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Messages - Merrick

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Thank you for your activism Merrick. I knew I'd take the path toward not eating meat and started by removing beef and pork from my diet a year or so ago. I'm now trying to push it further by removing other meat products or at least limiting them.

I'm not sure I'll ever go full vegan, eggs and cheese feel like they're engrained into my identity (culture and tradition) but I'll do by best to limit doing harm.  :strong:

I appreciate that!  I won't tell you that I want you to eventually go full vegan (I never tell anyone to do this).  I will just tell you this, and whichever path you choose, I accept it.  Everybody says what you said, but the truth is, literally every culture eats tons of meat, as well as what you mentioned, eggs + dairy (cheese).  Every vegan from every culture thought it would be very difficult go full vegan too.

So I will say don't commit to eventually going full vegan.  But ALSO, don't commit to never going full vegan.  Just leave it open.  Maybe you will maybe you won't.  Just leave it open as the unknown/anythings possible.  Thanks for reducing your intake so far and doing your best to limit suffering!

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what a great post man. thanks for sharing that.

I plan to check out some of those docs. Earthlings sounds pretty intense, but I imagine it should be. "We" are shielded from the truths of it, which so easily allows us to simply skate through without thinking about what's going on behind the scenes. I often think about what's going on behind the scenes before I order at some random restaurant, which makes me want to order something with less or no animal products. Just always pops in my head. It's at least helped me reduce my intake considerably.

checking next post.

peace!!

Exactly man!  That's why Veganism is growing so fast.  All it takes is for people to see and acknowledge the truth and the conditioning/programming slowly starts eroding. A big obstacle is that most people simply do not want to even acknowledge it, due to a variety of reasons such as social pressures/fitting in with others.  Others simply react negatively due to 'cognitive dissonance' where new evidence and rational/logical reasonings completely go against everything we have always believed and this creates a 'defense mechanism' in the mind.  Everyone's been there, all vegans have at one point, but this just goes to show, truth is more powerful than anything, as it always eventually wins out. 

No amount of cultural programming can prevent us from knowing that when we see a peaceful sentient being suffer for unnecessary reasons, it is wrong.  No amount of conditioning can completely dissolve our inner empathy towards the suffering of all beings.

this was a good quick read, talks about some of the stuff you mentioned: https://veganbiologist.com/2016/01/04/humans-are-not-herbivores/

Interesting read.  There is a lot of conflicting information, regarding the exact science I agree.  That source makes some good points, and as you look in the comment section, there are many who disagree, just as there are also many other credible sources with intelligent claims/evidence to support the herbivore argument.  I am obviously biased, but I do think we are herbivores from what I see, but sure, I may be wrong.  I never claim to be a scientific expert, but one thing everyone at least agrees with is we can be just as fine as vegans (including athletically).

This is why vegans who quit are the ones who did it for dietary reasons.  They were not vegans, they were just "plant based dieters". When looked at as a diet, it is difficult as diet implies restriction.  When looked at as an ethical situation, it is not restriction, but the thing we WANT to do.  No one wants to give up tasty things, but no one wants to conflict harm on others neither, so it's about perspective, and that's why vast majority of vegans are doing it for ethical reasons and do so easily. 

As you mentioned earlier about humans being a wreck.  A lot of anti-vegans want to claim that we have superior intelligence so we have the right to do whatever to them.  Humans are only a wreck in this planet cause a substantial increase in intelligence without an equal increase in empathy/morality/ethics is dangerous.  The Earth is an organism with all the different ecosystems and species doing their parts to keep the whole functioning optimally (just like the organs and cells of a human body), while humans are literally acting like cancer cells (destroying everything in sight, while killing its very host that gives it life).  It is sad, but we can still fix it.

Thanks for being such an open-minded person Andrew. Trust me, I get plenty of people during activism, who walk by screaming "MMMM BACON!" lolll

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Also some extra things I forgot to mention:

Veganism is generally not more expensive.  This is a myth.  In poor countries around the world, MEAT is a luxury.  It takes 18x more land to feed a average meat eater than it does a vegan.  It actually takes up to 2500 gallons of water to produce 1 lb of beef.  I mean, the cheapest foods in the world are vegan such as pasta, rice, beans, other grains/legumes.  Now of course there are expensive vegan stuff such as exotic fruits and veggies, but you can also get the cheaper ones.  Nothing wrong with good ol bananas and lettuce.  Tofu is also pretty cheap.  Now if you want to buy vegan "animal product" substitutes such as vegan meat, it can be more pricey than normal ingredients, but still within the same range as regular animal products.

Now some people think "soy" is bad. Soy contains PHYTOestrogen which has been shown to not affect hormone levels at all.  It is the mammalian estrogen found in dairy that actually affects hormones.  I mean, it does come from a pregnant female (not that this is a scientific reason). 

And just to name a few common misconceptions on the "omnivore or herbivore" debate.  Yes we have canines, but so do virtually every other classified herbivore, in fact the biggest canines in the world are from an herbivore (hippos).  True meat eaters, have canines that can rip into the flesh of an animal, while our pathetic canines cannot.

Our intestinal tract is the same length as other herbivores (9-12x length of our body), while all meat eaters have short ones (3-6x length) which is to empty out the rotting flesh quickly.

All meat eaters pant to cool off while herbivores sweat through their pores. 

We, like other herbivores have jaw that go in all directions especially side to side to grind, while all meat eaters only go up and down.

We also have carb digesting enzymes in our saliva.

We also have weak hydrochloric acid compared to true meat eaters.

Among many others.

Also one big one.  We have zero psychological carnivorous instincts unlike other true meat eaters.  If you put a baby human in a crib with a bunny and a apple, the baby will eat the apple and play with the bunny 100 out of 100 times.  Our empathetic feelings towards videos/pictures of animals in factory farms are feelings that we have had since birth.  Feelings of disinterest or 'hate' towards these animals are all learned behaviors from a flawed culture/society like any other form of discrimination.  No one is born a racist, sexist, or a speciesist.  We are taught against our will at a young age, what animals to ignore and eat, and which animals to adore and pet.

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Hey guys, I don't know if any of you guys remember me, I used to post on here a while back.  I randomly decided to check out the forum just now and noticed this thread lol.  I am Vegan and an Activist as well.  I love how open-minded everyone on here seems to be and after reading through the thread, I would just like to share some insights I have learned from my 2 years of veganism.  Whether you think I am spreading vegan propaganda, I am wrong, I am annoying, that's fine, take from this what you will but I just know I wish I knew all this a lot earlier than just 2 years ago, so hopefully this can be useful for some of you guys.  The following are simply my views (as well as most vegans), so please do not take them as me being militant or authoritative.

1) A lot of people seem to be talking about hunting being an ethical way of eating meat.  The way I see it is yes, animals hunt each other, and our ancestors did as well.  But their situation was completely different.  They did so out of necessity.  For them, it is literally kill or be killed.  We have the privilege to avoid such extreme lifestyles.  We simply need to walk to the grocery store and can purchase food to survive.  Therefore, hunting an animal when we simply do not need to is greed.  Although it is technically "better" that an animal got to live a 'natural' life before being quickly killed by a bullet, the fact still comes down to, animals are sentient (obviously) and have a desire to live, share experienced with family/friends, enjoy playing/food, and seek to maximize pleasure and minimize pain in their one and only life.  It is not ethical to take an animals life simply because we want to eat them when we have plenty of other options.

This blind spot in our ethics is heavily influenced by our flawed culture.  Im sure everyone here would have a completely different view if I said I want to kill dogs quick and pain-free to eat them, when I can simply eat something else?  So what makes a dog different than a wild animal?  Dogs just have the luck of being chosen by people to be "pets", yet across an imaginary border into Korea or China, their are plenty of dog farms for dog meat. 

It is the same old trick of culture labeling different sentient beings based off of arbitrary labels.  They do this with humans, based off of various labels regarding race/sex/sexuality/etc... and also with animals.  The only thing that matters is, not our personal preference, but the fact that they are all sentient and have a desire to live and that basic fundamental right should be respected when we have other alternatives.

Hunting for overpopulation is also a faulty reason simply because this is implying that we are trying to maintain natural order on this planet.  The circle of life per se.  It is important to realize that, nature doesn't really get anything wrong.  It is humans who have created all the problems. Animal agriculture is the #1 cause of global warming, ocean dead zones, water pollution, species extinction, habitat destruction, rainforest destruction, among many other environmental factors (not to mention nature never intended for humans to artificially breed 57 billion land animals every year to be enslaved in buildings and suffer and take up all the land).  Any part of nature that is not in "balance" has its problem rooted in humans.  Therefore hunting to control overpopulation, is treating the symptom and not the root cause.  If anyone should pay for the crime, why should it be those who did nothing wrong?  Humans are overpopulating the planet as well, why not kill off a big number of humans (I am joking, I am not suggesting we do such a thing).  The point is, hunting to control overpopulation is like big Pharma and medication.  Treat the symptom while new symptoms arise, just ignore the root cause.

2) Going vegetarian is a huge positive step towards an ethical lifestyle but just incase some are not familiar, I would like to share why only vegan is the ethical choice.  It doesn't matter if the eggs or dairy we buy come from "free-range" or "cage free" or "humane" (although I encourage you all to see what these really mean (you will be shocked at what counts as "free-range or cage free")), cruelty is always rampant.

In the dairy industry, the farmer jacks off a bull to collect their sperm and either using his hand or a metal rod, forcibly impregnates the female cow in the "rape rack" (this is the a name the dairy industry uses, not one vegans made).  The cow gives birth and as all animals, mother and new-born babies have a special bond. However, the baby calf is taken away from the mother immediately in most cases (if they're lucky 3 days tops).  This is because the baby is going to steal "our" milk.  If the baby is female she will be taken away to be used in the same dairy practices. If the baby is male they are tied in a tiny cage to prevent muscular development so they can be killed in 4-6 months for veal meat (since they are useless for milk production).  If calf supply is full, the baby boys die right after birth.  The mother gets raped again as soon as possible, and this cycle continues until around age 4-6 (they usually live from 20-25 years) until milk production slows down and is considered "unprofitable" and then gets sent to the meat industry to be slaughtered.

The same exact thing happens in the egg industry.  Baby male chicks are either drowned or thrown into a macerator at the day of birth because they will be of no use for egg production.  Mother hens/chickens are treated the same way as cows.  When egg production slows, they are sent to the meat industry for slaughter.

"Humane" is also an oxymoron and a lie.  It goes back to my points about hunting.  Humane means to show compassion. There is no way in my opinion, to artificially breed into existence a peaceful sentient being and have their death day marked (way before their natural life cycle) as soon as they are born.  Just cause one has had a good life, doesn't mean it's okay for them to die.  That actually means, they had many things to continue living for.  The enjoyment of life/ family/ and friends just like us.  Just imagine if I got a litter of puppies and treated them well and at age 4, kill them for food.  The connection we have with dogs is not one of "dogs are different from other animals" it is simply one of familiarity and cultural influence.  Again, should our biased personal preferences dictate the basic fundamental right of a sentient being to be free to live their life?  Is this decision based off of a biased personal preference not a commonality in all injustices in the history of this planet?

3) 1 person making a change

Humanity has made many progressions in history and it always started with a tiny minority standing up against the conventional norms that they questioned.  If everyone thought "I am only 1 person" then society would look a lot different than it does now.  Here is an interesting statistic.  Vegans in the U.S. made up 1% of the population in 2014.  As of today, they make up 6%.  As with any social revolution in the past, the side of Truth always wins.  It always starts off small, but no one is immune to seeing Truth with their own eyes.

4) Whey or any other animal product nutrition. 

Today more and more olympic and professional athletes are going vegan because the science shows that it not only has all the nutrients required, but is even more beneficial.  I encourage everyone to check the science on human physiology. We are nearly identical to all the other herbivores in the animal kingdom such as gorillas. 

Protein requirements has also been extremely exaggerated as vast majority of studies that show high protein requirements have been exposed as funded by meat and dairy industries.  There are many professional bodybuilders who are seeing that their gains are the exact same with less protein as well as plant protein. 

B12 is only naturally found in soil.  The natural way to get B12 would be like people of the past who grew crops and pulled them out of the ground and ate them.  We do not do that anymore with our mass production. The only reason why meat has B12 in it is because in meat farms, the animals food is supplemented with B12.  So getting a cheap B12 supplement (like 15 bucks lasts a year or something), is the same as getting it from meat.  Both were "supplemented".  If you drink plant milk, they are almost all fortified with B12 to make it much easier.  Iron is easily found in legumes and as athletes, this also provides tons of protein so it's efficient.  Even omega 3's are not originally from fish oil, but fish eat algae.  There are vegan algae supplements or you can do things like eat flaxseed. 

And yes, meat consumption has a high correlation with ED lol.

As with anything in life, it's difficult at first, but with practice, quickly becomes easy.  Over time, you learn how to cook, grocery shop, order food at non-vegan restaurants, etc...  It's all about going at your own comfortable pace (not going vegan all in overnight) and as you get more comfortable and learn more, you take steps towards complete veganism. 

I don't want anyone to believe anything I said.  This topic is very important as it is serious for the well-being of peaceful animals, the well-being of the planet, and to improve human health and have these chronic diseases no longer being the norm (heart disease is the #1 killer in the world for men and women).  Therefore, I only say all these things to encourage everyone to research more into all of this. 

Documentaries I recommend which have all been received REALLY WELL by vegans and non-vegans.
What The Health - Itunes/Netflix > shows all the health aspects and exposes the meat industry and pharma industry and their corruptions
CoWspiracy - Netflix > Environmental impact of animal agriculture
Earthlings - This is free on www.nationearth.com > This documentary can be hard to watch for some, but the way I see it, whether we change our lifestyles or not, the VERY LEAST we need to do is at least educate ourselves on what EXACTLY goes into the products we purchase on a daily basis.  Keeping a blind eye to the consequences of our actions is not right.  This documentary shows the procedures of food, entertainment (zoos/circuses), animal testing, clothing (fur/leather > there is vegan fur and vegan leather, just like vegan meat, vegan chicken, etc...)

I will just end this on one final note.  Veganism is something I know 99% of the population agrees with.  Because it simply means: If we can live happy and healthy lives without causing any intentional suffering onto animals, then why not?  And in todays day and age, with more and more vegan products such as vegan chicken/meat/dairy/ even Vegan fish/eggs coming out, they are tasting more and more realistic, it has never been easier to be vegan.  All it takes is an intention, and going at a steady pace towards that lifestyle everyone already agrees with.

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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: Chris' training journal
« on: February 27, 2016, 03:21:31 am »
Lol sorry, its in iPhone slowmo :/ So thats about half speed to the actual lift. The vid guy is new to lifting so he didnt know I'd want it full speed to see the bar speed.


Yeah I was kidding hahaha


Any typos are because im half a handle into this crown and...theres hot chicks everywhere. Im hapy. lol

LOL

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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: Chris' training journal
« on: February 26, 2016, 11:55:17 pm »
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWWZCInyyeY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWWZCInyyeY</a>


vid. Lift starts around 42 seconds smh wont let me trim it



You gonna hurt yourself deadlifting that slow

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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: road to 40 (cutting phase)
« on: February 26, 2016, 11:46:08 pm »
lol x 2

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Strength, Power, Reactivity, & Speed Discussion / Re: Hip Hyperextension
« on: February 26, 2016, 05:41:02 pm »
I don't think the hip flexors/glutes work that same way as the quads/hams do. 

But yeah, I knew hyperextension occurs, but wasn't 100% sure because in slow mo single leg jump for HEIGHT (not long jump or triple jump), I just see full extension, no HYPER extension.  In slow-mo sprinting videos, it's VERY clear obviously

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Strength, Power, Reactivity, & Speed Discussion / Hip Hyperextension
« on: February 26, 2016, 11:25:09 am »
Just a quick question:

Hip hyperextension strength is important in sprinting, but is it important in SL jumping?  Does hyperextension at the hips occur during SL jumping?

Hyperextension strength has been talked about many times before in regards to sprinting, but I have never heard it being talked about in SL jumping

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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: February 22, 2016, 05:34:34 am »
  There is this one PED called food and muscle that will do wonders for you.   

Where can you buy these?!

Also, Young Hollywood is crazy.  Nice to see pro dunkers actually getting professional training and not thinking "I didn't do anything but jump all these years so these trainers don't know shit.  The secret is to just jump and dunk, fuck lifting"

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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: February 21, 2016, 05:44:44 pm »
I'm no nutrition expert, but aren't you getting very low fat?  It's usually recommended to get minimum 0.5g/lb of bodyweight in fat to meet hormonal needs I think

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is it true compex's have "potentiation" mode loll.  Does it do what it sounds like?  Potentiates the muscle for better performance?

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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: February 20, 2016, 04:50:18 pm »
Aren't you retiring from vert training and stuff after your March bball tournament? 

Aren't you trying to enter the tournament, being the most athletic you've ever been?

Getting anorexic while losing strength doesn't make any sense.  Will the extra testosterone production help you on fast breaks?  Is that it?

2 more weeks of scheduled dietng left. Feeling pessimistic bout reachign my goal weight of <75kg/165b by then .. but we'll see, may have an overnight whoosh at some point and bring me close. I know i improve my bodycomp by doing more cardio

The HIIT sprints i did on monday made my quads sore (as expected) but it didn't seem to affect my squatting too badly so that's promising. And i'd be crazy to attribute it to just one workout -- but my love handles have melted appreciably the last coupla days.. so maybe it's already doing good things for bodycomp!

I feel like going off the caloric deficit will give me some strength gains. Stopping the stupid fasting thing will give me some gains. Maybe i can just go balls to teh wall and get some more gainz. also maybe the hip thrusts and rdls will help indirectly too? will all of that be enough to finally reach the 2xbw BS?

Also, mentalities like this is never good.  Looking for magic gains in every little variable.  Oh I'm gonna do X and Y and Z and that should give me 3.543 inches, etc...

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Pics, Videos, & Links / Re: funny / horrible training videos
« on: February 19, 2016, 08:20:23 pm »
Sorry no link, just an anecdote

Im at the gym and this guy told me he saw some crazy vert training and wanted to tell me about it to help me. He said a guy trying out for the nfl was here and had 245lbs on his back, did a box jump with it and then on the box he did a squat LOLLLLLL

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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: February 19, 2016, 02:35:45 pm »
Yeah forgot you were special man.  Just keep going to 155lbs at 6'4" lol

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