stcalico

Hello Fahmy. I'm on the West Coast. Welcome.

Fuhrman may be another one to add to your list. I love his ideas on nutrient density of food.

Good luck on reaching your goals.

Gorilla army? Lol I think I get it, but just in case I don't, explain to me why "Gorilla army"

Well my conjecture only is that Gorillas=Vegans. And that the army part is referring to the fact that number of vegans is increasing (ie. I've seen numbers suggesting there has been an increase of like 50% in last 4 years - most of those converting are in the younger generation). So I like to think we are building an army and we're gonna take over the world.. hehe.

So yah, I want that shirt dammit. I just don't know where to get it.

I will not say this is that good .. but it is extremely easy and something I've done when I had no time... I buy Annie's lentil canned soups and mix them in with rice. Sometimes I'll throw in salsa too as I find that soup brand rather bland for my taste. This mixture would definitely be easy to eat in a hurry. You could also probably just have tomato soup with rice. Throw in taco seasoning with the tomato soup if you prefer a tortilla soup flavour.

If you have time to prep/cook tho... here are a few recipes (I've not tried any of them myself yet.. they are just in my collection):

http://fortunavirilis.blogspot.ca/2010/01/crock-pot-curried-red-lentil-chickpea.html

http://deliciouslyella.com/2012/10/27/roasted-butternut-squash-risotto-vegan-dairy-free-gluten-free/

http://hotpotmeal.blogspot.ca/2012/09/keerai-pongal-spinach-with-rich-and-dal.html#.UV479DfSzSI

http://keepinitkind.com/roasted-cauliflower-quinoa-with-cheesy-pumpkin-tempeh-sauce/

Do you think I am eating enough food to get bigger?

It would be very hard to advise on that - Your best bet is to keep a log so that if what your are doing is not working, you are able to appropriately adjust. If you are getting stronger and gaining weight, then it is enough. Just be careful not to gain too much weight - that would be an indicator that you are gaining more fat than muscle. I'm not a trainer, but I think you should be happy with a 1 pound gain per month. Progress might be slow... but as long as there is progress, I think that's good.

post pics when you have the apparel.. lol. I still haven't gotten any tho I really would like a hoodie that says 'Gorilla Army'.

So per day you are doing:

2 ab exercises

one chest exercise

one leg exercise

and a 30kg + bar of some sort of exercise?

Not sure if you do those every day that you work out... but that is what it sounds like you are saying.

If your goal is to gain mass... you will definitely want to focus more on the 5 exercises that work your biggest muscles: squat, deadlift, chest press, pullup, and shoulder press. Your abs will get worked when doing these, as you need to use them as supporting muscle for all of these moves. You can throw in a bit of ab work and other minor muscle work after you work out your major muscles if it feels important to you - ie. to balance things out and avoid injury, but I don't think at the beginning the accessory muscles should be your main concern.

Your muscle needs time to recover so I would not recommend working any one major muscle group more than 2x per week.

Your diet does not look so bad to me, but hopefully you are including fruits and vegetables in there too. Especially leafy greens... for iron. You absolutely need iron to support muscle growth. If you find it tough to eat salad, pre-washed spinach can easily be thrown into your shakes.. it might change the colour a bit, but you won't taste it. Apparently results in the gym are more dependent on diet so make sure to get all the nutrients you need.. best sources are always whole foods.

Good luck!

Never too late to get started! Protein powder can certainly be a safety net, so good to use that while you are getting used to everything. You may feel comfortable enough with your nutrition later that you feel you don't need it. Everyone is different tho. Anyway, hello and welcome.

I was vegetarian.. then vegan purely for ethical reasons. But I grew up an omnivore so I know that meat and cheese taste good.

But I guess for me the visions left in my head from the cruelty videos I've seen were enough .. I seriously can't think about meat or cheese without those visions haunting me. I feel overwhelmingly sad at Costco when I pass the dairy section.

In my mind, supporting the abuse, torture, suffering and finally killing of an animal for pleasure (ie. taste) is no better than supporting the abuse, torture, suffering and finally killing of an animal for pleasures such as a fur coat, or dog fighting or animal crush videos. To me, there is absolutely no ethical difference.

Fortunately I don't 'have' to eat meat. And I have discovered many new food loves. So it's all good.

I'm trying to cut out processed food now, which means I no longer need to read a lot of labels. I feel better and healthier for that. Trying to stick to mostly whole foods like grains, legumes, fruits, veggies and seeds.

Maybe you can post what you have so far and we can give suggestions? I would imagine a table would work for that.

I know they do make those pill organizers ... for people that take a lot of pills, or for the elderly that are forgetful. You can buy them at the pharmacy. ie. http://www.forgettingthepill.com/products/push-button-ampm-weekly-pill-organizer

Welcome.

Your brother and his gf should be good resources for you, but take a look around here too. You might end up teaching them a few things.

Good to have goals. It helps to keep a log to see if you are achieving them and so you can see you are making progress... (even when it is slow). I like looking back on mine to see how far I've come... ie. in 2011 I wrote down that I could do 3 strict pullups, and today I'm up to 12. I don't have a journal here.. I just keep it in a book.

Good luck.

Sounds good but not a lot of info, is it on the market yet? Then we have the being a processed food dilemma.

A couple of the pages have links that give you more info. The 'links' aren't always apparent tho. They do promote a few companies/brands that are doing research work, but I have not heard of them before.

There are vegan 'meats' on the market already that were created to fill a demand. The difference here is that Gates is pushing for big business to get interested and geared up for a cultural shift. If big business gets involved, there is more money and research for better tasting products, but also they will not just fill a demand but 'create' a demand for their products. They are also looking at making non-soy products, which most are now. So I suppose the AG industry is prepping a counter attack and will work hard to scare everyone away from chickpeas... ugh!

I thought it was quite funny that Mike Pollan mentions that the faux meats on the market now are marketed not to omnivores, but to vegans and vegetarians who have 'low expectations'.. lol.

I guess well see where it all goes. I'm hoping one day I'll be saying I was vegan before it became popular.. haha. Hmm... actually, maybe I should buy stocks...

Have you all seen this?

Currently trying to cut out processed foods myself.. so not sure I will 'bite'. But I think it is a 'foot in the door', so to speak. Hope it moves forward.

Yes, the estrogen a female mammal produces is 1000x stronger than the estrogen a plant produces.

Are your sources referring to plant estrogen (phytoestrogen). Or did they say it was actually estrogen (or estradiol). They are different: the plant estrogen being the weaker of the two. Some AG and beef industry articles will go on and on about phytoestrogens and never once mention the more concerning estradiol levels of their 'products'.

It is hypothesized that the 'real' estrogen (ie. animal estrogen), from meat and dairy is the cause of many cancers. Here is a study in that regard.

Personally I would think 4 cups is a little too much of any one food. There are other good protein sources and to ensure you get all the micronutrients you need, you should really mix it up a bit. Hopefully you are including grains in your diet to complete the protein from legumes.

Almost all plant foods contain phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are 1000 times weaker than animal estrogen.

I find it amusing that there is sooo much concern about plant estrogen that is so weak, while no one raises a red flag about the actual estrogen that is ingested with consumption of milk and meat. A strange biased cultural logic I suppose.

I have no idea what 1/3 kg of lentils looks like - nor do I know if you are talking dry or cooked. But I believe a 'healthy' and recommended dose of lentils or beans per day is about 1 cup cooked. I suppose if you get a little more, or a little less than that you don't need to worry about it.

I have seen tons of studies on soy / plant sterol intake. To my knowledge, no studies have been done on upper or lower limits for phytosterol intake. Based on my own research, the only thing I am cutting out now is anything processed... like soy isolate or tvp ... as I do have concerns about those.

Just one thing I thought I should mention.

You do say you are getting our b12 through soy milk. I know the millks I drink will indicate that they've been fortified with 50% of my daily requirement for b12. The RDA for B12 is 2.5mg which works for the average omnivore. Be aware that a vegan diet requires a lot more than the RDA - ie. 25mg/day or 1000/wk. So just be careful with that. Since you were vegetarian for years before, you could quickly become deficient.

China is aggressively pursuing Canadian oil too. I think they have a plan...

You can sub almond butter for PB and dates or raisins for the chocolate. If it were me tho, I love chocolate so there would be one pan for him and one for me... haha. They are that easy to make that it wouldn't be a big deal to make 2.

Looks good!

Oh.. I tried and didn't like Daiya either.

But I have a new obsession with cashew cheese.

Not sure if it is your taste, but this is currently my favorite 'pizza' substitute - http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/21/easy-roasted-tomato-pizza-with-basil-cashew-cheeze-2012-vegnews-awards/. It uses one cashew cheese variation. I use pita bread for the crust, not tortillas as suggested.. the pita gets harder/crunchier than a tortilla.

Awesome. Let me know how the power house ones are. I haven't made them yet, but they are in my collections of 'pins', so will be good to know if they are a keeper or not. I actually skip the bun on my burgers (when no on is around to judge - lol). I enjoy them more as sort of a 'burger salad'. I figure I don't need all those extra carbs in the bread. If you lose the bread, you can add more burger too.. which ups the protein ratio.

I made these bars last night. SUPER easy to make and sooo good. I had one for brkfst, one for lunch and one for dinner. Oh oh. 4:30, and I'm already over my calorie limit. Going to the gym now. Yikes.

http://86lemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ChocPBBars86L09.jpg

I really love the enthusiasm of Julieanna: http://plantbaseddietitian.com/

She used to be a fitness trainer also.

But her consulting prices are a bit high I think?

These look good: http://veggieandthebeastfeast.com/2013/02/19/protein-powerhouse-veggie-burgers/

Black beans, quinoa, lentils, walnuts and oats in the recipe are all protein sources.

Nuts are s'pose to be good for dry skin. (vitamin e). You probably already include those tho... ?

Welcome George! Take a look around the forum and let us know if you have questions.