These were the least gruesome pics I could find



and I was forever changed.  

My advice for anyone struggling with disordered eating is SEEK HELP NOW!  I thought that I wasn't 80lbs and my throat wasn't bleeding so I didn't need help.  I was fine.  But I wasn't and I found help.  If I didn't, though, it would have been bad. Very, very bad.

Say, though, that you feel like there is no one you can talk to; your parents don't get it and you don't wanna go to a therapist.  Fine.  All I ask is that you reach out to someone to ask for help.  Ask me.  Seriously. All I want to do is help.  There is a way out.  There is a way, I promise.





Comment below if you've ever been bullied or if you've ever suffered with disordered eating.  What is your story? Let me know! <3

Why do we test everything on animals?
Good question.  First off, animals are here for our own gain.  They give us sustenance and entertainment, and they have been put here to keep us safe from toxins that can blind us and melt our skin off. I mean, it's not like these animals yelp in pain, of course not, that's ridiculous.

My dad actually worked at a place that tested on Capuchin monkeys.  When he would go into clean during "business hours," he said he could tell when they were performing experiments because the monkeys would sound different; they had a higher-pitched, more desperate, more painful cry that still haunts him 30 years later.

You know what animal testing reminds me of? Joseph Mengele {read the part on Human Experimentation.}  And we gasp at the atrocities of that?  But it's totally fine to test on stupid animals.  It's fucking bogus.

I could write so much more about animal testing, but what does that do?  Instead, here are some pictures to serve as proof of the atrocities:

{Want more info?  Read the previous post introducing Earthlings}

We would all like to think that we are getting our dinner from humane sources.  Animals aren't actually killed that brutally are they?  They aren't actually skinned alive and boiled alive and kicked and castrated and plucked and stuffed into the smallest of spaces for us are they?  I knew a lot about the food-animal industry, and yet I sat in ignorant silence next to my friend Abby for minutes after the movie.  We wiped our tears away and looked at each other.  To break the silence, and because I am the most awkward person, I said, "well, at least we aren't contributing to this.." To that she said, "But, we aren't doing enough to stop it."

Her response got me thinking, what can be done about the billions of animals that die to over stuff our bellies?  Hopefully by the end of this mini series, I will have some answers for you.  Until then, here is Part 2: Food

This section started with a hidden video from a slaughterhouse in which a worker was walking around shooting pigs with a metal bolt to the skull.  He was going around to them all and proclaiming in the creepiest voice imaginable, where each syllable was drawn out, "I got youuu..." For anyone wondering, many many times, because this practice is done so quickly, the bolt does not deliver a killing blow.  Instead the animal is left seizing on the ground, bleeding to death while all the other animals rush to its side.
Cows

• Cows are devotional mothers and are known to walk for miles to find their calves.

• Cattle like to sleep close to their families.

• Cattle get excited when they solve problems. When faced with a challenge of finding out how to open a door to reach food, their heartbeat went up, their brainwaves showed excitement, and some even jumped into the air.

Cows are killed in various ways; a bolt to the head, electric shock, and even hanging them up and slitting their throats to bleed them out.
Pigs

• Pigs are extremely social animals. They form close bonds with other individuals and love close contact and lying down together. 

• Pigs are very peaceful animals, rarely showing aggression. The exception, as with many animals, is when a mother (sow) with her young offspring is provoked or threatened.

• Winston Churchill famously said that “Dogs look up to man. Cats look down to man. Pigs look us straight in the eye and see an equal.”

 Pigs are slaughtered in the same ways as cows are.  Sows are kept in gestation crates for years until they can no longer produce piglets and are slaughtered.  More on gestation crates in my post about the MadCity VegFest.
Chickens

• Scientists have shown that mother hens display signs of empathy for their baby chicks.

• Like other birds and mammals, chickens experience REM sleep, which is associated with dreaming.

• The chicken is the closest living relative to the great Tyrannosaurus-Rex.

Over 8 Billion Birds are slaughtered each fucking WEEK.  Each.Week.  During one hidden video clip where workers clubbed turkeys to death, Abby (through the gaps between her fingers,) stuttered, "It's like they're having fun!!"
 Dolphins

• Dolphins are altruistic animals. They are known to stay and help injured individuals, even helping them to the surface to breath. Their compassion also extends across the species-barrier. There are many accounts of dolphins helping humans and even whales.

• Dolphins have several highly developed forms of communication. They have a “signature whistle” which allows other individuals to recognize them.

 In a clip from Earthlings, dozens of dolphins in a warehouse in Japan stabbed in their throats, convulsing as school children walked feet from them on their way to their homes.

These facts brought to you from One Kind.

Yes, there are so many other animals killed for human consumption; goats, fish, shrimp and other seafood, veal, turkeys....

As Paul McCartney once said, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."

Like the title says, I finally watched Earthlings. For any of you who don't know, Earthlings is a documentary film narrated by Joaquin Phoenix depicting the largest animal industries in the world from slaughterhouses to circuses to the fur trade.         



in which profit>their well-being.  Because of the overabundance of animals from breeders and puppy mills, people have been finding more and more creative ways to kill these pets {dogs and cats, usually.}  Euthanasia is one in which is pretty well known, but the method that I didn't know about was that of gas chambers.  

Hi guys! So I just wanted to make a quick little post about today because...

It's my anniversary! S and I have been together for a decade.  Woo, milestones!

I wish that I could have remembered to bring my camera along to document, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't forget.

So, let's see, I woke up early today to do a really {really} quick home workout of:
10 Narrow Squats*
5 Pushup Burpees
10 Narrow Squats + Back Leg Raise
5 Pushup Burpees
10 Regular Squats*
5 Pushup Burpees
10 Squats + Side Leg Raise
5 Pushup Burpees
10 Plie Squats*
5 Pushup Burpees
10 Narrow Squat Jumps
10 Squat Jumps
10 Plie Squat Jumps
*I filled my backpack with books and used that as a weight

We had a quick smoothie for Breakfast:
Frozen Nanas
Frozen Strawberries
Kale
Chocolate Almond Milk
Scoop of Peanut Butter

Then we left to go to:
The History Musum At The Castle

There was a sweet Houdini exhibit where some of his secrets were revealed.  That was neat.  After the museum we were super hungry so we went to:

Hu Hot  for Lupper.
S and I both went up to the buffet twice. For any of those wondering, no I do not avoid places like this.  Yes, I am vegan and yes, I care about the animals.  I watched them wipe away the area after each time they cooked someone's food.  I am completely fine with them cooking a big plate of meat, wiping it away when it is done and then cooking up my veggies and noodles because I am still not contributing to the exploitation of animals.  Yes, I would be concerned if there were chunks of flesh in my food, but there weren't. And all was well.

Linner was really good, but we {mostly me} wanted something sweet after.  I heard from some friends about a cafe in downtown Appleton that has vegan soy ice cream.  And while I don't usually eat soy, I was excited because I could have my ice cream and S could have his and it would be great.  But when we got there, the only vegan flavor was Blue Moon.  Ugh.  I don't understand the hype of Blue Moon ice cream.  So we left :(

And now we are home and I'm kinda sad that there are no more fun activities planned.  I think we are gonna decorate the house for Halloween and then watch a movie.  I need to do some homework, too. Blech.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

So, your aunt Sal is finally getting married and oh boy isn't it a happy time?  But wait, you have to travel for the whole weekend?  What are you going to eat?  Will there be food for you at Sal's wedding?  Surely there won't because Sal can't stand that you're vegan.

Mail's here! Oh look it's aunt Sal's invitation
Of course you're gonna attend, she is your family after all.  But, hold up now, is that just chicken and beef you can choose from?  Really, Sal?  Your sister Betsy is a vegetarian, you know.  I'm not the only one out there.

So you call her up

But, it is her wedding and you ultimately gotta do what the bride says, so you just go along with it because despite her naivety, you love her.

But you don't want to starve this weekend, either.  So what do you do?  BYOFood! And lots of it!
Is it ideal?  Of course not, but we do what we have to, right?

Alrighty, here is what I was able to document from the wedding weekend.  Enjoy the commentary!!

Bonjour!  
Comment ca va? 

Hope you all are très bien!

Haha, sorry, I'm taking a French class!

{so if anyone fluent in French wants a pen pal, let me know!}

Alright, so todays topic is making the voice in your head stfu
OR
changing that voice altogether
It IS possible to change the berating, self-hating voice inside your head to one of praise and love.

Hey guys!  It is 7:00am right now and I just checked my levels: 95.  Which is high.  Anything below 99 is supposed to be in the clear, but I feel like 95 is way too close to 99 to be okay.

I scheduled a blood test for tomorrow at 3:20, so I will post the results when I get them {probably next week sometime.}

Alright, on to the fun stuff now!

I implemented Rack Pulls into my workout yesterday.  For anyone who doesn't know, this bad boy is a rack pull:
There is nothing to it, really. It's like half a deadlift.  A lot of people seem to hate on them, but I really liked how they felt.  It killed my glutes! Is that normal?  Anywho I did, as this Squat Challenge often requires, 2 sets of 10; 2x5; 3x3; and 3x1.  And I got up to...

Hey guys! I am working on a new vlog that I will be posting either on here or on youtube soon!

But, I also have some bad news.

This might turn into a rather lengthy story...

I bruise easily

You guuuuuuuuys I missed a couple of days!  Ugh, I know, I'm the worst!

That means I have to report on days 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7...and do all those poems. But
So I think I'm just gonna pretend like I never took a little poetry hiatus.

Oh, but I should point out that besides Thursday, I haven't skipped squats since I started Monday.  So that's cool!

Also, I got a squat and deadlift PR today!! 150lbs {for both.  I know, my squats and deads are the same..}  pretty happy with the 5lb progress, though.  It's something at least!!


Anywho...Iiiiiiiiiits Poetry Tiiiiiime {get it? Like, Adventure Time? huh? HUH?}

Day 3{ish}- Find the nearest book (of any kind). Turn to page 8. Use the first ten full words on the page in a poem. You may use them in any order, anywhere in the poem.
Hot oil is the key to crunchy fried chicken, but {found in my mother's Cooks Country magazine}

Creamy milk is the key to smooth mashed potatoes, 
A bit of water is the key to splatter-proof bacon, 
Hot oil is the key to crunchy fried chicken, 
A golden-brown turkey is the key to Thanksgiving,


My friend over at Taylor's Pages posts a quote every Monday. So as a shout-out to her, I am going to post this quote for today:

"Like fillies, they jump and buck, overjoyed with their first feel of freedom. Then, suddenly, they collapse and cannot get up. They can only lie there, trying to breathe, their bodies racked with pain from abuse and neglect on the factory farms."

This quote was found in a PETA article {now, I don't really like PETA for various reasons, but this article was a very important, very heartfelt read} and is referring to the pigs post-transport to the slaughterhouse when they are herded out of the trucks and, despite being severely weakened from the trip, they are so overjoyed to not be in such a small, stuffy space that they actually run around.  Unfortunately, though, not for long as their legs often give out on them and they collapse.  And then they are shot with a bolt to the head, often times not dying, and then boiled alive.  All for a meal for us humans.

I'm sorry for ending a post like this, especially when I haven't been writing as much, but I just get so saddened when I really think about what goes on behind slaughterhouse walls.  It sickens me.  So, I must go.  I will hopefully post more tomorrow.  I have a few videos I'm working on for the next couple of posts, so I'm gonna work on those later today.

Day 2- Who was the last person you texted? Write a five line poem to that person.

You will be beautiful on your wedding day
that I know for sure.
But I can't help feel somewhat jealous of you
Because you are getting married
and I will just be in the background.

I'll be honest, it's a shitty poem, but Futurama is on and I didn't feel much of a connection to the prompt, anyway.  I do really want to do this challenge, but it is proving difficult when I have all this packing to do and what not


{My last text was "ABBIE I FORGOT TO RSVP FOR YOUR WEDDING SHOWER!!! What should I do??"  So this poem was to her.  It's not something I would ever really want her to see, though.}

Alright, on to the workout of the day!

I started with {surprise, surprise} Back Squats!
10@75lbs, 10@80lbs, 5@105lbs, 5@115lbs, 3@125lbs, 3@125lbs, 3@130lbs, 1@135lbs, 1@140lbs, 1@145lbs

Then on to dead lifts. The plan called for the same sets and reps as squats, but I felt like that was too much volume for the time limit I had so I narrowed it down to:
5@95lbs, 5@115lbs, 3@125lbs, 3@135lbs, 1@145lbs, 1@155lbs

Then, I super-setted
Seated Cable Rows 3x10
Glute Kickbacks 3x12each leg

It doesn't seem like a lot of different exercises, and that's because it's not!  But, this took an hour and 10 minutes and I felt pooped afterwards!  I do't think I feel worn-out from squats two days in a row.  But ask me in a week and that answer might be very, very different!