So I hope my “Challenging Week” post didn’t trip anyone up. I have bounced back. I think I was overwhelmed, having taken on more than any living human could possible hope to do. I’ve had to let some things go. So I did, and it felt like someone had picked their errant, twister-riding house up off my back and returned my ruby slippers.
When I get out of sorts, everything seems wrong and bad and awful. But this morning, I felt better. I started a new exercise program called 3-Week Yoga Retreat. It’s a set of DVDs from Beachbody. I think you can stream most of their programs now. Anyway, I started with day 1 level 1, thinking it was lazy of me not to do a more challenging workout.
Well, after the yoga, my arms, legs, and core felt more exercised than they ever did after the “harder” workouts. And while I was doing it, my mind calmed down, and a little voice whispered that I should re-check the ingredients on those oil-free vegan patties I found and lamented using in my previous post because they had “one or two ingredients that were not whole foods.”
So I re-checked, and guess what? They totally ARE whole foods after all. So even what I thought was a tiny cheat, wasn’t a cheat at all.
The brand of the patties is ACTUAL VEGGIES, and I have the Black Bean and the Purple Root varieties, so those are the ingredients I’ve checked. They are all whole food, minimally processed, so I can take a shortcut without violating Dr. Esselstyn’s guidelines after all.
(Image below is linked to their site. I’m not an affiliate.)
As I realized this, I also realized that a drizzle of maple syrup on my morning oatmeal is not prohibited on the Esselstyn plan. I was rebelling against a rule that only existed in my head.
Now, my weak moment bag of chips was definitely off the plan (and off the chain!) But I’ve forgiven myself and moved on.
This morning I had my oatmeal with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, banana, cinnamon, flaxseed meal, and my beloved drizzle of syrup. For a mid-morning snack, I popped open a can of asparagus, because I love asparagus, and I’m still trying to get as many servings of green and cruciferous vegetables in as I can. There were three-and-a-half servings in that can. For lunch I’m having a bowl of the veggie stew I made over the weekend.
So I’m still 100% following the program. And I’m finding that every few weeks, we find another whole food, plant based, minimally processed product that makes life easier and healthier. We’ve upgraded our pizza crusts to PlantStrong brand, our breads, English muffins, and sandwich wraps to Ezekiel brand, our milk from almond to soy. And now we’ve found these delicious all-veggie patties we can add to the mix for nights when I just can’t.
Sidebar: the cooking instructions on the patties say to use oil, but it’s unnecessary. I baked one for hubs last night and he loved it. I like them a little less dry, so I put in a hot frying pan with a splash of veggie broth to keep it from sticking, and just flip every few minutes, adding more broth as needed.
Now to source some frozen, pre-cut, oil-free, one-ingredient French fries.
I’m okay. I just had a moment.