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Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

Your Story! Your Voice! Your Health!
Sep
05

It’s Official... 6 Years As A Vegan! Thanks To My Friend Robert Cheeke!

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 finally got to meet Robert Cheeke when he was at a veg fest in Boston.
I met up with Robert when he was visiting New York to promote his book Plant Based Athlete.
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Jul
05

Still Running, Although Concentrating On Strength

I blogged a few weeks ago how I was going to focus on strength training as I want to build more muscle. That is still the goal but I do have a few smaller races coming up. At the end of this month, I will do a 5K, which should be easy for me. Next month, there's a 10K race in my hometown. I'm doing these races more for fun and to make sure I still get some running in.

My workout routine has been concentrating on lifting more weights. I'm still doing 5 days a week, but not as much cardio as I had been doing. I still do cardio each day, but less time. I know the more cardio I do, the more weight I'll lose and the less muscle I will build.


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Jul
13

Clean Eating and What It Means To Me

I always tell people that I eat clean... in fact I will tell people I challenge them to find someone who eaters cleaner than I do! But what exactly does eating clean really mean?

The meaning depends on each individual and it's open to so many interpretations. Some people would think if they avoid sugar, that's clean eating. Another person might think that if they buy only organically grown food that it could be considered clean. And someone else might buy "cage free" eggs or grass fed beef (don't even get me started on these foods!).


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May
25

The Reason For Not Cheating On The Way I Eat

I think the attached picture explains why I don't cheat, but I thought I would write about it anyway.

Back in 2011, I was over 350 pounds, having tried many different diet plans and feeling hopeless. I was addicted to unhealthy foods. I was eating fast food everyday, eating candy in huge quantities and not feeling very healthy.


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Apr
26

When Weight Lifting, Always Use Good Form

I should listen to my own advice. As someone who got my certificate in personal training, I should know better. But the other day, I had a reminder of how important proper form is... I got back pain. Thankfully, it has since healed but it served as a good learning experience, but a painful one too.

I was actually doing upward rows, not the deadlift that so many people seem to injure their backs with. I was trying to hurry and I also was going a bit too heavy. Instead of slowing down and taking some weight off, I pushed myself and because it was too heavy, threw off my form. The result? I felt my muscle in my back pull. I knew it wasn't good but I felt alright the rest of the day. It wasn't until the next day that I noticed the pain.

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