Posts by leslian

I went all vegetarian pretty much overnight, and I'm slowing working at becoming vegan. Being a poor college student means you can't be too picky.

My extended family (who all live in the mountains, go hunting on a regular basis, etc...) have actually never been hostile or rude about my being a vegetarian. As for explaining my diet: Most people have had a pet they loved, and i normally just play on that.

Vegans can still get a lot of calcium from vegetables, and some argue they can use calcium from vegetables much easier and more efficiently than from dairy. My biggest problem was B12 and B6 consumption. You pretty much only get B12 from animal products, and it took me a long time to realize that my being dog tired all the time was from a B12 deficiency.

i went to a beautiful all inclusive resort in Rivera Maya Mexico this past summer. After a long summer of bike rides and runs and watching my diet i was too was worried about what to eat at the resort. that was all fixed when i got there and realized they had no vegetarian food! i went from a complete fear of overeating to a fear of starving all week.

 i (very literally) lived off of guacamole, salsa, refried beans every other day (cause every other day they put meat in the beans), and all the alcohol/mixed drinks i could handle (starting first thing in the morning). i thought all the alcohol would sink me, but somehow i managed to lose more weight on the trip! i doubt it would work for everyone...but i was highly amused. i thought about starting a fad diet. any diet that included all you can drink alcohol would have to be a sure fire hit ;)

i started typing a response for you, but i realized i don't really know what i'm talking about. i started a thread like this a month ago, and the advice people gave was varied...it made me think that pretty much any combination of weights, cardio, and HIIT worked...

http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/585 92.html

here's the address of the thread i started. good luck!

polythelenepam: my headaches are the exact same way: either there and extremely prevalent, or a dull pain in the front of the head. it's soo annoying. 

 duzzie: i totally feel that. it seems like anything will or won't trigger them, and from day to day the things that alleviate them might make them worse...

 jdbcmt: I don't think i have high blood pressure...i had it checked less than a year ago and the doctor said it was perfect. I also don't do artificial sweeteners almost at all...my mother thought them to be the devil, so i just never got into the habit of using them, and i never developed the taste for them. I haven't done a major log of what's going on in my life, or kept track of my headaches on paper, so that may be in order. i (strangely) never really thought to do that, thanks for the suggestion.

spoiled_candy i rarely eat anything with MSG, i buy almost all of my food from a health food coop, and as such don't even have the temptation of MSG'd chips and the like. I do have jaw problems, however. if i chew bubble gum or talk/sing/yell too much, my jaw locks mostly shut (which is very inconvenient at concerts or in the middle of fights), so i'll have to talk to my dentist next time i'm in.

cass877 Yeah, I've heard of OTC pain medication making headaches worse/occur more frequently. and I've become immune to almost every mediation available OTC. the only thing that touches them these days is 4-8 Excedrin's, and i just feel bad doing that to my liver, so it only happens in extenuating circumstances. i don't do caffeine very often either, maybe twice a week...blasted seemingly pointless headaches.

I've been a veg for over five years, and the only times i stray is when I'm in a foreign country (i needed to try just one bite of an authentic Irish shepherds pie, even if i ended up not really liking it), or when i'm drunk... :)

I can count the number of times i've cheated on vegetarianism one my fingers, easily. but it seems if there's pepperoni around and i have a few too many drinks in me, i just have to have a slice. never very much, but just enough to taste it. I can't stand the texture of meat anymore, so that's probably why i only slip up when i'm in no state to really determine the texture.

Anyway, yes, i feel this binging. I don't do meat...but after eating nothing but organic foods and fresh veggies and fruit and brown rice and etc...i go out and drink cheap alcohol, and completely undo all the good i did for my body that day.

The only meat I've ever craved sober was a corn dog...mmm, nothing like third rate compressed animal bits wrapped in GM third rate corn meal...

I'm not a movie person, I'm generally more of a book person. This said, there is one movie i always talk about that practically no one else has seen: The Salton Sea. I'm not sure if it's just because it's older than my generation, and maybe everyone else knows it...

Anyway, that's pretty much the only "unknown" movie that i know of. Another one i really like that is definitely older than my generation is "the passenger". I'm pretty sure it's a well known movie, however.

what i usually do when i want a low calorie snack is buy some puffed cereal. You can buy them at any health-food store and most large grocery stores. the ones i always buy are by Arrowhead Mills, and i love their puffed wheat, kamut, and corn. they're crunchy and carby (i love carbs), and 50 calories for a cup. a little over your limit, but a half cup is within the the limit. the other awesome thing is a bag is really quite cheap. it also feels more like a Friday night snack kind of food than celery (or any veggies...)

The only puffed grain cereal i don't recommend if millet...it's too chewy unless you add milk, and then that totally throws your calorie limit.

good luck :)

Good luck. I live in the greater Pittsburgh area, but don't think i can offer you much advice. Being an old steal town, the staples around the burgh are to be expected: fried, deep fried, and/or meat and potatoes.

But as for bringing stuff over the border, you should be able to bring sealed packages, shouldn't you? Maybe you could at least bring some good salad dressing. Then, if you have to eat at a place like McDonalds, you could ask for a plain salad and add your own dressing, which you k now will be tasty and have little junk in it...