Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

142/90. For some reason, that blood pressure reading stood out. There were others that were high around that time, over nine years ago, but this is the one that confirmed to my doctor that I was pre-hypertensive. I was a walking time bomb, also being most likely pre-diabetic. It was only a matter of time that I would have full blown hypertension and diabetes if I didn’t make some changes.

As many of you know, my doctor initially wanted me on blood pressure pills. I was fortunate to have a doctor that worked with me as I did not want to go on medication. He agreed to let me lose the weight and hope that the blood pressure would go down as the weight went down. It worked, as 6 months later, my blood pressure was normal and I never took a single pill.

A few weeks ago, I wrote how I never have to worry about weight gain now. I know what I eat will keep my weight in the same range. I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full.

Many people ask me about how not to give in to cravings. Although it’s not a problem for me now, I wanted to offer some tips for others who are dealing with it, especially those new to the plant based diet.

This year, I decided I wanted a plant based doctor. I felt like my previous doctor didn’t understand my diet and I wanted someone who appreciated the way I eat. Also, my doctor never ordered tests to check my B12 and D3 levels, something which I was always curious about.

I researched online and came across Dr. Scott Harrington, a plant based doctor out of Florida. Due to COVID, he had licenses in multiple states, including the state of Connecticut. I decided to go for a telemedicine doctor and I’m so glad I did. Although I won’t be able to keep Dr. Harrington as my primary (he loses his license for the state of Connecticut after the pandemic ends). I decided to keep the primary I have for now, but am so glad I still was able to do an appointment with Dr. Harrington. He was able to order the tests I’ve been curious about ever since going vegan!

Many people are struggling with their weight, as I once was. I recently did a video to help Million Dollar Vegan with their recent campaign. A few comments I've read on some of the videos were about moderation. Nothing drives me more crazy than this idea that someone can eat something unhealthy part of the time without sacrificing health. Here's why I don’t like the everything in moderation talk.

Would You Want To Be Moderately Healthy?

When I finally lost the weight and it stuck, it was because I did it for my health. All other attempts to lose weight before this failed because it was only about the numbers on the scale. When I put the health first, the weight came off.

I lost weight and a lot of people know about it. But what is more significant in my eyes is my transition to 100 percent plant based eating. I could have done my yo-yo dieting that I did in the past but that would have been only a temporary fix. What I wanted was something that would improve my blood pressure without needing medication and avoid diabetes. After a lot of research, I realized that plant based eating was the way to go.

So what did being plant based do for me? Take a look at some of these significant items: