Prepping for change
You can listen to the audio version of this post below.
This is a part of the October blog challenge. You can find the other posts here.
As I mentioned yesterday, I am planning to go meat-free for the next two weeks, and I spent today prepping for the next two weeks - making a nut roast and black bean burger mix.
I’ll tell you a bit more about that in a minute, but first - as I was going through the process this morning, I was reminded that sometimes we need to prepare for making the change. This applies to a dietary changes like the one I am making (even if it’s only short term), but also to other changes in routine, or in life.
It might seem easy to just jump right in and make changes, but sometimes that is the surest way to ensure the change doesn’t stick. Instead, thinking about the change that we want to make, and then working out what resources we need to make that change stick can give us a greater chance of actually changing.
There are so many different resources that can help us. It can be finding a person to keep you accountable to your new routine or tasks - a coach, a friend, or someone else who is making some sort of change in their life. It could be having a daily checklist to make sure that you remind yourself of the new steps you have to take. It could be (like me) meal planning and doing some food prep over the weekend so that I don’t lurch for a bacon sandwich in a moment of weakness! Or it could be making sure that you know what the best takeout is to get on those days when you are too tired to cook. And, it could be ensuring you have a fun playlist or audiobook, so that you can make the boring parts (like chopping onions and a million mushrooms) fun!
And now, a bit about how I prepp’d for my change this week.
I decided that this week, I am going to have two main dishes prepared. I only cook twice a week, to last me a few days at a time. Today I made a nut roast - which is I suppose like the veggie equivalent of a meatloaf, except made with mushrooms, breadcrumbs, nuts and veggies. You can find the recipe that I used here. I love my meals tasty and full of flavour, so I made my own tweaks. I stirred in some grated onion, added some Bajan seasoning and extra garlic, and also some extra dried seasoning - Harissa. I also couldn’t find red lentils, so I replaced them with brown (which took waaaaaaaaaay longer to cook, and needed some extra liquid).
It was definitely delicious, served with baked sweet potato and plantain, and coleslaw. And there is plenty left over to keep me going for a few more days. I even have a bit to share with my friends.
I also made Black Bean burger mix, which is in the fridge. I’ll shape it this evening (or tomorrow) and then freeze them to make them easy to use next week. I’ll make the chickpea and squash curry next week.
As a bonus summary, here are a few questions I ask myself when I am planning for change.
What do I need? This is about the resources I mentioned above - accountability, raw materials, or visual reminders. And if you want to learn more about accountability, then you should check out The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin. It will give you some great insight into what type of accountability might work best for you.
How can I fit these changes into my routine? For me, I knew that the cooking would take longer with all the veggie chopping, so I set aside more time to cook this morning. I also pre-made the burgers. Other times I have wanted to make a change, I needed to wake up 30 minutes early (e.g when I was started writing more) or cut back on some other activity - maybe the TV or social media depending on what is filling up my routine. Often, we need to release some of the things we are holding onto if we want to have space for the change. This could be time, or it could mean making changes in our financial commitments or routine.
What obstacles might get in my way and how can I navigate them? I know that not everyone likes to look at what could go wrong, but I find that there is so much unexpected that pops up, and I like to have an idea of how I will handle getting derailed. This can go back to resources. For me - if I don’t end up cooking, is there something easy I can make or grab that still fits in with the commitment I have made? Where can I get it from? Do I need to put a friend on stand by to help cheer me on when I get discouraged? You get to figure out how you are going to handle curveballs that are thrown at you.
Am I willing to start again? Because - life. And so sometimes despite our best efforts, we get derailed. To me this goes back to the whole idea of success and failure, (which I wrote about a few days ago) and deciding that getting thrown off track can simply be a bump in the road, and deciding beforehand that this change is important enough to start again.
What do you do when you are prepping for change? Do you have someone to help keep you accountable? How have you made room for change in the past?
Also - what did YOU cook this weekend?
Here is the video I promised you yesterday!!
And I send you big love from a small island!