Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve all heard talk about how people gained weight while eating processed foods and not exercising. I was one of the few to stay consistent throughout the entire pandemic. At a recent physical, my doctor was surprised to say I didn’t gain any weight during the last year. Nearly every one of his patients had gained weight.

I recently checked my weight at the local gym. I hardly ever step on the scale but thought, let’s see what it reads. 198 pounds... this is consistent to the weight I lost while doing all that running and marathons. Even with an injured knee and not going at cardio the way I was 6 months ago, my weight stayed the same.

It’s been a while since I blogged but I’ve been busy. I’m back to my normal workout schedule. Ever since resuming the gym in March, I have been focusing on regaining the muscle I feel I lost by not going to the gym

As I stated in my book, I know I will never be a competitive bodybuilder. I’m built more like a runner, and I do love doing cardio. But muscle is important, especially to keep my chest and arms tight after my weight loss. Lifting weights also keeps my bones strong.

I have a lot of people that inspired my over the years, but two people stand out as the biggest influence to how I live my life today. One is Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who I have blogged about many times. The other is vegan bodybuilder Robert Cheeke.

Dr. Fuhrman defined the way I eat and Robert Cheeke helped me to become 100 precent vegan. Before learning about Robert, I was struggling with loose skin, especially around my abs, a result of my 150 pound weight loss. I tried everything to try and tighten my skin and believed that if I built more muscle, I could disguise some of the skin. But the problem was, my arms were skinny, resulting in loose skin that slightly hung, the chest was droopy and my abs were a mess.

This year, I decided I wanted a plant based doctor. I felt like my previous doctor didn’t understand my diet and I wanted someone who appreciated the way I eat. Also, my doctor never ordered tests to check my B12 and D3 levels, something which I was always curious about.

I researched online and came across Dr. Scott Harrington, a plant based doctor out of Florida. Due to COVID, he had licenses in multiple states, including the state of Connecticut. I decided to go for a telemedicine doctor and I’m so glad I did. Although I won’t be able to keep Dr. Harrington as my primary (he loses his license for the state of Connecticut after the pandemic ends). I decided to keep the primary I have for now, but am so glad I still was able to do an appointment with Dr. Harrington. He was able to order the tests I’ve been curious about ever since going vegan!

I know some people who lost weight but they end up putting the weight back on. My heart breaks for them. I can’t imagine going through a weight loss journey only to gain the weight again. When I lost the weight and lost an incredible 120 pounds the first year, I was worried I would gain it back, but not too worried.

As I wrote in my book, I lost the weight with a lifestyle change. I don’t think it’s possible to have sustainable weight loss without a lifestyle change. The two have to go together.