Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog
I Completed My Weeklong Vegan Challenge! Here's What I Learned!
Last Sunday, I began a seven day challenge of eating only plant based foods... no animal products at all. This was the second time I did such a challenge in two years. Here's what I found out...
I loved the way I felt being vegan!
I had so much energy and my workouts seemed to improve. My strength increased, when I had my body fat check ed the other day and actually gained three pounds of muscle.
I have been doing vegan a few times a week for the past few years, but I was thinking of modifying it to maybe include eggs only a few times a week, and the rest of the week, I'd be vegan. I'll have to give it some thought, but I really felt great in this experiment.
I know a lot of people tell me they could never be vegan. One person asked me why I decided to try vegan. The answer is simple... I don't believe that too many animal products are good for you. I haven't had red meat in about three years now. The only animal products I have a few times a week are turkey and eggs. It wasn't that much of a stretch for me to go all the way vegan.
One concern I did have in the back of my mind was would I lose weight as a vegan. I don't want to lose any more weight. I ate tons of veggies, nuts and seeds and my weight actually stayed the same. I'm happy to know that I can build muscle and maintain my weight by eating healthy.
Other concerns people have about being vegan are concerns over what foods they can eat. Well, I think there was a lot of variety for me last week. I ate everything from almonds, chia seeds, flax seeds, steel cut oatmeal, quinoa, peas, beans, apples, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, swiss chard, bok choy, the list goes on and on. I also had my vegetable protein powder, a few times a day. The nice thing about eating vegan, when you eat clean, you don't have to count calories.
This challenge was well worth it. It's amazing how energized you feel after being vegan for a few days.
About the author
Richard Hubbard was once over 350 pounds. After a doctor's physical and finding out he was pre-hypertensive, he decided to make changes and avoid medication. Over the course of a year, Rich lost the first 120 pounds of his incredible 150 pound weight loss. He ate healthy foods based on Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book "Eat To Live". He was mostly plant based, but switched to completely plant based in September of 2016. He also became a vegan in the process as his compassion for animals increased. He credits bodybuilder Robert Cheeke for influencing his decision of going vegan. Rich aspires to be a vegan bodybuilder and is planning his first half marathon this year.
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