After being plant based for over 3 years, a lot of people wonder what foods I eat and what I do for workouts,
For my workouts, I make sure I do a minimum of 10,000 steps a day. I wear my Apple Watch to remind me to stand one minute every hour. I also hit the gym 5 days a week.
Wow, it's hard to believe it's been one year since my abdominoplasty (commonly known as a tummy tuck). This was a procedure that I put a lot of thought into and was something I waited 5 years to do. I have absolutely no regrets doing it, as I gained so much more confidence since then.
For 5 years after my incredible 150 pound weight loss, I worked hard trying to tighten my abs. I did everything, from machines that heat the skin as a way to tighten, special creams, wraps, you name it, I did it. It wasn't just the ugliness of the skin that bothered me, but also the irritation that went along with it. I would get itchy and irritated in that area. I also hated the flopping sound it would make when I ran as I would feel embarrassed by it.
When I was heavy, I would dread the thought of going to the gym. Just thinking about it would make me break out in a sweat!
I would work out but would get nowhere. As I eventually discovered, weight loss is like 90 percent what food you eat and only like 10 percent exercise.
I love running and it was awesome to complete my first half marathon. I do plan on doing other races in the future and don't plan on stopping. That being said, I feel like I lost some muscle with all the training I did for the half marathon. I want to really focus on building muscle for a while.
All the doctors I consulted with when I did my abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) said that my arms and chest could tighten with more muscle. I'm lucky that my skin isn't as bad in those areas as my belly was the most problematic in terms of excess skin.
I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions because I don't think they work. Instead, I would rather set goals for things I want to accomplish. I think it's much less pressure that way and it seems doable.
Whenever I set resolutions in the past, they were always about weight loss and they never worked. I would be like others... workout for a few weeks and stop going for a while after that. I would change my diet briefly and go right back to the junk food within days.
