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Hi from Denver


SD Dave
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Hi. I'm Dave from Denver. 47 yo, 6', currently 209 lbs. Veggie for 18 years, vegan for 35 days and loving it!

 

I was not a healthy veggie. I ate tons of cheese, and most of what I made came from a package. I saw my

weight continue to go up until I lost 50 pounds and gained a sizeable amount of muscle before a cruise I

went on 6 years ago. I fell off that wagon soon after the cruise was over. 2 1/2 years ago, I was laid off

of a job that I loved. I handled it well for the first year, but then I started to eat junk to quell the anger and pain

that I was feeling from not being able to get an interview after 22 years in the same industry (I'm still out of work).

Soon after that, my dog of 10 years was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I lost her 6 weeks later. I completely

lost it and stuffed my face with whatever I could get my hands on, which was a lot of ice cream, french fries and chips.

I got up to 228 lbs. I didn't feel in any control of what I ate after that point until now. I think I was a sugar and salt addict.

 

I have gone vegan for the animals. However, I have been blessed with the added benefit of being able to say

no to foods that I know are not good for me. Most of what I eat now is raw, and rarely do I eat anything from

a package. I am ready to get healthy, and I'm ready to get my body back in the shape that it was in before the cruise.

 

I guess my big challenge here will be losing weight while getting enough protein to put the muscle back on. It

was easy before with tons of cottage cheese, but now I'll have to experiment around with whole foods and

protein powder. I'll try to post some pictures once I take some. It's really a great support to have a group like

this around, especially since there's so much bad talk about eating vegan out there.

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Welcome Dave!

 

Thanks for the detailed intro. Sorry to hear about the job situation and about your dog. Sounds like you're doing a great job at making positive steps toward greater health, especially with food choices.

 

Feel free to explore around the forum and our main website for articles about vegan foods for building muscle. There are a lot of good tips out there.

 

Also for general weight loss, in addition to a plant-based whole foods diet, there are some other things you can do. One is cardiovascular training first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, or doing some cardiovascular training after lifting weights or other forms of exercise. If you can get some aerobic training in on an empty stomach or after about an hour of training, you enter an optimal fat burning zone when the body is out of carbohydrates to use for fuel and calls upon fat, which helps you burn fat.

 

Again there are lots of training programs mixed in throughout the forum and main site.

 

I encourage you to keep an online training journal as well. That is a great tool to aid in consistency and accountability and also acts as a reference point so we know what we're doing vs. what we're not doing.

 

All the very best and welcome aboard!

 

-Robert

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Hi Dave,

 

Sorry to hear of your past hardships. I have a dog too and she is my baby so I know how sad your loss must have been for you. Good to hear you are ready to set yourself down a better path and hopefully with the new healthier, fitter you comes a new awesome job.

 

I'm a few weeks ahead of you (going vegan from veg) and am loving it too. I can't believe all the new foods I've tried in past 8 weeks! I'm finding that the more I focus on making sure I have all the right healthy food, the less I even think about junk food. Well, except beer. mmm. lol.

 

A few protein suggestions:VegaOne meal replacement tastes pretty good - I was able to buy serving size pack to try before getting a tub. Mexican dishes or soups with beans, rice or quinoa are good sources of protein. Also fake burger or chicken thrown into a fry pan with fried potatoes and other veggies and spinach (put the spinach in last) works as a breakfast lunch or dinner - not extraordinarily healthy, but yummy and pretty easy way to use up leftovers. I just bought a pack of tempeh.. haven't tried it yet, but it looks interesting. I'll keep you posted.

 

Welcome to the group.

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I hear there is a new native american restaurant that opened up in Denver this year. I am very curious because I have only been to one in my life and it was actually in Poland....of all places. Weird right? Have you been to the one in Denver? Do they have vegetarian/vegan options? Sorry I don't know what it is called.

 

-Dylan

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Thanks for the responses. I really wasn't trying to bemoan my job and dog situations (although I do

still miss my dog a lot......). Life is really good, and has only gotten so much better since I made the

vegan switch. The weight doesn't come off as easily when you're in your 40's, but I am determined!

13 pounds so far..............

 

I don't know of any new Native American restaurants in Denver. I know there is one restaurant, but

it's very meat/chicken/bison based, from what I understand.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What is T-Rex? I only moved here last year, so I'm not familiar with that. I

will also be escaping Colorado in August, heading back to So. Cal., and then

we'll see where life takes me from there........

 

That restaurant looks awesome! I'm going to have to try that. Thanks! I haven't

ventured out and eaten out since starting to eat vegan as I haven't worked in

a long time, but that one I might have to loosen the purse strings on!

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What is T-Rex? I only moved here last year, so I'm not familiar with that. I

will also be escaping Colorado in August

 

Ah. Well, T-Rex is the infamous name the city gave its monster highway reconstruction project. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_T-REX_Project_(TRansportation_EXpansion) Rush hour congestion so thick you could walk across the top of it and constant flooding beneath the road underpasses due to insufficient drainage pipes were the impetus. Well, that and the fact that Denver is growing and spreading like a lymphoma.

 

This is what happens in Denver a few hours after an intense thunderstorm opens up:

 

 

I used to live a few blocks from there. All the water flows down towards Cherry Creek or the highway underpasses. The underpasses fill up like swimming pools because they can't drain fast enough, people plunge right into the water in their Escorts and Audi's because they don't realize how deep the water is, and every week there'd be another news video clip of a person sitting on top of their floating car, waiting for the fire department. I miss Denver.

 

Baby Herc

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