Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

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.

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.

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.

I lost track on how many 5K races I've done. They really are a lot of fun, not that I don't enjoy longer races. It just feels like these races are a lot less pressure.

I know I'm ready as I train on the treadmill 4-5 days a week at speeds of 7-8 MPH. I love it when I tell others about the upcoming race. I'll get responses like "3 miles?", or "I can't even walk 3 miles". To me, it sounds like a breeze. I usually remind those who are surprised that I ran 13 miles a few months ago.