Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

Ian Myers interviewed me recently, he's the owner of IM Wellness. He asked a question that really got me thinking... "what would I say to my former obese self, if I could go back in time and give advice". I especially thought about it after stumbling upon these pictures of myself, taken at a holiday party at work. This was taken during my transition. I had just started to get serious about losing weight but was not there yet. I was still well over 300 pounds.

I almost don't recognize that person, because I've come so far since then and I've learned so much. Back then, I had no idea what foods were healthy. I never thought about being vegan, never thought I would give up soda, and processed foods were my life.

I'm always up for challenges for health, whether it be for a physical challenge like weightless challenges or nutritional challenges like the one I'm about to embark on.

I've been hearing about the benefits of raw food for years. I didn't take much notice as I'm such a healthy eater now already. My intake of raw foods is probably between 70-80 percent each day as it is now. But my friend Ian Myers talked about it's benefits on his Facebook page and it made me think that I want to try it to. For those that don't know Ian, he is founder of Ian Myers Wellness. He recently did an interview with me through Facebook Live and it was there that I started to really think about doing the challenge.

Today, I had a physical, the first one since going completely plant based over 16 months ago. I did have lab work 3 months after being plant based last year, but this was the first examination since then.

I always had anxiety about going to the doctors. But there was no need for anxiety today and in the back of my mind, I really was confident. I knew I was feeling great with so much energy, plus I workout 5 days a week.

I was doing some cleaning the other day and came across something I saved from 2012. At the time, I knew it would be significant, but I had forgotten about it. I had the receipt from the last time I ate an Egg McMuffin stashed away.

This is significant because it reminds me of just how far I have come. I was serious about losing weight at the beginning of 2012, although no one else would have believed it at the time. I had many failed attempts at losing weight before but something was different this time around.

I had four different Christmas parties that I needed to attend. There are so many gatherings with family and friends, and food is everywhere! It's very tempting to slip into unhealthy eating if you are unprepared.

When I first went plant based (and vegan) last year, I had a lot of anxiety over gatherings, when there would be food around. It's tough wondering if others will accept your new way of eating and worrying about what choices of foods there would be.