Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

It’s hard to eat potatoes and GBOMBS foods (greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries and seeds) and not lose weight. I basically avoided foods like nut butters and avocados for the month of June. It was a good learning experience and I do like to challenge myself. However, I did miss my breakfast of oatmeal and especially the almond butter.

The weight I lost was due to keeping my same level of activity and not increasing my calories. I am happy to be back at my normal routine. I’m still highly active but I do require a lot of calories. That’s why I love bing plant based. I can eat a lot, asI always had a big appetite, and not have to worry about gaining weight.

I didn’t do the typical potato challenge, spearheaded by my friend Andrew “Spud Fit” Taylor. I did a modified version that also included all the GBOMBS foods (greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries and seeds) from Dr. Fuhrman’s list. The reason is because I have eaten Dr. Fuhrman’s suggested foods since 2012, and I couldn’t imagine going a month without them. Plus, I know Fuhrman’s plan will keep me in optimal health.

So why did I bother with the potato challenge? Well, one reason is the diet always intrigued me. People have the incorrect idea that potatoes should be avoided because of their carbohydrate content. I think the challenge proves otherwise. I also did the challenge because I wanted to explore other kinds of potatoes. I always liked them so why not explore what other options are out there? It would also allow simplicity. This way, I don’t have to think about what foods I’µ going to eat. I just know it will be either a potato or one of the GBOMBS foods.

I was always interested in doing a potato challenge, ever since I heard my friend Andrew "Spud Fit" Taylor did one to get healthy. In the process, Andrew lost a total of 115 pounds. He also reversed the depression he was dealing with prior to his challenge.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Andrew about his potato challenge. I learned why he did it and what it accomplished. The whole point of the potato challenge for Andrew was to take the thought out of food. It was a way to remove additions to food. Instead of having to think of what to eat everyday, he could focus on other areas of his life.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZrX2u75_lI"]

Recently, my friend Terry Gleason and I had an opportunity to interview Dr. Michael Klaper, who is a pioneer in plant based medicine.

Smokers have known about the threat of having lung cancer. That didn't scare them into quitting. Then there's breathing problems, developing COPD and other breathing conditions. Possibly developing heart disease, strokes, etc. Now there's a new threat. COVID19 patients are more likely to die if they are smokers.

In Italy, they say more men than women died of COVID19. They also say that the majority of the victims were smokers. This is a time to take our health seriously and not live on the edge in case we come in contact with COVID19.