I'm one of many formerly obese people that love to run. There's a reason so many of us seem to love the feeling of running.
When I was heavy, I had difficulty moving around. I sat around a lot and did very little exercise. When I did move, it was often painful with knee problems, nerve problems in my feet, etc. After losing 150 pounds and going plant based, all of those issues went away.
I never take my health for granted. Just seven short years ago I was morbidly obese, pre-hypertensive and most likely pre-diabetic.
So when I hear lines like this is the best cholesterol readings my doctor has seen or that I'll most likely never develop diabetes (unless I were to suddenly revert to my old habits), I feel so happy.
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.
When I started my “diet” almost seven years ago, it wasn’t about the weight but about my health. That was the difference between this weight loss attempt and all the other diets I did previously. I never made a serious attempt that stuck until the lifestyle change I made.
When I think of how bad I ate over 7 years ago, I think in amazement how far I came since them. I would think nothing of chowing down on several Egg McMuffins or several burgers at McDonald’s. Today... I have no cravings for such foods.
This year will be my third Thanksgiving without any animal products. No longer do I think of the holiday as "Turkey Day". As you will read, there are so many delicious foods out there, turkey is not needed. You too can have a "No Turkey Day"!
First of all, let me tell you why I don't like calling Thanksgiving "Turkey Day". Aside from being vegan, turkey day doesn't really convey the true meaning of Thanksgiving. I mean, isn't Thanksgiving about family and friends and being thankful for the food... not just turkey? But as a vegan, I really dislike calling it "Turkey Day". When the president pardons a turkey in a silly tradition, I think of the other 50,000,000 birds that weren't so lucky. It's really sick if you think about it. Millions of enslaved birds and the president only spares two of tem. And then they will no doubt eat a turkey for Thanksgiving, so what's the point?