Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

A friend asked me recently why I decided to go plant based. I thought I should write about it because there were a number of factors that contributed to the decision.

I had already lost 150 pounds, so it's not like I needed to change my diet further to keep the weight off. I was mostly flexitarian, eating occasional eggs, dairy or poultry 3 or 4 times a week for a couple years. But I had an issue with my weight loss; I was left with loose skin. I wanted to tighten my skin, not just around my abs, but in my arms, etc. Weight loss really does a lot of damage to the skin and I refuse to get a tummy tuck.

As someone who has been plant based for almost 10 months now, people love to tell me how they could never be vegan. I don't even ask them, they just volunteer the information, automatically thinking I'm going to judge them. And the excuses I get range from "I could never give up meat" to "I could never give up cheese or ice cream".

This article isn't going to focus on why someone should go vegan... there's plenty of articles out there covering the subject. Instead, I wanted to focus on how easy it is to eat this way. So many people think it's complicated and because of this, they don't even want to try.

You ever notice the amount of TV ads these days that market protein rich foods? It's almost as common as the ads for prescription drugs. You would think that protein is the most important thing your body needs and that the more you have of protein the better.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txx8sgiOdvc"]

As a bodybuilder, I made a decision to not overload my body with extra protein. Every single American unless they are starving has more than enough protein. I didn't want to build muscle if it meant compromising my kidneys or liver with excess protein. This is part of the reason why I went plant based... the protein in plants won't raise my IGF-1 levels, or insulin-like growth factor 1, which increases one's risk for cancer and other diseases.

The vegan bodybuilders like Robert Cheese, Will Tucker and countless others really inspire me and show me what's possible without meat. I'm on a mission trying to prove to my whey protein powder friends at the gym that there's a much healthier way to build muscle.

It's not easy to workout five days a week, but I've been doing this for a while now. You might wonder what motivates me to keep going...

It's my belly. Yes, that ugly loose skin around my abs that still hasn't tightened. I know it's a losing battle but looking at my abs (the lack of a 6 pack after four years of sustained weight loss), it gets me to work hard.