[Crumb]

Hi,

Yup, I'm a guy on the "3 Fat Chicks" board! I'm a 55 year old that looks pretty healthy, but I'm not. I'm a 40-year weightlifter and it shows. I'm very muscular. Believe me, I am NOT bragging. It means nothing. I have inherited my Dad's heart disease. He died at 43. He smoked a lot. I never have and thought I'd be okay. I was wrong. I've had three angioplasties and have five stents, and I have stable angina. I go to the gym but get chest pain and have to rest. I HATE IT! I am scared and my family needs me. Naturally, I have been a meat and potatoes guy my entire life. It is NOW or NEVER to turn my life around, and I am looking to go on the Dr. Esselstyn plan, which is very tough. I don't know if I'm more frightened about a heart attack, or sticking to this! I do not have time to cook much at all. Can anybody recommend some good, pre-packaged, frozen meals that are 100% vegan, no oil or sugar, etc? That would be so helpful, and thanks for allowing me to sign up here. This is a lonely existence that I wouldn't wish on anybody. Wondering when you might drop dead is not fun, and I am ready to fight back!

[Blicca]

Welcome, Crumb!

I'm glad you've joined the forum; reaching out for support is a great first step on the road health. From my experience, you're going to be much better off spending a couple of hours a week batch cooking the food yourself, packaging it in pre-portioned containers, and sticking it in the freezer to reheat when convenient. This way you can control exactly what goes in it, and tweak things to your tastes. Most pre-packaged vegan food is going to be loaded with sodium, oils, and sugars, and is not usually any healthier than pre-packaged non-vegan food.

[JayZeeJay]

Hi Crumb and welcome!

I've eaten vegan for most of the past 20 years, and it's become progressively easier with increased availability of varied produce in many locations along with useful and interesting protein sources (seitan, quinoa, tempeh, lots of fun beans and legumes).

I echo what Blicca said about preparing large amounts of food ahead of time for the week; that's our general M.O. at home. However, I do use frozen options often. The Amy's line of frozen meals has numerous options that are vegan and moderately low-calorie including a light line (sodium and sugar contents vary substantially however). My trick is to cook up some veggies (use frozen or substitute raw veggies like raw spinach if in a hurry), then plate an Amy's meal on top to get a more plant-intensive meal. There are also some decent veggie "burgers" out there. Our all-time favorite is one of the Dr. Praeger's patties (super greens), but there's a whole bunch that are tasty and nutritionally pretty ok. Again, eat with abundant extra veggies; I also add a bit of avocado or a sprinkle of seeds on top.

When I'm needing inspiration for new recipe ideas that are vegan and "nutritarian", I go back to Dr. Furhman's "Eat to live" website: https://www.drfuhrman.com/lifestyle/recipes

There are a lot of good vegan food blogs as well with great recipes, though some may not fit your particular plan due to excess oil/fat and salt, and blogs may not be your thing. How about getting a good cookbook to start? I own most of these; recipes are generally quite healthy or can be very easily modified to be lower-fat and to have no added salt or sugar (Veganomicon and the Thug Kitchen books are also very fun, and not at all uppity or difficult to follow): http://urbantastebud.com/best-vegan-cookbooks/

Keep us posted on how it's going!

[Crumb]

Thanks for both of these messages. Yup, it totally makes sense to take a couple of hours and cook myself so I'll know what's in my food. Guess there's no shortcut, no matter how you cut it (ha ha). Thanks for the advice about Amy's. I'll look at that right away, and I did go ahead and download the Esselstyn cookbook, and I do know about Dr. Fuhrman. In fact, I saw him speak in person once in my city, and he's another good guy to follow. I look forward to sharing my results, and hope that in time, I can help others here. Thanks for the warm welcome and Happy Holidays!