Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

This past Thursday, I had honor of interviewing Dr. Joel Fuhrman about how to be a healthy vegan. If you are unfamiliar with Dr. Fuhrman's work, he has transformed so many people's lives with his Nutritarian diet, including the "GBOMBS" foods that I eat each day (greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries and seeds). Although my diet includes other plant based foods, the GBOMBS are what I make sure I have daily. You can read about Dr. Fuhrman further on his website.

I wanted to interview Dr. Fuhrman as I knew he would have a lot of insight as to what's a healthy way to be vegan. As we all know, vegans can also be unhealthy, evidenced by the fact that many of the processed foods are vegan, like Oreos. As expected, Dr. Fuhrman confirmed that the GBOMBS foods are what vegans, and everybody should be focusing on. People need to eliminate as much processed food in their diet as possible, vegan or not!

I wore a vegan shirt at the gym the other day. I'm not completely vegan yet but wanted to let others know that I'm doing a weeklong vegan challenge starting on Sunday. I want to challenge the notion that a lot of body builders have, that you have to eat animal products to get muscle.

I was recently reminded from Facebook that the last time I did a vegan challenge was two years ago. I thought it was time to do another challenge. So why a vegan challenge again? I don't think consuming too many animal products is good for you. I want to prove that eating a plant-based diet can build muscle.

In a few weeks, I'm having my body fat percentage checked again at the Southern CT State University. I've been working hard, but besides all the working out, I also eat very clean. They say it's essential to eat nutritious food and no junk food if you're trying to get to 10 percent body fat, as I am. The only way I'll get there is an eating plan that promotes muscle growth and keeps my weight in check.

I don't think I've touched upon the typical foods that I eat, so I thought I would blog about it for those that want to know. The foods are primarily from Dr. Fuhrman's list of suggested foods for the Nutritarian plan, but with some additions. Many of these foods I've researched the past few years and have them on a regular basis because of the important nutrients in them.

I first became aware of Dr. Fuhrman about three and a half years ago, when he made an appearance on the Dr. Oz Show. I had already lost a lot of weight but hadn't reached my goal yet.

I was searching for foods that would promote good health as I wanted to lower my blood pressure without prescription drugs. Dr. Fuhrman's nutritional plan provided foods that I incorporated in my diet everyday.

First, I'd like to get away from the word "diet". I think of a diet as a temporary fix, never a permanent solution to maintain a healthy weight. In order to sustain healthy weight loss, without risk of gaining it all back, you have to have a lifestyle change. For me, that meant giving up overly processed, sugary foods and replacing them with healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.