in the face of perfection and cheese

I have an admission to make: I love cheese. I have fought against my affinity for this delicious dairy product for years now, but I have only found myself slain time and time again by its creamy, gooey deliciousness. Sure, there are vegan soy and tofu-based cheese substitutes out there, but when my body wants a solid slice of colby jack, salsa queso, or mozzarella topping, the fires of hell couldn’t keep me from needing exactly that to satiate my craving. There’s no substitute.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t make a habit of eating cheese, as I am well aware of the effects processed dairy products have on the body-- and the cost never outweighs the benefit. As such, I limit my consumption to no more than once or twice a week, allowing it only to make an occasional cameo appearance in my diet. It’s never given the chance to shine as the star of the mealtime show, and I put great effort into moderating the amount and frequency which I eat it.

I mention this because today I want to write about standards of perfection (in the context of any diet.) I know when I’ve initiated any new diet goal, I’ve stringently attempted to keep myself within the set parameters, and any deviation from the given guidelines made me feel guilty, like a failure, like I didn’t have the willpower, motivation, etc.-- what a negative, self-sabotaging cycle!

Ultimately, the redundant process often resulted in admitting defeat and coming out with my head hung low, self-esteem and confidence in myself slammed against the wall-- and who wants or needs that in his/her life? To add, who would EVER want to attempt a plan for healthy, conscious eating if this is the consistent end result?! Not I, said the Charlot.

Listen, I know as well as anyone that when you have certain goals for yourself, having the means for achieving them written out in a specific, black and white guide seems like a godsend. All of a sudden, you have an eruption of hope that shatters the insecurities you once had. You have a PLAN now. A plan that has worked for other people. It’s surefire, right? You build up your aspirations sky-high and don’t even stop to consider that you may not have the inner tools to climb to the top.

Following a diet (or any plan for life change, for that matter) is an interactive process; it’s easy to open your hand and accept the how-to manual, but you’ve got to have the self-discipline, patience, time, and gumption in line first for everything to work according to plan. While I know many of you out there likely have most of these aforementioned ducks in a row in your lives, no one has them all!

So why do we continually hold ourselves to the standard of perfection in approaching these major life changes? I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond the point of being okay with feeling guilty, blaming only myself when yet another diet plan fails. Why? Because that sense of emotional defeat doesn’t just go away once I’ve settled back into old patterns; it continues to infect and bleed into other areas of life, distorting and eroding my self image. It discourages me from putting myself out there to pursue other positive life changes, and ultimately forces me to accept the conditions I am unhappy with as “the way things have to be.” It’s a surefire way of becoming a victim to circumstance, which is one of the most disempowering and depressing states of being to invite into your life. It’s something that we should all be aware of and actively avoid if positive life change is every to be achieved.

In the past few months, I have tried to take a kinder, gentler approach to diet/making life changes, as I feel it’s the only way any of these new attitudes and behaviors will stick around for the long haul (and so far, so good!). The best thing I have found to escape that negative cycle of emotional sabotage is by disengaging from expectations of perfection completely.

By giving ourselves a little wiggle room to mess up, we’re not lowering our standards for ourselves, making excuses, or justifying bad behavior-- we’re simply allowing space for our innate human nature to surface (which is inevitable). The truth of the matter is that plans attempting to incite personal change are not always one-size-fits-all, and they will only work when we tweak them in a way that makes them functional for our lives. It doesn’t make us anything less than our lovely, as-is selves for doing so, and the attitude that it needs to be frowned upon should end now!

That said, even though I may try to eat a mostly raw, sugar-free vegan diet, I’m not going to beat myself up for the occasional bit of cheese. Or cookie. Or wine. As long as it’s regarded as an occasional treat and is not indulged in on a regular basis, ain’t no shame! Think of it like this: as long as you are on the mark 90% of the time, you’ve got no reason to feel badly for the incidental indulgence the remaining 10% of the time.

Labels like ‘vegan’,’raw,’ ‘vegetarian,’ etc. are simply descriptive terms-- why some people internalize them so deeply as all-or-nothing identities I shall never understand. Sure, I get it if a person chooses to be on a strict, 100%-compliant raw/vegan/vegetarian/etc. diet for his/her personal reasons-- and I respect that decision wholeheartedly. However, I don’t believe any single person should be judged if he/she doesn’t “follow the rules” of the diet choice to a T. Food is personal, and we should never condemn one another simply for existing somewhere else on the continuum of what we choose to put into our bodies. Leave and let be, loves.

Making ANY effort towards healthy, conscious living should be encouraged, no matter what degree it is to. It’s a shame that so many out there are discouraged to experiment with veganism or vegetarianism because of they can’t commit to the all-or-nothing mentality; even one day a week devoted to a meat-free, plant-based diet makes an impact on our health and the environment-- which is certainly something to celebrate indeed!

So, to conclude, be gentle and give yourself a bit of leeway when making any life changes. If you deviate a bit on occasion, shrug it off and move on. Find a reason to laugh and keep your heart light. The key source of life in positive change is positivity itself; ensure that runs deep and steady through your life and you’re destined to be met with success.

with metta,
Charlot

igniting the fire

Hello all, and welcome to my very first blog entry! It's taken me slightly longer than I'd like to admit to start this baby up, but better late than never, right? I'm just excited to be sinking my scissors into the ribbon of potential this blog has the opportunity to become. An outlet for expression! A medium for creativity! A space for sharing, exchange, and dialogue (oh my)! Sends a spirited shiver up the spine, doesn't it?

That said, keeping with the theme of inspired beginnings, I want to discuss my own foray into the world of healthy living (particularly in contrast to the careless unhealthy free-for-all I engaged in before!) Up until about a year and a half ago, I put very little thought into how I treated my body. Basically, the thought process behind my disgression went something like this: "Am I craving it? Is it edible? Can it be covered in cheese? LET'S DO THIS. (And then let's take a nap!)"

Needless to say, I was not taking a conscious approach in eating or general wellness, and it began to catch up with me. Nothing catastrophic or dramatic was happening to me, mind you, but the decline of my general state of being was enough to get my attention; the lethargy, digestive woes, weight gain, mental cloudiness, and moodiness was undeniable at this point. Being ever-enthusiastic about any form of positive, personal change, I made the decision right then and there to do something big, something dramatic-- take responsibility of my own health!

A radical concept, I know-- especially in a culture that so enthusiastically and willingly encourages "a pill for every ill." I myself had been a blind and ignorant participant in this cycle for too long, and once that light bulb of empowerment began to blink in my head, there was no going back to being the passenger in a vehicle driven by big pharma greed. It was at least worth the shot, right? Even if I only found minimal benefits from the shift in approach, a benefit is still a positive shift in being, and an experience is still an opportunity for learning. I went into it with an open and soft mind, body, and spirit, and now over a year later, I am continuing on the path with nothing but zeal for what's next on this journey.

What I have found in talking with people about my personal transition is that so many out there are aware that such a potent and direct life change would be propitious, but the deeply ingrained habits of the past are an ominous and dismaying factor that bullies them into not even trying. Trust me, I get that! Change ain't easy, folks, and the thought of evoking and implementing EFFORT can be downright daunting. Just because I've managed to peek my head onto the other side of transformation doesn't mean I didn't have to battle a boatload of my own demons along the way. It's all part of the process. It's taken a lot of self-prompted motivation to get to this point, and I STILL find days when all of those tightly-wound patterns win me over. One of the pesky little annoyances of our evident humanity, yes? The important thing is to accept the temporary detour and encourage a response of forgiveness and patience towards ourselves; perfection is a harsh and unrealistic standard to hold ourselves up to. (But that is a subject for another post!)

Something I have found to be a great help is to have a clearly-defined set of motivating factors. It's always easier to stick with a goal when we can be reminded of why we're doing it! In today's entry, I want to share some of the reasons why I initially decided put forth effort into the upheaval of past attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. This list also keeps me motivated whenever I may struggle to keep within the boundaries of the path I've chosen. So, without further adieu, please allow me to present the so-elegantly titled first entry of Viva la Verdure: 

WHY I DO WHAT I DO! (TA-DA!)

1. It allows me an opportunity to reintroduce myself to that reserve of natural, innate energy I once knew.

... and you all knew it once too, I bet. Think back to your childhood, way before you needed a pot of coffee and this-condition or that-condition to feel revved up for each new day. Back when you ran around in the sunshine singing your favorite songs simply because it felt good to do so. When you greeted new experiences and challenges with fervent curiosity and interest.That natural inclination is still residing within us all, and I know for a fact that when I eat well, avoid excessive caffeine, and treat myself right with gentle physical activity, meditation, and general positivity, it begins to emerge in such a glorious, kind way. Rather than scatter myself across the dramatic jittery highs and shot-down lows of a life relying on external sources for operation, I much rather prefer the gentle hum of life lived on a lower vibrational frequency. Om...

2. An opportunity to crawl outside of my box of imagined comfort and TRY NEW THINGS!

Would you believe me if I told you that before making this change, I'd never had a salad, and the only vegetables I would eat could be counted on one hand? As ashamed as I am to admit it, it's completely true. I was as picky as they come when I was engaged in the SAD (Standard American Diet) -laden lifestyle. If I hadn't pushed myself to make this change, I would have never discovered the joy of butternut squash! Or the energizing effect of green smoothies! or spinach or lentil soup or KALE! The chaotic enthusiasm could go on, but I'll spare you all for now. Just know that transition is an infectious little flame that can easily bring about an unexpected uproar of joyful new experiences to your life.

3. A decrease in suffering.
 
Okay, while I will never advocate one spiritual belief over another, let it be known that in general, I find myself vibing along to the groove of Buddhist philosophy-- this will likely come up in future entries, so it's important to know. Part of that philosophy, quite simply put, acknowledges that yes, suffering exists in this world. There are direct causes which lead to suffering, and there are actions and approaches we can decide to adopt in order to opt out from said suffering. (Four noble truths, yo.) That said, being mindful of what I eat and how I live has not only decreased the physical suffering I was enduring, but letting go of the emotional attachments held to previous conditions and patterns has decreased suffering on a far deeper level. In a way, this has all been and continues to be an extension of my spiritual practice, and the continual liberation I have experienced as a result encourages me to go forth with these new life changes on a daily basis.

4. I do not, under any circumstances, support unnatural, unnecessary animal cruelty.

This is a bit of an extension of my previous reason. Without spelling out the intricacies of animal suffering that is encouraged in the processing and preparation of animal meat and animal byproducts (I don't believe in scare tactics or coercion to encourage change in others, and I respect the right of those potentially reading to make up their minds about how to eat on their own), let it just be stated that I, in and of my own skin and mind, sleep better at night knowing I am not contributing to it. I love animals so dearly and embrace the fact that this is their world, too. 

5. I aspire to be a positive influence for those I love and care about.

'Nuff said. I try to live a life I would want to encourage others to live. As stated previously, I completely respect the decisions my loved ones make for their own lives, but, in my love for them, want to encourage only them best for them.

6. Finally, conscious eating contributes to conscious living, which, over time, has a sneaky little way of improving one's quality of life in general.

This is my "big picture" reason. When our awareness of the world is limited to the confines of our own experience, a certain hopelessness and sense of personal minimality ("Nothing I do really matters much in the grand scheme of things") emerges. By putting effort into becoming more conscious about what we are eating, where it comes from, how it is made, and how it impacts other living beings and the world, we're able to make the decisions that play a definite contributing role in making a difference-- and who doesn't want to do that?! It allows us to feel good about what we're doing for both ourselves, others, and the planet we share, which gives life a whole new dimension of meaning.

I'm sure I could come up with an infinite number of other reasons if I tried, but this covers the main bases. I hope you've enjoyed reading my very first blog entry as much as I've enjoyed writing it, and I am certainly looking forward to providing more content in the future. PLEASE feel free to share any thoughts or suggestions you may have in an email or as a comment!

with metta,
Charlot