Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

Every day since going plant based, I start out the morning with steel cut oats, topped with berries, a banana, ground flax seeds and chia seeds. It keeps me full and satisfied until lunch time. But I'm going to be doing a raw food challenge for 7 days, beginning March 12 and ending March 19. Although it is plant based, it has a lot of differences in comparison to how I currently eat.

For example, grains aren't allowed. No quinoa? How will I survive without it? I'll make due somehow! Even worse is 7 days without sweet potatoes. I eat them daily as well.

The one common thing everyone who's plant based or vegan will hear is "do you even eat fish (or eggs, or chicken, or whatever other animal product people perceive as harmless)".

Why is it so hard for people to accept that plant based means no animal products?

Despite all the evidence showing that animal products can lead to heart disease and other diseases, most people act like we are depriving our bodies of some valuable nutrient. The idea of not even incorporating certain foods shows how misunderstood this diet can be.

Ian Myers interviewed me recently, he's the owner of IM Wellness. He asked a question that really got me thinking... "what would I say to my former obese self, if I could go back in time and give advice". I especially thought about it after stumbling upon these pictures of myself, taken at a holiday party at work. This was taken during my transition. I had just started to get serious about losing weight but was not there yet. I was still well over 300 pounds.

I almost don't recognize that person, because I've come so far since then and I've learned so much. Back then, I had no idea what foods were healthy. I never thought about being vegan, never thought I would give up soda, and processed foods were my life.

I'm always up for challenges for health, whether it be for a physical challenge like weightless challenges or nutritional challenges like the one I'm about to embark on.

I've been hearing about the benefits of raw food for years. I didn't take much notice as I'm such a healthy eater now already. My intake of raw foods is probably between 70-80 percent each day as it is now. But my friend Ian Myers talked about it's benefits on his Facebook page and it made me think that I want to try it to. For those that don't know Ian, he is founder of Ian Myers Wellness. He recently did an interview with me through Facebook Live and it was there that I started to really think about doing the challenge.

Today, I had a physical, the first one since going completely plant based over 16 months ago. I did have lab work 3 months after being plant based last year, but this was the first examination since then.

I always had anxiety about going to the doctors. But there was no need for anxiety today and in the back of my mind, I really was confident. I knew I was feeling great with so much energy, plus I workout 5 days a week.