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freeheeler

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  1. I've just turned 55. 4 years ago I made the transition from 2 times a day meat eater, binge chocolate eater and dairy drinker weighing 168 pounds and with a cholesterol count of 235 to completely plant strong. I was cycling 2/3 times a week, competing in duathlons, rock climbing indoors 2/3 times a week and feeling great. My cholesterol went down to 134, weight went down to 153lbs (I was always skiing as a kid and into any form of exercise possible but felt the years were catching up on me). Then, a little over 2.5 years ago I had a difficult time at work, My wife was pregnant and and after the birth of our little son my wife and I had an exhausting time looking after our new arrival with us both working and neither of us with any family here in the states made things very hard for us. Needless to say, my diet went from great to terrible, I managed to stay away from meat for the most part but I was back at Starbucks for my vente dairy drinks with chocolate brownies, veggie burgers with french fries from burger king and absolutely no exercise. NOTHING, NADA ZERO. I think I went out on my bike once in the past two years which for me is embarrassing. Now, i am determined to get back on the diet again and start exercising on a regular basis. My main problem is that i have told that I have no cartilage left in my right knee and will probably need a new right knee sometime in the future. My father had this problem, my sister has had both her knees replaced so it may be hereditary. My doctor told me to try and build my strength up as much as possible before he does anything else. It is very painful and running more than 10ft is out of the question, it is literally bone on bone. My bike has been serviced and is ready to go. I plan to hit the gym at least 3 days a week for maybe some elliptical work and hit the weights. I need some help with a good starting program. I know all my upper body strength has vanished. I noticed that when I went climbing one day and i tried to pull myself over a lip, there was nothing there. So I need upper body work and also for my knee or at least the areas around my knee. My weight is back up to 172lbs and i want to lose at least 10l - 15lbs My diet consists of oats fruits avacados nuts quinoa/brown rice with beans green juices/smoothies large salads Any help on a good starting program would be very much appreciated Thank you Martin
  2. http://www.veghealth.com/audio/09vitaminb12klaper595.php
  3. Well, it has now been 7 months since my "Plant Strong" diet commenced I had my cholesterol tested again this past week and it has now dropped to 132. My craving for sweet and sugary items is slowly disappearing. Both my wife and I got to meet Rip when he showed up at the local Wholefoods store for breakfast which was great. One other benefit from this has been my wife slowly changing as well. I did not involve her at the start or ask her if she wanted to turn vegan as well. This had been my choice and was done mainly for my health reasons. However, she was always sampling my food and slowly but surely she ended up seeing the small difference it made to her body and fitness and now is probably 90% Plant strong" Now she enjoys her smoothies for breakfast and tofu scramble for dinner. Again, thanks to everyone for the help in starting this process..
  4. Tried to join up but there is nowhere to pay you the membership fees on your website!!
  5. Probably got more to do with other "stuff" they have stopped taking prior to the Olympics
  6. Well, there is only my wife and I here in California. My wife is a Filipina who grew up on meat and fish, especially Lechon (Pork) loving the skin with the fat attached. She has never been overweight being only around 102lbs. I was not going to force her to change her eating habits although I have always tried to get her to eat organically and swap the white rice for brown rice. Getting her to eat brown rice was a major deal. She also loved her fast food, McDonalds, Wendy's burgers and fries. She sat and watched all the movies with me Forks over knives, Fat sick and nearly dead food Inc Etc etc and it did get her thinking about the food she was eating. She did start to eat a lot more veggies, mainly because i was doing all the cooking and preparing. Then one day I got her to watch "Earthlings" and this really shook her (and me). Since then she has cut way down on her meat consumption and cutting our dairy slowly. As a newly qualified Pilates teacher he is concerned about her fitness levels and energy levels and after seeing how much better I feel and perform she is now enjoying the benefits also. She will have a lot of difficulty sticking to this when she goes back home to the very rural area she is from in the Philippines due to a lack of supermarkets and stores but hopefully she will be careful. Some friends have been supportive and talked about trying it, specially those that are cholesterol meds, others say it's too much hassle.
  7. Thanks. I'm suprised I was able to do it so easily. Having been a big meat eater for over 50 years, including a birhtday treat at the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco last December where I demolished the King Henry VIII cut, which was the thickest cut they had, at least an inch thick. I don't miss it at all now.
  8. I have no doubt that it was probably just the sugar. I always loved milk chocolate back in Britain, never liked dark, along with other candies. sugar on my cereal, sugar in my tea, you name it, I even dipped my apples in sugar!!! I'll definately give some of those treats you mentioned a try
  9. And this one http://www.vegacommunity.com/video/raw-energy-bar-recipe-with
  10. So, here we are 4 months down the line Still going strong, chocolate cravings are not as strong as they used to be Weight has leveled out at 148lbs from 160lbs+ Still eat till i am full but i am eating clean all the time Had a blood check done after 3 months and cholesterol went from 220 to 144 B12 went from 862 to 1712 Running under a 7 minute mile for the first time in 15 years Climbing has gotten better, due to increase in strength and recovery (and lighter weight). No complaints here, life is good
  11. Well, it has been 4 weeks now since I started I went all the way right from the start. No meat, fish, milk, eggs, chocolate and anything else I should avoid. After 50 years of being a meat eater, everything from steaks, chicken, pork, lamb, sausages all types of fish etc etc I stopped overnight. And believe it or not, I don't miss it at all. Now, what I do miss is chocolate, anything sweet I crave. I had watched the following movies before I started all this Forks over knives Food inc Fat sick and nearly dead. I had read Engine 2 diet And all of Brendan Brazier's books I wanted to find out new recipes and new ingredients so I would be prepared for the big change I was not doing this to lose weight. I had been feeling lethargic and lazy over the past 8 months, mostly due to a move to a more stressful job. I was snacking on rubbish and fast foods, my weight had gone up to 162lbs, not a lot but I always use to weigh around 154lbs but I could feel the difference when i was training or climbing or just getting up in the morning. Now, 4 weeks later I am down to 150lbs. I still eat a lot but just make it the right stuff My time for running the mile on a machine has gone from 9.10 and getting slower, to 7.35 and getting faster. Both Rip's and Brendans recipes have been great, especially the energy stuff in Brendan's book. My strength hhas not gone down but if anything my climbing has gotten better. So, hopefully the craving for chocolate will soon vanish and everything will be good Thanks for all the help in this thread Martin
  12. So, last sunday I went cold turkey and turned vegan. After being a meat/dairy eater for 50 years I went on a vegan diet and so far there has not been too many problems. One thing I do miss is a tasty protein powder. My last flavor was lemon cream pie which I could have drank all day long. I purchased a Hemp powder the other day from whole foods and to be honest, it was nightmare to drink, certainly on its own it was impossible. Are there any reputable companies out there that make good flavored hemp protein powders are similar items? Thanks for any assistance Martin
  13. @ Incinerate and space tycoon Excellent advice. That was my main concern, going "Cold turkey" I have pretty much given up red meat and eat a lot of chicken and fish. I now want to try and limit that to maybe once a week and then once a month and take it from there. I really want to get a better knowledge of plants and other essential foods that I can swap them with. I've never had tofu before apart from Korean restuarants and want to learn how to cook these new foodstuffs. My main concern is food to "snack" on, after my workout, at work etc etc. anything so I can stop eating chocolate Thanks again for all the helpful ideas and encouragement
  14. Thanks for the reply. I'm trying to find out as much information as possible before i start trying the diet. I don't want to do it half-hearted with the wrong information I thought the movie was great, very informative and easy to understand and it made a lot of sense
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