Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I was in two Wellness Challenges that my local YMCA held, beginning in the Spring of 2012. It's what kick started my weight loss. In addition, my friend and co-founder of this website, Scott, also had success by losing over 25 pounds in the eight week challenge he was in. I will be participating in their next challenge. But this upcoming challenge is vastly different from the ones we were part of.

The Northwest CT YMCA is offering the completely revamped fitness challenge, beginning April 7 and it will run for 8 weeks.

I met with my personal trainer today and although my body fat percentage didn't go down much in two weeks, my weight did come down a few pounds. It's going to take some time to build muscle and lose the excess skin, but it's slowly getting there.

One thing he suggested last week is to continue doing the vegan challenge for a week each month. As you might recall, I did my first vegan challenge a few weeks ago. He felt that since I did so well with it that I should keep it going. This way, I can keep away from animal and dairy products for a week and can resume the Greek Yogurt and turkey during the other weeks. I'll try it for a while to see how I like it. The next time I plan to go vegan will be sometime in April. You really need to plan your meals as a vegan. The reason is you need to make sure you're getting enough protein and nutrients in your diet.

This past Monday, Dr. Oz aired a show that focused on some of the dangers of artificial sweeteners. The artificial sweeteners, in case you don't know, are saccharin (marketed as Sweet N' Low), aspartame (marketed as Equal) and Sucralose (marketed as Splenda).

I've written about the dangers of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners for some time now. There are so many reports of health problems caused by these artificial sugar packets, including multiple sclerosis among other diseases. I was eager to tune in and find out what Dr. Oz would focus on.

The challenge is over after tonight, but I am so glad I participated in it! Although I'm not staying vegan for the moment, I do plan to try it again. More on that later. First I wanted to discuss my diet during the challenge.

I wanted to focus on quality food, nutrient rich and good sources of protein. I planned the foods I would eat before I started the challenge.

I've been using a pedometer for about a little under two years now. I've used it everyday consistently with the exception of one day, March 8 of last year, when I was sick with a bad cold. Every day since then, I've gotten at least 10,000 steps.

Now that I'm in my next phase of my workouts, I'm thinking of giving up the pedometer. I know I do a lot everyday and I do get the required steps in. I'm thinking maybe I should wear it on days that it's tough for me to get all the steps in, just for accountability on those days.