I never knew I loved running until after I lost the weight. In fact, I didn't know I was good at any sports. Now, I enjoy the strength training and cardio daily.
I kind of put running on hold for a while as I didn't want to lose too much weight and concentrate on building muscle. I still did some cardio, but wasn't doing any running until a few months ago, when I started running on the treadmill and running in the streets of New York.
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.
The question is everywhere for vegans... "where do you get your protein from?" But vegans along with meat eaters, junk food eaters, low carb dieters, high carb dieters, whatever, they all get enough protein. It's the one thing Americans don't need to worry about and in fact, their obsession with it might be leading them down a road of disease and obesity.
Do you know how much protein the average person needs? Only .8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. I am 210 pounds... that comes out to be about 76 grams. My personal trainer years ago told me to have 200 grams per day. If I listened to him, not only would I have gotten nowhere with my goals but I'm sure I'd be sick. Personal trainers are not supposed to give out nutritional advice, but I have yet to meet a trainer that will follow this rule.
In less than two days, I will start the 7 day raw food challenge with my friend Ian Myers, who is hosting a Facebook group with instructions of what food to eat. I'm looking forward to it as I enjoy challenges and I know many people have told me how great they feel afterwards.
But the real reason to try raw? I keep trying different things to tighten my abs after weight loss. I would never do surgery to remove the skin, so the only options are to eat clean, keep on working out and hope that in time, my abs get better.
Every day since going plant based, I start out the morning with steel cut oats, topped with berries, a banana, ground flax seeds and chia seeds. It keeps me full and satisfied until lunch time. But I'm going to be doing a raw food challenge for 7 days, beginning March 12 and ending March 19. Although it is plant based, it has a lot of differences in comparison to how I currently eat.
For example, grains aren't allowed. No quinoa? How will I survive without it? I'll make due somehow! Even worse is 7 days without sweet potatoes. I eat them daily as well.
