About a month ago, I had my annual physical That included lab work, blood pressure check, listening to my chest with a stethoscope, etc.
Eleven years ago, my physical was very different, asI was morbidly obese and had hypertension. This year, my blood pressure was 110/68 and my lab work was awesome!
As many of you might remember, I had a knee injury during the last couple years. I can say that it’s finally healed! It may never be perfect, but that doesn’t mean I can’t resume my normal activity, which I’ve already been doing for months.
I had chronic swelling on and off for a year. I had to wear a wrap on my knee to control the swelling. No matter what I did, if I took the wrap off my knee, it would swell. I wasn’t in pain... the only pain I really had was the day that started it all, when I had to go by ambulance to the ER a few years ago because of excruciating pain in the knee. It was the same day that I had completed a 5K race.
Tomorrow, I am participating in the Tour of the Litchfield Hills event. There are a variety of options to participate. The big part of the event is the bike race. I decided to try the walking event. I chose the option with the most miles, that being 6.2 miles. It goes to a great cause too, as the money they raise goes to the Cancer Care Fund of Litchfield Hills. I was able to raise over $200 for my walk in addition to the entry fee.
Many of you probably remember the swelling I was dealing with a few months back with my knee. I’m happy to report that it has not swelled in a while and it seems to have recovered. I did a lot of physical therapy and I can'’t say enough good things about PT. The therapists get to the root of the problem and they know just what exercises to focus on for healing. I found out my hip flexors were week along with my hamstrings being extremely tight. They exercises to strengthen those areas has helped so much.
It’s more than about muscle, vegan gains has to do with health. For me, my plant based journey is always about my health, just as much as it is for the welfare of animals. I feel equally passionate about both. So this shirt is one of my favorite shirts to wear at the gym. As you can tell, it got a lot of wear and tear!
I want others to know how good being plant based feels, how muscle growth can be achieved, how weight loss is possible, how having energy to compete is races is easier on a plant based diet. I have been plant based for 9 years now, but completely one hundred percent vegan since September of 2016. I have never regretted it as I feel better than ever. I was not feeling great when I was 350 pounds, as you can imagine.
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.
