chicken thrown into a fry pan with fried potatoes and other veggies and spinach (put the spinach in last) works as a breakfast lunch or dinner - not extraordinarily healthy, but yummy and pretty easy way to use up leftovers. I just bought a pack of tempeh.. haven't tried it yet, but it looks interesting. I'll keep you posted. Welcome to the group.

Generally speaking it is unlikely that you can build muscle and lose weight at the same time - if you are losing weight, you will likely lose fat & muscle. But doing weights can help you to maintain the muscle you currently have while you are cutting. Cardio, and more importantly diet will help to meet your weight loss goals. How much you eat depends on how much you are exercising etc.. to lose a pound in a week your input need to be 500 calories a day less than your output. Get enough sleep too... lack of sleep has been shown to decrease leptin, which in turn causes weight gain.

I like the title of this post. lol. Losing over 100 pounds sounds like quite a feat! You're looking great. Curious.. how long have you been at it?

Well, your nutrition does not sound that bad to me. I would push for more variety in your grain and protein choices - just safer that way. I eat some strange combinations too that I would never serve to guests (like salsa mixed in rice). I suspect that you are making veganism a pretty hard sell to your co-workers tho. lol. The only other thing I would note is to remember that tea inhibits iron absorption.. and the iron in veggies already doesn't absorb all that well.

Looks like youre doing well with protein intake. You can get more green veggies in by adding spinach/kale (and fruit if you don't like taste of spinach/kale) to your post workout protein drink. You may also want to throw in some chia seeds or flax for omega3 fats.

Hello and welcome. I found vegan RD site to be good for telling me about things I would (or might) need as a vegan: http://www.theveganrd.com/2010/11/recommended-supplements-for-vegans.html Check out the nutrition section here on bodybuilding.com too... there are some helpful posts there. Once you've committed to a healthy lifestyle and have found a few recipes you love it gets easy to stay on track.