Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

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.

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.

Today, as I was running around the neighborhood, someone said that they admire my determination to keep exercising. Although, I have not kept the same pace than I did when I went to the gym, I have been active. I guess it's noticeably so as I don't see many others getting out and running or even walking. Yes, social distancing is important, and it's easy to practice when outside. Remember, you need to get adequate vitamin D to maintain health. Aside from supplementation the best way to get vitamin D is by getting some sunshine.

I have not been weighing myself as I don't own a scale. The only place I weigh myself is at the gym. As you know, the gyms are closed, so I have no idea what my actual weight is. But I know my weight has not changed. How? Well, one way to judge is by the way my clothes fit. Everything is fitting exactly like it did before the pandemic started. Another way I know it's the same: my diet is the same as a few months ago.

There is a lot of negative news out there but I wanted to post the positive side of the news. It's not easy to find. Put on the TV and all you hear about are the number of deaths there are from this, how long we'll have to do social distancing, what will happen with our economy, etc. It's tough to have a positive outlook with all the negativity.

The problem is that negativity can cause stress, and stress can make us sick. You want to keep your immune system strong during times like this. That's why you need to focus on some positive news too. So here's some positive news for you to ponder.

Recently, my friend Rob Lee and I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Originally, the topic was supposed to be about mental health but with all that's going on with the COVID-19 virus, I felt some questions were needed on the subject.

While I do agree with Dr. Fuhrman that the best way to protect yourself is with a whole food plant based diet, I want to stress it's still important to social distance. Although most people will recover fro it, you don't want to be a carrier. Wait until the authorities say it’s safe before you go back to your usual activities. I would hate to be a carrier and think I might contaminate someone else. We didn’t stress this enough in the video but it’s important to remember.