A Challenging Week

Better late than never, right?

Oct 29, 2024

The first three weeks of being super-strictly whole food, plant based, no cheats, went well, and then I kind of hit a wall. A day-long emotional storm overtook me. I missed a high school football game I’d wanted to attend because I was in such a state, and I ate a bag of potato chips.

So there’s that.

I’m back on track now, of course, and trying to be kinder to myself.

I wrote a big post over on The Bliss Blog about exploring our inner shadows and fears surrounding our physical mortality at this time of year, as the now-waning moon will be a dark moon on Halloween night, and in the sign of Scorpio, which is all about the darker matters. If you’re into the spiritual and mystical side of things as I am, you can read that post here. To me, everything is connected. Maybe to you, too.

Anyway, the energy of this period is very much about self-exploration and letting go of things that no longer serve us. In some cases, a habit, belief, or activity we thought served us, is not serving us at all. In many cases, we’re serving it.

So this the kind of thing to consider moving through the remaining days of October. Tweaks are required in many areas of our lives as we go along, and this is a good time to make those adjustments.

Some elements I’m weaving into my plan

I have to make my lifestyle sustainable—as in, stuff I can keep doing forever.

I also want to make my lifestyle pleasurable—as in, I want to enjoy it.

Those two things go together. Things that are pleasurable are easier to keep doing.

So halfway through this transition into a purer, healthier lifestyle that includes regular exercise, I am tweaking and shaping it into one I can live with.

Food
I found a couple of foods that I can make quickly that also do not contain oil. There are some black bean burgers, and some mushroom root (mycelium) items that area also oil-free. They are processed, but also organic. They contain one or two ingredients that are not “whole” foods. I’m okay with that.

No matter how I try there are going to be days when I’m too busy to cook from scratch and out of batch-cooked foods to fall back on. It’s going to happen.

I’ve also purchased a pile of Ripp Esselstyn’s Pizza kits for our weekend veggie & sauce pizzas. The package has 5 or six crusts & sauce. They are delish. I’m not an affiliate, but I love the products, and he has lots of others that are entirely whole food, plant based, oil free, and low in added salts and sugars.

I’ve decided to allow myself a little bit of maple syrup in my oatmeal and little bit of salt on my dinner plate. I noticed without these, I was not enjoying my food enough to even finish it.

Exercise
I’ve discovered that doing workouts I did in my twenties, thirties, and forties should not be my goal in my sixties. I did them for three weeks, and made myself exhausted and sore. I was dreading them and forcing myself rather than looking forward to them. So I’ve decided that yoga and my treadmill are a better uses of my time. They are healing, enjoyable, and more sustainable for me.

Supplements
I tried the red yeast rice, and I forgot to stop taking it during 5 days of antibiotics for a minor issue, and poof! Thrush. It has taken two weeks to clear the yeast from my system, and my tongue is still sore. So apparently for my physiology, no supplements containing yeast.

So I’m back to my normal supplements of B12, D3 now the sun is less direct and days are shorter, and a daily probiotic. Also an aspirin a day until I know for sure what’s going on in my coronary arteries.

Testing
My blood draw is 11/16 so we’ll see how I’ve done on lowering the cholesterol without statins shortly thereafter. Despite that weak potato chip moment.

The calcium score test, which will reveal whether and how much calcification exists in my coronary arteries has finally been scheduled and that’s 11/26. I should have good information after those two tests.

My Takeaway
Whether I can reduce my cholesterol numbers with lifestyle alone only matters if it’s a lifestyle I can live with for the rest of my life. So I’m trying to find my sweet spot. I’m good with having raisins instead of chocolate chips in my cookies, for example. But once in a while, I’m going to need some chocolate in my life.

So here I am, doing the best I can and finding my perfect balance between excellent health that allows me thrive throughout the longest lifetime possible, and a lifestyle that makes me want to live the longest lifetime possible.

That’s where my head is at today, folks. I’m releasing the things that don’t serve me and embracing the things that make my world easier and better in every way during this time of transition between now and the new moon of November 1st when the energy for this kind of work is strongest.

Timing

This post is late because we had a serious accident in the family over the weekend and I was needed. But it appears our loved one is going to be okay.

Happy Halloween!

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