Robert Cheeke's upcoming book is set to launch next week, and I'm convinced it's his finest work yet. Having been deeply influenced by "Shred It!" and its companion workout journal, I've followed his literary journey closely. "The Impactful Vegan" promises to guide those already committed to veganism to the next level. For those already vegan, this book will offer invaluable insights into optimizing their lifestyle choices.
Today marks my 7th anniversary as a vegan. Yes, I was plant based since 2012, but I ate minimal animal products like turkey or yogurt up until September of 2016.
I credit my vegan brother Robert Cheeke for helping me transition. The 13 week workout journal did the trick. After the 13 weeks, I never wanted to go back to animal products.
Back in August of 2016, I had plateaued. I had already lost 150 pounds eating a mostly plant based diet, but I was left with a lof of loose skin, especially around my belly. I wanted to shift things into high gear, try other methods to build more muscle to hide the excess skin. That’s when I turned to the internet, the same thing I turned to when I initially lost the weight in the first place.
I had been trying for a few years to pack on muscle but it wasn’t working that well for me at the time. My personal trainer told me to up my protein intake to a whopping 200 grams a day. He wanted me to start having whey shakes. Two things happened that caused my personal trainer’s plan to fail: first, the whey protein shake did not agree with me. It didn’t digest well and there’s no way I could continue. Second, my primary doctor told me that I could damage my liver or kidneys with such a high amount of protein. Both of those instances caused me to rethink what my personal trainer was advising.
I still remember my last meal, Chicken Marsala, at a small dinner party celebrating my friend’s birthday. My plan was to start Robert Cheeke’s workout journal, a 13 week workout challenge where you are completely vegan for 13 weeks, the next day. I had done week long challenges before and always thought about how great I felt. I thought 13 weeks would be the ultimate test. Little did I know I would never go back to animal products after that!
I was plant based since 2012, having first started my healthy lifestyle through the work of Dr. Fuhrman. His advice about GBOMBS foods (greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries and seeds) is still an important part of my diet. Over the years, I’ve picked up advice from Dr. McDougall, Dr. Gregor and countless others. I think all plant based doctors have something to offer.
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.
